In Review: Glastonbury Festival 2009 - The Boss still rules

Festival organiser Michael Eavis declared Glastonbury 2009 to be the most successful festival he has hosted.

Eavis also claimed Bruce Springsteen's played "probably the best show of his life" in his Saturday night performance on the Pyramid Stage.

Yet, before The Boss could rule Worthy Farm, the festival endured a most surreal moment in not, for once, being the main music story of the week.

The news of the death of Michael Jackson was broken to me straight after East17 had finished playing in the Dance Village.

Immediately I considered it to be a typical, if slightly crude, Glastonbury rumour.

But, by the time I suffered my usual festival faux pas by losing my spectacles to Hattie Hatstar, Jackson's death had been confirmed.

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Despite this, there was still an air of unreality as I stared at the newspaper and took in the opening set on the Pyramid Stage, Bjorn Again.

Thankfully, the up-tempo Abba tribute act were a timely boost as they made their way through all the classics.

The Rakes followed this up with a lively show on the Other Stage before I made a gem of a find in a group called Baskery.

As it happens, Baskery is a trio of good-looking Stockholm lasses.

But minus my glasses, of course, it was actually their music - acoustic, punk rock - which got me into the Acoustic tent.

On Friday night, I saw an excellent set from The Specials on the Pyramid Stage before heading back to the Acoustic tent for The Kinks' Ray Davies.

Davies was brilliant. He had the whole crowd singing along to his many classics.

I was right towards the front and, partly because I'm a soft lad but also because the cider had been flowing, broke down as he sang 'Days' and 'Waterloo Sunset'.

Davies was my Glastonbury highlight - for me, he even beat The Boss.

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Saturday began with the political comedian Mark Thomas on the Speaker's Forum.

A large attentive crowd listened as he recalled entertaining accounts of being stopped and searched, having his DNA taken before later getting it destroyed.

Thomas was followed by a wonderful set from the natural entertainer Rolf Harris on Jazz World.

Harris, who enjoyed the biggest attendance of the festival on his last Glastonbury visit, sung his classics (finishing on 'Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport' to the tune of 'Land of Hope and Glory') and cracked a few decent jokes.

It was the perfect set up for an amusing interlude on Pyramid from Spinal Tap, which inevitably featured the Stonehenge dwarves.

After a short break, it was off to see the mercurial Peter Doherty on the Other Stage.

Perennially-troubled Doherty played well and looked much better than he did when I saw him last - at Benicassim Festival in 2006. But, disappointingly, his set was one of the shortest of the weekend.

This allowed me to catch The Gaslight Anthem on the John Peel Stage but I still missed out on their highlight - an early appearance by Springsteen who joined the band on stage for 'The 59 Sound'.

The Boss returned the favour when Gaslight lead Brian Fallon played alongside Springsteen for 'No Surrender'.

After the Gaslight Anthem, there was the rather unusual festival sight of Kasabian fans impatiently waiting for Crosby, Stills and Nash to finish their stuff on the Pyramid Stage.

Meanwhile, I caught a bit of Maximo Park having missed them opening up the festival on the Park Stage on Thursday.

But, just as I thought it might be before the festival, Saturday's music was all about The Boss.

Dressed in a dark shirt, blue jeans and welly boots, he arrived at five past 10 and played until 39 minutes past midnight.

The nine minutes beyond the curfew will cost Eavis a fine of £3000, imposed by Mendip District Council.

But Eavis has said he doesn't mind paying this time around, calling the last nine minutes "spectacular".

The Boss quickly struck up an affinity with a huge Glastonbury crowd and the front rows were treated to frequent visits as he dived on top of them, guitar in hand.

It was the show that got better and better and better. Notably, he held back 'Glory Days' and 'Thunder Road' until the encore before finishing on 'Dancing in the Dark'.

So, while Davies was my personal highlight, Springsteen was undoubtedly a Glastonbury 'I was there' moment.

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Unsurprisingly, The Boss was still the talk of the campsite on Sunday morning.

Providing the entertainment on the Pyramid Stage were the Easy Star All Stars who played a dub/reggae version of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band LP.

The All Stars were followed by Status Quo who were happy to play their chord to stereotype, commenting on their performance in a wonderfully self-depreciating fashion.

I did not see all of the Quo's set, however, as I made my way over to Other Stage to see Art Brut for the second time this year.

Frontman Eddie Argos was as entertaining as ever in front of a modest crowd and further strengthened my belief that Art Brut are much better in an intimate venue.

A stroll over to the Acoustic tent to see some instrumentals from The Penguin Cafe Orchestra was well-timed as they struck up 'Music For A Found Harmonium' as soon I got there.

And I made it back to the Pyramid Stage for an enjoyable performance from Sir Tom Jones during which I moved through the crowd for Madness.

The Nutty Boys were as impressive as ever in the evening sunshine but as their set ended, my thoughts turned towards the festival's end.

Thankfully, there was one final act to savour as Blur made a triumphant return to Glastonbury for the first time since 1998.

They played magnificently, complementing the raucous 'Girls and Boys', 'Country House' and 'Song 2' with stand-out moments of raw emotion on 'Tender' and 'The Universal'.

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It's hard to disagree with Michael Eavis and his belief this has been the best year yet - even if he tends to say that every year...

Glastonbury has been good to me, very good to me. I even got sunburn when the Friday rain gave way to glorious conditions on Saturday and, for the most, part, Sunday.

Ray Davies and Blur both gave unforgettable performances and Bruce Springsteen's 150 minutes will undoubtedly become the stuff of Glastonbury legend.

While the King of Pop may have sadly fallen to his demise, The Boss still rules.

Art Brut make me want to rock out

There's definitely something about Art Brut which appeals to the eccentric in me.

And they certainly lived up to their zany image in their gig at the Other Rooms in Newcastle last night.

In between his dancing in the crowd and telling us his sex is on fire, lead Eddie Argos rattled through his repertoire of songs and introduced some from the new album, Art Brut Vs Satan.

As expected, their debut album hits My Little Brother and Emily Kane, a song about his first girlfriend when aged 15 which was used in the encore, got a big reception.

But there was no moshpit struggle at the front and no crowd surfers unintentionally kicking you in the back of the head.

It just wasn't the scene. Instead, gathered together was a bunch of people having fun and hanging on to every word of Argos' spoken vocals.

This gig was actually the third time I have seen Art Brut live.

On the first occasion in Spain, at the Benicassim festival in 2006, I only caught half the set because I was distracted by some Frenchmen and a few gin and tonics.

I was determined that I would see them when they came to Newcastle and managed this in early 2007 when they supported Maximo Park at their hometown gig at the Northumbria Students' Union.

But the secluded Other Rooms as a venue seemed to suit Art Brut much more and of the three gigs, I enjoyed this one the best.

And that was despite their failure to play what is widely accepted as their signature tune, Formed A Band, and my favourite which is Bad Weekend.

Actually, you could say I enjoyed it too much as shown by a drunken visit to the merchandise stall.

It ended up with me buying the new album (which I got signed by Argos!) but also, rather oddly, a cloth bag for which I have no real use for at all.

Except maybe to take it to Glastonbury which is now just eight weeks away as I can show that I care about the environment'n'stuff by carrying a reusable bag.

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PS. Many thanks to my good friend Jonathan's dad for picking up the tickets which I had left at home and taking them into town for us. My uselessness will astound nobody who knows me well enough.

PPS. Sorry to anyone who actually checks and reads my blog for the lack of new posts in the last few days. I have been distracted by looking for work, the snooker and the plight of Newcastle United FC. But mainly just the snooker and NUFC, eek!