So it turns out John Lennon was right after all. You really can get a tan from standing in the English rain.
Sunday morning at Glastonbury, and your Uncut reporter woke up glowing a livid radioactive orange. I blame Robert Plant, who performed his magickal Sun God alchemy last night, setting Worthy Farm ablaze with a scorching Avalon Sunset. And yes, I promise this will be my weather report on this blog, but it’s looking like Glastonbury 2014 will be going out in a blaze of glory. At this rate I will be heading home tomorrow with hay fever, trenchfoot and sunburn. Living the festival dream.
With Dolly Parton, Massive Attack and The Wailers on the musical menu, today is shaping up to be a chillaxing comedown from last night’s riff-crunching metalfest. The Pyramid Arena already feels like a massive family picnic with deckchairs, blankets and Sunday papers spread out across the sun-baked mud flats.
Perched on a raised platform on the main stage, the Malian father-son duo Toumani and Sidiki Diabaté ease us into the afternoon with their intricate kora duets, sinewy sparkles that hang in the air like sleepy fireflies. These ruminative sound paintings draw more on Toumani’s rootsy traditionalism than Sidiki’s musical alter ego as a West African hip-hop star, but they mostly strike a universal note. The understated highlight here is the mournful “Lampedusa”, a quietly devastating requiem for all those desperate African refugees who perish on the hazardous illegal boat crossing to Sicily. Sublime.
More updates from Glastonbury’s final feast of music coming soon.
Stephen Dalton
Glastonbury Day 1: Blondie, New Build, East India Youth
Glastonbury Day 1: Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Band of Skulls and Haim
Glastonbury Day 1: Courtney Barnett and Lily Allen
Glastonbury Day 1: Arcade Fire
Glastonbury Day 2: Kelis and Fat White Family
Glastonbury Day 2: Robert Plant and Lana Del Ray
Glastonbury Day 2: Pixies and Metallica
Glastonbury Day 3: Dolly Parton
Glastonbury Day 3: Yoko Ono, The Wailers, assorted hippies
Glastonbury Day 3: The Black Keys
Glastonbury Day 3: Massive Attack