Rock and Roll Will Never Die

Glastonbury saw the magnificent Neil Young, the great Bruce Springsteen and the comeback of 90s Brit Pop band Blur as the headliners for the June weekend . The BBC, although the licence fee payer’s institution, still insist on giving their audience a large group of presenters who seem to know nothing about music and insist on shoving down your throat what they want you to watch rather than what you want to watch. This was emphasised by the fact Neil Young, a music legend headlining and playing Glastonbury for the first time ever at the age of 62 got barely any screen time, where as Lilly Allen, Lady GaGa and Dizzee Rascal were seen on a loop the whole weekend.

The presenters seemed to all be bad radio DJs who relied on dry humour that wasn’t funny and had no passion for the great event that they were lucky to be at. With fake mud on Hunter boots that were probably paid for by their employer along with their ticket they really should have made more of an effort to up their music knowledge but instead they looked out of place and arrogant.

Neil Young was a highlight, I can only say this as I had seen him wow Aberdeen 2 nights before where wonderful favourites such as ‘Cinnamon Girl’, ‘Down By The River’ and ‘Harvest Moon’ were played out to a sweaty crowd. Opening with a belter, ‘Hey Hey My My’, the AECC is an awful place for a venue but Young disguised this with his brilliant sound. An open field in the English Countryside must have been a brilliant place to watch Young and his enthusiastic band. His cover of The Beatles ‘A Day In The Life’ was intriguing but the real treats were his classics, apart from the above, the timeless ‘Rockin In The Free World’ and the haunting ‘Needle And The Damage Done’ sent shivers down spines.

Blur also created waves with their set jam packed full of hits. ‘Beetlebum’ and ‘Tender’ were the best. Hot property at the moment Florence And The Machine executed a beautiful set and proved she could win over Glastonbury. The Specials had their moment again too and were great fun. ‘Too Much Too Young’ seemed even more poignant with the band at a markedly older age than the first time round.

Rock and Roll will never die for the music lovers out there but it seems to be long gone for the BBC Team and their awful coverage of musical festivals.