Cerys Matthews

Having looked over what was available for the afternoon's entertainment we decided that Ms Matthews would be interesting - who knows, she may throw in the odd Catatonia track & she does have an amazing voice.

It seemed, having got to the Acoustic Tent, that a hefty chunk of GF-goers had had the same idea, & once the Roddy Frame fans had left the tent rapidly filled up again to bursting point and beyond.

Whenever Sam Brown appears with Jools Holland there is a detectable wave of sympathy & appreciation, of 'come here love it's going to be fine' from the crowd & Cerys was on the receiving end of a similar feeling. Our Cerys' troubles have been well documented and a number of her new songs seem to comment on the past that she seems to be leaving well behind her. She's with an extremely good band, has some strong material that is ideally suited to her voice (a cross, these days, between Janis Joplin & Dolly Parton) and she's up the duff too, so she must have been having a good time at some point.

As for the performance - flawless. Her time in Nashville has produced a very nice country/bluegrass feel & she is in fine voice. Very fine. Very spine-tingly hairs on the back of the neck fine. It was quiet & soulful on the quiet & soulful numbers, & very very powerful on the louder ones, putting her heart & soul into every note. Every song ended with a tremendous roar of appreciation & respect from the mostly standing crowd that lasted far longer than the usual 'OK that was great now do another one' applause you usually hear. She was chirpy & chatty with us, she charmed us with a big smile, she jigged about in a way most pregnant people don't, & there was even a great comedy moment in the encore: when she announced that the song she was about to do was part written by Pete Townsend it was greeted by a high pitched 'oooh get you' sort of response. It seemed we were all having the same good time.

This passing fancy that we had to see a great voice perhaps do something interesting turned into a genuine Glastonbury highlight filled with lovely Glastonbury moments, and not a Catatonia hit in sight - she doesn't need them anymore. Go out & buy her records now.

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