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2000 > What was on : 2000 > Pyramid
Pyramid
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Get special discounted CDs by Glastonbury artists from Audiostreet in association with Playlouder. Also read bonus feature on the Pyramid stage and the days performers on Audiostreet.
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SEMISONIC
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"We'd just lose patience with our music if that melodic ingredient wasn't there," says Semisonic drummer Jake Schlichter, and if there's one thing that the Minneapolis trio have it's a 'melodic ingredient': but they also prove that intelligence and fine songwriting aren't incompatible with feel-good power pop. Their blend of glorious, summery tunes, addictive hooks and articulate lyrics has earned them three UK hits, ( 'Secret Smile', 'Closing Time' and 'Singing In My Sleep'), platinum sales for their second album, Feeling Strangely Fine, and numerous press plaudits. They are one of Stereophonics' favourite bands and were nominated for the Best International Newcomer Award at this year's BRITS (losing out to Macy Gray.) They don't have a keyboard player, preferring to share the duties between them, partly because it's ³"built-in limiter on how much bullshit the keyboard player can put in a song!" They've recently contributed to the soundtracks of American Pie and Never Been Kissed and are currently working on their third album.
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THE BLUETONES
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If the house of rock was indeed a house, which bit would The Bluetones occupy? The posey lounge of retro? Too fashionable. The kitsch kitchen of pop? Too throwaway. The book-lined study of the intelligent lyric? Too serious. The Bluetones always occupy the threshold. They write catchy, intelligent retropostbrit-ishpop and never fail to chart and they have a diehard following, yet they can still walk the streets without always getting recognised. Perhaps the threshold is a good place to be.
If you didn't catch their earliest singles, which didn't hang about the charts too long, you would have heard of them in 1996, when the criminally infectious 'Slight Return' went to number two. Since then they've released a slew of singles, and three albums - Expecting to Fly, Return To The Last Chance Saloon and last month's splendid Science And Nature - all of them full of tunes as comfortable as your favourite old sweater. They won't change your world, but they'll make it a pleasanter place to be.
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COUNTING CROWS
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Before the debut album August and Everything After sold six millon copies worldwide in 1993 and made him a star virtually overnight, Counting Crows singer and chief songwriter Adam Duritz was an LSD casualty who couldn't leave the family home - and even after he'd become a star, he had a nervous breakdown on the road and couldn't write for eighteen months. But without Duritz's experiences the band wouldn't be the same as his work is drawn directly from life; so much so, that in the songs to his short-lived, usually actress girlfriends the names aren't even changed. If that suggests the songs are depressing, think again; despite their confessional lyrics, Counting Crows' folky rock is melodically uplifting, with strong choruses and singable tunes. Initially, they were seen to be greatly influenced by Van Morrison and Bob Dylan, but on last year's third album, This Desert Life, they showed a greater musical diversity, partly owing to the fact that all six members of the band shared songwriting duties for the first time. For a taster, you can see Duritz, his rather odd dreaded hair extensions and the rest of the Crows at Wembley Arena on 16th June.
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OCEAN COLOUR SCENE
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Even if you'd never put the radio on in your life you'd probably have heard OCS's retro rock riffage, as the first stomping bars of 'The Riverboat Song' play in Chris Evans' victims on TFI Friday, and forthcoming single 'July' is the theme tune to new series The Lock. Despite the fact that they've been going for ten years, the band have ignored music's fads (Britpop? What? Post-rock? Explain?) and are as rooted in the seventies as ever. They named their current album One >From The Modern (and that's modern as in 'mod', not as in 2000), singer Steve Cradock collaborated with Liam Gallagher on a cover of The Jam's 'Carnation', Craddock and bassist Damon Minchella played in Paul Weller's backing band and the Modfather himself sang vocals on their track 'No One At All'. But musical nostalgia in their case is not a bad thing. Their songs are chunky, infectious, upbeat, and especially singable after a couple of pints. Co-vocalist Simon Fowler maintains that One From The Modern is "less about getting drunk" than their earlier records. So, you'll just have to hang around until they play 'The Day We Caught The Train' when the field will turn into a pissed-up choir of an 'ooah' chorus.
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TRAVIS
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They were the band of '99, 'The Man Who' was the album of the year, and 'Why Does It Always Rain On Me' was the soundtrack to everyone's more depressing moments. But before then, Travis had the less noticeable - but highly impressive - accolade of being the first band to sign to ex-Go! Discs head honcho Andy McDonald¹s label Independiente, bringing out their Good Feeling album in 1997. While the heavier guitar rock of Good Feeling was very well received, immediately went top ten and spawned five hit singles, it was labelled schizophrenic owing to its less than cohesive sound, but the band themselves have no such disorders, being frequently described as one of the nicest bands in rock. Personable and (despite that song) cheerful, they are more like the boys next door than pop stars. Live, they are charming and self-effacing, and singer Fran has been known to big up the support acts at his band's expense! They've just released a new single, the Byrdsian 'Coming Around', which is not on The Man Who and which has a surreal video - redolent of Daft Punk's 'Da Funk' - featuring a human sized egg being asked out on a date. Watch them and be wooed.
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LIVE
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Formed in Pennsylvania in 1989, this quartet are aptly named. "Going on the road is the most passionate thing that we do," says guitarist Chad Taylor, and their epic, heavy rock anthems work best in a live setting, with shaven-headed frontman Ed Kowalczyk stirring up the crowd with a charismatic rock star showmanship many lack. Hardworking and earnest, he and his band bave the reputation of being the antithesis of rock star excess. Kowalczyk remarked to an interviewer recently, "...the hard stuff? I don't desire it. I get pretty intoxicated by just writing music, feeling music, performing." They are also frequently misconstrued as a Christian band, owing to Kowalczyk's religious upbringing and the spiritual nature of their lyrics and music. Still, although they only have a moderate fanbase over here, and their last album The Distance To Here failed to chart, they've shifted six million copies worldwide of their excellent second album, Throwing Copper, and have an enormous mainstream following in the States. And of course, they are always magnificent live...
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THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS
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Da Brudders from a dusty planet are, along with The Prodigy, a dance act that everyone seems to love. This may have led to criticism that their block-rocking beat science is just dance music for indie kids, but what the hell; if they can make records as great as last years 'Surrender' who cares? With big beat disappearing from the sights of their rear-view mirror, The Chemicals have turned on the heat with huge dollops of trance, flourishes of Timbaland style r'n'b beats and of course, tons of psychedelia. Their live show turns the whole shebang into a seamless DJ style set, with peaks and lows and more atmospheric pressure than a deep sea diver with the bends. With stunning visuals provided by Vegetable Vision, the vibes remain lysergically fused throughout and when they deliver the awesome meltdown attack of 'Hey Boy, Hey Girl' in its gloriously re-worked version, you'd better hang onto your trainers 'cos they're the only things that'll keep you Earthbound...
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CYPRESS HILL
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Forget any ideas you may have about stoners' beats and giant bongs, with the
recently released 'Skull and Bones' album the boys from the Hill proved that they're as adept at moving with the fresh juice of hip hop as they are at rocking out with the Korns of this world. Appearing at Glastonbury fresh from the success of their US tour with Limp Bizkit, the newly revitalised trio of DJ Muggs, B-Real and Senn Dog (with long time compadre Bobo on drums) promise energised versions of old faves like 'How I Could Just Kill and Man' and 'Insane In The Brain', while delivering blistering versions of tracks from the current album. For fans of hip hop and metal alike, the Cypress crew are unmissable. And keep an eye out for a cameo appearance from Dr.Greenthumb himself!
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THE PET SHOP BOYS
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If, ten years ago, anyone had said that the Pet Shop Boys would be playing Glastonbury everyone would have laughed aloud. Aren't they the original Boy Band? Total pop bollocks with hooklines that advertising execs love? Well that was then and these are eclectic times we live in today. The Pet Shop Boys are OK to like. And why not, since they do deliver epic shows. Their ability to combine floor-filling grooves with high-camp strings, drop choruses so insidious that you find yourself singing them for weeks and their strange obsession for wearing silly hats every time they get in front of a camera shouldn't be dismissed. The live experience is like dropping an E at an end-of-term disco - slightly cheesy but loads of fun. Not sure if they'll like it if it gets muddy, though.
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DAVID BOWIE
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Love him or hate him, there's one thing for sure; you can't underestimate David Bowie. Last time around he delivered a set of drum'n'bass-inspired rock outs which weren't half as bad as critics made out (they said his beats were fake, even though A Guy Called Gerald was behind many of them...!). This year Bowie's muse is much closer to home. Not for him the zeitgeist of breakbeat science or alt-rock. No, this time he's playing David Bowie the fifty-year-old man. Much of his live set is subsequently taken from last years "Hours. . ." collection where the Dame wore his heart on his sleeve and flip-flops on his feet, and turned in an almost middle-of-the-road set. Not his most inspiring work, but the voice remains the same and a few old faves do make their way into the live show.
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NINE INCH NAILS
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For some, Trent Reznor's vision of hell is the cutting edge of the dark side of metal; to others, he sounds like Depeche Mode played backwards. Either way, one thing is for sure; the Nails live are awesome. Last year's 'The Fragile' album may have been a little too dark for many but it rocked like a juggernaut full of Marilyn Mansons, with razors for hooklines and sulphuric acid for melodies: nasty isn't the word for it. The show that's currently doing the rounds in the US is vastly different from the one they played in the UK last year - it's far more frenzied, with a greater emphasis on the new material. Any fears that success may have blunted Reznor's edge are expelled by the single 'Starsuckers Inc' (with a video directed by Marilyn Manson) which proves that all is still hellish in the Nails world. Then again the rumours that young Trent is currently working with Michael Jackson may spell a huge change in direction. 'Beat It' gone industrial perhaps? 'We are the World' with Demonic edge? Expect much mayhem, a few surprises...and maybe an unscheduled performance from Jarvis Cocker's bum!
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REEF
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Despite coming from the West Country, Reef play a brand of power rock usually found in the US by such artist as the Black Crowes. Their energised performances and singalong choruses, made especially distinctive by Gary Stringer's unusual voice, initally found the favour of one Paul Weller, and have built them a large fanbase over here - and, latterly, in America. Since their debut single 'Good Feeling' in 1995, they've charted consistently with the likes of singles 'Naked', 'New Bird' and the fist in the air anthem 'Place Your Hands', and the albums Replenish, Glow and Rides, the last of which saw the band swapping instruments and vocals for the first time.
In the new year, Reef showed their artistic and altruistic sides as drummer Dominic Greensmith exhibited a collection of his photographs at London's Alphabet Bar in aid of Shelter, while bass player Jack Bessant went on a Himalayan trek for charity. They returned to music with a Japanese tour in February and have since been working on their fourth album. A new single, 'Set The Record Straight', is out on 31st July.
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HAPPY MONDAYS
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Call the cops! The Godfathers of baggy are back from the chemist with a bagful of bellyaches, but maybe not so many thrills and pills as they are known for. These days The Mondays are more media whores than backstreet scallies with Bez providing a regular column to lad's mag Front and Sean Ryder doing a bit of acting here and there. This aside the boys did manage to chuck out a ton of era-defining tunes in their heyday and, for old times sake alone, it's worth catching the show, even if you have chucked out your baggy trousers and hooded tops. Altogether now, "Hallelujah...".
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Updated: 8th January 2001 22:21
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Artists A-Z
Other Stage
Jazzworld
Dance
Acoustic
Avalon
The Tunnel
Wise Crone Cafe
Croissant Neuf
Greenpeace Stage
Nana Obscuries
Bandstand
Kidz
Cinema
Green Futures
poetry
Cabaret
Theatre Marquee
Outside Theatre Stage
Circus Big Top
Outside Circus Stage
Circus Arena
Circus Workshops
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