Yuck... Festival thoughts and other bands

More often than not I write my thoughts ‘live to blog’, or at least something pretty close to that given that the images have to be found and or adapted. Just at the moment I can’t seem to get started, although I know things about which I want to write. I hope you don’t mind that I’m thus minded to invite your comment here. I am cheekily using you as a sounding board – knowing that we share at least a proportion of our music in common – but the truth is I’m really not sure where my boundaries in new music lie.


Wednesday 23 June:
Glastonbury is 40 and, while I’m not going in person, I’m minded to catch as much as I can via the various media sources. Therein lies another problem: like many of you I guess I like much older music and I’m not even sure where that lies for me either. In the last few days I’ve been working my way through more vinyl: those that have particularly caught my attention are ‘LIVE – In Europe – Rory Gallagher’ (1972) and, just this evening, ‘Bruce Hornsby and The Range – On The Southside’ (1988). Two totally different albums but I like them both, a lot. In fact after some cleaning they both appear to be as essentially faultless as any vinyl that you might be prepared to risk playing.
The underlying problem is, and this has become more so over the last few years, that I like more and more new music and also a wider range of music in general. I had long believed that it wasn’t like this! The point here is that I’ve been trying to prioritize those bands appearing at Latitude 2010 that I would most like to see. That there will be unavoidable clashes is inevitable and that is just the way of things. The scarier thing is just how many, not just how many clashes, but just how many acts including the perhaps lesser known ones that I am already aware of. Previous years have been notable for my seeing ones that I was completely unaware of – that is a joy of live music – and some of them are now rather better known.
Of course I want to see ‘Florence And The Machine’, headlining the main stage on Friday, but also many others less well known. Acts as diverse as ‘Laura Marling’ and ‘Crystal Castles’, both on the (main) ‘Obelisk Stage’, are almost certain to clash with other acts, on lesser stages, that I also want to see. There will indubitably have to be some tough decisions made…
I have a long list… the problem is that I know it cannot be fully realistic, not least as I do not have the set times, but even then certainly not fulfilled.
I want to see 'Yuck’, a good band name if ever there were one and it has a blog too, ‘Esben and The Witch’ and plenty of others. What is perhaps more interesting, at least to me, are the as yet less widely known bands that are well and truly on my 'must-see' list and those as yet unknown to me.


Thursday 24 June:

The first bands are just taking to the small stages at Glastonbury as I write from a location that is just twelve miles away as the crow flies. The thoughts always come round to weather - and the mud that comes with it - when Glastonbury is mentioned.
Let me tell you this: It is 9pm and I've just been outside to take a look at a Wedgwood Blue sky with hardly a white cloud as appliqué decoration. It is warm, about 20ºC/68ºF, virtually calm and if that is not perfectly wonderful festival weather then I can't imagine what is. It is predicted to remain thus for the duration too, with just the possibility of a thundery shower on Sunday afternoon, and by then it might well be welcome relief.
I've plenty more to add, and I intend to watch as much Glastonbury coverage as I can this weekend, but this will have to do just for now.