FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: GLASTONBURY 2024 – PART THREE

We conclude my Glastonbury 2024 journey with a diary of those I saw on the final day, Sunday 30 June. As with the previous reports, it is a subjective selection of acts who especially caught my eye when scanning the considerable choices on the musical menu, allied to what was feasible on the day given the crowds and distances between stages. For those I might have seen but missed, I am grateful for the BBC’s extensive Glastonbury coverage on iPlayer which has allowed me to catch up with disparate acts including Aurora, Ayra Starr, Declan McKenna, Dexys, LCD Soundsystem, PJ Harvey and New Dad, all of whom I would have happily watched live.

Lead photo above by Maja Smiejkowska

That said, one person’s earworm is another’s ear infection. You can’t love everything and indeed I have always marvelled at how people receive some music with such fervour while a dose of the same makes others wonder what all the fuss is about. One thing I can’t agree with though is Camilla Long’s verdict on the BBC Glastonbury Channel and, by inference, the festival itself. Writing in The Sunday Times Culture, the habitually acerbic columnist asked ‘How did they come up with this dreary line-up?’ She closed her witheringly short piece with: ‘I guess the music isn’t good because there isn’t any good music.’ Wrong. As I hope to demonstrate now…

For length of beard the Avalon Stage announcer begins to rival the legendary Peel curator Jim Fox

My first port of call was back at Avalon Stage, sacrificing a yomp to The Park where Glastonbury Emerging Talent finalists Problem Patterns were opening followed by another band I really wanted to see, Lime Garden. It was a tough one but the draw of The Ayoub Sisters, also ETC 2024 finalists, and Irish triumvirate Kingfishr won through. The Scottish/Egyptian siblings, violinist Laura and cellist Sarah, might be more accustomed to a classical music stage yet seemed perfectly at home on the Avalon. Accompanied by guitarist Filippo Dall’Asta and percussionist Daniele Antenucci, the whole set shimmered with virtuosity matched by the emotive stirrings the Sisters’ music engenders; its power to transport you evidenced by “Aatiny Al Naya Wa Ghani” with its masterful guitar opening resolving to a stately theme. It conjured images of an old b&w film set in Lebanon featuring a 1940s-style James Bond. The emotive peak, however, was reached mid set with “Madad/Agios.”

This piece, written for the album Arabesque, was inspired by an Islamic prayer and a Coptic Orthodox chant, blended to illustrate how beautifully the twin melodies work in harmony and to signify powerful ways to bring people and ideas together. Hearing the piece live was a moving experience that brought tears to eyes. The whole set had variety and verve in equal measure from spirited jousts between violin, guitar and cello to the folk stomp build of “Tamally Maak” with screamingly high cello at the end to even a masterful drum solo later. The Ayoub Sisters finally smuggled the three-man Beatbox Collective on stage for an encore of “Misirlou.” A triumphant Glastonbury debut for sure.

I had been told to look out for Kingfishr and as the Limerick-based trio was next up on Avalon, there was hardly an incentive to wander off. The crowd already grown by The Ayoub Sisters began to fill the tent, swelled in part by a loyal, fervent following who clearly loved singing the words back. Supplemented here by a bassist and drummer, Edmond Keogh (Eddie) is a commanding frontman and acoustic guitarist with a rich, fulsome baritone while bandmates Eoghan McGrath (McGoo) on banjo and guitarist Eoin Fitzgibbon (Fitz) add musical counterpoint brimming with camaraderie. The songs have an immediacy, are delivered with passion and a touch of humility.

Tom Robinson once said that you only need to write three killer songs to make a career in music. If so, the Kingfishr lads are well on that road as I counted at least two of them. Mid-set, “Leave” was heartfelt in spades, an anthemic song with a touch of U2 about it while “Shot In The Dark”, delivered with stripped back guitar, banjo and mouthorgan with Eddie coming to the front of stage got a monster reaction from the crowd. “We met at Limerick Uni, quit our jobs and here we are. How crazy it is to be a musician” Eddie aptly declared. The rhythms of traditional music were present throughout the set, along with a nod or two to the sound of early Mumford & Sons. The final song, “Caroline”, with its stirring emotions and fabulous chorus topped the lot. Sadly, I can’t demonstrate quite how great it sounded on Avalon but here it is when the band played the BBC Introducing Stage on Saturday.

The Avalon Stage had become my favourite place of Glastonbury 2024 and I would have gladly stayed to hear Toyah & Robert, the married couple uniting punk and prog rock history whose lockdown-inspired ‘Sunday Lunch’ sessions on YouTube proved so popular and are still going strong today. My delayed arrival on Thursday however had foiled plans to spend more time in the Green Fields and I was keen to catch up with Widnes singer, songwriter and musician Jenny Colquitt, whose EP Dear Daughter I had written about back in early 2021. En route to the comely Toad Hall Stage, I stopped for a hot dog (they have no road sense these days) and sitting on a spare bench was reminded of phrases I won't miss when it’s time to journey home. ‘Yeah yeah yeah’ which a group of four close by inserted into almost every other line of their conversation while ‘make some noise, Glastonbury’ was audibly drifting over from West Holts Stage.

Reaching Toad Hall, I noted that the amphibians hanging from the tent’s roof ceiling are no more, now replaced by the moon and stars. Hopefully it wasn’t a comment on climate change. This was to be Jenny’s first solo gig at Glastonbury though she had played with the fluid, all-female Heard Collective earlier in the weekend.

Today’s set was built around her debut album, Something Beautiful, and her latest, Staring at the Moon. Jenny’s voice is resonant, equally capable of mellow moments as it can be powerfully stretched. “Little Boy Blue”, a song about dreams and shooting for the big time (and quite possibly the trauma of being an Everton FC fan) was delivered in rich country-flecked tones.

Switching from guitar to piano, the yearning quality of her voice was seen to great effect in “Without You” while the impassioned balladry of “Something Beautiful” showed another facet of this versatile, accomplished artiste. A consummate set closed with a plea for unity in “Fallin’ Angels” and a neat put down of negative people in “Dirty Town”. Nothing negative here.

The day so far had been pretty relaxed so far but we were about to hit that logjam of acts you’d like to see but on at the same time or overlapping. And that was without including the further flung stages like the Acoustic and the Park. I settled on trying to catch a little of James en route to a bit more of Shania Twain followed by a spot of Paris Paloma and then onwards in reasonable time for Alvvays. I arrived by the side of The Other Stage to see James’ follically-challenged frontman Tim Booth crowdsurfing while delivering the final minute of “Life’s A F-ing Miracle.” Watch HERE. Expecting the 1982 vintage Manchester rockers to save more hits for later in the set, I was delighted that the next song was a true classic, “Sit Down”; an anthem for today as much as yesterday and loved by the crowd. In its original form it was 8½ minutes long until made radio friendly and re-released two years later. In those days the man had hair too.

Photos of Shania Twain by Maja Smiejkowska

Heading over to the Pyramid Stage for Shania Twain in the legends slot was only made feasible via the interstage route to which my press pass gave me access. The country-pop crossover star made a colourful entrance, flanked by drag queens and dancers holding hobby horses. Opening boldly with “That Don’t Impress Me Much”, one that others might have saved for much later in the set, the song played out to a crowd embracing the occasion with cowboy hats and leopard print. As she continued with perhaps a little less familiar songs, you were reminded that it was a great achievement for her to be able to sing at all after her struggle with the effects of Lyme disease. It was natural that she would have to pace things and the softly sentimental trio of “You're Still The One”, “Forever And Always” and “Come On Over” gave her breathing space before the big numbers to come. Though the title may be an exercise in tautology, the middle of the three has always been a favourite of mine so let’s rewind to how it was originally voiced.

Sacrificing more of Shania, my ever so slightly manic afternoon then took me to BBC Introducing (well it was on the way to Woodsies) to catch the opening of London-based singer-songwriter Paris Paloma’s set. I remember seeing her two years ago as one of four acts at an all-female showcase at The Fiddler, a long narrow room in Kilburn if I recall. She has come on some vocally and lyrically, confidently dressed as a lady in red on the compact stage here. There were a fair number to greet her given that Shania was still on as she opened with the soundscape ambiance of “My Mind (Now)”. Accompanied by a guitarist and bassist plus backing tracks, “Drywall” had a decided feel of Laura Marling while “As Good A Reason” trailed her forthcoming debut album. Sadly, I only stayed for the first three songs to get a decent pitch at Woodies to see Alvvays but I hear that Paris finished her set with this one, the viral hit, “Labour”. Topical, eh, though referencing female roles rather than 'owt to do with Kier Starmer.

My trip to Woodises was to see Toronto’s Alvvays who along with Ontario’s Dizzy are among my favourite Canadians. I first saw the five-piece live on the same stage in 2015, a fact lead singer and guitarist Molly Rankin referred to only she said it was 10 years ago. Actually she didn’t refer to me seeing the band for the first time but them playing [OK we get it – Ed]. Founder members, Kerri MacLellan on keyboards and harmonies plus guitarist Alec O'Hanley lined up alongside a newer rhythm section of Lukas Cheung (bass) and Sheridan Riley (drums). Nine years on, the band’s music is still characterised by sharp melody lines and reverb-filled, chiming guitars softened by smooth keyboards but it has taken on a harder edge live as evidenced by “Belinda Says” from Alvvays’ third album, Blue Rev.

The bulk of the set was made up of songs from that latest offering from the acerbic opener, “Pharmacist” with its overdriven instrumental waves threatening but not managing to swamp Molly’s sweeter tones, to epic closer, “Easy on Your Own?” Here and there, cuts from Antisocialites and the band’s self-titled debut album added a mix of wry observation and dream pop gloss. “Dreams Tonite” saw arms raised and swaying to its reflective tones while earlier in the set “In Undertow” married dream pop with shoegaze shimmer. Alvvays left it fairly late to play arguably its best-known song, “Archie, Marry Me”; one of the great indie pop tunes sung lustily by almost everyone in the tent. Sadly, the audience thinned out a bit after “Archie” most probably in a thankless effort to try to see Avril Lavigne but I stayed and cheered the last two songs. Same time another year I hope.

Photo of Avril Lavigne by Maja Smiejkowska

Sadly, my Glastonbury somewhat ground to a halt then as by the time I reached interstage the walkway leading to the Other Stage was full of people trying and failing to get into a full field to see Avril Lavigne whose popularity rivalled that of Sugababes on Friday (see Friday’s coverage). So I’ll leave you with this excellent pic from Maja and a slice of Avril courtesy of the wonderful BBC.

GLASTONBURY GALLERIES

I am especially indebted to Maja Smiejkowska and Uldis Silins for the many fine photos they have kindly allowed me to use in these three Glastonbury dispatches. May I celebrate their work with two galleries, the first from Maja and the second from Uldis - he also supplied the closing shot. It was great to have their company at the Festival. Any uncredited pictures by the way were taken by me on a phone which, of course, you may have already guessed...