Another band who appear to have captured the hearts and minds of a generation younger than their own, Mike Skinner’s bedroom rap project-turned-party-starting sound system behemoth rock up on The Other Stage just before headliners Disclosure and leave an almost impossible bar for anyone else to reach during their hour onstage.
Whilst Skinner’s material post-2004’s chart-topping A Grand Don’t Come For Free has been patchy and unrelatable in the eyes of many, when he rocks up with a set full of bangers and the urge to cause chaos, there aren’t many acts that can come close to the joy of a Streets gig. The set is basically cut in two parts, the first mainly focusing on his legendary debut Original Pirate Material and the second on the aforementioned A Grand…, with a few choice cuts from beyond those two eras chucked in for good measure.
Opening with Turn the Page, and with Has it Come to This, Don’t Mug Yourself and Weak Become Heroes from that classic debut coming hot on its heels and all sounding box-fresh 22 years after their release, Skinner has a vice-like grip on Glastonbury from the word go. By the second song, the gobby Who’s Got the Bag, he's in the crowd on someone’s shoulders and trying to grab a flag with his face on. He is a master at riling up his audience, telling them that they need to get up the hill to meet him at the tiny Temple stage at 5am where the real party can start.
Frankly, if this is just a warm up, that sounds like it could be the wildest party Glastonbury has or will ever see. Because by the time Skinner’s band smash out the riff to Iron Man by Black Sabbath just prior to a chaotic, punk rock blast through Fit But You Know It, leading to Skinner jumping back in the crowd to lead everyone in a synchronised flag waving session through a throbbing Blinded By the Lights and Take Me As I Am’s obnoxious, phlegm-stained dubstep groove, everyone in this field has gone feral.
Absolutely magnificent fun. When they look back at Glastonbury 2024, this will undoubtedly be one of the most enduring memories of the weekend. Although if you can actuallly remember it, chances are you weren’t there.
