The highly awaited weekend is finally here.
Barely a day remains for the “Biggest Music Festival on Earth” to commence when I pen down this blog. And this time around it’s more massive than it has been in recent years. With headliners like U2, Coldplay and Beyonce, Glastonbury is bound to generate more news, views and spite than any other festival.
Last time around Gorillaz were the surprising headliners after U2 had cancelled due to Bono’s injury. Damon Albarn and the company lacked one important aspect in their arsenal, rock anthems. Despite their efforts, it’s safe to say that 2010 was a disappointment. Except Muse, of course.
Festivals are places where the relatively unknown bands and artists get a chance to show their worth and the big headliners casually play their greatest hits. Not Glastonbury. Not this year.
The Pyramid Stage has seen general perception of a band in public eye change for better or for worse. Ask Matt, frontman of the band Muse, who were previously just known for releasing few good records. Come 2004 and now they are cited as one of the best live acts with over the top arrangement of everything. The lights, the sounds, the stage, every single aspect was made larger than life and soon they were hailed for such spectacular attention to details.
Fortune worked in opposite direction for Kings of Leon as they were tagged as a “sell out band” in contrary to their last outing here as the most acclaimed group to adore the other stage. Fame is a funny thing, and no one knows it better than Bono himself. Branded as a hypocrite and facing the criticism of being bigger and money minded than any other vocalist, this could be one chance of erasing all that from the audiences mind with a clever set list and a spectacular performance. And as the news is emerging they seem to be planning exactly the same with their own stage and major tweaks in the final song listing to please the audience. The magnitude of this can be realized with them announcing a new song titled “Glastonbury” which is all set to be performed there.
As Paul glances through the pyramid, he would know that this might be one of the most important performances U2 would put in recent times. For aeons, these guys have played in front of a devoted crowd with fans supporting their each and every move but this time it’s different. People are ready to become hostile and are planning to afloat an inflatable banner saying “Bono Pay Up” in protest at their moving the business affair to Netherland to avoid taxes.
U2’s Friday headline can prove a turning point for them and for us viewers it will be interesting to see what they have in store for us.
Coldplay have their own set of concerns (overshadowing U2’s performance can be one). Although they have been to the farm several times, the nerves must be running high. The last time they headlined it, their album “X&Y” was a month old. Now, they enter the stage without even the name of their new record announced. Uncertainty looms large both for the audience as well as the band themselves. In 2002, before which the “bedwetters” joke had reached its peak, they were able to silence everyone with an explosive start of “Politik”. They had introduced several songs which received overwhelming popular reviews both from the audience and critics alike.
Repeating the same this time around seems difficult, the focus and attention towards them have increased many folds and the new song “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall” has received mixed reviews from fans. However, the other new tracks that they have tried in follow up to Glastonbury seems to be receiving better audience reactions and “Charlie Brown” in particular cries for massive participation from the crowd. Coldplay have a massive job ahead of themselves to strike a right chord before the highly anticipated LP5 drops. Cometh this Saturday and all our queries will be answered.
Happy Glastonbury viewing everyone. Oh! And just one thing, the rain can spoil all the fun.
