Saturday, June 27, 2009

Special by name, special by nature

It's Glastonbury time again, so it's a bit of a telly marathon for me this weekend....last night I was channel-hopping through the BBC channels covering the music festival and was very lucky to come across BBC4's coverage of The Specials set on the Pyramid Stage.

Absolutely fantastic. The band recently reformed for a 30th anniversary tour (we weren't quick enough off the mark for tickets) but despite the passing of time, it could have been 1979 all over again, such was their freshness, energy and enthusiasm. The set included "Gangsters", "Rat Race", "Blank Expression", "Monkey Man", "Concrete Jungle", "A Message to You Rudy", "Do Nothing", "Too Much Too Young", "You're Wondering Now" and last but never least, "Ghost Town". That song for me summed up the turbulent summer of 1981 and is every bit as relevant today. And yes, Terry Hall kept a straight face throughout....nothing ever changed :))

Their set was the highlight of the festival for me so far. I didn't see much else apart from bits of Little Boots, VV Brown, Ting Tings, and notably Lady GaGa - I never thought I'd see the day when someone like her would wow a festival crowd, but that's indeed what she did do.

Neil Young headlined last night, but I gave him a miss as he's not my cup of tea.

Tonight: Bruce Springsteen, Kasabian, Franz Ferdinand. Off to set the video....!

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