This weekend I’m going to be checking out loads of acts taking part at one of the largest music festivals in the world: Glastonbury. The good news is that I won’t have to worry about getting caught in the rain, paying for over-priced food and beverages, and lugging a tent and sleeping bag around for the weekend. Thanks to the BBC, I’ll be able to watch highlights and full performances from the comfort of my own living room. Thank you very much, the BBC! The only downside is that I’m going to have to listen to BBC DJs and “personalities” engaging in witty banter with each other in between the songs. But that’s a small price to pay, I suppose
I popped onto the Glastonbury 2009 website to have a look at the line-ups for the weekend and I couldn’t get over the number of acts taking part and all the different types of music on offer. I’ve gone through the list with a fine-tooth comb and I’ve picked just over 20 acts that I’d love to see perform. I’ve seen some of these already and I hope that the Beeb will see fit to show clips from their sets this weekend. Obviously, Michael Jackson’s death will be a major talking point and it’ll be interesting to see if any of these acts will pay a tribute to him in song over the weekend. I’d love to hear Bruce Springsteen singing a medley of his own Bobby Jean with Jackson’s Billie Jean. I’m sure that Neil Young would do a blistering version of Beat It. And maybe Jarvis Cocker could give us his take on Man in the Mirror. Here are songs by 20 of the bands that I’d like to see at this year’s festival. Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker and The Kinks’ Ray Davies will both be doing separate solo gigs and Ian McCulloch will be playing with Echo & the Bunnymen. The mix is bookended by a couple of songs about Glastonbury performed by a guy who played a few gigs there in the past, Mike Scott of The Waterboys. Take it away, Mike
Going Back to Glastonbury 2009
“There is a green hill far away/I’m going back there one fine day”
01 Glastonbury Song – The Waterboys
“Oh, is this the way they say the future’s meant to feel?/Or just twenty thousand people standing in a field”
02 Sorted for E’s & Wizz – Pulp
“At this moment, you mean everything/With you in that dress/My thoughts, I confess, verge on dirty”
03 Come On Eileen (Dexy’s cover) – BDB
“Come/As you are/As you were/As I want you to be”
04 Come As You Are (Nirvana cover) – Glasvegas
“Long as I remember, the rain been coming down/Clouds of myst’ry pouring, confusion on the ground”
05 Who’ll Stop The Rain (CCR cover) – Bruce Springsteen
“I see your box is open and you flag is up/My message is ready, if there’s time enough”
06 Motorcycle Mama – Neil Young
“And I love to live so pleasantly/Live this life of luxury/Lazing on a sunny afternoon”
07 Sunny Afternoon – The Kinks
“I’ve got to admit it’s getting better/A little better all the time”
08 Getting Better (Beatles cover) – Easy Star All-Stars
“I go out on Friday night and I come home on Saturday morning”
09 Friday Night, Saturday Morning – The Specials
“I’m sorry son/But we don’t stock/Party gimmicks/In this shop”
10 House Of Fun – Madness
“You hit me once/I hit you back/You gave a kick/I gave a slap”
11 Kiss With A Fist – Florence & the Machine
“With your head on the ground/And your feet in the air/Catch this trick/You spin it, yeah”
12 Where is My Mind (Pixies cover) – Emmy the Great
“You were one inch from the edge of this bed/I dragged you back a sleepyhead”
13 Sleepyhead (Passion Pit cover) – The Mummers
“Put me back in the bottle/Where the sea meets the sun/Where the bones and their rattle/They don’t mean anything to no one”
14 Teeth (Daytrotter session) – Lisa Hannigan
“I’ve known mornings white as diamonds silent from a night so cold”
15 White As Diamonds (Daytrotter session) – Alela Diane
“I remember how they took you down/As the winter turned the meadow brown”
16 Mykonos – Fleet Foxes
“There’s a crack in the roof where the rain pours through/That’s the place you always decide to sit”
17 Travelling Light – Tindersticks
“And the stars in the sky, they never caught my eye/’Cause I ain’t never had nobody like you”
18 Never Had Nobody Like You – M Ward
“Around the house and mind the dresser“
19 Mind the Dresser – Kilfenora Céili Band
“Ooh, and it makes me wonder”
20 Stairway to Heaven (Led Zep cover) – Rolf Harris
“Fate/Up against your will/Through the thick and thin”
21 The Killing Moon (Acoustic) – Ian McCulloch
“I stayed up all night wide awake/Wearing a mile-wide grin/Diggin’ the transient city/And all that grooved within”
22 Going Back to Glasters – Mike Scott
