[ some elements of this article originally published 25/06/2014 ]
GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL
26th-28th June 1992
The 1992 festival was not just my debut Glastonbury, but my first ever festival – and what a way to start. Blistering sunshine throughout and some extraordinary live shows. I saw way too many bands to mention, andI've forgotten some of them over time. But here's a few I recall...
Primal Scream
If I had to name the best act I ever saw at Glastonbury, I would be really torn between two or three, but the Scream would be right up there. Their 1992 headline performance pretty much summed up the time and the scene. Indie kids and ravers mingled as one to witness what must rate as one of the most stunning live performances of all time. Surely no guitar-oriented indie-rock band could transform so suddenly and so effectively into a dancefloor-filling electronic act and slay a crossover audience of thousands in just a single festival show. But Primal Scream did it with ease, playing pretty much the whole of ‘Screamadelica’ and not much else. There were no calls for older material or fan faves – everyone got exactly what they wanted from the Scream that night and more besides. A seminal moment in the festival’s history in my book, and I was there. Mind well and truly blown!
The Breeders
No one knew at the time just how massively influential the Breeders would become, but with Kim Deal out front, it was only going to go one way. I think Tanya Donnelly had left the band by this point and Kim's twin sister Kelley had taken over, despite having never played guitar before. Much of the first album 'Pod' was aired in the set and it was a mid-afternoon delight.
Rage Against The Machine
Rage came in as a late replacement for someone who pulled out (can't remember who). My overriding memory of them is the lengthy pauses between each song. At one point, I counted a gap of nearly two minutes of silence between songs. I didn't bother to stick around to see the full set. They would return a couple years later and blow the place away with one of the festival's all-time greatest sets.
The Levellers
Of course this was going to be a big one. The Levs were on the verge of breaking into the mainstream against all the odds, and they were a massive draw for the festival. They sent the place into delerium, one of the biggest moshpits I've ever seen, and a performance that could really be described at the time as the epitome of what Glastonbury was about.
Youssou N'Dour
I first saw Youssou doing an instore show at HMV’s flagship store in London’s Oxford Street. It was such an uplifting experience, it resulted in me spending more than £100 on CDs! That’s what you call a sales tactic. Three years later, he headlined Glastonbury on the final night. The atmosphere was perfect; the sun was going down at the end of a scorching summer’s day and Youssou ran through another energetic set, with his incredible voice at the front of it all. Then, to round it off, he brought on a special guest – none other than Peter Gabriel. I was astounded enough, but the guy in front of me was going into meltdown, so overwhelmed was he by his hero making a surprise appearance. “Oh my GOD! Oh wow! Oh… my… GOD!” Such is the power of music, and it is always a delight to witness the joy it brings.
The Blue Aeroplanes
I wandered through the field in a daze while Blue Aeroplanes played. I caught the end of their set which involved not just the band but what could well have been the entire backstage crew as well, each playing guitar. A wonderful wall of guitar sounds washed over the crowd in one of the best climaxes to a live show I’ve seen.
Lou Reed
I wandered through the field in a daze while Lou played (hmm, sound familiar?). I stopped to watch him for 10 minutes or so, during which he did a divine rendition of Satellite Of Love, a song which still reminds me of Glastonbury. Wish I'd stuck around for the rest of his set, but back in 1992 I wasn't as appreciative of Lou as I should have been.
Tom Jones
The "special guest" mentioned on the poster. Everyone hoped for a hits-laden set to wriggle our hips provocatively to. Instead we got a pub-band set of soul standards that most people (myself included) got pretty bored of pretty quickly. Even so, being the last day of the festival, I did hope no one threw their knickers at him - he never deserved that…
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