‘VARIOUS ARTISTS’ – ‘GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL’, WORTHY FARM, PILTON, SOMERSET 25-29.6.25
So ‘Glastonbury Festival’ … what a marathon! Our chums Sara-Louise Bowrey and John Bownas headed West again this year in order to see what they could find. They are simply two people, amongst the many, many thousands of folk attending from across the world. They were armed with two cameras, and on mission completion they had four very tired legs. As always, they had a plan… but at ‘Glastonbury’ plans never seem to last very long. And as a result, they missed at least one act that they will regret forever, but by way of compensation found a few that almost (but not quite) made up for it.
Our trusty duo always look beyond the obvious and are great supporters of grassroots music and venues. For them, ‘Glastonbury’ simply wasn’t all about covering the headline acts each day at the Pyramid Stage, so fans of The 1975, Neil Young And The Chrome Hearts and Olivia Rodrigo, might be a tad disappointed! Sara and John look beyond the obvious and totally absorb themselves into the festival, starting at the aforementioned grassroots level. A classic example of this is their selection for ‘Band Of The Festival’. Move over the likes of Supergrass, Kaiser Chiefs, The Libertines, Franz Ferdinand, Amyl & The Sniffers, and Snow Patrol, as their award falls to Getdown Services. “Who?” you cry. Yes exactly! “How did they come to that conclusion?”. Let’s get the rundown from John…
I was hooked by Getdown Services when I heard them from a distance at ‘Bearded Theory’ earlier this year. It was one of those moments when my feet got led by my ears…because what I was hearing was somewhere between The Streets and Yard Act produced by Mik Artistik. What my eyes next saw was two slightly overweight blokes from Minehead playing to a near-capacity stage in the woods…and totally owning the stage. At this point I had no idea what I was seeing…but when they were brought back on stage by the next act – Gurriers – to share a bit more limelight and I was convinced this was going to lead places. Over the next week or so, it seemed I couldn’t turn on the radio without hearing the Getdown Services name on BBC6 Music, and after not much thought I gave them pride of place as the first act on my (now traditional) Glastonbury ‘mad to miss’ one-of-a-kind t-shirt.
After striking up an online chat with the band, I was one of the lucky ones to get wind of their secret Crows Nest gig on Saturday night. Just after midnight I managed to sneak over a barrier and secure a side-of-stage position for a show that will go down in ‘Glastonbury’ legends as one of ‘those’ special moments. The next day it was a race to get to the Croissant Neuf tent early enough to secure a space…although luckily I had the privilege of a press pass, so was able to get into the photo pit where, as it turned out, I was one of only two other photographers able to capture the action.
What ensued was without doubt the hottest, sweatiest, and most enjoyable hour I have ever spent at the festival…and I’ve been going there every year but two since 1993. I’m not even going to try to describe Getdown Services’ songs – you simply have to listen to them for yourself! Check out their Bandcamp page HERE. We last reviewed Getdown Services live in Brighton at The Hope & Ruin on 22nd November last year – Read our review HERE.
Getdown Services had stolen the festival for us, but we also would like to flag up a trio of acts under the title of “We knew they would be good”. Firstly we have Jeanie And The White Boys. Jeanie makes films in her other life. Here she collaborates with friends Dom and Bleu (you might also know him as the drummer in Warmduscher). The music is as irreverent as the performance is intense. It’s no surprise they found their way onto my t-shirt this year, and their Strummerville set knocked my socks off. Next up we have Alien Chicks who are yet another band who prove that the spirit of punk energy is alive and well and breeding new talent. These three south Londoners are on a mission to take the world by storm – one gig at a time. The heat was intense, but the energy on stage was palpable. 100% genuine. 100% fun. We have reviewed them previously on a number of occasions including 2023’s ‘Mutations’ festival, where reviewer Richie Nice ended his account by saying “I’d be interested to see them again, particularly to marvel at the bass player’s breathtaking athleticism”. Completing the trio are Los F*ckin Surfer Smokers who are a surf-guitar band out of Bogota, Colombia. What more do you need to know?.
Just in case you think it’s all obscure stuff, John and Sara’s award for “Old Gold” this year fell to Terrorvision who we last encountered at ‘Victorious Festival’ in Southsea on 27th August 2021. As John states…‘Glastonbury’ might be about ‘contemporary arts’ – but it would fall on its arse without significant input from the old guard acts of the 80s and 90s. Bands whose songs reverberate down the years and cross generational boundaries. Terrorvision are – right here and now – a band who are on the top of their game. We’ve been in the mosh pit for their shows since Reading and Leeds in the 90s, and they have consistently put on some of the most authentic shows we can remember. This is the second festival we have caught them at this year, and younger bands really need to take a leaf out of their book to understand what a performance is meant to be.
Attending ‘Glastonbury’ is like a small child being let loose into a sweetie shop or toy shop, in that you are so spoiled for choice and the options are so overwhelming, that you really don’t know where to start. Once let loose you discover new sweets and toys you had no idea ever existed. The same definitely applies to ‘Glastonbury’ and so we have highlighted four acts that we had no idea they existed until we stumbled across them. Our four “Found at the festival” acts are as follows:
Take it away John….Now here’s the thing about festivals. Sometimes you just have to go where your instinct guides you. Walking past the ‘pub’ tent next to the Cider Bus one lunchtime my first impression was that there was a DJ playing some high-energy funky disco stuff…but there was a live edge to it that I found intriguing. In need of a drink anyway I ducked inside…and was immediately captivated by two guys behind a set of decks…Henry King on vocals, and Matt Lane on tracks and percussion. There was a small crowd, but they were getting the vibe, and Henry was soon out amongst them, delivering falsetto lyrics and swapping over to trumpet duties without missing a beat. Think Klaus from Umbrella Academy reinventing Prince, and you might get the idea. This is the kind of thing that every big ‘Pride’ event wants to have as a centrepiece to their show, it has the upbeat energy and wide appeal that totally sets the right atmosphere.
Rozsa plays an electric harp and blends a delicious smoothie dripping with trip-hop rhythms and jazz sentiments. Her show at the Croissant Neuf bandstand was no doubt boosted by being flagged as a ‘one to watch’ moment on the press tent whiteboard. Watch out for her…she’s got serious potential.
Technically I didn’t discover Hybrid Kid at ‘Glastonbury’ as I did the sound for him at a small ‘Great Escape’ fringe show a month or so ago. But I had no idea that Danny Lloyd (HK’s alter ego) was playing at ‘Glastonbury’. So when I stumbled on him at the Open Arms bar next to the Greenpeace Stage, I decided to stay around and have a proper listen as a punter rather than part of the crew. Hybrid Kid isn’t new. There are two albums of material under Danny’s belt, and tours that have taken him across the Atlantic and back. Tom Robinson has delighted in his guitar playing and his ‘top track’ has amassed almost half a million Spotify streams. He’s a one-man garage band, and brilliant.
Racing between one band and the next, I found myself trotting past the Left Field tent – once a home-from-home as I had the profoundly life-changing experience of booking the line-up here back in the mid 2000s before Billy Bragg took over. I’m pleased to say that most of the Left Field acts this year would have been strong contenders if I was still in that hot seat, but The Halfway Kid wasn’t a name I recognised. However, his voice was enough to tempt me in. The Halfway Kid is a project fronted by British-Sudanese singer and songwriter Saeed Gadir. That’s really all I know at this point – other than the fact he seems to have written a follow-up album to Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’. Proper, proper good music.
For the past few years we have been telling anyone who would listen that there were a bunch of bands emerging who would be going on to bigger things.Here’s four of them who played at ‘Glastonbury’ this year and who are all now on the verge of proper mainstream acclaim:
Nova Twins who we last reviewed back in March 2023 and stated “Nova Twins are icons in the making. It’s appropriate that they named their sophomore album ‘Supernova’, because the rock duo’s uniqueness and sheer nerve has fast-tracked them to a stardom rarely seen for bands with a DIY history”. Read the full account HERE.
Gurriers who we first encountered at Alphabet on 12th May 2023 at ‘The Great Escape’ where reviewer Richie Nice concluded his article “It’s been an impressively passionate performance, suggesting that this band may well be going places”. John, Sara and my (Nick Linazasoro) first encounter was them performing out of a trailer in a wood at ‘Latitude’ festival in Suffolk back on 22nd July 2023. It was pure mayhem that night! We last reviewed Gurriers back in March – Read our account HERE.
Fat Dog who interestingly we also first reviewed on 12th May 2023 as part of ‘The Great Escape’ where I (Nick Linazasoro) concluded my review by stating “My poor tired body had a mind of its own and I merrily bopped away at 100mph! This was simply euphoric! No wonder they have been selected to play the Reading and Leeds Festivals. They were truly BRILLIANT!”. We last reviewed them on Valentine’s Day this year at Chalk – Read our account HERE.
Lambrini Girls who we have been on the case from their inception and even before when vocalist Phoebe (as well as Annabel and Leila from Lime Garden) were in Wife Swap USA, and we even covered their debut performance which was at The Hope & Ruin on 6th December 2019 – Review HERE. Our last account of a headline ‘Brinis’ gig in Brighton was at Chalk back in April – Review HERE.
Although planning the running order of ‘Glastonbury’ must be an absolute nightmare, to say, the least, sometimes throughout the years that we have been attending, we honestly feel that certain acts really should have been performing live on the festival’s largest and most prominent stage, the Pyramid stage, and this year is no exception and it’s not just us saying this, but everyone else is saying it too, that both The Prodigy and Gary Numan could (and should) have been put on as headline acts on the Pyramid stage. That’s all we have to say on the matter!
Somewhere there is a rule written that says that a festival isn’t technically a festival unless at least one of a group of around 20 stalwarts on the circuit are on the bill. ‘Glastonbury’ plays by the rules, and thankfully this year we managed to catch a half dozen of the ‘magnificent 20’ in action across the long weekend. These were Andy Twyman, Beans On Toast, Chris T-T, Duncan Disorderly & the Scallywags, Sister Suzie, and Town Of Cats.
As with all festivals there are always some emerging talents that really should not be ignored but flagged up in all of their glory. This obviously goes without saying that ‘Glasto’ certainly had its fair share and thankfully we caught quite a number of them this year (some not for the first time either), and no doubt will be revisiting many of these at other venues and festivals across the country in the forthcoming months. Roll of honour this time around includes Oakley Starr, Adult DVD, CHALK, Heartworms, SLEAZE, Gemma Rogers and Mên An Tol.
Just in case you were by now under the misapprehension that we only covered the unknown and emerging artists during ‘Glasto’, let’s put the record straight as we did also witness a number of the “bigger ones” during our time in Somerset. In fact, by our reckoning, there were no less than 22 of them! These being ALT BLK ERA, Amyl And The Sniffers, Biffy Clyro, CMAT, Franz Ferdinand, HAIM, Inhaler, Kaiser Chiefs, Kate Nash, Lola Young, Neil Young, Pulp, St. Vincent, Supergrass, The 1975, The Libertines, The Script, The Selecter, Turnstile, Weezer, Wet Leg, and Wolf Alice.
You are still quite possibly pondering who was the act that John and Sara missed that they will regret forever? The answer, yet again, isn’t an obvious choice, but another obscure one. The answer being Exeter based “next gen one man band” Samantics.
‘Glastonbury’ is having a year off next year, but is set to return in 2027, hopefully with all manner of goodies! Fingers crossed…..
