Glastonbury Festival: 25/6/10.

Glastonbury – the mother of all festivals, the epitome of all things hippie-ish. After dipping my toes into the reputable world of festivals last year, I was lucky enough to grab a ticket to this year’s ‘Glasto’, unaccountable acres of strange sights, endless stages, tents, and in this year’s case - armies of sunburnt music lovers.

To avoid the longest blog yet, here’s a summary of Friday 25/6/10 - the first of three.

Wobbly board extraordinaire Rolf Harris kicked off Friday’s festivities with a set that placed the mood for the rest of the weekend. Cries of ‘Tie Me Kangaroo Down’ rang out across the Pyramid Stage, with inflatable kangaroos and the like being thrown in the air at regular intervals. There’s nothing like a helping of classic sing-a-long cheese to please the crowds. With Femi Cuti then bringing something a little different to the festival and a reputable performance from the stunning Corrine Bailey Rae, we were then left with Willie Nelson, the only thing standing between the ever growing crowd and Snoop Dogg. And boy, did Nelson go on for hours...

But then after what seemed a lifetime, one of the personal highlights of the weekend began - Snoop Dogg at the Pyramid Stage. Opening as you can only expect from Snoop, with P.I.M.P, he well and truly owned the crowd, gaining upmost respect. Inviting Tinie Tempah on stage to perform a rendition of hit ‘Pass Out’ bettered the performance further, ending in Snoop and the crowd alike bellowing out his favourite line – ‘Smoke weed everyday!’ Obvious legalities aside, Snoop proved his reputation as one of the most prestigious rap artists of today.

Then came Canadian pop rockers Vampire Weekend, with their quirky guitar riffs and odd, distinctive vocals. Of course, A-Punk was the strongest track, gaining the most recognition from the audience, proving to be their ‘Wonderwall’. Dizzee Rascal was next to make an appearance. After belting out football hit ‘Shout’, mash-ups of Blur, Nirvana and hit ‘Stand Up Tall’ definitely shook off the cobwebs.

After various preparations and the odd sing-a-long to ‘Hey Jude’ and the like, then came a moment I’d pretty much been waiting for since the announcement of their replacement of 80’s rockers U2 – Damon Albarn’s visual creation – Gorillaz. Unfortunately, visual’s aside, they were somewhat disappointing as a whole, with Snoop Dogg's collabaration during introduction 'Plastic Beach' aside. Don’t get me wrong, being an avid fan of their latest album ‘Plastic Beach’, there were some belters in there with ‘Empire Ants’ and ‘Glitter Freeze’ being two of their strongest tracks aside from staple tunes such as ‘Dare’ and ‘Clint Eastwood’. However, it appeared the crowd were not too familiar with Gorillaz new style, and simply craved the classics, becoming restless when Arabic inspired ‘White Flag’ was offered up. Perhaps Albarn and Co would have been better received in 2011’s festivities, by which time the brilliant ‘Plastic Beach’ would have gained the acknowledgment it without doubt deserves. However, overall audience reaction aside, Gorillaz were nevertheless inspiring, with Albarn’s moody demeanour somewhat adding to his undoubtable charm.

Culture Vultures.

There are plenty of bands and artists to write about these days, stacks of praise worthy records released and the odd track that demands my attention. But it’s not as often that a local band ticks these boxes - perhaps I should have paid attention a while ago. But for those of you, like me, who made the mistake of not listening to the Culture Vultures before now, there is still plenty of time to catch up.

Oozing with influences from Radiohead, Blur and the general crème de menthe of the music world, Culture Vultures are a four piece ensemble from the Medway Towns who were brought to life in various corridors of University digs and pretty much any other space they could get their talons into. Having only formed just over three months ago, Jamie, Matt, Joe and Jack took it upon themselves to fly the nest, playing local event ‘Feel the Noise’ in Earl’s Bar, Maidstone on the 1st July, outshining other neighbouring bands and artists despite it being their first gig.

Kicking off with math pop pleaser ‘Animal’, the scene was set for the rest of the night. Despite a few tuning mishaps in-between tracks, the lads charmed the audience with Jamie admitting they were unable to afford a guitar tuner just yet. (Don’t worry guys; I’m sure we could all chip in!) With their personalities clearly being a strong part of the band, each momentary pause was soon forgotten as they stole the audience’s attention with Damon Albarn-esque vocals and a melancholy vibe that Elbow’s front man Guy Garvey would be in awe of.

With the highlight of the evening coming in the form of track ‘60’ towards the end of their set, it appears as though they flew the nest at just the right time, proving that local bands don’t have to be the next Blink 182 or Greenday to make themselves noticed. So, move over pop punk kids – in fact, don’t bother at all. Cultures Vultures refreshingly mature style is far more appealing.

For those who’d like to catch the Culture Vultures in action, they’ll be playing on the 15th July at Breeze Bar in Maidstone and again during Riverside Live on the 31st in Chatham. Check out their MySpace for further info, tracks and some pretty cool drawings of the Vultures themselves.


http://www.myspace.com/culturevulturesband