Monday 23rd... Glasto and all that!

Glastonbury revellers gather by the stone circle to watch Friday evening's
sunset. Just one of many Glastonbury images posted up online this week,
although having gathered so many up I cant remember where I found it.
But a great picture, and the sun and sky makes me think of a Turner painting.
Just how many of us at home wished we were there at the greatest outdoor
Festival. 

Without a doubt The Foo Fighters stole Glastonbury with a
barnstorming set on Saturday night. Even while still performing,
their performance was trending heavily online, with several
not so nice tweets aimed at Sunday night's top closing act,
Ed Sheeran, saying... 'Now follow that.......... .'
I did catch Ed Sheeran's top of the bill closing act on Sunday
nights BBC2 broadcast, but once again it did absolutely
nothing for me. And yet Sheeran is now being hailed as the
biggest act in the U.K, a country that's now a little short on
current known names unless we're talking about artists from
the past.
The attention and adoration Sheeran gets has me completely
puzzled and baffled. Were the Festival organizers taking a
risk putting on just a man and an acoustic guitar as a closing
set for the biggest outdoor concert Festival?
His closing out on the Pyramid Stage seemed almost
anti climatic. You almost felt that he was the warm up artist
for a real closing out act. But no, that was it. Glastonbury was
over for 2017. And when tv presenters Mark Radcliffe and
Lauren Laverne came back on, they seemed almost apologetic
for the anti climax. And yet they were friggin buzzing
with excitement when Nile Rogers and Chic finished their
sensational set earlier on Sunday afternoon.

Maybe today's bands and artist's are not so interested in
image and how it can advance your career. Certainly when I was
growing up listening to Pop music, image played a vital
role in your success. Sheeran clearly has no interest in the
whole image thing unlike other artists like George Ezra
and new up and coming artist Declan McKenna
I do wonder how our Ed would have fared back in the 80's
or even the early 90's when the image was a big part of Pop,
what with the 90's being the decade of the boy bands.
 
The Foo Fighters were meant to perform at Glastonbury 2 years ago
but band leader David Grohl (above) fell off a stage in Sweden
and broke his leg. So this was a big moment for the band.
Although like many I was baffled to read The Guardian's
Kate Hutchinson's scathing review. Clearly not a fan.

ABOVE IMAGE BY KI PRICE

 

Above and below: tv stills from the BBC Broadcast on BBC2

Above and below: Huge new emerging musical talent 18 year old Declan McKenna
who performed at this year's Glastonbury. He really is a fascinating and
fresh character and so artistically mature. He seems to give off quite an
androgynous look about him. He could almost be cast for a remake
of that 1970's glam rock film 'Velvet Goldmine.'
And once again for his performance at Glastonbury he was donning the
heavy eye shadow and his glitter jacket. Well that's one way to get noticed.

Below: Declan by Nathan Li, photographer and Sound Operator.

Below: Declan performing this weekend at Glastonbury.

Beautiful!  Glasto by Alessandra Pirotelli.