Sing it B(l)ack

Glastonbury is a very white festival. The music obviously originates from multi cultural roots but the audience are mono cultural in the extreme. It almost felt like a christian thing. A middle class white religion. Noticeable at the 2023 version was the impact of the audience, where at stage after stage the crowds were singing almost ore than the audience. Lewis Capaldi bravely fighting through his Tourettes nerves on a wave of vocal support from supportive fans. Debbie Harry hoping that the audience can help mask her flagging vocal delivery, which is not surprising at the age of 77 and what a life she has led. Lana Del Ray sounding amazing, but having to sing her finale a cappella, sans sound system, as she was too busy doing her hair. Jacob Collier, whose performance on the West Holts stage involved conducting the audience into multi harmony ecstasy. Billy Nomates innovative and excellent performance was attacked online because she only sang with backing tracks; her stage name is Billy Nomates!! Performing with a full band is also very expensive and unsustainable unless you are Elton John of course, crooning away and bashing his Steinway as what must have been the largest audience ever at the festival waved him goodbye down the yellow brick road, off to see the wizard. Chris of the Queens went topless; Lizzo didn’t, quite. Both produced amazingly creative shows. Rina Sawayama was practically naked while breaking Kiki Dee’s heart. Elton’s bunch of old guys plodded on, austerely dressed. How far have we come? Naked women, all male headline bands, white audience. Glastonbury can feel like a beacon of hope but geez there’s still a long way to go. Highlights: Los Bitchos, Jockstrap, Warpaint, Leftfield, Sparks with Cate Blanchett etc… all on the Park Stage. Billy Nomates too, surrounded by her friends.