Glastonbury 2009 - Saturday evening live blogging (Pendulum, Franz Ferdinand and Bruce Springsteen)

Ok this is a weird mix: Florence And The Machine and Karma Police by Easy Star All-Stars - who apparently did the whole of OK Computer Dredzone reggae style. Some superb piano action from The Machine but not great vocals from Florence.

Then Edith and Reggie interview Kasabian. LOL - "It was a sea of baked beans" - Sergio. He looks a bit detached from it all. It is 10 minutes since they came off stage.

More from Pendulum, who I think might be a bit disappointing on record after this masterful performance on the Other stage. Some serious vocal production for Different and more strobe lighting than I have ever seen. Incredible. Luckily the BBC run a banner across the screen that warns people - about 5 minutes too late!!! Get it together people. I'm Not Alone by Calvin Harris takes it to another level. Amazing. I think I may be a fan.






Ok so Bruce is on stage, but no footage as yet.

Probably going to have to switch between The Boss and Franz Ferdinand. No guesses who I'll be focusing on. I hope he does the whole of Darkness On The Edge Of Town. That would make my year. Doubt it.

Pendulum end their set on Granite - another torrent of guitars and drum machines. This is one of the songs I have heard. And it is bloody amazing live. A rousing finale.

A quick interview back in the studio with Reggie and then footage of the Pendulum remix of Metallica...

On 6 music Bruce is in full flow, unfortunately it's the woeful Working On A Dream from his new stuff. He obviously didn't get my tweets. Or the emails. Or the fax. Or the letter...It still seems to be mandatory to shout 'GLAST-ON_BERRY' even if you are Bruce Springsteen. And now he's going on about building a house of love... this is a huge interlude that seems to be going on for years. The boos are obviously 'Bruuuuuuuce' as everyone knows.

And The Boss is in good voice. No classics yet though. I'm more a fan of earlier stuff and this all sounds like new pseudo-country...

On the other stage Franz Ferdinand kick off with The Dark Of The Matinee - a favourite from the band's eponymous debut (and best) album. Despite competing with Bruce, there is a huge crowd. Then No You Girls. Then Do You Want To. Oh dear we seem to lapsed into the new albums.

This won't go down well, 6 music cut away from Springsteen to go to Franz Ferdinand. As Kaiser Chiefs said...I Predict A Riot! Turn It On is next. Not a song I recognise but it has all the right ingredients. One thing about Glastonbury is that the Eavis's know the great 'live' bands. Franz Ferdinand seem to be one of those bands. The recent albums sound flat and listless but this is a great set so far. Wonder if they will do anything special as way of a tribute or is 'Michael' too obvious???

So no tribute and into Walk Away which is not great...

They make a great job of The Fallen with huge guitars. This is how good that first FF album really was...



BBC 2 coverage and Bruce is on stage. Excellent. He starts with Badlands. And IT IS BLOODY BRILLIANT. There is huge feedback from the crowd, as expected. This may be the biggest gig the festival has ever bagged. Quickly into Prove It All Night...My God he is doing the whole of Darkness On The Edge Of Town...just not in the right order!!!







Okay maybe not Outlaw Pete is next. An odd choice as it's not a classic or very good. So much for my plan - Bruce did you not get my messages??? It goes on for ever and he dons a cowboy hat for the ending...It is a rousing finale which sees The Boss walk to to the front of the crowd for the first time....EVER! Naturally he is grabbed and molested...

Out In The Street is up next. From The River. Another odd choice given all the other good songs on that album. Bruce goes for another "meet and greet" walkabout during the song.

Working On A Dream continues the trend of 'new songs'. It is to be expected that new stuff will be plugged but there is so much back catalogue to pick from and only an hour or so to fill - maybe the set will go on until 3am like Hendrix at Woodstock!

Franz Ferdinand are still churning away with the electronic Outsiders...

Back on the Pyramid The Boss is in mid 'build a house' comedic preach. I hope he realises how ridiculous this looks. The new age crowd seem to understand. That's the main thing.

Waiting On A Sunny Day is next. Again not one of my favourites. A huge crowd sing-along moment before another obligatory and magnificent sax break.

You certainly cannot doubt this guys commitment...




Cool...Promised Land. Goes to show that Darkness On The Edge Of Town is the BEST album he has made!!!

And here it is...The River. Against the dark of the stage, Springsteen looks like he's on fire, with steam rising from his shoulders. Haunting falsetto and harmonica at the end . Just brilliant.

Born To Run now....this could be the best Glasto set EVER!


Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, from the Born To Run album, is a another crowd favourite and a solid live performance. The E Street Band are on great form tonight.

To end, the band deliver American Land from the Seeger sessions. Bruce names all of the band before a few more shouts of 'GLAST-ON_BERRY' for good measure and makes the crowd understand what they have just seen. They then finish the song...

Encores (at this rate about five of them) beckon and so we get another song.

GLORY DAYS!!!

Bruce declares it's 'curfew time' before that becomes 'Bruce time'. And then straight into Dancing In The Dark. The crowd are getting value for money. I think Born In The USA might be a song too far. Any chance of Thunder Road?

Reaction from Mark Radcliffe: "He could have put something into it". LOL!

Follow that BLUR!