Elevate June 2022 | Air Serbia

Kultura / culture

me scan

Er Srbija leti do Londona, odakle lako i brzo možete da stignete do Glastonberija, gradića u kojem nije samo muzika zanimljiva / Air Serbia flies to London, from where you can quickly and easily reach Glastonbury, a town where it isn’t only the music that’s interesting rospectively considered one of Glas- tonbury’s most beautiful ever was a “common” man playing to “common” people, which has proved inspiration- al to many British bands to this day. Beyoncé also set the fields of Somer- set ablaze in 2011. The world’s big- gest pop star performed to hordes of adoring fans while pregnant with Blue Ivy, singing tons of hits like Cra- zy In Love and Single Ladies, but also some Destiny’s Child songs. No one who was there in 1994 will ever forget Johnny Cash, who dis- played his standard melancholy mal- ady throughout renditions of legend- ary songs Folsom Prison Blues, Big River and A Boy Named Sue. That per- formance proved that he had no prob- lem winning over those lacking even the slightest enthusiasm for country music. Stevie Wonder brought his incredible smile to Glastonbury in 2010. Performing from his back-cat- alogue of heart-wrenching hits, this Motown legend showed that his rep- ertoire is unrivalled, as did Leonard Cohen in 2008. Unfortunately, Cohen didn’t let the BBC film that perfor- mance, but in a way that only served to enhance the unique and intimate nature of his set. Many claim it was one of the best Glastonbury concerts. Radiohead were already well on the way to stratospheric success fol- lowing the release of the album OK Computer, but taking to the stage at this festival in 1997 led to them earning inclusion in the pantheon of legendary rock ‘n’ roll artists. Their intellectual, ethereal rock literally blew the minds of those who were lucky enough to be in attendance. They returned in 2003 and 2017, but

provided they’re lucky enough to get tickets, of course... This year’s festi- val runs from 22 nd to 26 th June, and that comes after a two-year break, with the festival having been post- poned in 2020 and ‘21. Glastonbury is back and promises to be another gargantuan celebration of 50+ years of the best music. Held close to the village of Pilton in the English county of Somerset, it was founded by local farmer Mi- chael Eavis, who organised the first concert, together with a few friends, back in 1970. Contributing to its pop- ularity was a location in the Glaston- bury area that’s long been associated with the legends of King Arthur and which attracts followers of the New Age movement. It grew over time to become one of the largest mass cul- tural events, attended by an average of around 150,000 people and with performances by the biggest names in world music. Glastonbury has witnessed some of the best performances of all time. Iggy Pop and the Stooges performed

for the first time in 2007, when Ig- gy was already 60. He nonetheless flew flawlessly through the classics of punk rock, or frankly at least un- til he invited the first few rows of the audience to climb on stage dur- ing their performance of the hit No Fun. A headache for the security team, and delight for everyone else in attendance. This festival also re- calls the 2008 performance of Jay-Z, when he showed Glastonbury why he's the greatest rapper on the plan- et. The Smiths also caused a minor revolution in 1984. Then considered an urban band, they seemed to be well out of their element until a fiery fan in the crowd invaded the stage, transforming the concert into a typ- ical Smiths gig. That was one of the turning points in the festival’s ide- ology, because artists from beyond the rock-folk spectrum have since be- come commonplace. Pulp also made history in 1995, when arriving as a substitute act to replace the Stone Roses, who’d had to cancel their gig. The moment ret-

Glastonbury Festival Musical legends in a mythical place Billie Eilish, Paul McCartney, Kendrick Lamar, Diana Ross, Pet Shop Boys and Lorde, all at this famous English festival G lastonbury Festival is one of the world’s most famous music festivals, presenting stars from every genre under the sun, from rock and pop, to house, techno and drum & bass. Music lovers flock to these famous fields,

their 1997 performance remained in- scribed in history. And finally, as the cherry on top, the best of the best at the turn of the century: David Bowie 2000. The return of the exalted cha- meleon of contemporary music to the stage on which he first appeared as a relatively unknown, back in 1971. And what a return it was! Diving in- to his back-catalogue of songs that are so deeply ingrained in pop cul- ture, Bowie made sure that the festi- val’s 30 th anniversary edition would remain long remembered. Followers of this festival say it was Glaston- bury’s best moment.

festival » Festival | 65

64 | Festival » festival

Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator