It’s that time of the year again! “Summer” has hit the Northern Hemisphere and the UK’s largest and most famous music festival is back for another year. Anyone expecting a repeat of last year’s scorching sunny weather,had such hopes dashed immediately on arrival; though the rain failed to dampen the spirits of the thousands of punters who descend on the Somerset farm.
Thankfully I had arrived the day before, managing fortunately to forgo the displeasure of trying to put up a tent both in the rain and on ground that was gradually getting more and more muddy and quagmirish by the minute. However, by around midday the sun was out again, bringing with it the faintest glimmer of hope for a dry Glastonbury. Yet by this point, heavy rainfall in the days leading up to Glastonbury had already made sure that wellies would be the footwear of choice, great for keeping dry, awful for trekking around the mammoth site that is Worthy Farm.
Usually there isn’t a huge amount happening on the Wednesday of Glastonbury. I believe (and I of course could be entirely wrong) that it’s usually a case of trying to get to the festival site (a feat in itself) and then trying to get a decent camping spot. But this year, the Bourbon Street stage, a stage which prides it self on getting live music happening before the other stages, put on a medley of acoustic sets in the early evening. I’ll confess not expecting there to be anything happening that evening, I missed the opening act Paddy Milner, but arrived just in time for Havana Swing.
Hailing from Scotland, Havana Swing play a brand of Jazz which is reminiscent of gypsy jazz musician Django Reinhardt. Indeed, the band even slipped the odd Reinhardt number into the set. They seemed entirely comfortable up on stage, as you would expect from a band with over twenty years experience. Their sound was crisp and fresh, with a wonderfully darting clarinet occasionally breaking through. They drew a fairly healthy and receptive crowd for such an early billing, but thoroughly deserved all the same. I particularly enjoyed their rendition of Route 66, which they really made their own.
Following on from Havana Swing was Claude Bourbon, a French/Swiss blues musician. Whilst he seemed comfortable enough on stage, he made little effort to engage with the audience, bar an introductory hello and bonjour. Instead, he opted to let his playing do the talking and it was clear from the outset that he is an incredibly talented guitarist.
The set was littered with examples of impressive finger picking and beautifully precise solos. At times, his playing came across as more traditional and classical orientated than anything you would characterise as jazz or blues, though every now and then you could hear those influences and genres coming through. At the times when he decided to sing, his vocal came across well and had somewhat of a folky charm to it, with a blues edge.
Up next was Matt Andersen who quickly became one of my early festival highlights. Likewise, he seemed to quickly become a favourite of the Bourbon Street crowd. Andersen is a man of imposing stature, but it was his music that made the biggest impact; upbeat and gloriously raucous despite only being an “acoustic” set. He has a great gravelled bluesy vocal, adding just the right level of emotion to his songs. An entertaing performer, who quickly won the crowd over with great music and a great sense of humour. He would drop the odd little riff into his songs, with his encore featuring quotes from the Pink Panther theme tune, as well as AC/DC (which earned him a roar of appreciation from the crowd).
Closing out the stage for the evening were Sheffield band Alpha Manoeuvre, who had perhaps the unenviable task of following on from Andersen. Though with the crowd suitably warmed up, the band played a great set, with some wonderful individual stand out performances from each member. I must admit given the guitar heavy previous sets, it was a pleasure to hear the piano come through with some fantastic little flourishes throughout the set. At times it felt like the band were fighting to be heard over some members of the crowd, inevitable I suppose given only speaker was being used. However at the same time it gave a great bar-room sort of atmosphere. Whilst undoubtedly not everyone was there for the music, the atmosphere was still a positive and friendly one, with the majority responding enthusiastically to the music being played. Overall it was a great performance all round, with some fantastic playing from the whole band, and even a guest spot for one of the announcers/organisers.
A great evening of music, a fantastic start to the festival! But there’s plenty more still to come from both Bourbon Street and beyond.
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