Fun Lovin' Criminals - review by : Jon

Glastonbury Festival 1999

Friday 25th to Sunday 27th June 1999
Worthy Farm, Pilton, nr Glastonbury, Somerset, England
£83

Pyramid Stage, Sunday 27th June

The Fun Lovin' Criminals have hardly made a mark in there home of New York, but in England they are growing and becoming more successful and more widely recognised every time they perform. The recent success can be due to almost constant touring of England and I have been fortunate enough to see them twice before. On Sunday evening on the main stage before the headlining Skunk Anansie they performed in front of probably the largest audience the Criminals had ever seen before. The main arena was packed and it was obvious that Huey from the Fun Lovin' Criminals was in ore of the sheer size of the audience that had turned up to see his band. The set included songs from both 'Come Find Yourself' and the most recent album '100% Colombian'. Such songs as 'Korean Bodega' and '10th Street' from the new album went down well as did the older favourites 'The Fun Lovin' Criminal' and 'The King of New York'. What makes the Fun Lovin' Criminals so special to see live is Huey's interaction with the audience. This is lost slightly when playing in front of such a large audience but they were able to break the set for a short while to show 'Huey's school of acting' which included a scene from 'Scarface'. The climax was the highly popular 'Scooby Snacks' where the atmosphere was simply electric. I think after seeing the television coverage of Sunday evening Huey was in disbelief at the crowd and exactly how popular they had become. It was fitting that they were convinced to play another two songs at the inconvenience of the back stage staff . The originality of the music and the humorous personality makes the Fun Lovin' Criminals in my opinion the best live band around and I would recommend those who have never heard of the Criminals to buy the two albums and try see them live at least once.