Glastonbury Festival Emerging Talent Competition 2010
Saturday 27th to Sunday 28th March 2010Worthy Farm, Pilton, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4 4AZ, England MAP
With the clocks having flown forward an hour the venue is busy early on the second night and we're reminded of the presence of the camera filming the event for tonight's live streaming before the judges and then the first band are introduced.
Tiger Shadow are up next and a bit of a surprise, they have a video to accompany their live trip hop, with real drums and bass accompanying the vocal raps of Komla MC. It's old school flavoured and reminds me of PM Dawn in their upbeat rhythms. It sounds terrific but their suits and ties kind of give them a wedding band image which I can't shake off despite their sound offering so much more. They're also the first band to ever bring visuals to the Emerging Talent Contest.
The Secret Cinema Band are a surprise. They take to the stage after the break and offer a mix of visuals from films like Charlie Chaplin's 'The Great Dictator' and Hitchcock's 'THe Birds' alongside a soaring sonic wall of sound and sometime fragile bleakness alongside a vocal style that screams of Pearl Jam, Bloc Party, and Therapy?. It's more Reading and Leeds than Glastonbury but personally I enjoy the mix and tonight it's something a bit different. Even more so with a violin replacing the more usual four strings of a bass. A band that's a proper live experience, as you really have to see them live to realise they're experimenting in mixing their sound with film - both the image and the soundtrack. It's at times a hard hitting particularly with Chaplin's Fuhrer speech, and an almost slick electronic feel more suited to hard white light, strobes and smoke. They have none tonight and their dark undertow is better suited to rock festivals where they're sure to win fans.
The judges dissappear off to decide, although it's a fairly foregone conclusion with Ellen And The Escapades the name on everybody's lips, and sure enough the judges don't take long and festival organiser Michael Eavis gets up on stage and announces the winner of a main stage slot is indeed Ellen And The Escapades and that six other bands will also play at this year's festival.
review by: Scott Williams
photos by: Karen Williams
Latest Updates
Glastonbury Festival 2025
festival details
festival details
last updated: Today, 10:11am
Glastonbury Festival 2025
line-ups & rumours
line-ups & rumours
last updated: Today, 10:10am
Glastonbury Festival
festival home page
festival home page
last updated: Fri 11th Oct 2024
Glastonbury Announces Ticket Sale Dates For 2025 Festival
Tickets will go on sale mid-November, with small price increase
Tickets will go on sale mid-November, with small price increase
last updated: Fri 11th Oct 2024
Glastonbury Festival 2024 small stages Review
Glastonbury - the Other Side of the Tracks
Glastonbury - the Other Side of the Tracks
last updated: Wed 10th Jul 2024