As NowPublic member Zichi reported on Thursday, the Glastonbury Festival has undergone some significant changes in its 36 years of existence.
The 2008 edition of the UK’s monster music fest featured blistering performances by huge headliners like Jay-Z, The Verve, and Amy Winehouse— and hipster-hot acts including: Vampire Weekend, Crystal Castles, MGMT, Editors, Santogold and Lightspeed Champion.
Glastonbury was held this past weekend on June 27, 28 and 29th.
NowPublic is looking to include your photos, videos, and stories to our coverage. If you attended the festival this year please post to this story.
JAY-Z ROCKS ‘WONDERWALL’ (no really, he actually covered Oasis)
Jay-Z hit back at Noel Gallagher’s criticism of his headlining Glastonbury slot by playing his own version of ‘Wonderwall’ on Saturday.
The Oasis guitarist had criticised the decision to allow Jay-Z to headline the event, saying it should stick to its traditional indie music roots.
The rapper responded by opening with an acoustic version of ‘Wonderwall’ with Gallagher’s “Hip-hop at Glastonbury is just wrong” comments dubbed over the top.
He told the crowd: “So they say you guys didn’t want me to be here tonight. They said you guys weren’t into hip-hop. Thanks for all the love here tonight.
“This is a beautiful moment, I’m glad to share it with each and every one of you.”
Jay-Z then performed a set that included ‘Big Pimpin’’, ’99 Problems’ and ‘Hard Knock Life’, as well as covers of Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’, Estelle’s ‘American Boy’ and Amy Winehouse’s ‘Rehab’.
AMY WINEHOUSE THROWIN’ BO’S
A man who was allegedly elbowed in the head by Amy Winehouse at Glastonbury Festival has handed his digital camera footage of the incident to the BBC.
James Gostelow, 25, from London, said the singer caught him on the forehead after someone in the crowd behind him threw a hat at her.
Winehouse, 24, was seen apparently lashing out at the audience during her Pyramid Stage performance on Saturday.
But police said they had received no complaints of assault.
Broadcast footage on the night appeared to show Winehouse elbow one fan after being hit on the head by a hat, then throw a series of punches into the crowd.
Mr Gostelow said the incident was a case of mistaken identity.
“I saw a hat being thrown from behind me and it hit Amy’s beehive. She looked down, saw me looking up, and her elbow went for me.
“She caught my forehead, then someone may have shouted something from the back, which is when she went in again.”
Winehouse, who performed in front of an estimated 75,000 people, jumped off the stage and into the security pit for the last two songs of her set.
THE VERVE CLOSES THE WEEKEND
The Verve have brought Glastonbury 2008 to a close, headlining the Pyramid Stage tonight (June 29).
Topping the bill on the last night of the three day festival, the reunited band served up a mix of anthems and previewed their new album ‘Forth’ due out in August.
Kicking off with ‘This Is Music’, frontman Richard Ashcroft shouted out the refrain of the next song ‘Sonnet’ – “there’s love if you want it!”- urging the swelling crowd on and they duly obliged with a loud sing-a-long.
“Thank you, you’re sounding good tonight declared Ashcroft afterwards. “A shout out for Jay-Z for putting in a good performance but tonight is rock n roll!”
CRYSTAL CASTLES
Fans of the huge Toronto duo Crystal Castles love singer Alice Glass’ extreme on-stage antics. But last night, it seems that the security guards at Glastonbury didn’t feel quite the same way.
Wearing red tights and a skirt, as well as a black leather jacket, Glass tore around the stage and repeatedly dove into the photo pit. But when she climbed to the stop of a speaker stack during the first few notes of “Alice Practice,” the lights and music were suddenly shut down, leaving Glass on top of the speakers, not sure what to do next.
Eventually she climbed back down, saying, “They’re shutting us off! Who’s in charge?”
But the shut-down was short-lived. The crowd booed until the music came back on and Crystal Castles were allowed to resume their high-octane show – as long as they stayed low to the ground.
PREVIOUSLY | June 27th — VAMPIRE WEEKEND
Vampire Weekend played to a packed crowd on Glastonbury‘s Other Stage this afternoon (June 27).
The New York band were one of the first acts rumoured to be playing at the 2008 festival after playing the London new talent night Holy Cow, run by some of the festival’s organisers.
“I can’t believe how many people we’re looking at,” declared frontman Erza Koenig. “It’s such a beautiful site, we’re really honoured to be back in your country.”
MGMT
MGMT played to a rammed to the rafters John Peel Tent at Glastonbury tonight (June 27th).
The crowd was spilling way out of the tent by the time the boys took to the stage to huge cheers. ‘Weekend Wars’ immediately had people dancing in unison and the pace never let up.
‘Electric Feel’ caused a mass singalong, as crowd surfers made for the stage, but it was ‘Time to Pretend’ which really shook the tent. The duo – Andrew VanWyngardan and Ben Goldwasser – having been quiet between songs applauded the crowd’s reaction as they left the stage.
EDITORS
Editors have played one of their biggest festival sets to date, taking to Glastonbury‘s Pyramid Stage this evening (June 27).
Returning after a break while frontman Tom Smith became a father, the band used the set to test out new material.
SANTOGOLD
Santogold brought a touch of glamour to the Park Stage at Glastonbury festival this afternoon (June 27).
Belting out hits from her recently-released eponymous debut album, including ‘Creator’ and ‘LES Artistes’, the singer pulled in a big crowd.
Performing choreographed dance moves with her singers, Santogold, who was wearing a T-shirt featuring pictures of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, joked with the crowd about the rain.
LIGHTSPEED CHAMPION
Lightspeed Champion performed two new songs during his set on the John Peel Stage at Glastonbury today (June 27).
However, Dev Hynes joked that fans should “go and get stocked up at the herbal highs tent” rather than listen to the new songs, titled ‘Marlene’ and ‘Kill Me Baby Won’t You Kill Me’.
Taking to the stage twirling around a cape, Hynes told the crowd to get ready for a “fat rave”, before playing a set consisting mostly of tracks from his debut album ‘Falling Off The Lavender Bridge’ – including ‘Galaxy Of The Lost’ and ‘Devil Tricks For A Bitch’.
See additional NowPublic coverage of this year’s festival here and here.
Tags: Culture | Music | Bands | festival | UK | artists | Rock | editors | glastonbury | pop | culturite | lightspeed champion | mgmt | vampire weekend | Santogold
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