There's more to Glastonbury than the Pyramid stage, John Peel stage, and, er, the Other stage. PRS for Music set list collector Tony Lawrence spent a lot of the weekend hanging around the East Dance Tent and jotted down a few observations...
FRIDAY
Katy B
Up to this point I have almost been stuck in the mud numerous times! Please God, make it go away!!!!Anyway, going some way to placate my mud-induced angst was the beautiful Katy B. I’m anything but a fashionista but she did look gorgeous in her white summery dress which created the perfect backdrop for her fiery red locks!
Enough, I digress.
Miss B opened with DJ Zinc produced Louder which set the crowd up nicely for the rest of her set which she flowed through effortlessly all the time engaging playfully with the mud-caked masses (did I say mud?)
Highlights were Lights On, the anthemic Perfect Stranger and everybody’s sing-along favourite Katy On A Mission.
Ke$ha
So here’s the thing, you have divas and you have divas, this young popstress just raised the bar!
Now if you see any of my other brief reviews you will know me and mud won’t be sharing any type of living space together anytime soon. But to be fair this was Glastonbury, the daddy of all festivals, so you get on with it yes? Not if you are Ke$ha. I witnessed said diva being carried from the back of the stage Cleopatra style to the toilets some 40 metres away and back again because she didn’t fancy being a mortal like the rest of us for the 30 seconds it took to walk to the toilet, hmmm?
That said, whether she is your cup of tea or not she put on one hell of a show. She may have looked like she had just come of the set of Mad Max but boy she knew how to rock the packed East Dance Tent. She wowed them with some nicely choreographed dance moves with her dancers obviously and tracks such as Your Love Is My Drug, Blah Blah Blah, Blow and the massive hits Tik Tok and We R Who We R which were definitely highlights, but her track Cannibal stole the show - along with her drink blood from a fake heart (at least I hope it was!!)
Mike Posner
Mr "Cooler than me" wowed the crowd with his on-stage presence and bundles of energy, flew through some of his lesser-known tracks and ended with the global pop anthem Cooler Than Me with added bearing of his upper torso, which sent some of the female contingent into a bit of a frenzy! Ooh Matron!
SATURDAY
Skepta
Really didn’t know what to expect here, mainly because the tent didn’t really seem to be as busy today as it had been yesterday. Some of the earlier acts which included Mz Bratt, Jodi Conner, Yasmin and Giggs, although all putting on decent shows, didn’t quite get the bums on seats or feet in mud should I say!
Anyway, the fact that Skepta had a live band in tow also raised an eyebrow or two, as it isn’t really the norm for an artist emerging from the grime scene , something which Skepta eluded to during his performance.
The Boy Better Know head honcho put in a very decent shift and appears to be some what the showman and had a commanding stage presence.
Definite highlights were Too Many Man (We need some more girls in here) and the pop smash Rescue Me both of which translated very well when played by the live band.
I see big things ahead for Mr Skepta!
Labrinth
The clean cut fellow known as Labrinth seems to be emerging nicely from the shadow of his pal Tinie Tempah, who was also in attendance to see his mate do his thing. Sadly the tent was not at its heaving best for most of the set despite a good innings from Mr Labrinth.
That said he did a stand out job on the massive Let The Sun Shine which had all sundry singing along gleefully.
With talk of collaborations with the likes of Seal and Bjork on his debut album, there is a very bright future ahead for this guy.
Professor Green
Can't say I have been an avid follower of Prof Green but I have quite liked his tunes when chancing upon them.
His performance though which rounded off the night at the East Dance Tent on Saturday was a corker and may go some way to me seeing what else the Professor has in his locker!
A great stage presence combined with some funny and engaging banter with the crowd kept the packed tent locked on.
He belted out the Dubstep juggernaut Jungle which was a personal fave and the cheeky Monster (please check this, some of the lyrics are hilarious)! before wrapping up proceedings with the hits I Need You Tonight and Just Be Good To Green.
FRIDAY
Katy B
Up to this point I have almost been stuck in the mud numerous times! Please God, make it go away!!!!Anyway, going some way to placate my mud-induced angst was the beautiful Katy B. I’m anything but a fashionista but she did look gorgeous in her white summery dress which created the perfect backdrop for her fiery red locks!
Enough, I digress.
Miss B opened with DJ Zinc produced Louder which set the crowd up nicely for the rest of her set which she flowed through effortlessly all the time engaging playfully with the mud-caked masses (did I say mud?)
Highlights were Lights On, the anthemic Perfect Stranger and everybody’s sing-along favourite Katy On A Mission.
Ke$ha
So here’s the thing, you have divas and you have divas, this young popstress just raised the bar!
Now if you see any of my other brief reviews you will know me and mud won’t be sharing any type of living space together anytime soon. But to be fair this was Glastonbury, the daddy of all festivals, so you get on with it yes? Not if you are Ke$ha. I witnessed said diva being carried from the back of the stage Cleopatra style to the toilets some 40 metres away and back again because she didn’t fancy being a mortal like the rest of us for the 30 seconds it took to walk to the toilet, hmmm?
That said, whether she is your cup of tea or not she put on one hell of a show. She may have looked like she had just come of the set of Mad Max but boy she knew how to rock the packed East Dance Tent. She wowed them with some nicely choreographed dance moves with her dancers obviously and tracks such as Your Love Is My Drug, Blah Blah Blah, Blow and the massive hits Tik Tok and We R Who We R which were definitely highlights, but her track Cannibal stole the show - along with her drink blood from a fake heart (at least I hope it was!!)
Mike Posner
Mr "Cooler than me" wowed the crowd with his on-stage presence and bundles of energy, flew through some of his lesser-known tracks and ended with the global pop anthem Cooler Than Me with added bearing of his upper torso, which sent some of the female contingent into a bit of a frenzy! Ooh Matron!
SATURDAY
Skepta
Really didn’t know what to expect here, mainly because the tent didn’t really seem to be as busy today as it had been yesterday. Some of the earlier acts which included Mz Bratt, Jodi Conner, Yasmin and Giggs, although all putting on decent shows, didn’t quite get the bums on seats or feet in mud should I say!
Anyway, the fact that Skepta had a live band in tow also raised an eyebrow or two, as it isn’t really the norm for an artist emerging from the grime scene , something which Skepta eluded to during his performance.
The Boy Better Know head honcho put in a very decent shift and appears to be some what the showman and had a commanding stage presence.
Definite highlights were Too Many Man (We need some more girls in here) and the pop smash Rescue Me both of which translated very well when played by the live band.
I see big things ahead for Mr Skepta!
Labrinth
The clean cut fellow known as Labrinth seems to be emerging nicely from the shadow of his pal Tinie Tempah, who was also in attendance to see his mate do his thing. Sadly the tent was not at its heaving best for most of the set despite a good innings from Mr Labrinth.
That said he did a stand out job on the massive Let The Sun Shine which had all sundry singing along gleefully.
With talk of collaborations with the likes of Seal and Bjork on his debut album, there is a very bright future ahead for this guy.
Professor Green
Can't say I have been an avid follower of Prof Green but I have quite liked his tunes when chancing upon them.
His performance though which rounded off the night at the East Dance Tent on Saturday was a corker and may go some way to me seeing what else the Professor has in his locker!
A great stage presence combined with some funny and engaging banter with the crowd kept the packed tent locked on.
He belted out the Dubstep juggernaut Jungle which was a personal fave and the cheeky Monster (please check this, some of the lyrics are hilarious)! before wrapping up proceedings with the hits I Need You Tonight and Just Be Good To Green.
