Glastonbury 2010: MUSE

Muse were, in my mind, indisputably the best act of Glastonbury 2010. For a long time, the 3-piece Devon band have been one of the big names I’ve wanted to tick off my list and to say they did not disappoint is an almighty understatement. Their full-blown, high-voltage set had the 100,000 strong crowd losing all their inhibitions and surrendering to the waves of heavy volume and blinding light that erupted from the Pyramid Stage for the full 2 hours of their electrifying set.

With the sound absolutely perfect and the light show a brilliant spectacle (although possibly less of a focus than previous Muse gigs), the set was overwhelming from whatever your position amongst the huge, hero-worshipping audience; consuming every crowd member and getting everyone on their feet and screaming along with the hit-after-hit pouring effortlessly from front-man Matthew Bellamy’s lips.

The great thing about seeing a band like Muse is that - unlike unfortunate Friday night headliners, Gorillaz, who unwittingly filled their set with barely-known songs from their brand new album – they have such a vast amount of material and such extensive success that literally every song of their set is a scream-your-guts-out super-hit that gets the whole crowd jumping. No wonder I’d lost my voice when I woke up in my tent on Sunday! Almost every song was a high point in my eyes, the set getting bigger and better with each one, but the ultimate “Oh my God, I can’t believe they’re playing this,” moments had to be at Plug in Baby in the finale, and the appearance of U2’s The Edge playing guitar for a brave but perfect cover of U2 song, Where the Streets Have No Name.

They were – in a word – unbelievable, and without a doubt my highlight of the festival for this year.

For more information about Glastonbury Festival, and to register for tickets for 2011, visit www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk

For extensive BBC coverage of the festival and over 40 hours of live performances, visit www.bbc.co.uk/glastonbury/

Photos by Rosie Blake.

Glastonbury 2010: The XX

Chilled out Indie trio, The XX have, in the past year, managed to conquer both sides of the Atlantic before anyone even had the chance to bat an eyelid. And rightly too. In the Guardian’s G2 Glastonbury pull-out on Monday they were described as “gloomy”, a remark I think could hardly be more off mark. Their music may be slow and laid-back, but oozes with a cool physicality and haunting sexuality with every reverberation of Oliver Sim’s bass.

I saw them, not at their bigger spot in the John Peel tent, but headlining Friday night on the Park Stage – the brain-child of Michael Eavis’ daughter, Emily, and the most relaxed and intimate venue across the site. Right at the back fence of Glastonbury’s 1000 acres, the quiet backdrop of stars and almost-full moon was the perfect backdrop for this amazing set.

It was by far the quietest gig I have ever been to; the audience involved and entranced in an entirely different way from the shout-y, stomp-y crowds of the Pyramid Stage, every pluck of the throbbing bass an overwhelmingly intimate pluck at the listeners’ heart strings, sending them into content contemplation rather than ecstatic screams. Their no-frills performance and casual attitude added even more to the late-night darkened bedroom appeal of their reverb-ed guitars and breathy vocals.

Although some argument could have been made for them merely sounding like their album, the self-entitled XX, I enjoyed the subtlety of their live performance and the experience of their understated but powerfully involving music filling up the night air is not one I will forget in a hurry.