I have never been to the Glastonbury Festival, which is of course located in … er … Pilton in Somerset. And the overwhelming odds are that I will never go due to my inability to sleep in a tent and my need to have access to a toilet at any given time. It could be an age thing, too, because I do like my home comforts these days, but then again, I always did. But every year I look at the line-up and a substantial part of me wishes I was there.
I am rarely interested in the headliners on the Pyramid stage, though. In 2024, it was Dua Lipa, who it is fair to say, appeals to a slightly different demographic than this old fool, Coldplay who I kind of admire but wouldn’t open the door if they were playing in my back garden and SZA who I know literally nothing about. Indeed, with the exception of LCD Soundsystem and Michael Kiwanuka, there was no one on the Pyramid stage I would watch for free, never mind pay to see. On the other stages, including The Other Stage, it would have been a different story and it would be a question of who I would prefer to see than someone else I would also like to see. One part of the festival I would almost always attend would be the Legends Slot on a Sunday afternoon.
The term legend is much overused these days. Anyone who had a hit 50 years ago is regarded as a legend when in truth they are nothing like legends. But I have to say Glastonbury almost always gets it right. Since the slot began in 1998 with the great Tony Bennett, it has become an integral part of the show. Last year, it was Shania Twain and frankly she was brilliant. This year it’s only Rod Stewart!
Rod will be 80 by the time he plays the Sunday afternoon slot but he is in fine physical shape. Astonishingly – or is it? – he still has a full head of hair and, thanks to his recent knee replacement surgery, he appears to be every bit as lively on stage as he ever was. His voice is more of a whisper than a roar these days and, like AC/DC’s Brian Johnson, it requires subtle amplification manipulation to ensure he is heard, but unlike The Eagles, Rod isn’t lip-syncing his way around the world. And he is one of the great rock and roll showmen. He richly deserves his afternoon, hopefully, in the sun.
Rod is nobody’s fool, either, and you can bet his setlist will be packed with the singalongs for which he is famous. Sailing, I Don’t Want To Talk About It, Maggie May and so on and so on. The big issue for Sir Roderick will be which songs to leave out.
I would not describe myself as a Stewart fan, although I do have some of his records, including his best album, 1971’s Every Picture Tells A Story. But it was as a member of (Rod Stewart and) The Faces where I found the music I loved best. Stay With Me, Cindy Incidentally and my favourite Rod song – takes a deep breath – You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything. Even take the dog for a walk, Mend a Fuse, Fold Away the Ironing Board or Any Other Domestic Shortcomings. It would be churlish not to agree that Rod has been a rock and roll superstar since the early 1970s. Certainly, his autobiography is one of the best of the genre that I have ever read.
Yes, I will certainly watch Rod’s Glastonbury performance, either live or on catch-up, and while I readily accept that the crowds in attendance will want the hits, more hits and nothing but the hits, I do hope that he includes at least a few Faces songs and maybe even Rod’s/Python Lee Jackson’s magnificent In A Broken Dream.
And wouldn’t it be great if, at some point, he was reunited on stage with the surviving Faces, Ronnie Wood and Kenney Jones? Whatever he does, it will be highly entertaining and he will play to a very different audience to the Vegas type of shows he performs at these days., which makes me think he will play a few rockers.
All in all, a great choice for the legends slot. The festival rarely gets this bit wrong. I almost wish I was going, but only almost.
