Fontaines DC – Other stage
My childhood was small, but I was going to be big! ” These were the words promised on Fontaines DC’s debut album. With a steady build in the last few years and then one huge swooping success to their number 1 album, this year’s Skinty Fia, the group has become just that. And on a hot Sunday afternoon at Glastonbury, the swarm of winding fans buzzing around the Other Stage serve just to reaffirm it.
A true showman, lead singer Grian Chatten – wearing his usual Pogues T-shirt – throws his arms up to shout. The group formed in Dublin got into a difficult time slot and clashed with Diana Ross in the Legends Slot over at the Pyramid. It is a testament to their fearsome reputation as a live performance that they have attracted such a large crowd.
Now three albums deep, the five-piece was at the forefront of the recent rock revival. They also stubbornly opposed categorization, but rather defined themselves by Chatten’s sharp, acting lyrics and their intense, driving instrumentation.
They cast a few tracks from their 2019 debut, Dogrel, along with the sonically moody, yet lyrically hopeful tracks from sequel A Hero’s Death. Usually an unwaveringly cool collective, they can’t help but grin as mosh pits hatch in front of them. At the sign of “Jackie Down the Line”, a sea of sticky bodies hatches and bumps into each other. Fontaines will not die soon.
McFly-Avalon
I know we live in an era of nostalgia, but even I (a former superfan) are shocked at how big the crowd is for McFly’s first Glastonbury set.
You have to give it to them. Nearly two decades since the kind-of-pop, kind-of-emo group burst onto the scene with their debut single “Five Colors in Her Hair,” the four-piece has packed the Avalon stage at Worthy Farm.
Things kick off surprisingly with “Red,” giving the group a chance to build their live guitar skills. More rock-heavy deep tracks follow directly after: “Song for the Radio”, “Lies”. It’s some of their best material, but you can see the audience is impatient for the hits. I think I may be the only person in a 10 meter radius who sings along.
At least the group is self-aware. “If you enjoyed it, we are Mcfly. But if you did not enjoy it, we are Busted, ”the crowd is told, before a rendition of“ Obviously ”that assists everyone endlessly. A trio of crowd pleasers follow: “All About You”, “Room on the Third Floor” and the band’s cover of “Don’t Stop Me Now”.
“Star Girl” receives the greatest reception for its eternally youthful lyrics: “There is nothing on earth we can save / When I fell in love with Uranus.” Anything after 2008 falls a little flatter.
In short: a perfect McFly set for me, specifically. Others in the audience wanted more.