Emmy the Great @ Glastonbury - Picks for Saturday/ Sunday; A day in protest
Singer-songwriter Emmy the Great blogs and tweets live from #Glasto2011 for WaterAid, fearlessly bringing you all the latest action from a bunch of muddy fields in Somerset... For the latest updates during the day follow the #waglasto tag.
Here's what I'm going to try watch today and tomorrow.
Saturday:Stornoway 11am Pyramid Stage
Ben Goldacre13:45 Free UniversityThe Kills 1630 OtherJimmy Eat World 1800 John PeelElbow 20:15 Pyramid
Big Boi 2245 West Holts
Janelle Monae 2215 West Holts
Neneh Cherry 2145 Wow!
The Kills 1800 OtherColdplay 2215 Pyramid
Wild Beasts 2300 ParkSunday:Aisle 16 11:20 CabaretJamie Woon 12:45 West Holts
Low Anthem 12:10 Pyramid
Dan Le Sac16:00 West HoltsPaul Simon 16:30 Pyramid
Josie Long17:00 LeftfieldThe Vaccines 17:45 John Peel
Hercules and Love affair 20:00 West Holts
Lykke Li 20:00 Park
John Cooper Clarke 20:00 Acoustic
Robyn 20:35 John Peel
Suzanne Vega 22:30 Acoustic- RT @emmy_the_great: #WAGlasto Vaccines are onsite. They're playing #Glastonbury on Fri & Sun, Madrid on Sat. #Logistics. twitpic.com/5g2bll
Yesterday was one of those days where trying to walk from one area to the next was a pretty serious ordeal. I missed out seeing a lot of bands because of that, but made it to Billy Bragg, which is all I needed.
Protest was in the air at Glastonbury yesterday in different guises. There was a planned UK Uncut demonstration at the Pyramid Stage during U2 but as soon as the banner was hoisted it disappeared in a flicker of security jackets. Ironically, U2 paid tribute to people power during Where the Streets Have No Name, with a video montage of recent Arab Spring demonstrations. They also talked to an astronaut in an international space station during Beautiful Day, which was Admittedly Cool.Morrissey slagged David Cameron off on the Other Stage, and Billy Bragg did the same to George Osborne on the Leftfield, concluding to the audience, "We are in this together. If you want change, you have to get organised." Billy played a true Glastonbury set of classics, and his old songs somehow feel more relevant than ever - songs like God Save the Youth of America, and Which Side are You On. Before launching into the stirring Battle of Dagenham, he talked about the BNP, "We defeated them in the 1980's, and we defeated them in Dagenham in 2010." He told the audience that every generation would have to rise up and fight them again, and that we would never let bigotry and injustice win, which made the song I Keep Faith In You - with its lyric 'It takes a lot of courage to go against the grain, you have to make great sacrifice for just a little gain' - all the more poignant.Billy was hilarious in his set as well, ranting about the Spirit of '71 stage, which is behind the Leftfield, and its unbroken stream of uniform house music. "Is this the 1971 stage?" he mused, "Play some fucking James Taylor then." He was joined on guitar at times by Damon Gough by Badly Drawn Boy, and will be doing his Big Round Up every afternoon with other singer-songwriters.
RT @emmy_the_great: Billy Bragg on requests: "It's all right for you mate you've only got to remember the title." #WAGlastoColdplay was in the air too last night. Badly Drawn Boy complained to his audience that no one had bought his last album, and that they were all off buying Coldplay. U2 did a dodgy segue way into their penultimate number with an acapella version of Yellow. There are rumours that both Beyonce and U2 were talked into headlining by Chris Martin, and if so, he's a smarty. My usual reactionary instincts have been truly scrambled this weekend, with Coldplay coming out as the clear underdog of the three, and hence my favourite. I also imagine a lot of people will find themselves coming randomly to their defence after last night's cover. They might finish this weekend with some unexpected converts.
Other shows I watched last night included Cee-Lo, who played well but to a lagging crowd, and Summer Camp and Guillemots, both of whom were fantastic. Radiohead entertained a huge crowd at the Park Stage, drawing heavily on the last two albums, and tonight's special guest, as everybody knows by now, is Pulp.More later, when I will be going Balls Out after my last show.
In Photos: Radiohead @ Glastonbury Festival 2011 / In Depth // Drowned In Sound http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4142990-in-photos--radiohead-glastonbury-festival-2011 via @drownedinsound- This flag made us laugh:
