Stormzy, Japanese psych rockers Acid Mothers Temple, and Heavenly Recordings' Mattiel are the greatest triumphs of a scorching first full day of music at Glastonbury festival.
The festival’s gates may have been open since Wednesday but Friday is when things truly take off. And Stormzy’s set puts the festival on course for one of its greatest editions this decade. Making history as the first black solo artist to headline the festival, he’s also the second youngest solo as David Bowie is the youngest ever. The sense of occasion is truly palpable.
“This is the greatest night of my life […] 25 years of my life have been leading up to this,” says Stormzy, on a couple of occasions throughout the set. Any time he looks out to the crowd you can feel his sense of awe of having made it to this level.
Great for fans of his purest grime style, it opens with the raw energy and uncensored witty confrontational material that used to make up his whole set. The feel is reminiscent of your reviewer’s memory of seeing Stormzy at Sonar in 2015 when he was clashing with Skepta. He moved silkily from side-to-side of the stage and it was a breathtaking energy-drive set with: “Where’s my energy crew?” shouted regularly.
But with Stormzy having shot to superstardom, breaking the record for a British artist's first week streams on Spotify with his debut LP, it means the set’s become a much more multi-dimensional, curated affair compared with his underground days. One value of his laden in artistically - one very in keeping with Glastonbury’s inclusive ethos - is increasing black representation at the highest levels of culture and power. Something Stormzy - who was inspired by the E3 Bow grime scene led by Dizzee Rascal before putting South London’s on the map thanks; in part to BBC 1 Xtra’s support - is nobly pushing.
One of the most original ways the above happens when, after three cuts, the bedroom grime set up of decks and an MC are reeled in: two black ballet dancers come on during this interlude and words are projected making reference to positive social change. The screens are lit with words reading black ballet dancers used to have to “pancake their shoes with make up” and it concludes saying there are now ballet shoes to match all skin tones. Inequality is also touched upon on the screens: he makes reference to bereft policing which disproportionately target young black men (see the tweet below).
✊🏿👊🏿 @stormzy using his headline spot at #glastonburyfestival2019 to speak out about the injustice of young black kids being criminalised in a biased and disproportionate justice system. Humbled and inspired that he sampled my speech. Salute #Merky pic.twitter.com/iSG3PMssrd
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) June 28, 2019
After the ballet, the band come on and the more gospel aspect of the set commences - a genre woven into his sound regularly on his album Gang, Signs & Prayer. Stormzy’s Christian beliefs are fairly prevalent during the numbers which are sung or use more choir backing. It’s less frenetic and the quietest moment is the duet done with Chris Martin for ‘Blinded By Your Grace pt.1’. Martin never quite soars, but it’s a brave duet with both artists exposed thanks to minimal sonic backing and singing never Stormzy’s main instrument.
But whenever things get spectral, spiritual – slow – it’s offset by a firework or a rabble-rousing gritty provocative number; such as the duet with Dave for ‘Funky Friday’; or the establishment-baiting ‘Vossi Bop’, for instance, is used to get the 100,000-strong crowd to shout back a lyric in it: “Fuck Boris”.
Towards the finale, we sense Stormzy's in a sentimental mood and recognising that history is being made and he's now paving the way: he makes a dedication to 65 artists who either paved the way for him or are pushing his corner of UK music forward. It’s all moves which make him very likeable and will see him most likely invited back for another headline performance on the Pyramid Stage in the future.
Earlier in the day under 28 degree burning sunlight we head towards West Holts stage which is crowned with a plastic cow. And we get near the front row to see the incredible Sabbath-referencing Acid Mother Temple. It starts out with some ambient noise with the guys warming up on their instruments before building up with the flashiest solos like a more unorthodox heavier Steve Vai. The bass lines are generally quite repetitive making them a great band to dance to. So we do dance like acid casualties. The band are divided into two: long serving members who look older and play guitar and analog synth; and three younger athletic members on bass guitar, lead vocal and second guitar, and drums. Drums are played so wildly the tom keeps wobbling as if it’s about to fall over. It's all very invigorating and gets a wildly energetic reaction from the crowd.
Meanwhile, on the Greenpeace stage, the line-up in the afternoon is so well curated it's held us there for three sets in a row: Wales’ fastest rising rock band Boy Azooga (they’re about to support Neil Young in Holland); and the incredible Jack White-tipped Mattiel, who are fronted by on the of the most enigmatic lead singers in rock n’ roll. The band ooze style, classic tones, and the Mattiel's voice is unique and powerful enough to thrill us to our core. They'd easily captivate on the Pyramid stage.
Last but by no means least: post-punk / post-genre band Squid. A new Brighton-formed band who created a buzz putting on their own nights in the Windmill in Brixton when they were more jazz leaning. Currently based in London, they come on stage fresh from supporting Wire. They make interesting time signature shifting, rowdy, hard-hitting music with a vocal which see them slip into a séance like condition and evoke The Fall, but with a level of idiosyncratic weirdness to not make them a pastiche. When they get going and start layering on feedback and delay and trumpet we see crowd members dressed up as octopi climb on top of each other with a stag do-esque wildness. A mosh pit then erupts. Other festival goers pass by with their finger in their ears jarred by the completely fearless blend of anti-pop they create. Squid are top-notch musicians, fearless in their ways, and could be massive this time next year.
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Glastonbury continues today with The Killers headlining.
