I was very excited to watch 'Hudson Taylor' after first hearing of them back in 2012 when they supported Gabrielle Aplin at the Thekla in Bristol — an intimate venue on the River Avon. The difference between that first sighting and seeing them strum their guitars and sing through their beautiful southern irish twang was pretty special. The Avalon Stage is by no means on the same scale as either the Pyramid or Other Stage, but it's definitely something on the cramped confines of the Thekla. What's more, this was a show that poured in fans that were purely their's, and it was really soul warming to see so many people loving and singing along to their music. What's more, when a thunder and lightning storm brought the festival to a standstill, they were very apologetic, but also eager to soldier through. I was actually very thankful for the rain at this point (though we were lucky that the Avalon Stage is under a tent — some of our friend's weren't so lucky when the rain hit), because they decided to climb over the barriers and get amongst the crowd to perform a few songs acoustically and with the aid of a megaphone. It was a very unique and personal experience that I was so glad to be apart of.
Deciding to watch Lily Allen was a very 'might as well' kind of decision. I've always liked her singles, but I've never been a dedicated listener. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived to see my first ever performance on the Pyramid Stage. She was honestly fantastic; she's a real national treasure and I found myself boogying in the mud to 'Hard Out Here' and feeling very empowered giving the Vs along to 'Fuck You' and 'Not Fair'. (I felt a little awkward too though, because a middle aged man was stood next to me, not joining in on the massive 'some men are assholes' parade. His loss.) She was such a charismatic performer, chatting away between songs and cracking jokes. It was especially adorable when she asked if we liked her set, which consisted of baby bottles — "it's because I'm a mummy." And although I prefer the original (God, Alice, you're so pretentious!), I loved hearing her performance of 'Somewhere Only We Know'. The song reminds me of my last year of Primary school and makes me very nostalgic, although I'm starting to realise her voice in general makes me think back to my childhood and early teenage years. It's safe to say I've downloaded a few of her albums since getting back.
Kodaline was the band I was most excited to see and was actually one of the acts I was praying would be performing before the line up was even released. Their album 'In a Perfect World' is one of all time favourites — it's one of those magical albums where you love every single song and couldn't bear to skip ahead. The only downside was that halfway through their set, the heavens decided to open and unleash an absolute downpour of rain, so I was unable to record my favourite song 'All Comes Down' (oh, the irony). However, prior to the rain, it was ridiculously hot and sunny, only emphasised by being so close to lots of other bodies. And so, although I couldn't record my favourite song, the rain was a breath of fresh air and pretty atmospheric really. Plus, it's just an excuse to play 'spot the Alice' on the coverage posted on BBC iPlayer.
Imagine Dragons was another band that went above and beyond my expectations. I'm a big fan of their music, but I've never seen a video of their performance before. I didn't even know what the members of the band looked alike, let alone that they could put on such an amazing show. For one thing, they walked on such coated head to toe in mud. Another was that almost all of them played more than one instrument. The lead singer, Dan Reynolds, was bounding around the stage, jumping from the drums to the keyboard, and doing his adorable little arm dance that I've got to say I was swooning over a lil bit. What is also really lovely to see — which occurred a lot throughout the festival — was just how thankful these artists were to be playing at a renowned festival. Imagine Dragons definitely expressed this gratefulness, and also offered to whisk us all back to Vegas with them, which is nice because mud. Dan also got immersed in the crowd, which was equally as wonderful. I think I'm in love with him.
And I'm not sure I can even put into words how absolutely fantastic Ed Sheeran was (apart from the fact he was on at the same time as Gabrielle Aplin). Can we talk about how he played my favourite song from both of his albums? Like, I think he must have somehow just known! I didn't really know what to expect from a performance on such a large scale from Ed Sheeran. I mean, his music rocks, but I always imagined him to be a timid kind of bloke. Maybe timid is the wrong word. But anyway. He completely blew my socks off and really interacted with his audience, which I think is key to any successful performance, especially at a festival. And lets just take a moment to thank his parents, because this twenty-three year old can guitar jam for a trillion years and I will patiently listen. Can you tell I'm finding it hard to express myself in a way that makes sense to everyone and not just me. Basically, y'all need to see him live, and so do I. Again. And again and again and again.
