June 28, 2003

Glastonbury : Pyramid Stage (Saturday Afternoon)

Saturday kicks off with Ozomatli paying tribute to the late great Joe Strummer, before the Polyphonic Spree and Jimmy Cliff inject a bit of colour...

Always ones to make the effort for a special occasion, the Polyphonic Spree turn up in orange robes and daub the fields of Pilton in joy. Their now-standard incantations to togetherness and the elements might be in the need of refuelling in other conditions, but this scorched earth only serves to push everyone higher.

The Polyphonic Spree’s orange stage was graced an hour earlier by Sir Jimmy Cliff and his canary-yellow orchestra. ‘Vietnam’ and ‘The Harder They Come’ stir a noble rebel spirit, but may we file the moment when Sir Jimmy starts ‘I Can See Clearly Now’, the rain having gone and the sun baking, in the ‘Most Feelgood Glasto Moments Ever’ folder at once.

Jools Holland And His Rhythm And Blues Orchestra are fast becoming the Glastonbury Town Band it’s OK to like. Prompting blue skies every year, imploring people to boogie woogie and wheeling out Sam Brown, Jools may not be cool, but then neither are jester hats or pear cider.

If we ignore nice but dull Ben Andrews, what kind of an introduction to Saturday are Ozomatli? Better than The Darkness, that’s for sure. After a riot of jazzist hip-hop, samba fusions and block party dynamics, dedicating ‘Hip-Hop Socialite’ to Joe Strummer sets us up for one of those good days.

Dan Martin