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Phish: Festival 8 Band To Play Last Record Alive

September 29th, 2009 | No Comments

Phish Festival 8: Band To Play Last Record Alive

Phish‘s Festival 8 site has released a list of 99 albums of which the band will pick one to play on Halloween.

Several albums have already been “killed off” and a note on the site indicates that Phish will “play the last record alive.” See below for a complete list, including those that have already been “killed.”

Special thanks to jamtopia.com for compiling the potential albums list below.

Possible Phish Halloween Cover Albums

Phish

What album do you want them to play? Tell the world on the JamBase Forums.

FYF Fest | 09.05 | Los Angeles

September 17th, 2009 | No Comments

Words by: Justin Gillett | Images by: Court McGee

FYF Festival :: 09.05.09 :: Los Angeles State Historic Park :: Los Angeles, CA

FYF Festival 2009

It must be daunting to orchestrate a music festival. Stress no doubt ensues when organizers have to worry about finding a suitable place to hold the event and book talent as well as secure permits, sell tickets and arrange food and alcohol vendors. Once all the necessary elements are in place, all organizers can really do is wait for the day and pray that everything goes according to plan. For music promoter Sean Carlson pulling everything together for a gathering of musicians and music lovers has been an annual occurrence ever since he organized the first F Yeah Fest in 2004, when he was just 18 years old. Over the past six years, the event has held true to its roots and brought together some of the most talented noise rock, experimental and electro acts from L.A. and around the world to play at the intimate festival, which typically caters to a crowd that wouldn’t be willing to pay more than $30 bucks to see a festival or show.

For the 2009 event, Carlson and the other organizers decided to relocate from Echo Park to the Los Angeles State Historic Park in Chinatown, change its name to the slightly redundant FYF Fest and scale the festival down from a multi-day event to a one day multifaceted musical hodgepodge. The fest was also a fundraiser to raise awareness about the possible closure of up to 100 of California’s state parks. Considering the small scale and slightly guerrilla nature of the event, it’s surprising the obstacles they had to overcome – including the fire marshal preventing the gates from opening on time, ridiculous lines for entrance, food purchases and restrooms, and the near shut down of one band’s performance because the crowd was too rowdy. However, there were some truly amazing performances that turned the woe stricken festival into a resounding success.

FYF Festival 2009

As previously mentioned, the fire marshal delayed general admission into the festival for reasons that one assumes related to emergency exits and crowd safety. This one-hour setback forced early arrivals to linger in long lines while baking in the hot sun. Waiting for entrance and looking over mountainous wildfire smoke plumes that rose in the distance, many surely thought that the event was doomed. But as the gates were opened and people slowly started to trickle in, fears were put to rest as musicians hit the stage.

While there were 33 extremely different acts playing over the course of the day – some good, others not so much – four stick out in particular that are worthy of mention and recognition.

Kurt Vile

One of the first to play was Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter Kurt Vile. Performing alone onstage with an acoustic guitar, beefed up with heavy chorus and reverb effects, Vile captured admiration of the lucky few who were able to gain entrance to the festival for his early set. Possibly best known for his work with the retro, garage-psyc outfit War On Drugs, Vile has recently been touring the country as a solo act and honing his one-man show. Even though his stage demeanor was slightly peevish, his songs were commanding and reminiscent of tracks off Springsteen‘s Nebraska. Many liken his songs to rambling era Neil Young, although after seeing Vile’s set at FYF a more appropriate comparison seems to be the later years of Bob Dylan. Either finger picking or strumming his guitar without the aid of a pick, Vile’s short set acted as an exclusive show for the sparse audience gathered around the stage.

Wavves

Wavves :: FYF Festival 2009

Upon seeing manic drum alchemist Zach Hill setting up his kit with Wavves, rumors were quickly laid to rest that the percussion virtuoso is now playing with Nathan Williams, the mastermind of the San Diego-based lo-fi act. While the band sounded like unfocused adolescents noodling before the addition of Hill, with the noted drummer on board they sound more pronounced and professional. This is possibly not what the band’s fans want, considering Wavves originally prided itself on having no real instrumental talent, but as Williams howled into a microphone overtly accented with heavy chorus effects, Hill proved his worth as he banged away on his kit and occasionally employed a double bass pedal. With the duo playing full force, the audience got riled up and eager crowd surfers floated around the audience, despite signs warning the revelers not to. Near mid-set Williams announced Hill had an abscessed tooth and was in extreme pain. Under the circumstances it wouldn’t have been out of the question for Wavves to back out of the performance, but as a testament to his uncompromising character Hill played on.

Lightning Bolt

Lightning Bolt :: FYF Festival 2009

Before this exalted Rhode Island noise rock act even hit the stage, organizers were telling the unruly crowd cramming and smashing as close to the stage as possible that if they didn’t calm down and “all take a step back” there would be no show. Fans of the band could hardly be blamed for their excitement; this was the group’s first U.S. festival appearance and one of the only times Lightning Bolt, notorious for playing on the ground, would be playing on a pedestal. When the band did hit the stage drummer/vocalist Brian Chippendale and bassist Brian Gibson got such a livid, borderline violent reaction from the crowd during the first few songs that event staff told the duo to stop playing. Organizers told the mob that if they didn’t “step back and respect one another” the fire marshal would be forced to shut down the performance. This threat seemed more genuine and got the crowd to pay attention. When there was some semblance of respect amongst the audience, the band started playing again and struck into another ferocious song. Lightning Bolt played with such primal energy that it was surprising the music didn’t inspire another manic reaction. But as the band played on, focus was shifted from the crowd to the musicians onstage. Chippendale stomped on his kick pedal and rattled his toms extremely hard while he screeched into a microphone affixed to a skintight cloth mask. The drummer had a few effects pedals set up near his kit that drastically warped his vocals, adding to the overall spastic quality of the music. Additionally, Gibson played his bass with such extreme feedback and utter distortion that the sounds coming from his Stingray 5-string were not characteristic of what a “normal” bassist would typically play. Even though the crowd raged on (at one point surfing a kid around the audience on a boogie board), the show continued without further interruption from authorities.

No Age

FYF Festival 2009

The seemingly nonstop onslaught of bands comprised of drum and guitar duos continued with the quintessential Los Angeles noise rock act No Age. With strong ties to the L.A. underground music scene and the FYF – the band claimed to have played the fest six times – No Age felt like a curator of sorts for the festival. While on studio tracks the band often sounds like it’s playing on a child’s tape recorder, live, the band is more pronounced and surprisingly crisp, a nice change for those who don’t care for No Age’s characteristic lo-fi sound. As Dean Allen Spunt banged incessantly on his simple kit – comprised of a snare, bass drum, floor tom, high hats, ride and the surprising inclusion of an electronic drum pad – he seemed to be experimenting and leading the sound while Randy Randall held down the back bone of the songs on his electric guitar. The group would occasionally fall into noise jams that got lost in the incoherent instrumentation, but their overall musicianship was impressive, especially Spunt, whose vocals rarely faltered as he played his kit. The energetic crowd was definitely stoked on the performance, and as a salute to fans in the front row Randall jumped down to the photo pit for the group’s last song, giving fans a more intimate view of his playing.

Continue reading for a few more pics of FYF Fest 2009…


Wavves
Wavves

Lightning Bolt
Lightning Bolt
No Age
No Age
No Age

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Bridge School: Neil Young Monsters of Folk, No Doubt, FF

September 15th, 2009 | No Comments

The Bridge School Benefit Lineup

The Bridge School Benefit is an annual non-profit charity concert held in Mountain View, California every October at the Shoreline Amphitheatre. The concerts are all organized by musician Neil Young and his wife, Pegi. Proceeds benefit The Bridge School. The first concert was in October 1986, and, with the exception of 1987, the concert has been held every year since. As a practice, but not a rule, the performers use acoustic instruments. Young also personally performs every year.

Set to run Saturday, October 24 and Sunday, October 25, a video was recently posted on the Bridge School’s website featuring an artist announcement (see below). In addition to Neil Young, the following artists will perform both nights: Monsters of Folk, No Doubt, Fleet Foxes, Chris Martin (Coldplay), Sheryl Crow, Gavin Rossdale and Wolfmother. Jimmy Buffett will perform on October 24 and Adam Sandler will perform on October 25.

Tickets for the 23rd Annual Bridge School Benefit Concerts are on sale Sunday, September 20 at 10 a.m. at Livenation.com or charge by phone at (877) 598-6659.

Allman Brothers/WSP | 09.01 & 02 | Chicago

September 10th, 2009 | No Comments

Words & Videos by: Herschel Concepcion | Images by: Norman Sands

Allman Brothers Band/Widespread Panic :: 09.01.09 & 09.02.09 :: Charter One Pavilion :: Chicago, IL

Widespread Panic :: 09.02 :: Chicago, IL

I remember the rush of excitement I felt when the Allman Brothers/Widespread Panic co-bill tour was first announced. It was last spring, and I was giddy like a schoolgirl with the latest gossip, calling all of my friends and sharing the news with anyone who would listen, and why not? Here were two of my favorite bands that between them boast three of the top five guitarists out there today, and they would be playing right here in Chicago – two nights – and I would be damned if anything could stop me from witnessing this historic tour.

Needless to say, it would be a long summer for me as I counted down the days until what I believed would be the best shows the city would see all year. Of course, there was plenty of good music to tide me over in the meantime – String Cheese at Rothbury was one of the most intense musical experiences I’ve ever had, and Phish at Alpine wasn’t too shabby either – but when it comes down to it, it’s true blue rock & roll that really stirs my blood. And when it comes to that, the Allmans and Panic are two of the best.

Tuesday, 09.01

Charter One Pavilion is my favorite venue in the city. It’s a temporary structure, taken down every fall and reassembled in the spring. One of the few outdoor venues in the city, it sits on a little peninsula, bordered to the west by Burnham Harbor and beyond that by Soldier Field. The Field Museum sits to the northwest, the Shedd Aquarium to the north, and to the east, the great stretch of water that is Lake Michigan, a vast expanse of rippling waves that glittered under the evening sun that day.

Haynes & Trucks – Allman Brothers :: 09.01 :: Chicago, IL

Chicago would be the final stop of the first leg of the tour, with Panic set to close the first night and the Allman Brothers the second. Each act was scheduled to play a full two-hour set with no set breaks (except for between bands), for a total of eight straight hours of music over the two-day period.

The Allmans hit the ground running, blasting out “Done Somebody Wrong” and “Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’” before getting real bluesy with a “Woman Across the River” that saw lead guitarists Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks playing off each other tastefully. After a deep solo by Gregg Allman on the keys, Trucks launched into one of his trademark screaming slide runs. Never one to sit back long, Haynes got mean and heavy with his response, and by the end of the song he and Trucks were firing off licks back and forth. It was downright filthy, real dirty, gritty stuff – and exactly what we’d come here for.

The Brothers were hot now, and it would only get better from there. After the pounding instrumental “Hot’Lanta,” featuring the percussive talents of Marc Quinones, and some more of Trucks’ aching slide on “Stand Back,” the band turned out a great rendition of the always uplifting “Revival” to lighten the mood a bit, and there were more than a few smiles in the crowd as the song took effect.

Ortiz & Schools :: 09.01 :: Chicago, IL

Traffic’s Dave Mason then took the stage, adding guitar and vocals to “Only You Know and I Know” and an extra funky “Feelin’ Alright.” After a jazzy, extended “Dreams” it was time for the second surprise guest of the night as Chicago’s very own Buddy Guy joined the Allmans for “The Sky Is Crying” and “You Don’t Love Me.” It was a bit surreal to watch this combination of jam and blues legends all on one stage, like witnessing a piece of history that one might’ve seen 40 years ago. And these guys clearly still have it, rocking out harder than most men half their age. This was definitely no nostalgia act.

After fan favorite “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” the Allmans closed out their set with a double encore featuring “Melissa” and “Trouble No More.” The “Melissa” was particularly sweet, and began with some poignant soloing by Haynes as the band filtered back onstage with Gregg on rhythm guitar, his gentle but rough, blues-hardened voice as soulful and true as ever.

Not to be outdone, Widespread Panic took full advantage of their first closing spot of the tour, taking the stage 15 minutes earlier than their scheduled set time and jumping right into “Disco” and “Henry Parsons Died.” After a heavy “Bears Gone Fishin’,” the band brought up Derek Trucks for a 15-plus minute, jammed out “Ride Me High.” “Angels On High” was followed by the band’s first-ever rendition of Bob Dylan’s “Just Like A Woman” that found Gregg Allman on his Hammond B3, trading lyrics with Panic’s John Bell.

Allman stayed onstage as Haynes came on to add some six-string work to a highly charged version of the Grateful Dead’s “Turn On Your Lovelight,” a great and welcome surprise to the lucky audience who had already been enjoying a night of great music and guest appearances. But the sit-ins were far from over as Trucks came back out to the stage, where he would remain for the rest of the set.

Widespread Panic :: 09.01 :: Chicago, IL

One of the highlights of the night was a “Papa’s Home” sandwich that featured some terrific interplay between Trucks and Panic’s very own guitar wizard Jimmy Herring. After a nice drums session by skins man Todd Nance and percussionist “Sunny” Ortiz came an extra elevated “Climb to Safety,” followed by a “North” that brought out Haynes, who stayed for the encore – a down home and dirty “Bowlegged Woman” that saw the band play for 15 minutes past their allotted set time. Combined with their early start, that’s a total of 30 minutes of extra music.

With the first night officially a success, there was actually some apprehension expressed by a few fans. “How can you top that?” they asked. “That shit was incredible.” Silly hippies, I thought. This ain’t their first rodeo and these super-pros always know how to up the ante.

The Allman Brothers Band:

Jam > Done Somebody Wrong, Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’, Woman Across The River, Hot ‘Lanta, Stand Back, Revival, Only You Know and I Know*, Feelin’ Alright**, Dreams, The Sky Is Crying***, You Don’t Love Me***, In Memory of Elizabeth Reed

E: Melissa, Trouble No More

* w/ Dave Mason

** w/ Dave Mason & JoJo Herman

*** w/ Buddy Guy

Widespread Panic:

Disco > Henry Parsons Died, Bear’s Gone Fishin’ > Ride Me High* > Diner > Angels on High, Just Like A Woman** > Turn On Your Love Light***, Papa’s Home* > Drums > Climb To Safety* > Papa’s Home* > North****

E: Bowlegged Woman****

* w/ Derek Trucks on guitar

** w/ Gregg Allman on organ

*** w/ Gregg Allman on organ, Warren Haynes on guitar

**** w/ Derek Trucks on guitar, Warren Haynes on guitar

[Only "Just Like A Woman." Last "Turn On Your Love Light" - 09/24/97, 971 shows]

Continue reading for Wednesday’s coverage of The Allman Brothers Band and Widespread Panic…

Wednesday, 09.02

Herring, Hermann, Bell – WSP :: 09.02 :: Chicago, IL

Wednesday’s weather was just as beautiful as Tuesday, albeit with an added electricity in the air. Both bands’ performances had been stellar the night before, and now it was time for round two.

Panic opened their set with a trifecta off their 1991 self-titled album, “Send Your Mind,” “Walkin’ (For Your Love)” and “Makes Sense to Me.” Then came the classic “Pigeons,” which showcased more of Herring’s always plentiful, incendiary guitar work. Honestly, the guy’s a god on his instrument. One of the most technically proficient guitarists out there, Herring can shred an entire song and not play the same lick twice. And he does it with feeling, too, one of the few musicians who can make my head feel like it might explode when he plays.

Panic brought Derek Trucks back out once again, unleashing him on “Mercy” and “Rock.” “Love Tractor” brought the dance party back and featured some more intense soloing by Herring. A fat, funky bass line by Dave Schools – who’s got one of the best tones of any bassist I’ve ever heard – laid down the groundwork for a lead-in to “Barstools and Dreamers,” with Schools plucking away as Herring tore it up and “JoJo” Hermann worked the keys.

Haynes stepped onstage to join Panic for the last two songs of their set, “Me and the Devil Blues” and a downright nasty cover of Neil Young’s “Last Dance” that consisted mostly of Herring and Haynes showing a wide-eyed Charter One crowd exactly what the electric guitar was made for. By the end of their set, Panic played every song off 1991′s self-titled sophomore effort, most of them in order. With the additions of “Last Dance” and “Me and the Devil,” this was truly a remarkable show.

Gregg Allman – Allman Brothers :: 09.02 :: Chicago, IL

With what I’d seen up to this point, it raised the question: how do you top two straight nights of A-grade performances? Easy, just deliver an A+ performance. The Allman Brothers were up for the challenge, and with their final set of the two-night Chicago run they showed the Windy City why they are still one of the greatest rock bands on the planet.

They exploded as soon they hit the stage with the hard-driving “Statesboro Blues,” an opener often reserved for special nights full of heated jams and powerful song selection. “One Way Out” pushed the crowd into a dancing fit, and “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” slowed the tempo a bit before the band brought it down even more with some low, loose jamming that eventually melted into a full-blown “Rocking Horse.” This is where the show really took off. Haynes started out with some smooth soloing and built it up to where his guitar was just screaming, a visceral collage of meaty tones and piercing notes blasting from the stage. “Midnight Rider” is always good to hear, and “Leave My Blues At Home” featured some nice guitar work from Trucks and Haynes, but it was the cover of Van Morrison’s “And It Stoned Me,” featuring Panic’s John Bell, that really hit home. Bell stayed onstage as fellow bandmate JoJo Hermann came up for a sit-in on Bob Dylan’s “It Takes A Lot to Laugh, It Takes A Train to Cry,” one of the best versions I’d ever heard.

What happened next I can’t really put into words. That was when – after it appeared we couldn’t get any higher – the Allmans took it to the proverbial next level. After achieving liftoff with an outrageously rockin’ “Black Hearted Woman,” the band brought JoJo, Schools and Herring out for an absolutely ridiculous “Southbound” that completely blew away the version I’d seen them play last year with the North Mississippi Allstars’ Luther Dickinson. The guitar work on this one was fierce and charged with an energy that only the most talented of musicians can dream of channeling.

The Allman Brothers Band :: 09.02 :: Chicago, IL

Herring stuck around and played the blues on “Stormy Monday” before the Allmans, who have never shied away from pushing their own limits, began with the rolling drum work of Jaimoe Johanson and Butch Trucks that would soon evolve into “Mountain Jam.” This is the song I’d come hoping to hear. An epic instrumental tour de force, I recognized it immediately. I felt that giddy schoolgirl anticipation building up again, a burst of exhilaration that shot through me as soon as I heard the signature riff. Once again, hearing this song was an experience that I can’t quite put into words, and I’m not sure how the Allmans do it, but “Mountain Jam” is one of those rare melodies that puts many people, including this writer, in a state of pure euphoria every time they play it.

How do you top that? How can you possibly go any higher? Well after the melodic, spiritually uplifting performance I’d just witnessed, there was only one direction to go. We needed something heavy, something solid to ground us. We needed “Whipping Post,” and though I was still floored by the “Mountain Jam,” I think deep down I knew this was the only option for a closer, the only thing that would tie it all together and bring proper closure to the night. And the version we got was vicious; it tore at my heart and soul. Interspersed in the song were a few minutes of beauty that resonated in the very depths of my being, then the return to wickedness, a fierce explosion of screaming guitar that shook me and pierced me and rattled my bones.

I am still confounded by the memory of what I experienced that night, and when I think back and try to make sense of it all, I can’t. I shake my head and say nothing; a slight chill runs through my body. That is not an exaggeration – it was that good. No show can touch a night with both the Allman Brothers and Widespread Panic. And if you don’t believe me, go see for yourself. Me, on the other hand, I just might head down to Charlotte next month for another taste of the most powerful double bill I have ever experienced.

Widespread Panic:

Send Your Mind, Walkin’ (For Your Love) > Makes Sense To Me, Pigeons, Mercy* > Rock*, C. Brown > Love Tractor, Weight Of The World, I’m Not Alone > Barstools and Dreamers, Proving Ground > The Last Straw, Me And The Devil Blues**, Last Dance**

* w/ Derek Trucks on guitar

** w/ Warren Haynes on guitar

The Allman Brothers Band:

Statesboro > One Way Out, Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More, Rockin’ Horse > Midnight Rider, Leave My Blues At Home, And It Stoned Me*, It Takes A Lot To Laugh It Takes A Train To Cry** > Other One Jam > Black Hearted Woman, Southbound***, Stormy Monday****, Mountain Jam > Drums & Bass > 3rd Stone From The Sun Jam > Mountain Jam

E: Whipping Post

* w/ John Bell

** w/ John Bell and JoJo Herman

*** w/ Dave Schools, JoJo Herman, Jimmy Herring

**** w/ Jimmy Herring

Continue reading for videos and more photos of The Allman Brothers and Widespread Panic in Chicago…

Tuesday, 09.01
The Allman Brothers Band

Widespread Panic










Widespread Panic with Derek Trucks

Continue reading for even more photos of The Allman Brothers and Widespread Panic in Chicago…

Wednesday, 09.02
Widespread Panic








Widespread Panic with Warren Haynes

The Allman Brothers Band

Continue reading for videos of The Allman Brothers and Widespread Panic in Chicago…

The Allman Brothers Band at Charter One – 09.01.09 – “Feelin’ Alright” (ft. Dave Mason)

The Allman Brothers Band at Charter One – 09.01.09 – “The Sky Is Crying” (ft. Buddy Guy)

Widespread Panic at Charter One – 09.01.09 – “Ride Me High” (ft. Derek Trucks)

Widespread Panic at Charter One – 09.01.09 – “Bowlegged Woman” (ft. Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks)

Widespread Panic at Charter One – 09.02.09 – “Pigeons”

Widespread Panic at Charter One – 09.02.09 – “Last Dance” (ft. Warren Haynes)

Allman Brothers Band at Charter One – 09.02.09 – “Southbound” (ft. Dave Schools, Jimmy Herring, and JoJo Hermann)

Allman Brothers Band at Charter One – 09.02.09 – “Whipping Post”

The Allman Brothers Band and Widespread Panic return to the road on October 3 in Charlotte, NC. Complete dates available here.

JamBase | Promised Land
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Neil Young Live Album Dreamin’ Man Due in Nov

September 8th, 2009 | No Comments

Neil Young: Dreamin’ Man

Neil Young has announced his next archival release, Dreamin’ Man. Officially offered as Neil Young Archives Performance Series #12, the album will be released “on or about November 2″ according to www.neilyoung.com. Comprised of live songs off Harvest Moon and recorded in concert halls during 1992, the disc offers a closer look at the seminal album 17 years after its release.

Neil Young tour dates available here.

For more on Neil Young see our exclusive feature/interview here.

Outside Lands Music Festival
Day 1 Photos & Top 3

August 29th, 2009 | No Comments

Words by: Kayceman & Dennis Cook | Images by: Dave Vann

Outside Lands Music Festival :: Day 1 :: 08.28.09 :: Golden Gate Park :: San Francisco, CA

The second annual Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival brought unusually warm weather to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Reveling under the clear hot sun without a fogbank to be seen, the crowds slowly trickled in swelling to an estimated 30,000-plus for Pearl Jam‘s two hour headlining show. From Autolux, Akron/Family and The Dodos early to Zap Mama, Built To Spill, Silversun Pickups and The National mid-day all the way to Tea Leaf Green, Tom Jones, Q-Tip and Thievery Corporation later, there was music of all variety and with such incredible weather and manageable crowds the vibe was overwhelming positive.

Kayceman’s Top 3 From Friday

1. Pearl Jam – Almost two hours of unrelenting rock from acoustic slow burns to mid-tempo tension to all-out ball-busters, Pearl Jam is still one of the best rock bands on the road. Featuring only two songs from the forthcoming new album Backspacer, both “Got Some” and “The Fixer” came off well, but it was classics like “Alive,” “Animal,” “Better Man,” “Evenflow” and particularly psychedelic versions of “Corduroy” and “Black” that made the show. Beginning at sunset and playing into a gorgeous, warm night, even Eddie Vedder‘s end-of-tour-beaten voice couldn’t slow the band as they closed a stellar performance with two Neil Young covers, “Throw Your Hatred Down” (off 1995′s Mirrorball which Young recorded with Pearl Jam) and “Keep On Rockin’ In The Free World.”

2. Built To Spill – Although it should have been louder, Built To Spill’s swarming guitar madness made up for any volume deficiencies. Playing a hit-heavy set that included “The Plan,” “You Were Right,” “Car,” “Unconventional Wisdom,” “Carry The Zero” as well as one new track, “Hindsight,” from their album due in October, the band moved from spacey free-rock jams to punked-up aggression to patient restraint. There’s a reason BTS received more shout-outs than any band all day with both Eddie Vedder giving respect and Silversun Pickups frontman Brian Aubert gushing, “Built To Spill is one of the greatest bands ever!”

3. Silversun Pickups – After this set, it should now be clear to all why this L.A. indie quartet is playing major time slots at festivals like Lollapalooza, Coachella and Outside Lands. They freakin’ rock! Any volume issues from Built To Spill’s set had clearly been regulated and SSPU was big – HUGE actually – and loud like it needs to be. Less Smashing Pumpkins than a year or two ago, this band has grown into their sound. Overdrive guitars, feedback storms and some of the best scream-vocals around made songs like “Swoon,” “There’s No Secrets This Year” and “Kissing Families” fierce and cathartic.

Special Reunion Slot: A Tribe Called Quest – At Q-Tip‘s funner-than-hell hip-hop set (which was sadly dedicated to DJ AM who passed away Friday night) featuring a live band, fans got something super-duper special when Q brought out Phife Dawg, his partner from Tribe, for “Award Tour.” Upon the song’s conclusion Q was visibly giddy, beaming as he remarked, “Don’t know if y’all will ever see that again.”

Dennis Cook’s Top 3 From Friday

1. Tom Jones – Oh my Lord, Tom was glorious! There’s something enduringly entertaining about old school showmen like Jones, who continues to sing like Zeus himself while exuding a manly aura that makes one want to paw him, regardless of one’s sexual orientation. Backed by a crazy tight, super talented band, including a swinging, forceful horn section and on-point back-up singers, Jones showed no signs of slowing down, ranging through his giant catalog and showing off the way-better-than-expected new tunes and setting off waves of pure joy with generation crossing hits like “She’s A Lady,” “It’s Not Unusual” and his saucy cover of Prince’s “Kiss.” It was pure Golden Gate Park magic to see grandmas cutting loose with tattooed love boys and hardened bikers, everyone belting out the words with massive grins.

2. The National – After close to a decade this Brooklyn band is proving one for the long run and a real cumulative powerhouse on a festival stage. Not a dud note in their hour set, which dropped one beautifully crafted, emotionally delivered number after another. The jangle is strong in this band but it’s often layered over music that vibes with the poppier end of Radiohead, though The National’s dark side tends to be more lyrical than sonic. “Fake Empire,” which was used extensively during Obama’s White House run, including accompanying the video that ran just prior to his election night speech, was enormously well received by the hyper blue state audience. At one point, Aaron Dessner said, “I just killed a bug on my nose,” and then dedicated the next song to the fallen insect. Class act in every way.

3. Midnite – While a good portion of the crowd seemed either bored or perplexed by the St. Croix-based reggae institution, they nonetheless delivered as deep and heady-spiritual a display as their genre offers. Built around sustained, insistent rhythms and inspired textural shifts, there’s not a lot of peaks and valleys, and Bob Marley’s influence is almost nil, which, shooting straight, is what much of the buttermilk colored audience seemed to be craving. Too bad, because Midnite played an elemental, intense set that exemplified why they’ve built a large and ever-increasing worldwide fanbase.




West Indian Girl – featuring Guest Vocalist Miranda Lee Richards
Akron/Family
The Dodos
Built To Spill
Vau de Vire & Madd Vibe Orchestra
Midnite
The National
Incubus
Tom Jones
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam

Late Night at the Golden Gate Gramble at Mezzanine…

ALO

GramJam: Jeff Miller, Eric McFadden, Bradly Bifulco, Steve Adams

Check back for lots more from Outside Lands…

JamBase | In The Park

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The Duke & The King | 08.16 | Virginia

August 28th, 2009 | No Comments

Words by: Donald Lusk | Images by: Avalon Peacock/myspace.com/dukeandtheking

The Duke and the King :: 08.16.09 :: Iota Cafe :: Arlington, VA

The Duke & The King

This past winter, Felice Brothers drummer/songwriter Simone Felice and his good friend Robert “Chicken” Burke holed themselves up in a cabin in the Catskills region to work on some songs. With shimmering harmonies and a cracked country-soul core, their CD Nothing Gold Can Stay arrived to universal critical acclaim in early August. They set out on a two-week tour of the East Coast, and I was lucky to catch one of the first shows in Philadelphia at the First Unitarian Church. I needed more than that though, so I was pleased to see that the tour wound down somewhat nearby in Arlington, VA.

The Duke & The King are comprised of Simone Felice, of The Felice Brothers, in the lead role as frontman and guitarist. Burke, The King, comes by way of Sweet Honey in the Rock, doubles on bass and drums. Nowell Haskins (The Deacon) is the main drummer (although on any given song they each could play someone else’s instrument) and a sultry violinist by the name of Simi rounds out the quartet. One might be surprised by the lack of Felice-like rowdiness, but the same warmth and camaraderie associated with the Brothers clearly is the order of the day here as well.

Iota is a small restaurant/bar in the middle of Arlington, and felt homey as the crowd began to form. The Duke & The King made their way to the stage, and after brief hellos, went into “Don’t Wake the Scarecrow,” a Felice Brothers classic. In the Felice’s hands it’s a brooding postcard of a prostitute’s life that builds to a slow climax. Live at Iota, it was like a work of deconstructive punk, with Simone parsing out the lyrical phrases over staccato runs of his hollow body guitar. An intense performance ended when The Deacon alone was given the song’s final verse.

Simone Felice

With “The Morning I Get To Hell” from the new CD, the music became warmer. The combination of the three voices formed some beautiful peaks and valleys, almost like a hip-hop inspired Crosby, Stills and Nash. Next up was “Union Street,” and again the vocals soared. On a song that goes from small town drug use to the need to have “all the houses lit up on Union Street,” it’s the quasi-psychedelic chorus that drives home the longing of having the whole world together again. They switched gears and left the stage entirely to Robert The King to perform “I’ve Been Bad.” Really a fragment of a song, with three simple lines over an acoustic folk vamp, The Kings’s voice shined as he detailed his regrets.

Back with the full group, Simone hits into “Water Spider,” a sweet song about Harriet Tubman, amongst others. This song contains a key line when discussing these performers: “Jesus walked on water, but so did Marvin Gaye.” It embodies the spirit of both the CD and performance, where they aspire to the quality of 1970s vocalizations. “Summer Morning Rain,” with its hopeful take on a winter loss, benefited from beautiful lines from Simi’s violin. “Radio Song,” a Felice Brothers favorite with its chorus of “Please don’t you ever die,” got the Iota crowd singing and swaying to the groove. After a cover of Neil Young’s “Helpless,” the band finished up with “One More American Song.” Sort of a continuation of “Union Street,” it’s a personal tale of longing and hopefulness amid returning damaged army boys and the likelihood that we will never all again be singing the same song in this fragmented world. Here, Simone breathes new life into the dream of everyone being “the best of friends and the music sewed us together,” while lamenting, “Gasoline ain’t gonna take us that way again.” Passionately delivered, the group stepped off the stage and began the hug fest that dominates the end of their shows, where the bond between the performers and audience is tight.

The Duke & The King won over many converts at Iota, as well across the Northeast. They will continue to evolve into Simone’s dream of a vocal soul band. The players have terrific chemistry, and the care they show for each other resonates from the stage and beyond. On their way to the U.K. currently, I can’t wait for their return so I can hear one more American song.

JamBase | Monarchical
Go See Live Music!

The Vatican’s got talent: Pope voice on album

July 31st, 2009 | No Comments

By Colin Paterson
Entertainment reporter, BBC News

Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI will be heard singing and speaking on an album to be released on the record label that was home to Nirvana and Guns N’ Roses.

The pontiff is to release Alma Mater, an album of Lauretan litanies and prayers with musical accompaniment, through Geffen Records.

The label said listeners would be "shocked" by his "incredible voice".

The album, which features the Pope using five different languages, will be released on 30 November.

The project came about after the label learned earlier this year that Benedict XVI had been working on an album with the Choir of the Philharmonic Academy of Rome.

‘Very happy’

Colin Barlow, president of Geffen UK, explained: "We travelled to Rome, heard some of the music and realised it was a beautiful piece of music and something that actually could be an incredible record for us to work on.

"It’s very much about delivering a really brilliant piece of music and making sure we treat it with the respect it deserves."

The album will contain eight pieces of music, one featuring Pope Benedict singing and the others providing accompaniment to his recitals of passages and prayers.

GEFFEN RECORDS

First signing was Donna Summer
Launched a $3m (£1.8m) lawsuit against Neil Young in 1983 for not making commercial records
In 1994, three Geffen acts – Nirvana, Beck and Counting Crows – occupied the top three in the US modern rock chart.

But Pope Benedict did not go into the studio – the Vatican supplied recordings of his vocals made at official services and also from speeches he made on his foreign trips.

The choir recorded their parts in St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, while the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra recorded the classical backing track in London’s Abbey Road Studios.

Barlow said the Pope was pleased with the progress of the recording.

"We’ve had a letter from the Vatican saying that he’s heard the music so far and he’s very happy with what he’s heard," he added.

Proceeds will help to to providing music education for underprivileged children around the world.

Geffen Records was founded in 1980 and had its first number one album with John Lennon’s Double Fantasy.

By the end of the decade it started to specialise in rock music, signing the likes of Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith and Nirvana.

Geffen also recently signed Dame Shirley Bassey.

The albums of Dame Shirley and the Pope will both be out in time for Christmas.

It is not the first time a Pope has released an album.

In 1982, John Paul II reached number 71 in the charts with The Pilgrim Pope, and, in 1994, his recording of The Rosary peaked at number 50.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Farm Aid Additions: Wilco, Phosphorescent, Mraz

July 28th, 2009 | No Comments

Farm Aid Adds Wilco, Phosphorescent, Jason Mraz and Jamey Johnson To Line Up

Matthew Houck/Phosphorescent

As reported earlier this month, Farm Aid is set to take place October 4 in St. Louis at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. Headlining will be Farm Aid staples Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews and Neil Young. Organizers recently announced the addition of Wilco, Phosphorescent, Jason Mraz and Jamey Johnson. More performers are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

The performance of experimental/gospel outfit Phosphorescent at Farm Aid will come on the heels of the band’s tribute album to Willie Nelson, aptly titled To Willie.

Phosphorescent’s Matthew Houck had this to say about playing Farm Aid:

“I’m proud as hell to have been invited to play at this year’s Farm
Aid. Phosphorescent is more than happy to join in their support for
the independent farmer and for locally and organically grown crops.
We agree fully with their opposition to the large-scale, corporate,
‘factory farm’ system – which, in the name of profit, produces mostly
genetically modified and/or chemically preserved junk – all the while
exploiting the laborers who farm, package and deliver these items by
paying them damn near slave’s wages. Of course, having the opportunity to lend our support by sharing the
stage with several true legends of American music ain’t too shabby in
itself.”

Tickets are on sale now at LiveNation.com.

Phil Ramone and Danielle Evin: Dog Ears Music: Volume Eighty-One

July 17th, 2009 | No Comments

This week’s column features Ralston Bowles, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt & Dolly Parton, Arthur Crudup, Lola Flores, Colored Shadows and The Impressions.

Farm Aid 2009: 10/4 St. Louis

July 16th, 2009 | No Comments

Farm Aid 2009 Set For 10/04 In St. Louis

Young & Nelson :: Farm Aid 2007 by McCullough

Twenty-four years after the first Farm Aid, Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp are back with pal Dave Matthews for the annual benefit concert. Farm Aid 2009 will be held in St. Louis on October 4 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre. Premium seats will be sold during the ticket pre-sale exclusively for Farm Aid Members starting on Friday July 17 at 10 a.m. Eastern, 9 a.m. Central. Tickets for the general public will go on sale through LiveNation.com on Saturday, July 25 at 11 a.m. Eastern, 10 a.m. Central. The Farm Aid pre-sale includes 3 levels of tickets with prices of $45, $85, and $175 each. You can purchase tickets at: LiveNation.com.

For more information on the event, visit farmaid.org.

While Mellencamp, Nelson, Young and Matthews are the only confirmed artists on the bill, past performers at Farm Aid have included: moe., Gregg Allman, Wilco, Gov’t Mule and Widespread Panic amongst several others.

Califone: New Album

July 15th, 2009 | No Comments

Califone Will Release Their New Album All My Friends Are Funeral Singers

October 6 On Dead Oceans

Califone

The critically acclaimed Chicago post-rock act Califone is set to release their forthcoming album All My Friends Are Funeral Singers October 6 on Dead Oceans. The album marks the highly anticipated follow-up to 2006′s Roots & Crowns, which The New York Times calls “enthralling,” and Paste praises as “Acoustic Delta blues, back-porch Appalachia, folk-pop and syncopated funk marinate in futuristic sounds, like Mississippi John Hurt, Neil Young and Curtis Mayfield transported through Four Tet‘s chop shop.”

The Chicago-based band consists of multi-instrumentalists Tim Rutili, Jim Becker, Joe Adamik, and Ben Masseralla. On All My Friends Are Funeral Singers, produced by longtime collaborator Brian Deck (Iron & Wine, Gomez, Modest Mouse), the band employs a wide range of instrumentation and electronic effects to create a dense collage of sounds. Instruments range from the traditional (guitar, violin, banjo, percussion) to the unusual (optigan, stylophone, baritone ukulele, mbira, thumb piano).

Primary songwriter and vocalist Tim Rutili, whose artistic endeavors stretch beyond music and include the creation of surreal short documentaries, music video and film scores, recently wrote and directed his first feature-length film. The screenplay for the film draws on the same themes and inspirations as the album, and many of the songs were written at the same time and contain the same images and characters. The film, also titled All My Friends Are Funeral Singers, will be submitted to film festivals early next year. Califone will incorporate a full-length presentation of the film during their live performances, adding a new element to the band’s live show.

Nationwide tour dates will be confirmed shortly.

Sun Spin: Jackson Browne

July 12th, 2009 | No Comments

CLASSIC ALBUM SPOTLIGHT RETURNS WITH A TOOL FOR LIVING THROUGH TOUGH TIMES

Now there’s a world of illusion and fantasy
In the place where the real world belongs
Still I look for the beauty in songs
To fill my head and lead me on

Some albums slip past our defenses, touching places we might rather have left alone, tender spots that never quite scab over. While perhaps not always consciously welcome, it is these albums that become the bedrock of our listening, informing our lives and offering cold comfort and understanding when both are in short supply in the “real world.” Jackson Browne‘s third album, Late For The Sky (1974) is such a marvel of unvarnished honesty flecked with romantic understanding, true empathy and poignant awareness of human frailty. The intervening 35 years have done nothing to diminish the instantaneous emotional zap this record produces when the needle hits the groove. All its quietude and wise-beyond-its-years resonance (he was just 25 when he recorded it) is preserved in music crafted with extraordinary attention to detail in every respect.

With angels sleeping beside him along hitchhiked roadsides, Browne wrestles with torn and empty dreams and how one goes on when their tank is empty. It’s a place all of us reach from time to time but few of us possess the acumen and insight to turn our own low tides into something that reaches other’s shores. Where it’s easy to lash out in such moments, blame someone else for our circumstance, Browne spreads it around, never sparing himself a healthy measure:

Now the things that I remember seem so distant and so small
Though it hasn’t really been that long a time
What I was seeing wasn’t what was happening at all
Although for a while, our path did seem to climb

Late For The Sky is one of the templates for the so-called California Country sound, where Nashville’s slick slide meets the sativa vibe of oceans, forests and dirty blue jean, long-haired thinking. The album is a direct descendent of what Gram Parsons was moving towards and a mighty influence on future generations, a less acknowledged but just as crucial instigator as Neil Young’s Harvest. In some ways, Browne is even more successful in marrying musical sophistication and grand scale to hyper-personal themes than Young’s early attempts on say his debut. The way the words, ideas and music intertwine here is breathtaking and never seems forced. Like the best sets, there’s an internal logic that ties everything into intricate knots, where each element is as it should be. Rock is generally a touch messier (and perhaps happily so) but artistry of this level brings to mind John Barth’s line, “In art as in lovemaking, heartfelt ineptitude has its appeal and so does heartless skill, but what you want is passionate virtuosity.”

Passion lies at the center of Late For The Sky, which examines relationships with clear eyes (“when you see through loves illusions, there lies the danger/ And your perfect lover just looks like a perfect fool”) and the individual’s place in the universe (“dreaming I can make it right/ if I closed my eyes and tried with all my might”). Track after track explicates some heart truth or thought stirred staring at night skies, alone and wondering. It is an exposed place for any writer and yet Browne sings in a sharp, strong voice of things usually held close to the chest, sharing of himself in a way that aids our own self-examination, his bravery perhaps, if we’re lucky, becoming our own. And always without undue sentimentality:

Everyone I’ve ever known has wished me well
Anyway that’s how it seems, it’s hard to tell
Maybe people only ask you how you’re doing
‘Cause that’s easier than letting on how little they could care

Frequently it is David Lindley‘s exquisite guitar work that speaks directly to these deep places in us, bypassing language to vibrate our soul with pure, emotion soaked sound. And he’s equally gorgeous and effective on violin (dig his soaring through closer “Before The Deluge”), but it’s most often his unbelievably powerful slide work that takes one’s breath away. The cry he unleashes at the beginning of “Farther On” is every bit the equal of Lightnin’ Hopkins or any other celebrated bluesman, but Lindley never falls back on blues cliches, forging a new language inside rock with his slicing poetry.

The whole core band – Doug Haywood (bass), Jai Winding (keys), Larry Zack (drums), Lindley (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, steel guitar and fiddle) and Browne’s own guitar and keys – is pretty damn together, playing with intuitive grace further amplified by tremendous backing vocals from Don Henley, Terry Reid, J.D. Souther and Dan Fogelberg. Long before he was cutting his own albums, Browne was a respected Los Angeles songwriter whose tunes had been cut by a host of late ’60s/early ’70s luminaries. Even at his young age, he was already a respected man about town, and the pros gathered around him here reflect that.

It would probably be enough to score a spot on Rolling Stone‘s 2003 list of the Top 500 Albums of All Time if it were just a king size bummer fest, but Late For The Sky turns on its heels midway. The second side positively skips, finding fortitude and black tinged jubilation that feels real, sustainable, genuine:

Walking slow down the avenue
Through my old neighborhood
Don’t know why I’m happy
I’ve got no reason to feel this good
Maybe it’s because I’m all alone
And I’ve got no place to go
And everywhere I look I see
Another person I’ll never know

I got a thing or two to say
Before I walk on by
I’m feeling good today
But if die a little farther along
I’m trusting everyone to carry on

What the last half seems to say is, “There’s life after the flood.” No matter what the world throws at you, no matter the hurt or confusion we currently feel, we heal, rebuild and move on. Browne’s subsequent career has continued to reflect these themes but they’ve never been more beautifully articulated than Late For The Sky, a bonafide classic to be sure.

Track Listing

Side One:
1. Late for the Sky
2. Fountain of Sorrow
3. Farther On
4. The Late Show

Side Two:
1. The Road and the Sky
2. For a Dancer
3. Walking Slow
4. Before the Deluge

Who fired up Glastonbury?

June 29th, 2009 | No Comments

Lily Allen was rude, Neil Young was gleeful and Dizzee Rascal was, well, dizzy. We look back on the hottest bands at Glastonbury 2009

Blog: How was Glastonbury for you?

There’s no doubt that a Friday afternoon slot at a Glastonbury recovering from a torrential rainstorm is a tough gig for Fleet Foxes. Their eponymous debut album has been rightly bathed in acclaim, but its currency is blissful, bucolic folksiness: with the best will in the world, a bespattered crowd staring glumly down the barrel of yet another weekend trudging through mud and sleeping under damp canvas is perhaps not the most receptive audience for a selection of songs about the unmitigated wonderfulness of the great outdoors.

And so it proves. In truth, it’s not really the songs’ subject matter that’s the problem so much as their subtlety. The performances are note-perfect, their harmonies gorgeous. However, the band look deeply ill-at-ease on the vast Pyramid Stage, and their music struggles to hold a crowd reeling not merely from the inclement weather but a baffling, unscheduled, interminable preceding set from Pharrel Williams’s funk-rockers N*E*R*D, who turn up late, then charmlessly refuse to vacate the stage (“you paid 200 dollars to see a full show,” shouts Williams by way of explanation, blithely overlooking the fact that the crowd contains not a single person who’s paid to see NERD at all).

In different circumstances, Fleet Foxes might sound fantastic but, White Winter Hymnal aside, they struggle to draw the audience’s attention from the more robust entertainment provided in their midst by two filth-caked men cheerfully beating each other about the head with what seem to be petrol cans filled with cider.

No such problems for Lily Allen, blessed with a catalogue of jaunty hits expertly retooled for a festival audience â€“ “Come on you ravers!” she bellows as Smile surprisingly mutates from pop-reggae into frantic drum’n'bass, displaying an ability to project a hugely likable personality to the back of a vast audience. After Fleet Foxes’ visible unease, there’s something hugely appealing about Allen’s self-confidence. “Help me out with the second verse!” she cries midway through The Fear: this seems deeply ambitious, given the unwritten rule that festival audiences invariably only know the first three lines of any given song, but they turn out to be word-perfect.

She dedicates Fuck You to the BNP (“those bastards”) and encourages the audience to sing along with middle fingers raised, performs a fantastic cover of Britney Spears’ Womanizer â€“ the original’s blank facade replaced by a knowing swagger â€“ and offers an insight into the impressive modernity of her family, mentioning the presence of her grandfather stage left, then performing It’s Not Fair, a pretty blunt song about male sexual inadequacy, underlining its reference to fellatio with a quick mime.

Elsewhere on Friday evening, Lady Gaga once again demonstrates her steadfast refusal to allow gimmickry to overshadow her important musical message, shooting fireworks out of her bosoms and playing piano while standing on one leg, her posterior exposed to the elements. In fairness, it smacks less of the usual tiresome attention-seeking than a concerted effort to create a splash of clubby glamour in distinctly unglamorous environs.

Meanwhile, given the reverence in which their back catalogue is held and their spotless live reputation, the recently reformed Specials are about as close to a guaranteed success as Glastonbury gets, aided by the fact that they seem to have grown old with an impressive grace. There’s an intriguing disparity between their music’s grim subject matter and the jubilation with which it’s received: never have so many songs about nuclear war, recession and the inherent ghastliness of late-70s Coventry sounded so celebratory.

By contrast to the Specials’ sure-thing status, headliner Neil Young arrives trailing a 40-year reputation for unpredictability: he’s been on relatively crowd-pleasing form recently, but as any long-term fan will tell you, what Young has been doing recently is no guarantee as to what he’ll do next.

A certain trepidation might explain why the audience takes a while to warm to him, but as it gradually becomes apparent that he’s going to roll out the classics, the response becomes more fervent, his performances increasingly tumultuous, the endings of every song drawn out into ever-longer, ever noisier codas. By the time he performs Rockin’ In the Free World, his ornery old face has been split by a huge grin: he keeps returning to the chorus over and over again, organising the crowd into an arm-waving mass. When the song finally ends, and the crowd roars, Young grabs the microphone and roars back at them, his fists raised in triumph.

An encore of the Beatles’ A Day In the Life is even more spectacular. It concludes with Young ripping the strings off his guitar and beating it with a microphone stand, before running to the back of the stage and unexpectedly performing a vibraphone solo. It sounds slightly bathetic, arriving as it does on the heels of a blizzard of feedback that feels like the end of the world: you rather get the impression that he just doesn’t want to get offstage, and having rendered his guitar unplayable, is desperately casting about for something to do. Improbable as it may sound given his grouchy reputation, Young appears to be having a Glastonbury Moment.

Saturday dawns with Tinariwen, the cyclical grooves and call-and-response vocals of their Tuareg desert rock sounding oddly soothing as the sun continues to shine. Spinal Tap pay a rather glowing tribute to the recently departed King Of Pop â€“ “if it ‘adn’t been for Michael Jackson, there would never ‘ave been a Spinal Tap,” offers Nigel Tufnel â€“ and bring on Jamie Cullum, the latest in a long line of special guests keen to perform with the world’s most famous parody rock band: alas, the audience seem less impressed by the appearance of the boyish jazz pianist than they are by the arrival onstage of an inflatable model of Stonehenge.

But the real surprise of Saturday afternoon is delivered by Dizzee Rascal, who draws an unexpectedly vast crowd. You might reasonably expect his sound to chafe against the dopily benign atmosphere of Glastonbury in the sun: despite his new-found ability to lodge himself at the top of the singles chart, it still sounds abrasive. Indeed, it’s probably the most challenging music that emanates from the Pyramid Stage all weekend, but the rapper appears to have matured into a fantastic, engaging live performer, couching his stew of harsh beats and samples and bleak lyrics â€“ “let me take you down to London city, where the attitude’s bad and the weather’s shitty,” snaps one song â€“ in shameless crowd-pleasing, including at one juncture, an appearance of the time-honoured cry of “oggi oggi oggi”. The audience goes berserk.

The kind of person who bemoaned Jay-Z’s appearance at Glastonbury last year, and views the appearance of urban artists on the main stage as an unnecessary distraction from the festival’s true calling to promote indie and classic rock, might note that when Dizzee Rascal’s set ends, the audience goes altogether, leaving Neil Young’s sometime cohorts and Woodstock veterans Crosby Stills and Nash performing to a sparsely-populated field. Stephen Stills takes a photograph as he walks onstage, presumably in order to show friends at home what a distinctly underwhelming Glastonbury crowd looks like.

It seems probable that most of the audience has headed off in the direction of the Dance Arena, in the vain hope of seeing La Roux. Dubstep DJ Skream’s remix of her hit In For The Kill has already provided the highlight of his Friday afternoon set, but the audience for the genuine article spills so far out of the tent that, on its fringes, it’s literally impossible to see or hear anything of her performance. People stay nonetheless: if you’re looking for a symbol of her rise, here it is.

Back at the Pyramid stage, Kasabian do their spirited best, but there’s no upstaging Bruce Springsteen, even when he’s obscured on the video screens by a giant banner emblazoned with the words I LOVE SAUSAGES. You could argue that what he does is pretty hokey and histrionic â€“ “we’re building a HOUSE made out of HOPE!” he cries at one juncture â€“ and there seems to be a feeling that he might have peppered his set more liberally with hits, but it’s hard to deny his ability to project to the back of a vast crowd, honed as it has been by decades playing the world’s biggest venues.

He swings around his mic stand like a pole dancer, dons a Stetson for the finale of Outlaw Pete, plunges repeatedly into the audience and steals their banners â€“ sadly, I LOVE SAUSAGES remains tantalisingly out of reach â€“ tears telephone directories in half, inflates hot water bottles until they burst, etc etc. He opens with Joe Strummer’s old song about Glastonbury, Coma Girl and the Excitement Gang, which frankly could have been written for him.

Virtually everything else he plays has a communal air-punching quality, an air of charged triumphalism (Workin’ On A Dream manages to maintain this air even during an extended whistling solo, which is no mean feat), and the climactic numbers â€“ Born To Run, Dancing In the Dark, Glory Days â€“ are triple-tested and infallible. Glastonbury, understandably, eats it up

The big winners: three performers who grew in stature

La Roux

La Roux’s success was hardly a surprise, given that her single In for the Kill is currently the third biggest-selling of the year, but the size of the crowd she attracted to the Dance Arena was confirmation of how big a star Elly Jackson has become this year.

Neil Young

A genuinely remarkable, tumultuous performance from rock’s most unpredictable old-stager. Not a man famed for being easily impressed by festivals â€“ he famously called Woodstock “shit” â€“ Young looked moved by the crowd’s response.

Dizzee Rascal

It wasn’t a breakthrough moment as such â€“ he’s just had two No 1 hits in a row, so he’s hardly wanting for public acceptance or attention â€“ but nevertheless, the sheer size of the crowd and its reaction confirmed the East London rapper’s arrival as an improbable mainstream star.

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