Field Notes: Glastonbury 2016 Highlights

Glastonbury goers didn’t have a particularly easy time of it this year – they had to contend with unseasonal (albeit typical) torrential rain and whilst they were hiding in their tents, the UK drifted away from the EU. Thankfully, they were compensated in full by a host of supremely talented artists who demonstrated they were not to be deterred by rain or political strife and put on some of the most memorable performances in recent memory. It’s actually such a heartening thing to see the arts and culture stand so tall amongst turmoil – and much kudos to the BBC for providing such solid 360 degree coverage of the event, it really makes us poor saps that didn’t make it to the farm feel a part of the action.
Great to see Musicroom favourites Adele and Coldplay lighting up the main stage with their mega-pop crowd pleasers. Although it’s not really in the spirit of Glastonbury to have such hit-makers on their roster, it’s actually great to see both of these acts stepping up to the mark. Adele’s language on stage though! My goodness. You know we’ve got a 50% off sale at the moment, right? You can buy a ton of the headliners sheet music here at a bargain price so don’t miss out on that.
One act that a lot of people have been speaking about are French pop-disco Christine and the Queens – and understandably so. Their stage presence along with Christine’s ability to charm an audience who were stood in perpetual drizzle along with their electro infused pop/dance routines were an intoxicating proposition. You can watch it here.
Another act that have garnered their fair share of attention were Glastonbury main-stays The Mystery Jets who put together a stunning set of ethereal, jazzy indie classics showing that their finest days aren’t behind them by some stretch.
Canadian odd-pop good guy Mac DeMarco came through with a set that makes us love him more than a Labrador in shirt sleeves. Slacker rock is kind of a misleading title for something as technically accomplished!
Post-rock kings Explosions In The Sky destroyed the stage with a sound which was as enormous as it was cathartic.
Bat For Lashes reminded us why we love her so much – we’ve missed you Natasha!
This is a big list of people we love – but clearly, Philip Glass’s David Bowie tribute was incredible, Wolf Alice are an incredible pop-rock act who have emerged triumphantly recently from London, obviously James Blake put together a beautiful, haunting performance, Earth, Wind & Fire were foot twitchingly brilliant, Kamasi Washington showed everyone why he’s the number one name in jazz right now, Floating Points delivered an unbelievable set on the back of the success of his brilliant ‘Eleania’ album, ZZ Top were awe-inspiring too, Richard Hawley and his brand of Sheffield romanticism brought out our sentimental side… the list goes on.
If you ever feel down about anything at any point – watch Glastobury. What a celebration of joie de vivre! Sigh.
Until next year!