The armchair guide to Glastonbury

Never mind if you didn’t make it to Somerset — Glastonbury has gone digital this year. So sit down with David Smyth’s guide, switch on and catch the 250 hours of festival action
Coldplay perform on the main Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival site at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 25, 2011
Matt Cardy / Getty Images
28 June 2013

Back after a year off, the festival season’s flagship event is in greater demand than ever, but there’s never been a better time to stay away from Glastonbury. The 2013 festival is the most sofa-friendly yet thanks to the BBC, which is offering an unprecedented 250 hours of coverage across this weekend, including 34 hours of television and 59 of radio.

The big change from 2011 is the amount that will be watched on tablets. Live and on-demand streaming will allow iPad owners to tap along to twice as many bands as the Beeb has ever had space to show before — around 120. Roughly 300 BBC journalists will be on site making this happen, a number which the Controller of popular music at the BBC, Bob Shennan, assures us isn’t “a licence fee-funded jolly”. That's how many people it takes to make this “the first truly digital Glastonbury”.

If this is the first digital Glastonbury, it’s those of us watching it here in London who are making history, not that bunch of welly-wearers in the big field. Here are the key acts to catch — actually, in the streaming world, you can’t miss them.


The first

Jupiter & Okwess International

The honour of opening this year’s event goes in an unlikely direction, to Jupiter Bokondji’s frantic funk band from Kinshasa. His peripatetic existence was the subject of a documentary, Jupiter’s Dance, by the same Frenchmen who discovered disabled Congolese successes Staff Benda Bilili. He’s also been on Damon Albarn’s Kinshasa One Two album and his Africa Express tour. If ever the time was right for a real crossover moment, it’s today.

REAL TIME: Pyramid Stage, Fri, 11am; Gully Stage, Fri, 11pm

LONDON TIME: Catch up on early gigs like this on BBC iPlayer

The biggest

The Rolling Stones

The biggest news, of course, is the band who’ve never played here before. Following the lead of other recent headlining legends such as Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen and U2, the Stones are finally here, but it hasn’t been easy. “It’s taken a long time to get them to come and play,” said organiser Michael Eavis. Having originally permitted the BBC to broadcast just four songs of their two hour 15-minute set, now they’re giving home viewers an hour.

REAL TIME: Pyramid Stage, Sat, 9.30pm

LONDON TIME: Sat on BBC2, 10.30pm, and Radio 2, 9.30pm


The underdog

Solange

Poor Solange has long laboured under unfavourable comparisons to her older sister by five years, Beyoncé. After two albums of inferior R&B, however, she’s now changed the record and started making understated electronic pop in collaboration with English indie songwriter and producer Dev Hynes. It’s very different from the soul bombast of her superstar sibling, and all the better for that.

REAL TIME: Park Stage, Fri, 4.30pm

LONDON TIME: Catch up on BBC iPlayer


The luckiest

Mumford & Sons

This is the folk-rock quartet’s big moment, after last year’s second album took them to number one in both the UK and US — and they almost didn’t make it. Earlier this month bassist Ted Dwayne underwent surgery to remove a clot on his brain, forcing them to cancel multiple American dates. But he’s recovered in time to help them to close the festival on Sunday night, and a good thing too. When people think of Pulp’s glorious 1995 headlining set, not many recall that they were filling in for The Stone Roses. This band won’t have their thunder stolen.

REAL TIME: Pyramid Stage, Sun, 9.45pm

LONDON TIME: Sun, BBC2, 10pm, and Radio 2, included in 9.30pm highlights


The biggest party

Chic featuring Nile Rodgers

Rodgers has written more hits than Glastonbury has cows. Now that he’s riding high on the back of his work as Daft Punk’s guitarist, this is the place where you’re most likely to hear the song of the summer — Get Lucky — not to mention Good Times, We are Family, Le Freak and countless others. If disco really is back this year, this is the best place to hear it.

REAL TIME: West Holts Stage, Fri, 10.15pm

LONDON TIME: Fri, BBC4, 11.05pm


The don’t miss

Vampire Weekend

The New York quartet feel like they’re nicely poised to reach the next level of popularity, having just released their best album, Modern Vampires of the City. It sees them move away from the novelty of their earlier afropop influences to a more straightforward but ever so smart pop sound. A slot third from top of the bill on the main stage seems like a good springboard for leaping upwards next time.

REAL TIME: Pyramid Stage, Sun, 6pm

LONDON TIME: Sun, BBC3, 8pm


The can’t miss

Rudimental

You’re never more than five minutes away from a set by this Hackney dance collective this year. Whether DJing or performing their characteristically upbeat live show with a trumpeter and numerous guest singers, their mix of breakbeats and soul is the sound of the moment. With a number one debut album and two number one singles behind them, the nation agrees.

REAL TIME: Hell Stage, Sat, 1am; Sonic Stage, Sat, 7pm; Stonebridge Bar, Sat, midnight; The Temple, Sun, 12 .30am

LONDON TIME: Radio 1, Sat, 1am; BBC3 Sat, 8pm


The most familiar face

Billy Bragg

Bragg is such a staple of the Glastonbury set-up that these days he has his own field. The Left Field mixes music with a heavy dose of politics, with a line-up curated by the switched-on songwriter. Bragg is headlining the Friday night there, and also appearing in a daily 3pm slot, The Radical Round Up, with guests including Amanda Palmer and Shane MacGowan. He’s more likely to be on the telly when he plays on the main stage on Saturday.

REAL TIME: Left Field, Fri, 9pm; Pyramid Stage, Sat, 12.30pm

LONDON TIME: Sat, 6Music, 7pm


The buzziest

Haim

The harmonious Haim sisters from Los Angeles are taking their sweet time capitalising on their victory in the BBC’s Sound of 2013 poll. With a debut album not due until September, there’s still little music to buy, which means their live sets should be packed with curious potential fans wondering what the fuss is about.

REAL TIME: Pyramid Stage, Fri, 12.30pm; Park Stage, Sat, 4.15pm

LONDON TIME: Sat, BBC2, 4pm

The sweariest

Azealia Banks

Another act in no hurry to justify the hype is Harlem rapper Banks, who topped the NME’s Cool List in 2011 and was high on the next-big-thing polls the following year. There’s still no sign of a debut album but many reprobates will still flock to hear her notorious breakthrough single, 212, which features more c-words than Gordon Ramsay with a minor injury.

REAL TIME: Other Stage, Sat, 3pm

LONDON TIME: Live stream and catch up on BBC iPlayer


The future headliners

Foals

Second from top of the bill on the second stage, it feels like Foals will be due something even bigger next year. Hailing from Oxford and being in possession of pants which are smarty, they’ve been victims of Radiohead comparisons for years. This year’s third album, Holy Fire, is a monster with a sound of their own. In recent singles Inhaler and My Number, they have two of the greatest songs of the year. This is the day for that fact to be recognised by the wider world.

REAL TIME: Other Stage, Fri, 9pm

LONDON TIME: Fri, BBC3, 9pm, and 6Music, 9pm

Glastonbury coverage is on BBC2 from 10pm Fri, 10.30pm Sat, and 10pm Sun; BBC3 from 7pm Fri, Sat and Sun; BBC4 from 9.05pm Fri, 10.55pm Sat and 10.30pm Sun. Across the weekend on Radio 1, Radio 2, 1 Xtra and 6Music. Plus live streaming and catch-up with the red button and on BBC iPlayer — bbc.co.uk/iplayer

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