Field of dreams
Hamish Brown digs deep into festival history and uncovers some truly
pivotal musical moments
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Jay-Z, Glastonbury 2007
The announcement that Jay-7. was to headline Glastonbury was seen by some —- mainly the weekend—hippie middle classes who have adopted their annual pilgrimage as self-serving statement ol~ their true nature whilst working for personal gain — as symbolic of the festival‘s severance from its hippie roots. l)oubters in attendance were silenced when Jay-7, delivered a storming set. tackling head-on the thorny issue of Noel Gallagher calling his presence on the
bill ‘wrong' by opening with a cover of
‘Wonderwall'. Gathered round a fire somewhere. a long way from the music. and with a moral code firmly rooted in openness and acceptance, the real hippies were wholly unbothered by the fracas.
Jimi Hendrix, Woodstock 1969
The rain which blighted the lynchpin event of the hippie era meant that Hendrix was rained oil"
until the Monday. by which time the mud-
BURNING MAN . FESTIVAL
31 Aug-7 Sep. Black Rock City, Nevada. www.burningman.com Go express yourself at this tree thinkers paradise.
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covered crowd had depleted from 500.000 to l80.000. He didn’t disappoint. delivering a two-hour set. including a mauling ol‘ "l‘he Star Spangled Banner‘. which. in an America questioning its core values. whilst Vietnam raged. is still one of the most timely. potent and eerie political statements in music.
Pulp, Glastonbury 1995
In a swell ol' synchronicity. the time between the announcement that l’ulp were stepping in l'or an injured Stone Roses. saw set— closer ‘(‘ommon l’eople‘ become a national anthem. Jarvis~ t‘amous ‘this is the |‘)‘)0s‘ speech was uncannily insightful. Forget ‘(‘ountry llouse‘ vs ‘Roll With It'. it any one moment delined the Britpop. it was this.
BRAEMAR GATHERING
Braemar. Nr Balmoral. www.braemargathering. org
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NOTTINO HILL BRISTOL POETRY JERSEY LIVE CARNIVAL FESTIVAL Jersey, Channel Notting Hill, London. 3-13 Sep. Bristol Old Islands.
www.mttinghillcami
val.biz in the city.
The legendary party in www.poetrycan.co.uk the street remains A roster oi literary untouchable. lovelies.
34 THE LIST 28 May—l 1 Jun 2009
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Orbital, Glastonbury 1994
.-\|though hard to belieye. in l‘l‘H a lot ol' L‘lL‘L‘ll‘tilllL‘ ltlllle‘ “as the [‘I'L‘M‘HL‘ Ul lllt‘ enlightened l‘ew. ()rbital's closing slot on the second stage changed all that. e\pandmg the liori/ons ol' those whose idea ol dance mnsic began and ended with the indie disco. Paying the \\;l) l'Hl' indie/eleclro L‘l'tisstn ct' tllltl tlttllt't‘ musicas-aegig as epitomised by l‘ndeiworld and ('liemical Brothers. this was the moment lllttl [\Hi L'L'll\ l‘llst‘tl.
Bob Dylan, Newport Folk Festival 1963
'l’lie perlormance that cemented Bob Dylan‘s reputation as the most sigmticant \oice in American music and led to him being etllhl‘tlectl poster boy and sa\iotlt‘ ol lolk music. l-‘or a time. he could do no wrong. .-\nd that was the problem . . .
Bob Dylan, Newport Folk Festival 1965
l’ainted into a corner
with the tag ‘spokesman \ tor a generation”. ' 'U'. Dylan’s l'rustration and ‘ desire to experiment saw . .- - wportlollt festival hm go ‘I" '. )4 s "‘ l\ c LLlllL l yl Ill ’0', 22-25 1965
plans to play an electric
set were unknown until he took the stage. and allegedly caused protest moyement ligureliead Pete Seeger to take an me to the power cables. Still seen as an act ol betrayal to the scene that nurtured but ultimately smothered him.
Nirvan R din
1991 a' ea 9 mammmm“ Nestling bclw een ._ i (‘hapterliouse and Silverl'ish. low on the """gti..‘o'dla\:rm
_ ~ . . uvnuuu “a.” ‘33:.” l' H d a v hi I l. the tr i o 2.13.‘.:.‘..' migu'gism . v ' , 3'33: :I‘H‘ .o‘i'lh‘wmu stormed into new song. mm .-
‘Smells like Teen Spirit‘ and thrashed through a 45 minutes that elimaxed with Kurt (‘ohain launching himsell' into the drum kit. 'l‘liey blew away everyone that was playing that day including a lacklustre Sonic Youth and Iggy Pop and suggested something new was on its way. A year later and they were the biggest band in the world. They returned the l'ollowing year as headliners in a bIa/e ol' neurotic glory. but the energy onstage wasn‘t what it was.
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BESTIVAL
11-13 Sep. Robin Hill Country Park, Isle of Wight, www.bestival.net
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GALWAY INTERNATIONAL OYSTER FESTIVAL
24-27 Sep. Galway, Republic of Ireland. www.9alwayoysterfest.com Gal/my t.‘:i‘:l;'ii'.‘:’, MW: '1’ 77M:
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