Happy (late) Maca’s birthday!
Tara Joshi
Paul McCartney turned 80 last week, so Tara Joshi is out to ask bettors where they would take him to Glastonbury to celebrate.
Alex Santos: “I would just bow to him! I would take him to the park, Stonebridge Bar, so he could relax.
Alex Santos. Photo: Tara Joshi / The Guardian
This is just from Tara Joshi: “Joy Crooks cries on the Pyramid Stage because she says it’s an important stage in her career.”
Jasmine Williams has been reviewed
Laura Snapes
Park stage, 11.30 am
Extremely good vibes… Yasmine Williams performs on the stage of the Park. Photo: Laura Snapes / Guardian
There are many great reservations for this year’s Glastonbury edition, but special thanks to the one who booked Jasmine Williams to open the Park stage on Saturday lunch. She may not be a big name (yet), but anyone who feels a little fragile can’t help but be reassured by the magical and innovative style of the Virginia guitarist – not to mention her extremely good vibes while wearing the bandana. a funky purple shirt and a huge smile. She places her modified acoustic instrument on her lap and plays with an unusually percussive approach that sees her hitting her body and sliding her fingers up and down her neck. The result is so fluid and sparkling that it just pulsates with life.
It creates an acre of space, then fills it with loaded refrains that reach all the way to the sky. Or it creates sparkling, saturated, kaleidoscopic spirals of sound. Most often it’s just Williams and her guitar, although she owns a hammer (guitar-specific hammer, she assures us after making the mistake of using a real hammer in the past) for High Five, beating a magnificent, soothing swing from her instrument. . Restless Heart competes and sprints, accelerating with a cello bow. “This is the best doping festival I’ve ever been to!” She says at the end, referring to what we hope a crowd of new converts feel completely recovered from her blissful sound.
Updated at 13.35 BST
Andy Burnham on the left field
Sophie Zeldin-O’Neill
In a panel discussion entitled The State of the Nation: Politics in Crisis in Glastonbury’s Left Field Tent on Saturday, Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham called for a total overhaul of the British political system. Burnham was greeted with enthusiastic applause by the largest audience the tent has ever seen in 2022. He demanded: “Britain must get rid of the old ways, bypass the table and agree on a program of political change, a spirit of cooperation. Then we will have a progressive government in the next general election. “
He added: “Good, safe housing should be the general rule in this country. Social care must be provided under the terms of the NHS. And we need to renationalise rail and bus. “He also mentioned” the silent crisis of mental health – caused by the nature of life now that people are worried about sleeping. “He concluded:” As our crises get bigger “If our political system was a computer, we would take steps to stop hacking it. We need to make the force flow differently across the land.”
Laura Snapes
Hello, Laura takes over from Gwilym for a while. I had a little appetizer and a little crying as I watched the clouds pass over the Park stage, so you’re in … half-capable hands.
Review of Les Amazones d’Afrique
Shaad D’Souza
Pyramid stage Powerhouse West African supergroup Les Amazones d’Afrique is the second open day in Glastonbury with a set that combines striking political activism with desert blues, oak and crunchy, faulty electronics. These four women, who sing about the harsh realities of gender inequality and are activists against female genital mutilation, are the perfect group to open the pyramid scene today, as it became clear at the beginning of the set when Fafa Rufino issued a call to all women in the audience. “You have the power to change your life. You are strong, you are powerful … you are your own rock. It’s time to stand up for your rights, “she told the crowd. “They taught us that we are roses, that we need protection. We don’t need anyone – you don’t need anyone’s protection! ”Rufino’s words have a pronounced, galvanized quality; standing up, she stood up, in a flowing white jumpsuit, as if she were some kind of angel, here to give words of power to the audience.
Although they focus on politics behind their songs, Les Amazones du Afriques are also here to have a good time: watching them dance together, applauding each other and complimenting each other’s outfits is a thrill, a bit like watching four friends trample each other before nightfall. Shaking the early crowd from their blurred eyes, it’s a remarkable mix of sweetness, seriousness and technical skill.
Updated at 13.07 BST
Of course, Ukraine was a common theme at this year’s festival: you can’t go very far through the festival venue without seeing a blue-and-yellow flag fluttering in the wind. Before the opening of the “Others” stage of Libertines yesterday, the President of the country Vladimir Zelensky appeared on the screen, asking the festival visitors for their support. Read all about it here:
Updated at 12.55 BST
Go_A has been reviewed
Ben Beaumont-Thomas
John Peel’s scene Opening John Peel to the roar of solidarity and a sea of Ukrainian flags, Go_A arrived, blowing up Eurovision in 2021 – they finished fifth with their song Shum and took second place in the public voting. He was completely brilliant and different from everything else in the competition: slow, sharp vocals with a pirouette on the flute, he developed and upgraded in tempo until he became the kind of happy hardcore that kids jump in the parking lots for. They open with it here, but have bags of other sturdy material to continue with. Resembling the owner of an exclusive Berlin dungeon for sex and her bodyguard, Katerina Pavlenko is dressed in elegant clothing, which is about 50% chain, 50% PVC. Her voice is really powerful: sly but firm, with deft little trills between beautifully raspy long notes. The big guitarist Ivan Grigoryak plays huge chords and colliding lines through the electronic processing of the mainframe, giving cyberpunk-hacker rage to their industrial dance pieces, while the incredibly handsome flutist Igor Didenchuk (also in Eurovision winners and music performers from Glastonbury. ).
Solidarity and communication… Go_A. Photo: Ben Beaumont-Thomas
There is a lot of audience participation: call and answer, some bouncy dance moves worthy of HIIT, led by Didenchuk, and then for their last song – in one of the best moments of the festival so far – we are led in what Pavlenko calls it a “Ukrainian ritual” and what the British call a circular pit. John Peel’s huge tent is filled with giant circles of holding hands dancing on rings, while Pavlenko orders us to be jealous. It’s a symbol of solidarity and fellowship, but also just euphoria – it was the kind of welcome that Glastonbury makes at a temperature higher than any other festival.
Updated at 12.54 BST
The artists meet Roe v Wade
In the middle of the otherwise merry first day of the festival, news emerged that the US Supreme Court had overturned the constitutional right to abortion in the United States. This was seismic news and threw some ashes on the production. Understandably, there was a chorus of condemnation from artists such as Billy Isle, Phoebe Bridges and Idols. You can read our news about all this here:
NOTED: Pete Doherty, who is still wearing this strange Druid cloak, has appeared on the set of Huck Baker on the Other Stage, Laura Snapes reports. He shook himself through the “fantastically ugly” cover of “Message to You,” Rudy. “He’s alive and kicking, I’m telling you!” Huck said of Pete.
Pete Doherty of Libertines, wearing his cloak, performs on the other stage during the Glastonbury Film Festival. Photo: Andy Buchanan / AFP / Getty Images
Updated at 12.40 BST
Little content near Glastonbury: to celebrate the return of festivals after a few years interrupted by the pandemic, Guardian’s Saturday Magazine sent Rick Samader to try six events over a long holiday weekend, visiting mosques, face painting booths, massage parlors and the wild temptations of Creamfields. I ordered this one and I can confirm that by the end of my walk he really was a very broken man!
Rick shows off his festival wrists at the In It Together festival in Port Talbot. Photo: Alicia Canter / Guardian
Primal Scream has been reviewed
Sophie Zeldin-O’Neill
We will have some early reviews from today, but here is one last review from Friday – the title of Primal Scream is placed in John Peel …
Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream, wearing a magnificent costume on the theme of Screamadelica. Photo: John Rowley / EPA
Thousands of ravers from the ’90s, kilts, indie lovers and Britpop fans, including Jarvis Cocker, watched in fascination as Bobby Gillespie blew up the roof of John Peel’s stage on Friday night. Frontman Gillespie left his position as drummer for The Jesus and Mary Chain (who performed on the same stage an hour earlier) to form Primal Scream, a band that became a key part of the indie dance scene. In homage to their iconic 1991 album Screamadelica, he wore a suit, shirt and pants with a cover design.
And proving his credentials as an iconic frontman of the genre (as if he had once been in doubt), Gillespie, backed by footage from classic films, including Clockwork Orange and Easy Rider, led his captivated audience through the back catalog of rumbles. After reaching the 1991 ballad Come Together, he declared “This song feels really relevant right now,” gathered a full gospel choir and made the whole crowd sing. Then we were treated to performances of Rocks Off, Loaded and finally Country Girl. Not a bad way to end an unforgettable day …
Add Comment