Glasto Gaymer'd & Out

So, farewell Glasto 2009 - as the Beeb have been saying all weekend, it's really been the best one in a long time. Loads of amazing comebacks and some very (very) welcome first time appearances. Blur tonight were amazing - a few demons exorcised/excused with both Country House and Song No. 2, so thanks boys! The Prodigy were also back on form, louder and visually more stunning than ever before - and it was amazing to see a new generation of fans adopt them as their own. A few years in the wilderness has done them no harm at all. Anyway, take care to everyone wending their weary way home tonight and tomorrow....we've no time to waste as London's lovely Lovebox festival awaits! Cheers.

Pear Cider To Fergie

Oh yes, a claim to fame for the Gaymers Glasto bunch. Rhodri texted us to say that he'd personally carted round a case of pear cider to the Black Eyed Peas backstage area at the Jazz World Stage a couple of hours ago...!

Saturday into Sunday...

Yesterday, the Boss looked like he just, well, bossed it with a joyous set...and simultaneously Mr. Justin Vernon (AKA 'Bon Iver') apparently managed to elicit a huge satisfied sigh from The Park Stage crowd. The assembled masses at that stage were also treated to a surprise and rollicking gig courtesy of The Klaxons...in full costume-effect. Big disappointments/surprises for us? Well, maybe Spinal Tap are best remembered from the film....and we were gutted that Mr. Young didn't join his old mates CSN onstage, but Quo reprised all the energy of their amazing Live Aid performance all those years ago...no, really. Talking of all those years ago....The Specials, WOW, what a show....and pure genius to end with Ghost Town. It's now building for the appearance of Blur and The Prodigy.....the Gaymer's gang on the ground are reportedly split over who gets their vote...

Off for the Boss

Blimey. It's Saturday night already and time is flying by. As predicted, the Gaymers is going down rather well and the rain hasn't stopped the fun one bit.

Bruce Springsteen is massive at Glasto this year and tonight is all about the 'Steen' - live on the Pyramid stage in a bit and just witnessed on the John Peel Stage doing a surprise session with The Gaslight Anthem. NME gives us the full detail (we love the 'Bruuuccce' chants in particular):

"To shouts of "Bruuuccce", the grinning singer/guitarist started playing along with the band to their 2008 single 'The '59 Sound', playing a guitar solo towards the end of the song.

Springsteen, dressed in black, shared a microphone with fellow New Jersey resident Fallon as they sang the chorus together before he left the stage to huge applause."

So, as we wait for the big guy to take to the stage, here's some classic Springsteen courtesy of the YouTube. Oh and here's a collection of clips of people at Glasto singing Springsteen. Some good and some, er, not so good.

And definitely not as good as the man himself - here he is belting out Born in the USA in Paris, 1985. Bring it on.

Jacko stuff....maybe at Glasto too?

Planned mass moonwalk at Liverpool St. station!

New Technology

The Interweb, Twitter....now these devices! Whatever next?

Morning.

After the sad news of last night, it's a suitably grey wet day...we're also sorry to report that there may be some thundery nonsense on the way too. But - it's now looking like the weekend might even be....wait for it....dry. Anyway, highlights of today's Pyramid performances might just be from Terry Hall and his gang, the sublime Fleet Foxes and Glasto's US Rock Icon No.1, Mr. Young. Elsewhere, look out for Kanye West's favourite Englishman, Mr. Hudson (Other Stage) and the Rumble Strips (John Peel Stage)....described by DailyMusicGuide.com as "Undoubtedly perfect summer festival music".

Just in - going the extra (Gaymer's) mile...

Morning. This picture has 'just' come in from yesterday afternoon - is it busy down there or something? And how's this for dedicated or what?

Michael Jackson's dead...

...which is sad.

Specials trivia: Terry Hall wrote 'Our Lips Are Sealed' for the Go-Gos originally and then recorded it with Fun Boy Three. It's subsequently been murdered by some American related-teenagers, but a rather nice version with him co-singing it is now on Nouvelle Vague's 3rd album, just out! Interestingly, Rolling Stone named it as one of the Top 100 Greatest Pop songs of all time. So there. Talking of Nouvelle Vague...there's also a brilliant version of 'Ca Plane Pour Moi' on that album..took some doing!

Win Some Reading/Leeds 2010 Tickets

If you're still heading to Glastonbury and going past a Tesco in Shepton Mallet, or an Asda in Yeovil/Bridgewater/Taunton/ Frome/Highbridge...grab a Gaymers festival pack (choose from Gaymers Original or Pear....oh yeah); there's a chance to win tickets to Reading/Leeds next year.

The Low Anthem....

6 Music's just played 'Charlie Darwin'....if you like the sound of the Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver, you'll love these guys - don't miss them, they've got 3 sets at Glasto coming up. Lovely folk rock...

Here comes the sun...

Best Glasto rhyme from Twitter earlier when it all started getting a mite wet...."It's raining, it's pouring, there's mud, not grass for flooring". Nice one, solarpilchard!

Pre-Festival Cider? Try The Rifleman's Arms in Glastonbury

http://tinyurl.com/npzpet

Our Own Circle of Trust

The Gaymers gang are all on-site! Well, apart from us saddos back here, that is. NOT jealous, NOT jealous...we hear the Beeb will have some excellent televisual coverage...

6 Music

Oh Lordy. 6 Music has just said there's going to be torrential rain tomorrow and probably for the rest of the festival...but the lovely Emily Eavis quickly reminded us of the Glastonbury spirit....chins up!

The First Wave!

Here we go, folks...it's getting exciting now! Rhodri's our man on the ground and he's sent in these pix....it's proper counting-down time! We're really not sure what those fellas are doing here (maybe 5-a-side?), but look at those tents in the other pic - time to bag your 'pitch' (erm, it's a technical phrase), attach something memorable to it and get in the mood...

Other Gaymers Musical Shenanigans...

Before we forget, we started this blog just as Glasto was about to start, but it seems mad to miss saying anything about all our other Gaymers Music work? First off, here's a quick look back at three urban festivals....

1. Gaymers Camden Crawl Blog/The Great Escape/Liverpool Sound City
We kicked off this year’s musically-minded marketing with Camden – and even got to stick our name right alongside it. It’s one of the oldest (if not the oldest) music festivals and had everything going for it this year – from Suggs & Co. trundling round in an open-top bus to Graham Coxon pulling a surprise gig. The Great Escape was seaside rock at its best – Evan Dando even showed up, while Hockey delivered a storming set at Hector’s House. Liverpool’s a musical force way beyond most cities round the world, so it wasn’t surprising that Sound City more than lived up to its name, while even its website looked as classy as ever.

and then....

2. Gaymers Grassroots Gigs
We ran six more of these in April-May. As per 2008, the format saw bands returning to their home towns for an intimate gig in a place that was special to them way back when. Bands this year were - The Zutons, Starsailor, The Rumble Strips, The Twang, The Holloways and The Maccabees. You can catch each performance on the mighty Channel 4.

Gaymers Music First Blog Post...

The Gang of Four may have re-formed this year, but the big music news must be the first ever blog post from the ‘Gaymers Gang of Five’, surely? No? Oh well. Anyway, here we are – Fiona, Rhodri, Matt, Jonathan and Martin.

Over the next four months, we’ll be your guides to all that’s musical in the world of Gaymers. And there’s a lot – from past exploits at the Gaymers Grassroots Gigs, Download and three urban music festivals (The Camden Crawl, The Great Escape and Liverpool Sound City) to a whole host of summer festivals coming up.

First up’s Glasto, swiftly followed by London’s own Lovebox, the laid-back Latitude, Camp Bestival in deepest Dorset, the twin-tastic mayhem of Reading/Leeds and then a swift trip on the ferry to Bestival…and a day of fancy dress!

We’ll be sharing photos over at Flickr, sticking our videos on YouTube and remember, as ever, we’re all over MySpace as well. Oh and yes, we’re on Twitter so you can follow us over there if you like. Just be sure to say hi.

Hope you enjoy this summer with us.