Glastonbury 2009: The DeeDubya Awards

I got back yesterday from yet another majestic Glastonbury Festival. This year I tented it for the first time in about 8 years (rather than going in my campervan) which meant spendingh a lot more time with friends and hearing many more acts from the main stage from our camp. It was a lot more chilled this year, with less band chasing. Having said that I saw some brilliant acts, had wonderful sing-a-longs, great laughs, drunken dances, glimpses of random acts of weird and wonderness and generally getting away from the humdrum of real life for six days.

So, as this is The Blog of Lists, here are my "awards" of this year's best and worsts, based on last year's categories:

:: Best act:
Blur
Runners up: Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Nick Cave and the Badseeds

:: Most disappointing act
Enter Shikari (not big and not clever!)

:: Best sing-a-long:
The whole of the Blur set! Truely one of the best sets I have seen at Glastonbury. I knew every song and the crowd seemed to be dancing, jumping,pogo-ing and swaying along to ever track. This is a high!

Runners up: Keep On Rockin' in the Free World chorus: Neil Young

:: Best cover:
Neil Young: The Beatle's A Day in the Life

:: Best food:
Thai stir fried chilli duck with vegetables

Runner up: The various uses of batter mix, used by BiggerHalls on his camping stove for breakfast everyday!!!

Best surprise: Bruce Springsteen joining The Gaslight Anthem on stage in the John Peel tent a few hours before his headlning set "Brooce, Brooce Brooce!!!!"

Runners up: Gaslight Anthem's Brian Fallon retuning the favour for Bruce during Born To Run, Damon Albarn getting "emotional" after This is a Low. Wanting to see all three headliners and really enjoying all their sets.

:: Loved:
Thursday night, getting so drunk I gained the nickname JellyDeeDubya, singing VERY loudly to (randomly) Queen's Don't Stop Me Now and Lionel Richie's All Night Long and trying to get the queue for the cinema tent (who were going to see Ferris Bueler's Day Off to sing Twist and Shout (and failing!)

Runners up: the view of a sunny site from the highest point in the flag field, the company, the atmosphere

:: Hated:
The fact that once past security in the Shangri-La area you couldn't turn back, had to walk all the way along the old railway track, running the whole length at the side of the area, THEN through the whole of Shangri-La itself although we didn't want to go in there, ending up coming out a few feet from where we started, if only we could have turned right instead of left.

Runners up: the trek to where we camped, but worth it in the end (great view, in ear shot of the Pyramid Stage)

:: Best improvement to the site:
The general organisation seems very good this year

:: Worst "improvement" to the site:
The lack of the "new" campervan field on the west side of the site. A couple of friends drove to this area only to find it wasn't there and they weren't allowed to sleep in the carparks (which was there). Luckily they had a tent and went onto the main site. It was advertised in all the official documkentation and maps so how many people were left queueing for hours only to find they'd have to go back out and do the same all over again on the other side of the huge site?

:: Glastonbury moment:
Neil Young's four reprises of Keep on Rockin' in the Free World.

Just as you thought he'd finished, he kicked off again (and it didn't seem indulgent or wrong, the crowd couldn't get enough). On the third he had the thousands watch waving their hands from side to side and the sea of arms was amazing, hands already in the air from clapping the "end" of the song only for Neil to start waving with a rye smile on his facing. Superb.

Michael Eavis's top five Glastonbury festival moments

Well, I'm off to Glastonbury Festival (again!) tomorrow so I thought I'd add a list of the festival's head honcho's favourite Glastonbury moments (as seen on the Guardian web site)

T Rex (1970)
'The sun was ­setting, everyone was watching, it was ­brilliant. It gave me the ­courage to carry on with the festival'

John Martyn (1979)
'He was in a good mood for a change. He was always drunk and slagging me off, we had quite a stormy relationship really. But on that occasion, at that moment in time, he was perfect'

The Smiths (1984)
'We had no fence around the ­Pyramid but it was the last year we could do that, because everybody climbed on stage and the band couldn't finish their set. I think they had a good time but ­Morrissey never admits to enjoying himself'

Oasis (1994)
'Not 1995 or any later, because they ­deteriorated with age, I think. But they were fantastic in 1994'

Radiohead (1997)
'I really wanted them to play again in 2008 but I got mixed up with the dates and they couldn't do it. I just think their ­performance that night, particularly of the song No ­Surprises, was very, very moving'

Glastonbury: the DeeDubya Awards

This is my "greatest" list of this year's Glastonbury festival. What impressed me at this year, my awards if you like:

:: Best act:
The Swell Season
Runners up The Verve, The Raconteurs, Crowded House

:: Most disappointing act
Vampire Weekend

:: Best sing-a-long:
The Drugs Don't Work: The Verve
Runners up: She's So Lovely: Scouting for Girls, Weather With You: Crowded House

:: Best cover:
Newton Faulker: Massive Attack's Teardrop
Runners up: The Feeling: Aha's Take On Me

:: Best food:
Glastonbury Rugby Club Chili Wrap
Runners up: Welsh meat and gravy oggie, buffalo burger

:: Best fancy dress:
Officer's Tiger
Runners up: Bus and G's Smurfs

:: Best flag spotted:
A tiny pennant on a huge stick that read "flag"
Runners up: "I slept with Chris Moyles"

:: Loved:
The weather
Runners up: the company, the atmosphere

:: Hated:
Having to leave
Runners up: the bit of rain we had (meaning we missed The Levellers)

:: Best improvement to the site:
The bigger John Peel Stage with screens outside

:: Worst "improvement" to the site:
No speakers ouside the John Peel tent so you couldn't hear what was on screen

:: Glastonbury moment:
Arm in arm with friends singing Hallelujah with Leonard Cohen on stage, the sun going down over the Pyramid Stage, turning around and see tens of thousands of people in the field doing the same, smiles on faces. THAT'S why I go to Glastonbury.
Runner up: The Swell Season playing their Oscar winning song, Falling Slowly, The fingertip Mexican wave towards the stage, orchestrated by Neil Finn of Crowded House

Glastonbury Festival - The Greatest

Well it's over for another year but the memories will last a long time. Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts 2008, the world's greatest festival, was a triumph, after the nay-sayers predicted doom. After a few years mud baths (especially 2005 mega-downpour and 2007 quagmire) and the controversial top billing of a rap artist for the first time (Jay-Z) the media were predicting that after the boom years of the 00's, Glastonbury was starting to show it's age, it's popularity waning (tickets didn't completely sell out until the Friday of the festival, when they usually sell in hours). Luckily, they pulled it out of the bag, the weather (more or less) smiled on Worthy farm and the atmosphere, bands and general all round organisation proved why it's the grandaddy.

After the last two washouts it was Sally's last chance and she said she wouldn't go again if it was wet. Apart from a bit of rain Thursday night/Friday morning the weather was glorious and she now knows what all the fuss is about. Any sludge soon dried up and it was easier to get round that before. I've been going since 1993 and she never believed what it was like dry but we managed to see more bands at more stages than ever: List number one, I saw bands on the Pyramind, Other, Jazz World, John Peel, Park, Avalon, Leftfield, Fire and Dance and Acoustic Stages).

Meeting up with loads of mates from our internet forum at the Cider Bus on Wednesday night and outside the Leftfield tent (fancy dress! photos here LINK) on Thursday prolongs the festival which the media would have you think starts with the main stages on Friday.

Ok, this is the Blog of Lists so on with the business at hand. Although Glastonbury is so much more than the music (it has comedy, cabaret, theatre etc) the music is the main draw for me. Nothing better than lying in a field in the sun, beer in hand listening to a wide variety of brilliant music. So, deep breath here's a list of bands that I saw/heard the whole or majority of their sets in order:

(from outside the Leftfield tent whilst having our fancy dress party! Married to the Sea, The Daisy Riots, he Seal Cub Clubbing Club, Elle S'Appelle, The Rascals, The Pie Tasters, The King Blues, The Slackers)
Hobo Jones and the Junkyard Dogs
Vampire Weekend
Alabama 3
The Ting Tings
Fun Lovin' Criminals
Franz Ferdinand (unbilled set)
Seasick Steve
Crowded House
The Wombats
The Raconteurs
The Swell Season
Jay-Z
Carnival Collective
Dan Donnelly and Friends
Newton Faulkner
Jack Penate
Scouting for Girls
Goldfrapp
Leonard Cohen
The Verve

Also part sets of the following acts (either beginning after another act, the end, waiting for the next act or just wondering past on a journey elsewhere):

The Feeling. Jimmy Cliff, The Gossip, Martha Wainwright, Joan Armatrading, James Blunt, Will Young, Glenn Tilbrook and the Fluffers, Neil Diamond,plus random unknown acts on smaller stages like the bandstand, the fire show and a great Australian reggae duo in the Tiny Tea Tent!

See the next post for my "best of"s of the festival.
View my photo's here LINK

Glastonbury Festival official line-up

Well, here it is, this year's line-up to the biggest festival of contempory performing arts in the country, Glastonbury. This is my annual pilgramage to escape the rat-race and have a few beers in a field listening to some excellent music. Today was the official date of the line-up announcement but they were leaked online on Tueday. I've been a bit slack with the blog (a couple of important football matches got in the way!) so here, a last, the list (for the main stages - this excludes all the dance stages, any entertainment on the Thursday night and much more - more info here):

Pyramid Stage
Friday: Kings of Leon - The Fratellis- Editors- Gossip- The Feeling- KT Tunstall- Get Cape Wear Cape Fly- The Subways-Kate Nash

Saturday: Jay-Z - Very Special Guest - Manu Chao - The Raconteurs - James Blunt - Crowded House - Seasick Steve - The Hold Steady - Shakin Stevens

Sunday: The Verve - Leonard Cohen - Goldfrapp - John Mayer - Gilbert O'Sullivan

Other Stage

Friday: Panic at the Disco - The Enemy - We Are Scientists - Foals - The Hoosiers - Ben Folds - Vampire Weekend - Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong - Hilltop Hoods

Saturday: Massive Attack -Hot Chip - Elbow - Duffy - The Wombats - Neon Neon - Black Kids - The Golden Silvers - The Travelling Band

Sunday: Groove Armada
-The Zutons - Pigeon Detectives- Mark Ronson- Scouting for Girls- Jack Penate- Newton Faulkner- Black Mountain- The Hoodoo Gurus- Emmy The Great

Jazz World
Friday: Jimmy Cliff- Estelle- Fun Lovin Criminals- Special Guest- Candi Staton- Alabama 3- Special Guest- Phantom Limb- Mankala

Saturday: Ethiopiques- Buddy Guy- Imagined Village- Joan Armatrading- Eric Bibb- Massukos - The Blessing- Special GuestBedouin Jerry Can Band

Sunday: Special Guest- King Solomon Burke- Eddy Grant- Dub Colossus- Asere & Billy Cobham- Balkan Beat Fox- Almasala- Portico Quartet- Sense of Sound

John Peel Stage
Friday: Jamie T- The Cribs- Reverend and the Makers- The Kills- The Ting Tings- The Young Knives- Lightspeed Champion- Make Model- Patrick Watson- Roy World

Saturday: Biffy Clyro- The Futureheads- Band of Horses- The Black Lips- Vampire Weekend- The Courteneers- British Sea Power- Holy Fuck- The Teenagers- Hilltop Hoods- Emmy the Great- Dogtanion

Sunday: The National- Spiritualized- Crystal Castles- Brian Jonestown Massacre- The Stars- Rocket Summer- Friendly Fires- The Whip- Yeasayer

The Park
Friday: Pete Doherty- Dizzee Rascal- John Cale- Special Guest- Edwyn Collins- The Duke Spirit- Operator Please- Sons & Daughters- Santogold- Beggars- Magic Wands- Island Line- The Langley Sisters

Saturday: CSS- Battles- MGMT- Very Special Guest- 'Music Through Unconventional Means' With Shlomo's Vocal Orchestra & Special Guests- Kool Keith & Kutmaster Kurt- Special Guest- Alphabeat- St Vincent- Jape- Eugene MacGuiness

Sunday: My Morning Jacket- Tunng- Vetiver- Caribou- Laura Marling- The Mystery Jets- Kathryn Williams & Neil Macoll- The Cave Singers- Alberta Cross- Mumford and Sons- Alan Tyler & The Lost Sons- Redbridge Brass Band

Acoustic
Friday: Seasick Steve- Sinead O'Connor- Newton Faulkner- Arno Carstens- Eddi Reader- Camille O'Sullivan- Eleanor McEvoy- Devon Sproule- Acoustic Stage Blues Club with Grainne Duffy

Saturday: Gilbert O'Sullivan- The Swell Season Featuring Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova- Glenn Tobrook & The Fluffers- Seth Lakeman- Andy Fairweather Low & The Low Riders- Thea Gilmore- Sid Griffin & The Coal Porters- Emily Maguire-Acoustic Stage Blues Club with Grainne Duffy- The Travelling Band

Sunday: Joan Baez- Suzanne Vega- The London Community Gospel Choir- Stackridge- Tom Baxter- Tift Merritt- Foy Vance- A coustic Stage Blues Club with Grainne Duffy- Amsterdam- Lazenby

Avalon Stage
Friday: Sharon Shannon & Big Band- Xavier Rudd- Hazel O'Connor- The Man They Couldn't Hang- Ron Sexmith- Kissmet- Hobo Jones and the Junkyward Dogs

Saturday: The Proclaimers- Will Young- Alabama 3 Unplugged- The Handsome Family- The Wurzels - Rachel Unthank & Winterset- Bacalao- Malarchy- One String Loose

Sunday: Katie Melua- Blazin' Fiddles- Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara- John Tams & Barry Coope- The Baghdaddies Big Band- The Family Mahone- Rafven- Nuala & The Alchemy Quartet- Prison Love

Queens Head

Friday: DJ Tayo's Tracksuit Party- SingStar- DJ Smash n' Frab- Singstar- DJ Smash n' Grab- Singstar- Kate Nash- The Script- Young Knives

Saturday: Dj Sean Rowley- SingStar- DJ Sean Rowley- SingStar- DJ Annie Mac- SingStar- Pigeon Detectives- White Denim- Ron Sexsmith- Teddy Thompson- Duke Spirit- The Modern Skits- Stephen Pretwell or The Accidental- Red Letter Day- Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong- The Holloways- Catpain- Babel- Team Waterpolo

Sunday: DJ The Voguettes- SingStar- DJ The Voguettes- SingStar- DJ Soulsavers- SingStars- Elbow- Noah and the Whale- Florence And The Machine- Congregation- Dengue Fever- Dawn Kinnard- Cocknbullkid- Ladyhawke

Left Field
Friday: John Byrne- David Ford- Frank Turner- Beans on Toast- Alabama 3- The Holloways- Kate Nash- Jenners Field- Charlotte Campbell- Dance for Life- Tawiah- Heve Jones- Buddha Tears- Dockers MC- Brit School Presents - Dance for Life

Saturday: - New York Fund- Lazy Habits- Reverend and the Makers- Get Cape Wear Cape Fly- Neville Staple- The Krak- The Mentalists Rock Against Racism- Cars on Fire- Flykiller- Alex and the Drummer

Sunday: - Night of Treason- Neck - Billy Bragg- Dirty Pretty Things- Bluetones- Build a band youth music- Movie - Jail Guitar Doors- Phil Jupitus- The Beat- Left Field Rally with Tony Benn- Carnival Collective

and a few other acts:

Theatre & Circus: The 2 Ladies • 3cubed • 4 Poofs and a Piano • Airealism • Andi Neate • Andrew Maxwell • Andy Parsons • Angie Mackman •Attila the Stockbroker • Black Eagles • Blackskywhite • Brendan Burns • Bruce Airhead • Cascade • The Cholmondeleys & The Featherstonehaughs •Coreo Hazzard • Dare • Dino Lampa • Ed Tudor-Pole • Fidget Feeet • Flameoz • Fraser Hooper • Glen Wool • Guy Pratt • Half Human Video • Hard Shoulder• Ian Cognito • Jeff Green • Jonathan Kay • Joolz & the New York Alcoholic Anxiety Attack • Josey Long • Keth • Kevin Eldon • Mike Raffone • Missfitz• Mitch Benn • Nick Wilty • Nina Conti • Norbi • The Others • Ole • Robin Ince • Rod Laver • Rory Motion • Russell Howard • Shep Huntley • Sierra Maestra• Siyaya • Starfiz • Stargazing • The Stephen Frost Improv Allstars • Steve Gribbin • Twisted Cabaret • Yvette Du Sol

Shangri La: 12 Stone Toddler • 40 Thieves Orckestra • Amigos • Babyhead • Bearlesque • Bison • Black Twang • Blackblock • Brothers Bab • The Chump DJs• Crystal Distortion • Cuttashine • Dead Silence • Deekline & Wizard • Digs & Whoosh DIY • Don Bradmans • Double Edge • Dubfex • Dynamo Rhythm Aces• Gaz Mayall • Gypsy Delica • Heyseed Dixie • The Holloways • Iiyak • J-Star & McHoney Brown • Jaipur Kawa • Kartel Records • Kid Harpoon •Last Man Standing • Last Man Standing Saloon • Latin Dub Sound System • Lazy Habits • Marner Brown Beans on Toast • Mr Psik & G-Cut • Mudsun• Nathan Flute Box • Natty 4D • Natty Florence And The Machine • Neville Staples (Two Tone) • No 1 Station • Orb Benga And Skream Vagabond Boogaloo• Pronghorn • Ratfinks • Rob & Steve Smokescreen • Robyn Hytchcock • Routes2roots • Shantel and the Bucovina Club • Sick Note • Smerins •Stranger Than Paradise Club • Tofu Love Frogs • Vjamm All Stars • Warlords Of Pez • Wax & Inferno

Kidz Field: Bell and Bullock • Black Cat Theatre • Bodger & Badger • Carolin Emerson • Chris Woz and Picklelily • Christine Willison and Mitzi • CoreoHazzard • DNA • Eventuality • The Foolhardy Folk Circus Clowns • Goffee • Goronwy Thom • Jasmine • John Row • Keep Fruity, Acting Up • MainbraceTheatre • Mike Hares • Monkey Shine Theatre • Mr Mike and Mr Maynard • Nicada Puppets • No Strings Puppet Theatre • Noisy Oyster • Norbi • ParasoleProductions • Pekkos Puppets • Prof. Panic • Seikou Susso • Sidney Sloane • Sirkus on Foot • Steve Tasane • Strawberry The Clown • Tallulah Swirls •Tippety Twig and the Pond Monster • Zu Ariel Dance

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Who says it's expensive at£160? What choice. I think it's an excellent line-up. I've seen a few and am seeing others later in the year but me and Sally got our highlighters out the other day and despite a few clashes we've more or less planned who we'd like to see.

Is there anyone there you would recommend?

Icons of England

Whilst searching the net for information on Glastonbury Festival (there are reports that Jay-Z, one of the festivals headliners might be pulling out, possibly due to the poor sales, yesterday) I found this great web site, Icons: a portait of England. It lists the festival as quintessentially British and the "daddy" of all music festivals.

England has a rich and varied culture and heritage and this great site sets out to prove it by highlighting iconic features of the country. It's thought provoking and stimulates discussion of what makes England great and what things are unique to England.

Here's a list of some of the things Icons has deemed worthy of iconic status:

• Alice In Wonderland
• The Angel of the North
• The Archers
• Big Ben
• Blackpool Tower
• The Bobby
• Bonfire Night
• Bowler Hat
• Brick Lane
• Cheddar Cheese
• Chicken tikka masala
• Cricket
• A Cup of Tea
• Doctor Who
• The Domesday Book
• Eden Project
• The FA Cup
• Fish and chips
• Fox-hunting and the Ban
• Glastonbury Festival
• Globe Theatre
• Hadrian's Wall
• The Hay Wain
• Hedges
• HMS Victory
• Holbein's Henry VIII
• The Iron Bridge
• Jerusalem
• The King James Bible
• The Lake District
• Land Rover
• Lindisfarne Gospels
• Magna Carta
• The Mini
• Miniskirt
• Monty Python
• Morris Dancing
• Mrs Beeton's Book Of Household Management
• Narrowboats on Canals
• Notting Hill Carnival
• Oak Tree
• The Origin Of Species
• OxbridgeThe Oxford English Dictionary
• Parish Church
• The Peak District
• The Phone Box
• The Pint
• Pride And Prejudice
• The Pub
• Punch and Judy
• Queen's Head Stamp
• Queuing
• Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding
• The Robin
• Robin Hood
• Rolls-Royce
• The Rose
• The Routemaster Bus
• Rugby
• Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
• Sherlock Holmes
• The Spitfire
• SS Empire Windrush
• St George's Flag
• Stiff Upper Lip
• Stonehenge
• Sutton Hoo Helmet
• The Thames
• The Black Cab
• Tower of London
• The Tube Map
• The V-sign
• The Weather
• Westminster Abbey
  

For more information on each of these "icons" visit the site by clicking here.
I'd be interested to know what you would add to this list, especially if you are from over seas. How do you see England? I know our American cousins would add "bad teeth" to this list!

Glastonbury 2008 ticket day

Well, today's list could have been a number of things: something on the protests at the London Olympic Torch parade about China's human rights record and their recent treatment of Tibet (too political), the death of Charlton Heston, former great actor and misguided President of the NRA (too political again!).

The fact I've been creating an Interactive Glastonbury 2008 Map as an exercise in learning Adobe Flash has also added to this.

So, what's really been on my mind today: Glastonbury Festival tickets went on sale today and we (and our friends) all managed to get them. The ticket lines were snarled up, never even got through on the phones, but with help from friends (and after securing tickets ourselves, us helping other friends) we're off on our annual pilgrimage to may favourite past time, the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts!

Though there rumours one of the headliners is pulling out (maybe it's Jay-Z cos of his recent marriage to Beyonce, can't see her in a pair of wellies) and possibly being replaced by Kylie (she had to pull out a few years ago because of her breast cancer), here is a list of some of the rumoured and confirmed artists as of today:

Confirmed (all confirmed by organiser, Michael Eavis):

Pyramid (main stage) headliners:

Kings of Leon

Jay-Z

The Verve

Confirmed by the Eavis' or the bands themselves:

Alabama 3

Simon Atkinson and the Ben Marcato Trio

Joan Armatrading

Audioporn

Bodger & Badger!

British Sea Power

Solomon Burke

CSS

Jimmy Cliff

Leonard Cohen

Neil Diamond

Pete Doherty

Dreadzone

Duffy

Editors

Elbow

Elle S'Appelle

The Enemy

Estelle

The Feeling

The Fratellis

Goldfrapp

Hobo Jones and the Junkyard Dogs

Hot Chip

Johnny Action Finger

Seth Lakeman

Massive Attack

Andrew Motion

Kate Nash

Gilbert O'Sullivan

Pronghorn

Red Route

Shlomo and the Vocal Orchestra

Stackridge

The Wombats

The Wurzles

Rumours, nothing confirmed but looking likely (for example, things on their MySpace pages mention their appearance):

3 Daft Monkeys

Adele

Band of Horses

Booka Shade

Carnival Collective
Cerys Matthews

The Courteeners

Dizzee Rascal

Fatboy Slim

Futureheads

Get Cape Wear Cape Fly

The Golden Silvers

The Gossip

Groove Armada

Buddy Guy

Jim Bob

Lupe Fiasco

Foals

Hayseed Dixie

The Krak

The Levellers

Lightspeed Champion

MGMT

Neon Neon

Hazel O'Connor

Panic at the Disco

The Proclaimers

Chris Rea

Seize The Day

Sex Pistols

Scouting for Girls

Sons and Daughters

Stereophonics

System 7

The Subways

John Tams

Team Waterpolo

The Ting Tings

Vampire Weekend

Way Out West

Amy Winehouse

Yes Sir Boss

Young Knives

Will Young

**added note**

Just a quick note to add to the previous post, to say congratulations to The Klaxons for winning the Mercury Music Prize last night. The prize is awarded for the best British or Irish album of the last 12 months.

We caught the end of one of their sets at Glastonbury this year and they were great. I wish I'd seen it all. We saw their afternoon appearance (they'd also played the dance tent) and commented at the the time I thought it would have been better at night with the light show. Still good though.

It's nice to see a winner of the prize that is doing something slightly different. I just hope they dont suffer the curse of the Mercury's and disappear into obscurity... Anthony and the Johnsons/Ms Dynamite/Gomez/Roni Size anyone?

Top 10 Live Acts*

1. Radiohead - Glastonbury 2003
2. Paul McCartney 2004
3. David Bowie 2001
4. Coldplay 2003 & 2005
5. Faithless 2002
6. REM 2002 & ?
7. Scissor Sisters 2004
8. The Levellers 2005
9. Orbital 2004
10. White Stripes 2002
    

As my lovely wife Sally has bought me tickets to see my favourite band as a kid, The Police, this weekend, I thought I'd start my lists with best music acts Ive seen live. *I decided to narrow these down to acts Ive seen at Glastonbury Festival since the year 2000. I first went to the festival in 1994 but really cant remember all the bands Ive since then!

10. The White Stripes: Playing mid afternoon The White Stripes blew me away. Relatively unknown back then but championed by the late, great John Peel, Jack and Meg took to the huge stage and filled it ten times over. A blistering, manic set that turned me into a fan. Best moment: Hotel Yobba

9. Orbital: My only regret of the inevitable line-up clash choices at Glastonbury is not going to see Muse on the main Pyramid Stage. I still want to see them but this was the Hartnoll brothers last gig as Orbital in England (and all my mates wanted to see it). Luckily, it was a great, joyous uplifting set, a great way to end that year's festival. (The third time I'd seen them so I knew it'd be good!). Best moment: tricky, probably Chime

8. The Levellers: The massive downpour that everyone woke up to that June morning (a months worth of rain in 7 hours) couldnt stop the faithful partying down to the quintessential Glasto band. Fittingly, everyone had the crusty look but with big smiles on their faces.Ive never seen the Jazz World Field so busy and the atmosphere was brilliant and proved the resilience of the Worthy Farm faithful. Being there with Sally, at her first Glastonbury for her first time, helped. Best moment: One Way

7. Scissor Sisters: For the same reason as The Levellers, Scissor Sisters made it a party in the drizzle and the set made it feel like the sun was shining. Glastonbury throws up a surprise package for me every year and in 2005 it was the camp popsters in sequined jumpsuits. Best moment: Take Your Mama

6. REM: Two brilliant sets, showing the depth and breadth of their amazing back catalogue. Michael Stipe is the perfect frontman with a voice that can be scathing one moment to angelically tender the next. One of my favourite live bands in the perfect setting. Hairs on back of neck to Nightswimming, tears in the eyes to Everybody Hurts, sore throat after End of The World As We Know It. How can I pick a best moment? OK, best moment: Dedicating Imitation of Life to Jean Eavis, Glastonbury supremo's wife, who had died the previous year.

5. Faithless: This was just one of those perfect moments. In my opinion not a great album band and frankly their singles were pretty run of the mill but something special happened in that field that night. My friends were of elsewhere, not interested and for an hour or so I met new ones, stranger in the crowd and we jumped up and down together to a set that vibrated right through the whole crowd. The best moment has gone down in history, and to paraphrase Maxi Jazz, if I live to be 100 I'll never forget that. Best moment: We Come One

4. Coldplay: Two appearances, one that turned them into superstars the second, the returning heroes. Powerful stuff, politics, emotion and a damn good singalong. Best moment: the improv word changes in A Rush of Blood to the Head all about Glastonbury.

3. David Bowie: In 2000 Glastonbury was rammed. Its estimated that as many people jumped the fence as paid. About 80,000 people were at the Pyramid Stage to witness Bowie's greatest hits set that showed why he's been at the top of his game for so long. As soon as he stepped up to the mike and said "Hello" I understood why some people are stars and others just pretenders. With a set list that included the likes of Man Who Sold The World and Life on Mars, how could it fail? Best moment: Heroes

2. Paul McCartney: He was in the Beatles. He started with a non Beatles song (Jet) and it was brilliant. I was with my sister, the biggest Beatles fan born in the 70s I know. My niece was on my shoulders during Hey Jude, the "na na" phrase rang through the whole festival site for hours afterwards. Special. Best moment: the fireworks for Live and Let Die (cos Ive already mentioned Hey Jude)

1. Radiohead: I missed the quagmire years on 97/98 so missed their legendary set in 97. In 03 it waqs just after the release of Hail to the Thief and Radiohead were angrier with the state of the world more than ever. Again my mates were off elsewhere and I just stood alone in a field on thousands, engrossed and emotional, completely wrapped in this amazing sound, energy and feeling coming from the stage. Radiohead play as if there is noone else there and it makes it seem personal in a huge crowd. The best of best moments:Thom Yorke going quiet as the whole field whispered "For a minute there, I lost myself" back at him. Spine tingling just thinking about it.

This was very difficult to keep it down to 10 and these are just There the moments I can think of right now. There were many more.
Special mention also to: Snow Patrol 2004, Ezio - 2000, Brian Wilson 2005, Kaiser Chiefs 2007 , The Who 2007, The Killers 2005/07