Glasvegas give festival geors the chance for a mass singalong

Glastonbury 2009 review

By Anthony Hetherington | Published: Thu 9th Jul 2009

Glastonbury Festival 2009

Wednesday 24th to Sunday 28th June 2009
Worthy Farm, Pilton, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4 4AZ, England MAP
£175 - SOLD OUT
Daily capacity: 150,000

The past 12 months for Glaswegian 4-piece alternative rock bang Glasvegas have been nothing short of crazy.

Having formed in 2003, it's only been in this time that the band have risen to acclaimed popularity, with their self-titled debut album released only ten months ago being declared as one of the best albums of the past decade.

The band hailed, by Alan McGee, the man who 'found' Oasis, have seen a lot of interest surrounding them, and at last year's festival many curious attendees packed into small tents around the country to see what all the hype was about, including at last year's Glastonbury, when the band played a packed out John Peel Stage.

Their album, sounding very much like fellow Scots, The Jesus & Mary Chain, in my opinion, proved very popular, and this saw the band take a slot on this year's NME Awards tour, which saw their live performances given huge praise.

Playing at dusk, and in the penultimate slot of the final day of the festival, Glasvegas took to the stage to huge applause from the sizeable audience. Clad all in the black, and looking very rock and roll, the band took to the stage and opened up with single 'Geraldine', resulting in a mass singalong.

This was very much the theme for the rest of the set, with audience members singing a long to much of the set, but especially in 'Go Square Go', the brilliantly titled 'Flowers and Football Tops', and set closer 'Daddy Gone', which provided an excellent close to and excellent set.

My personal highlight came early on in the performance with the song 'Polmont on my Mind', as having been stuck in Polmont recently, I was able to link myself to lyrics being sung by lead singer James Allan.

The band, performing before The Prodigy, proved to be an excellent warm-up for the audience, with the crowd taking part in much of the set, warming them up nicely for all the dancing they had to do for headliners.

Taking a huge step up from the previous year, the band lived up to the pressure that was certainly placed on them by playing such a prestigious slot, especially after some had criticised the fact that they'd been given such a slot.

But they certainly delivered, and having previously seen the band last summer, I was impressed with them, but I must note that their set and impressions has not changed in the slightest.

Set list:

Geraldine
Lonesome Swan
It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry
Polmont On My Mind
Fuck You It's Over
Flowers And Football Tops
Ice Cream Van
Go Square Go
Be My Baby
SAD Light
Daddy's Gone

review by: Anthony Hetherington


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