Wednesday 3 July 2013
Mumford and Sons close Glastonbury fair
Do you like this story?
Mumford and Sons close Glastonbury fair
GLASTONBURY 2013
Glastonbury is echoing
to the sounds of folk-rock group Mumford and Sons, who closed the 2013 fair
with their first-ever headline feat there.
"We came for a
party," said frontman Marcus Mumford, as the band trigger a mass hoedown
on Somerset's Worthy Farm.
An estimated 80,000
people watched the set. When they first played the festival in 2008, only 200
turned up.
The 90-minute
performance ended with an all-star cover of A Little Help From My Friends.
This featured Vampire
Weekend, The Vaccines and The Staves.
Earlier songs,
including The cavern and I Will Wait - their only UK top 20 hit - saw the meeting
bounce in unison from the front of the Pyramid Stage to end of the fields.
The show caps the
band's meteoric rise from west London to the global stage, with multiple Grammy
awards, US album sales of four million and appearance with Bob Dylan and Bruce
Springsteen.
Mumford, 26, said he
felt the band had done "nothing special" to earn the important
Glastonbury slot, and put their victory down to the spectators.
"We truly feel
you got us here. Thank you so much."
In contrast to The
Rolling Stones' bullish set the night before, the Londoners had appeared on
stage quietly, playing the slow-burning Lovers' Eyes on a pitch-black stage.
But the band's
otherwise fun set in person the Glastonbury spirit - generous, warm-hearted and
inclusive.
It carried further
emotional weight as it marked the band's return to the stage after bass player
Ted Dwane had surgery for a blood clot on his brain this month.
They said they would have
pulled out of the headline slot if their 28-year-old bass player had not made a
full recovery.
"Was the show
ever in doubt? I think it's fair to say it was," keyboard player Ben
Lovett told the BBC.
"Nothing was more
important than Ted's health," said Lovett.
The BBC's Lizo Mzimba
reports on The Rolling Stones historic debut
This year's festival
has seen 180,000 people move down on Michael Eavis's Somerset farmstead.
The music has catered
to a wide range of tastes with sets from artists such as The Proclaimers, dance
act Chase and Status, pop star Rita Ora and disco pioneers Chic.
Sunday's line-up
included Vampire Weekend, Smashing Pumpkins, Jessie Ware, Bobby Womack and Sir
Bruce Forsyth.
The turn-out for Sir
Bruce was so large that security officers shut down the Avalon field for 20
minutes, as hundreds of fans clamoured to see the age group Game star.
He emerge on the
Avalon Stage to the Strictly Come Dancing theme and introduced himself as
"The Rolling Stones Two", before playing a set of music hall
standards, including Gershwin's Funny Face.
Sir Bruce is one of the oldest performers ever
at Glastonbury
"He's a celebrity,"
said Victoria, an audience member from New Zealand. "I thought I'd be able
to get front row but I'm stuck out in the back and can't see him."
"You're as one
man who's got multiple skills all coalesced into one wonderful presenter,"
said Taylor, a young, tattooed fan from Middlesbrough. "Everyone wants to
be like this guy. To be that vigorous when you're about 107 is just
inspirational."
An emotional Sir Bruce
later told the BBC the experience was "something I will wealth eternally".
The Sunday afternoon
"Glastonbury legend" slot - which has played host to the likes of
Shirley Bassey and Johnny Cash - was filled by country star Kenny Rogers.
"I was told it
was a special slot but I don't always believe the lot my manager says when he's
trying to get me to do something," admitted the singer.
The 74-year-old
struggled initially. He attempted to get the crowd to sing along to Ruby, Don't
Take Your Love To Town, only to discover they didn't know the words.
Rogers is also making his Glastonbury debut
"They sang that
better in Morocco," he scolded. "And they don't even speak English in
Morocco."
But the set regained
momentum when he played The Gambler and Islands In The Stream. So much so that
he sang them both again.
Rogers, who is the
seventh-biggest selling artist in US history, also lent his support to Mumford
and Sons.
"You know, my
first 10 years, I played upright bass and sang in a jazz group - so I can
really be glad about what they're doing melody-wise and time-wise," he
told the BBC.
"It's great to
hear a group like that be so successful."
The mass migration
from Glastonbury began on Sunday, with coaches leaving throughout the night.
Although the festival
took a year off in 2012, it will return next year. planner Michael Eavis said
the headliners had already been booked.
"There aren't
many left," he said, "There were maybe a dozen headliner potentials
so we're organization out of headliners but we got the last three for next
year."
This post was written by: Author Name
Author description goes here. Author description goes here. Follow him on Twitter
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 Responses to “Mumford and Sons close Glastonbury fair”
Post a Comment