Sunday 29/06/08 Glastonbury Festival, Day Three @ Worthy Farm, Pilton

The sun’s out for the second day in a row at Glastonbury, and the inevitable mud of Friday has been baked hard. As we totter unsteadily down to the John Peel tent there are third day casualties aplenty strewn across the rubbish-filled fields, some downing tents for the off. At John Peel, a sparse attendance for the Friendly Fires set make us wonder. Did we sleep through? Is it, in fact, Monday? Most people, it seems, are at the Other stage, where the party’s still in full swing as we arrive, clutching cider and a bladder of quality Bulgarian red. It’s a carnival atmosphere, with flags everywhere. Serious messages like ‘Intervene in Zimbabwe’ billow next to the more obscure ‘Richmond is Here, Glasto 2008’.

Jazzing it onto the sunlit stage in cream trilby and grey summer suit, musical matchmaker Mark Ronson orchestrates the set of playful cover versions this huge crowd is here to see, and comes across throughout as a jolly nice chap into the bargain. So nice in fact that he cajoles Lily Allen onto the stage, looking distinctly My Little Pony with pink hair and sunnies, and clutching a little champagne. But all is not well. “You know what, I've had a bad one” she explains. Her ‘Nanny Allen’ died the night before. Bravely, Lily wipes away the tears and with the help of a sheet of lyrics and a sympathetic crowd sings ‘Littlest Things’ and the Kaiser Chiefs' ‘Oh My God’. ‘Valerie’ is perfect Sunday fare, even without Ms. Winehouse, and ‘God Put a Smile Upon Your Face’ draws plenty of smiles.

On our way to the great Pyramid finale we detour and catch The Zutons performing 'Valerie.' Is it actually their song? We’re not sure any more. They are good natured in getting Ronson on stage (“Here he is. Mark Ronson! Make more noise! Not that much noise...”) and about Valerie being, perhaps, the most played Glasto song (‘this is the third time apparently, so thanks for sticking around”)

At the Pyramid all is surprisingly civilised. But then we are listening to 73-year-old Canadian crooning legend Leonard Cohen, with grey hat and suit, a look pitched somewhere between Frank Sinatra and a good-natured tortoise. When, after 'So Long, Marianne', Cohen announces that “It's a great honour to play before these angels born of the mud,” the crowd begin to fall under his gravel-voiced spell. A special Glasto remix of ‘Hallelujah’, with lyrics changed from “I told the truth, I didn't come here to fool ya’ to ‘I told the truth, I didn't come to Glastonbury to fool ya’” is the pinnacle of a genuinely moving performance. In the face of such winning stagecraft many in the audience is powerless to resist and as the chorus ‘hallelujah’s’ ring out around the sunset arena, full scale weeping breaks out. Gigwise, of course, didn’t cry at all...

So now we await The Verve. Around us, the twenties and thirties set move in, many of whom are beery lads for whom Urban Hyms was ‘just one of those seminal albums, you know’. For them tonight’s eagerly anticipated headline set from Wigan legends The Verve is the perfect opportunity to cry into beers and cuddle mates, without looking gay.

As the light fades there is a sense this is going to be special. Richard Ashcroft, dressed in leather jacket and large dark shades, has the presence, ego, and voice to carry this off. “Shout out to Jay-Z for putting in a big performance last night,” he says. “But tonight it's rock 'n' roll.” They launch into ‘This is Music’, followed by ‘Sonnet’, which kicks off some throaty audience participation. Throughout the set the cue for the gorgeous sing-along numbers is Ashcroft slipping on the acoustic: Urban Hymns favourite ‘The Drugs Don’t Work’ is particularly hair-raising and brilliant, likewise ‘History’ from second album A Northern Soul.

Ashcroft warms to his task "I want to thank Emily Eavis for booking us’ he says after the triumphant ‘Lucky Man’. "And I hope her dad understands why she booked us now." After some needless and quite amusing comparisons with everyone’s favourite posh poppers Keene comes perhaps the most rousing moment of Glastonbury 2008. The opening notes of ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ play and it sounds like the entire crowd is singing along. And closing with a NEW Verve track? But ‘Love is Noise’ is strong and features a wonderfully twisted, extended frenzy of guitar noise that sends the crowd off in a hedonistic haze.
 
After this, it’s hard to keep going, but we try. After a spot of impromptu dancing in a Chai tent, we head for Shangri La. It’s packed out with Sunday night revellers, but with our Bulgarian Red long gone we hit a beer crisis – all the bars seem to close at three. Gigwise’s friend has a go, shouting “look mate, do you know where we can get a cold beer?” at a weary looking steward, but to no avail. So we leave the wide eyed kids and gnarly festival pros to it and head back, via one more bacon sandwich and cup of tea, to our tent. Or, as is more likely here, someone else’s tent.

There’s talk of Radiohead and Coldplay to headline next year. Michael Eavis doesn’t want more pastings from hacks and luminaries over the line up leading to sleepless nights and slow ticket sales. Understandable – but this would be a shame. After all the difficulties this ended as a fantastic and life-affirming Glastonbury. From Lupe Fiasco and Jay Z to techno, robots and drum and bass at Shangri La and Trash City, via Hot Chip’s terrific crossover set on Saturday and the emotional Sunday night double header on the Pyramid stage, this was classic Glastonbury embracing the brave new collaborative, genre busting musical world.

Click through below to see day three in pictures: