Friday 26th June 2015
James Bay took to the Pyramid Stage early on Friday
afternoon. He was met by a huge crowd and was accompanied by many famous fans,
including One Direction’s Niall Horan. Bay played a selection of songs from his
album “Chaos and the Calm” including hits such as “Hold Back the River” and
“Let it go”. Bay’s set featured many
melodic tunes and an array of easy to listen to songs which set the audience up
for an exciting weekend of live music. His voice possessed a maturity which
proved his right to be on the main stage and promised many future Glastonbury
sets. James Bay followed his performance on the Pyramid Stage with a short set
on the BBC Introducing stage on Saturday.
After an episode of food poisoning, Catfish and the
Bottlemen conquered the Other Stage on Friday afternoon. Catfish and the
Bottlemen opened with their hit song Kathleen which immediately got the crowd
singing. Catfish and the Bottlemen seem to create a buzzing energy full of youthful
promise and their crowd was mostly filled with loyal and supportive fans-
especially shown in Friday’s pouring rain. It’s my second time seeing Catfish
and the Bottlemen (I saw them play Reading Festival last year before the
release of their debut album) and it’s amazing to see their popularity flourish
after the release of their debut album “The Balcony”. The Welsh band played a
set full of upbeat indie tunes which showcased the skills of the band and put them
in a perfect position for potential future festival sets. Catfish and the
Bottlemen are definitely ones to watch as they could potentially be headliners
of the future as a result of their catchy songs and dedicated fan base. Despite
the rain (and the weather stricken instruments), the band played a set which
got the crowd excited and left the listener with lingering catchy hooks. Van
McCann even stopped the set in order to get a fan’s CD which showed not only
their care and appreciation of and towards their fan base but also reminded the
listener of the band’s journey to where they are now and their support of new
music. Catfish and the Bottlemen are definitely not to be missed. They could
possibly be the next big thing and they’re most definitely well on their way.
There was much speculation as to what would happen to
Florence and the Machine’s early evening
Friday 7:15 set after she was ‘promoted’ to headliner, as a result of
Dave Grohl’s (Foo Fighters) broken foot, and the set remained a secret with
only a few knowing. I’d heard many potential names floating around the site all
day ranging from Ed Sheeran to an acoustic Foo Fighters set. The set was played
by The Libertines, who are currently making a comeback after a recent break
from music, and they were openly welcomed by thousands of elated fans. Doherty
and co delivered a set packed full of hits from the past 18 years and it served
as a hint of what fans could expect at other headline events such as Reading
and Leeds Festival (August 28th-30th). The onstage
relationship between Doherty and Barat- proved by their microphone sharing
after Doherty’s microphone stopped working- made the audience feel at ease and
comforted by their return. Their short notice set was well received and set the
audience up for Florence and the Machine.
But overall, Flo stole the show. Florence proved her
headliner worthiness by producing a spectacular set mixing songs from her new
album “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful” with classic Florence and the Machine
songs such as “Shake it out” and “Spectrum”. The audience particularly enjoyed
Florence’s cover of “You’ve got the Love” (The Source featuring Candi Staton)
and it was being sung around the festival site over the whole weekend as a
result of its catchy tune and lyrics (in which the audience had mostly known
prior to her set). Florence possessed an incredible onstage energy and presence
which radiated positivity and created a somewhat spiritual feeling in her
performance which made the set feel perhaps even magical. The set has launched
Florence and the Machine into a new era of performance and set her miles above
the other acts at the festival. Florence is of course a worthy headliner of
Glastonbury as a result of her constant devotion to the festival over the last
few years. The band reminded the audience of the reason that they were able to
headline the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury in the first place by paying homage
to the Foo Fighters and Dave Grohl with a cover of “Times like These” which got
the whole crowd singing. Florence Welch’s onstage energy caused her to put on a
spectacular show- worthy of any headline spot- and saw her dancing (despite her
recent broken foot) and running around the stage sporadically and at one point
even getting into the audience and singing with/to fans. The highlight of the
set was “Dog Days are Over” in which Welch encouraged the audience to swing
pieces of clothing above their head and temporarily leave their problems behind
them whatever they may be. Florence did this also and removed her shirt before
exiting the stage to a constant roar of audience applause. Florence is not to
be under estimated, as her Glastonbury set proves, and she will undoubtedly be
a staple feature in many of the major festivals over the next year or so.
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