Beth Orton on the silver screen
Saturday, 26th     *     Sunday 27th
The Glastonbury '99
Words and pictures Pete Turner
Thursday 24th June 1999.
'We pitch our tents next to Marks van
and it's on top of a hill so if it rains we won't get into
the same muddy mess as last year.'
It is so easy to access the site. A one way traffic system and down a Somerset country lane and bingo your there.
    This year Mark Spencer ( the drummer of The Jones'), Jane (the wife) Zoe and Vicky Smith (two thirds of the daughters of The Travellers Joy) and Kathryn Merchant (Zoe's friend from East Cowes) have headed for a far off corner of the site in search of hidden treasures which lay ahead in the form of the Glastonbury Performing Arts Festival. This year the festival is dedicated to Jean Eavis co-founder and wife of Michael Eavis who died recently.
    We pitch our tents next to Marks van and it's on top of a hill so if it rains we won't get into the same muddy mess as last year.You can see the Tor down the valley rising high with it's tower keeping a watchful eye over all that lies before it.
    This site is so big I can't see myself meeting anyone I know this year.The weather looks as though we are in for a cracker. Lets hope so.
Friday 25th June 1999
'It's a bit like watching one of those adverts on MTV
when they are trying to sell those nostalgia CD's that you can only get
using your credit card and telephoning one of the numbers provided.'
    It's down to the Pyramid Stage for the first act. This one is for Vic King. I know how much he likes tribute bands, so he would love Bjorn Again. They look like the real thing and they sound like their records, but why does anybody want te be Abba lookalikes. As one woman said to me 'It must be pretty strange pretending that you are someone else ' I think she's right. S .O. S.
    The main reason for being down here is to see Ian Drury, but due to illness he will not be appearing. Shame I was looking forward to seeing him. Never mind the next act are brilliant. Barenaked Ladies who are from Canada play a mixture of serious and humerous songs. In fact they remind me of Zappa when they start looning about.
    One incident involved a security guard who was just minding his own business, doing his job when the lead guitarist invites him to join in. "Whats your name ?" asks the guitarist. 'Mike 'replies the guard. Where are you from ? asks the guitarist. 'Merseyside' replies Mike. "Can you play the guitar Mike from Merseyside?" continues the guitarist. 'No' says Mike. "Well nows the time to learn, I'll play the chords I want you to strum the following ". The guitarist plays a quick burst of strumming. Once the security guard starts to play it's quite clear he is strumming out "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks. The place is in uproar.
    I hope the bozo's filmed it. On the serious side of their set they play a number which is dedicated to Yoko Ono. I leave before the end of their set and head off up the hill to The Avalon Field.
    It's so much easier to move around this year compared to last . There is dust instead of mud. Inside a small tent which is red and yellow I see a band who have a singer with an Irish voice. They remind me of Christy Moore, low and behold they start to sing Delerium Tremens written by The man himself. The audience are sitting in circus like stalls and across the floor. They all look as if they come off of the back cover of Aoxomoxoa (Grateful Dead if you're wondering featuring a young Courtney Love Ed.).
    Jane waves to me to go outside She's only found Jerry Cahill. It transpires that the band are called F.O.S (work it out for yourself ) and that the lead singer Sam Mcrory is Jerry's lodger. Small world isn't it? Jerry recently visited the Island and had a bit of a mishap. He damaged his wrist when he fell over in Cowes .He seems to be ok now and we discuss when he is due to perform. He wants to perform on a band stand in the field and is trying to get some P.A. together. If he is succesful he will perform at 5.30pm. Jerry is mentioned in the programme and the following is a lifted directly from it
    As I was writing Jerry Cahill is in the programme, photo and all. Here is what it says "Jerry Cahill a stunning guitar player who liberally dips into contemporary jazz, Celtic harp-like sounds and ambient electronics." I arrange to see Jerry tomorrow when he performs at the Avalon Roots Stage.
    Jane and I are making our way along a congested path which will eventually lead us to the Main Stage and Blondie. Deborah Harry once met Jeff Lewis when he won a competition. On arrival Miss Harry is strutting her stuff to the gathered faithfull, Union City Blues, Denise Denise, The Tide Is High, Sunday Girl and of course Maria. It's a bit like watching one of those adverts on MTV when they are trying to sell those nostalgia CD's that you can only get using your credit card and telephoning one of the numbers provided. Sorry but she is passed her sell buy date and I don't like it.
    As if to protest my pen runs out of ink so I have to leave to try and get another. Janes gone somewhere else, we have arranged to meet at the Acoustic Stage later. I head off for my first visit to he scene of last years great musical triumphs. Grand Drive from Australia are pretty good. never heard of them before, but to me they are across between Crowded House and The Everly Brothers and The Flying Burrito Brothers. The Hammond organ always does my head in and the guitar vocalist certainly knows what he 's doing. They are a real good band to lay back and relax to.
    Next up the veteran of 2-4-6-8 Motorway, Tom Robinson. True to form I meet up at theis point with Michael Clarke and we spend the next half an hour discussing families and friends. Tom Robinson does something quite unique , he gets the audience to vote for the next song. This is due to the fact that so many people are calling out for his songs he wants to try and keep everyone happy.He serves up Martin a song full of quip and humour. This is followed by a rap song, Death Is the Silence, and then War Baby, and the anthem Glad to Be Gay.
    Meanwhile it's over to the Other Stage which last year was a nightmare to get to and to even watch a band on. This year no problem, Wilco ably led by Jeff Tweedy are rockin' the place with an assortment of songs. This band assisted Billy Bragg on the Mermaid Avenue project. But this stuff is nothing like that album. John Rhodes recently saw them at the Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth and liked them to a modern version of the Band. I agree with that.
     Back to the Acoustic stage and Mary Coughlan is due to perform. When she arrives I'm well impressed. I though she would be singing loads of Irish stuff but she dishes up a mixture of jazzy blues stuff supported by a band who have an excellent guitarist. Apparently she won a singing contest in a Galway pub. I bet this what Jackie Dankworth was suppose to sound like at Medina Theatre. She does the Christy Moore song Ride On, I'm looking around for Jane as this one of her favourite songs. (It transpires that she is outside listening in the lane behind the site having been back to the tent to get warmer clothes on for the evening ). Donal from Last Orders sings this one as well. There is a beautiful song called First Day of Winter with her set being rounded off with I'd Rather Go Blind. Mary Coughlan was a treat to listen to.
    Next up Marianne Faithfull. I wasn't going to bother and I wish I hadn't, but I had to as I was waiting for Jane and we had arranged to meet at the Acoustic Tent and I couldn't leave, so Marianne Faithfull with her 'drink and to many fags tinged voice' enters the stage.There are loads of people making there way to the set. How many are fans or are they just curious. Not my cup of tea. Jane arrives I leave Marianne Faithfull reflecting on what might have been.
    I'm looking forward to Gomez who I tipped last year to be big. The Other Stage is jammed with a huge crowd waiting to catch the Mercury Award winners. But true to form I'm dissapointed. There was a very small crowd watching last year, but there are to many teenyboppers here and Gomez chunder out the songs, but I don't get much of a feel from them. Perhaps I'm getting to old or tired or even both. Glastonbury can knacker you it's a massive gig and the old legs aren't what they use to be. Janes gone and she wants to meet me at The Workers Beer Company Tent near the entrance to the Main Stage prior to watching REM. I'm off. Next stop REM mouthwatering.
    Well the crowd is big.
    The prospect of one of the best bands of the last 20 years playing their first Glastonbury has filled the air with the same excitement I felt when waiting for Dylan to perform at Wootton in 1969.
    Stipe in my mind is a performer of immense magnitude, a singer who stands alone in the rock business and is as unpredictable as the weather. Joel was the first Turner to be smitten by REM's style, Dublin 1991, and this FM station was playing The One I Love on a regular basis. I thought it sounded like Gene Clark, and by the time we had returned from France the following year I was convinced that this band were as close as it gets to the Byrds in the 90's.
    Peter Buck plays Rickenbacker, Mike Mills bass and Stipe the front man, Bill Berry drums. The ingredients was there. Off to Cardiff 1995 and I was well impressed but the venue didn't feel right. Of course Bill Berry has moved on and they have additional people playing with them. But waiting now with Jane I just feel that this will be a good one.
    Straight into Lotus from the Up album, powerful powerplay and there off. They are really up for this one and they aren't cutting any corners, no cheating. Some great banter between Stipe and his audience, posing , struting his stuff, launching himself at them it was all ( thanks to the video screen ) great to watch and hear. Mike Mill's harmonies and the controlled freedback of Bucks guitar just put a perfect end to a hot day in the sun and the end of the first night of Glastonbury 1999. The set included The Apologist from Up, a really excellent song that was new and dedicated to Michael and Jean Eavis.
     A stunning version of Cuyahoga,and of course The End of the World,and The One I Love, Stipe making a jibe at a foolish hack who thought that they only played it as a crowd pleaser when as Stipe said " We really like f......g playing this song. The light show was ok nothing to spectacular, the music does the business and Stipe does the rest. Jane and I trudge the mile back to the tent with the gig still buzzing in our heads. We had just witnessed a truly AWESOME performance from a truly outstanding band.
Pete Turner
Saturday, 26th     *     Sunday 27th