Hothouse Flowers


Blooming Marvelous


Acoustic Stage - Saturday

“We really appreciate you coming out here to see us tonight,” says Hothouse Flowers vocalist Liam O’Maonlai. “Especially with one of the finest exponents of popular music in history playing just down the road.”

A certain former Beatle may be stealing the show down at the Pyramid but the Hothouse Flowers have the more discerning punter in the palm of their hands tonight with a set of extraordinary conviction and lashings of sweaty Celtic energy.
The intimacy of the acoustic stage is the perfect venue for a band who have captured so many hearts and minds with their unique brand of ‘Irish blues’, mixing the melody and passion of the Emerald Isle with US soul and breezy African-influenced beats. Many in the audience have travelled with the band from their native land to be here tonight - not that you need telling with a huge Irish flag flying proudly over their heads, strangely accompanied by an inflatable version of the donkey from Shrek.
But then, the music of Hothouse Flowers is entirely suited to a happy crowd. From the glorious, gospel-tinged marathon of ‘Your Love Goes On’ to the impossibly tender ‘Sweet Marie’, the Hothouse Flowers play with so much verve it is all but impossible not to be swept up by them.

Halfway through the set a fan throws a penny whistle to O’Maonlai. Instead of throwing it back the shaggy haired frontman picks it up, says ‘Alright then, just a quick one’, and plays a five minute reel that gets most of the crowd performing their best (or worst) Riverdance impression. In these days of security obsession and flouncing celebrities, it is a touching reassurance that there are still some musicians who play for, rather than to, their fans.

At the end of their set the Flowers return with bodhran and whistle for another frantic jigging session which gets the Flatley-footed in the crowd going, before finally making their exit to tumultuous applause.. They may not be playing the Pyramid, but the Hothouse Flowers certainly made the most of their Glastonbury appearance. Sir Paul who?

Will Saunders


   
     
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