~*~ Glastonbury 2010 ~ Sunday 27th June ~*~

It was the last day of Glastonbury, and I had yet to wear the cape I made specially for the weekend, thinking that it would fulfil the two functions of looking fun and keeping me warm. The entire weekend was sizzlingly hot, without a cloud in the sky. So on Sunday I decided that I would risk being cooked and wore my cape for the first time. This was an Awesome Plan, as I have discovered that you are never alone in a colourful cape. Especially with multicoloured feathers around the collar. The world likes to come up and tell you that you are wearing an Awesome Cape and that this is Awesome and "Wow did you MAKE it?! You are Awesome." Teehee.

As tradition and necessity demanded, we went to the Tiny Tea Tent, where, although teabags and hot water are available anywhere, you get the BEST tea, for tea out of a mug is infinitely superior to tea out of a cardboard cup. Trust. The tiffin was also fantastic. This year the brownie oven was shaped like a pig (last year's was a pregnant ogre-lady = "Newly Born Brownies"). He had very impressive tusks for a mud creature.

Between tea and *Paloma Faith*, the others, lazy beggars, all went and lay down by the sacred circle, so I wandered around the Green Fields and Kids Area, which had a pirate ship with a PURPLE COW on the mast. This was genius. Should I ever captain my own vessel, I too shall have a brightly coloured creature leading me across the ocean. A magenta hedgehog perhaps, or a turquoise duck-billed platypus.

Paloma Faith was fabfabfab. Although her set started early, which meant that we heard tantalising strains of Stone Cold Sober drift out towards us as we sped towards the Pyramid Stage. I'd been worried that her very individual voice wouldn't come across as well in a live setting as in the studio, but these fears were unnecessary. The notes that came out of her (HUGE) mouth were clear and beautiful. Her costume was very imaginative too - clad in a white, jewel-encrusted catsuit, two enormous white balloons hung above her shoulders. She had to maneouvre these every time she wanted to walk across the stage in the other direction, but as an ex-magician's assistant I'm sure she's done worse. She put on a real show. I wasn't sure about the rock 'n' roll version of Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?, but it sounded good despite the oddity.

As there wasn't anything particular I wished to see before Keane, I headed over to get a good spot in the tent. There was a really good folk trio on two acts before - Adrian Edmonson and The Bad Shepherds, whose rendition of Once In A Lifetime was a definite stand-out. This is when I made a momentous discovery. I saw bagpipes being played on stage, and wasn't clutching my ears to block out the heinous sound. Upon questioning my neighbour, I was informed that these were electric bagpipes. WHY isn't EVERYONE playing these? Why do they subject us to the original instrument when the same thing, electrified, produces such a lovely noise? They should be imposed by law.

Teddy Thompson, who played at the Warchild gig Keane hosted back in 2007, was also very good, although very hard on himself: "Why are you all here?" "To see you!" "Fools. Right, let's get this over with quickly." And, later on: "This is from my new record, it's just made-up stuff." But his voice is very clear and moving, the songs, despite his self-deprecation, were great, with a very effective singalong and a particularly pragmatic love song. Unfortunately for him, a Mr Tom Chaplin made an appearance at the back of the stage to watch the show, drawing the gaze of the entire front row, who were undeniably there for the next act.

And for ONCE I was one of them! Eighth time lucky, I was front row. Madness. But their performance was absolutely fantastic. It was a simple accoustic set, beautifully relaxed. You Don't See Me soared, Spiralling and Stop For A Minute were as bouncy and fun as ever, and even an unplugged version of Is It Any Wonder? had me jumping (although, I'll admit, it doesn't take much). The use of guitar in Bedshaped, the closer, was interesting but worked. And I love that it's still the last song - take THAT strange anti-Bedshaped Keane fans! :P We noticed that yet again they missed out the most controversial lyrics in Clear Skies, which they used to do with Perfect Symmetry (they clearly felt that 'spineless dreamers hide in churches' was a little bold for them) so I wonder if these lyrics will start featuring any time soon.

I was disappointed by Jack Johnson. Many people rave about his live performance. For me, he failed to graduate beyond easygoing background music. Leah and I sat on a rug scoffing toffee yoghurt, and felt zero compulsion to stand up and watch.

MGMT were yet another disappointment. I think Keane may have spoilt me with the passion they put into their live show, but with these guys it felt like there was no passion at all. Everything was played technically well, but it was all wooden. The singing was very quiet as well. Of course, the accoustics of the Other Stage are particularly bad, but good bands overcome this, and MGMT did not. What little they did say was less than inspiring: "We love this festival because it's great." "It's an honour to play to a million gajillion people." Wow.

Now STEVIE on the other hand was beyond mindblowing. Live, his music is one big party, and I could not stop dancing. Admittedly the American cheese speeches still featured - "relationshit" and various magic stories. I stood through a whole episode of him pretending to drink a goblet of potion that would restore his youth with the thought: 'This HAS to lead into I Wish' tiding me through. It didn't. I felt betrayed!! The band were very tight - a bunch of extremely talented musicians in their own right, and his voice is as crystal clear and powerful as you could imagine.

He came on with a keytar, and did a bit of rockstar posturing, including on the floor, which was initially impressive but a little worrying as he struggled to get up again - maybe a bit over-ambitious for a sixty year old. Sir Duke and Superstition were both wonderful, but I would say that Masterblaster was my favourite of the evening, with its irresistible summery groove. He closed with Happy Birthday, dragging an embarassed Michael Eavis to the front of the stage and getting him to sing along to celebrate Glastonbury's 40 years.

A brilliant end to a brilliant festival. Bring on next year!