The Revolution Will Not be Televised

A rather topical rant in the form of another charming folk ditty by emerging talent Grace Petrie.

Grace has been a firm favourite of mine ever since I stumbled across her set one sunny day at Glastonbury's Leftfield stage last year and she's yet to disappoint. Both genuinely thought provoking and refreshing, it's difficult to ignore this young woman's talent. Full of tales of love ire and the odd political diatribe, Petrie's new album Tell Me a Story is a fine testament to just how great the folk scene is at the moment. Every song packs as much punch as the last and one cannot help but hang on every word. If you like gutsy, real folk without an ounce of conceit, then look no further.

Tell Me a Story is out now

Everyone's Here

One of the stand out moments for me this summer, nay year, was standing in a sunny field, listening to some of the most beautiful, spine-tingling music I've ever heard live. No it wan't U2 and shockingly not Morrissey either (sacrilege I know) who reduced me to tears with their glorious sunset show, but Elbow.

Elbow's 2011 Glastonbury set had everything you could possibly ask for in a performance, with my only qualm being lack of older material (but it's not as if their new stuff is sub-par at any rate). Every song packed as much punch as the last, whether it was the psychedelic The Birds or something thrilling like Grounds for Divorce.

But what made this something truly special was the band themselves. If there's one act that knows how to work a crowd, it's Elbow. Reverse Mexican waves, a mass happy birthday singalong and even some Freddie Mercury style call and response; Guy Garvey totally had us in the palm of his hand. And what's better is that it wasn't just us who were entranced by the magnitude of it all, the entire band looked just as giddy as we did. For me, that's what makes gigs that little bit more special- the fact that you know the band are right there with you, in spirit as well as body.

There's a lot to be said for the setting here too, which could help to explain some of my gushing. If you've been to Glastonbury before you'll no doubt have experienced the 'sunset moment:' i.e. a period of awe and contentment with the world. It sounds pretentious and maybe it is, but those moments are few and far between outside the gates of Worthy Farm so you have to take what you can get really. Standing in the crowd, singing Hey Jude with thousands of people before the set, then listening to anthems like Lippy Kids as the sun went down- it just doesn't get better than that. It just encapsulates everything I love about festivals. They're a chance to escape and get back to what you love, whether that be watching music, making clay pots or even performing music, in the case of Mr Garvey. At any point across the weekend you'd hear the phrase 'we love Glastonbury' being banded about like nobody's business, but when he says it, you can tell by the look on his face that he means every syllable.

Makes me teary just thinking about it.

Elbow's 2011 Glastonbury set is a fine testament to the Glastonbury spirit, where musician and audience both share something that can only be found at a certain time of year (usually in a muddy field). At 20 years old, Elbow have certainly paid their dues and deserve the success they're currently enjoying. What puts the icing on the cake, however, is knowing that amidst the album sales and gruelling tour schedule, they still love what they're doing. Long may they continue to do so if these are the kind of performances they produce.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have something in my eye.

Unless you've been living in some fanciful world where the internet doesn't exist (in which case, what are you doing reading this? Weirdo.), you'd

know that fairly reputable entertainment site Holy Moly have revealed what they believe to be the three Pyramid headliners of this year's Glastonbury Festival.

Glastonbury celebrated its 40th birthday last year.

This follows on from a supposed Sun 'exclusive' at the weekend solidifying suspicions that Michael's "two comebacks and a woman" were well and truly in place for this year's festival. Unlike previous rumours (Rolling Stones, Bowie, etc, etc,.. basically every rock band on the planet if forums are to be believed), this time in a rather unexpected move, the media have actually agreed on something. And isn't it marvellous. Unless of course you don't like Beyonce, U2 or Coldplay, i,e. the 3 headliners supposedly set to grace the Pyramid stage this June. The observant amongst you may have noticed that I wrote all this build up in a bid to postpone mentioning said headliners for as long as possible- needless to say I'm not impressed.

U2 was always going to be a given after their cancellation last year, so I'd already resigned myself to the Other stage on that particular night, but Coldplay? Really?

On the basis of their thoroughly disappointing last album, I can't say they're particularly 'deserving' of the spot. 5 years ago? Definitely. Now? I'm not so sure. They're bound to put on a good show, but after a night of U2 who aren't a million miles away from Chris et al, is this really what people want? Well, maybe. I guess on the one hand you could say that the gloominess of Coldplay at their best (back in the days of The Scientist and Clocks) is still as relevant as ever, considering the current political and economic situation we find ourselves in. None of us are getting any richer (besides the bankers), Cameron's out to destroy the trees using books as kindling and dead things keep falling out of the sky. So perhaps now is the time for a Coldplay resurgence. Besides which, with Martin's falsetto and the solid musicianship of the rest of the band, they're sure to make their presence felt, a lot more than can be said for past headliners *cough KOL cough.*

As far as Beyonce goes, she's alright but I'd have thought perhaps an afternoonish 'Shakira' slot would be more apt- mostly because a large proportion of her fanbase will have gone to bed by the time the headline slot rolls around. As for me, if if she ain't playing Destiny's Child (the soundtrack of my childhood), I'm not interested. Her new stuff is very good and there's no denying her amazing voice, but it's just not my thing anymore. That's not to say she shouldn't headline however; she's certainly got the album sales and fame to warrant it, even if it's a bit 'different' for a festival that has always had a strong indie/rock emphasis over the years in terms of headliner material.

So all in all, I can't say I'm thrilled. After 3 years of remaining loyal to the Pyramid stage for at least one of my summer evenings, it seems I shall be deflecting to the 'dark side.' But that's ok, because believe it or not there's more than just the one stage at Glastonbury, so the dark side will involve the surreal wonderment of Shangri La, which excites me just as much as the music.

Pyramid stage?

What Pyramid stage?

Oh, and if anyone was wondering what my favourite part of Glasto was last year, it wasn't the music. Actually, it was being fed sambuca through a syringe by a PVC clad nurse wearing clown makeup. You don't get that at the Pyramid, though I'd never say never..

Glasto Headliners? Have a Little Patience..

Ok so that was lame, but I can't honestly be the first to do a Take That related pun..

Rumours were abundant at the beginning of the week when Take That announced a UK tour in the summer of 2011 that, with a sizeable hole in their touring schedule, made them a strong contender to be a Glasto headliner (though I'd have put them on in the Scissor Sisters mid evening Pyramid slot myself). Would they grace the iconic stage to entertain thousands of with love songs and, well, love songs ? Well, why not, they certainly wouldn't be the first pop act to play Glasto and definitely not the last. With acclaimed appearances by Lady Gaga, Lily Allen and even Shakira to packed out crowds, the genre has seen a remarkable resurgence in recent years.

But alas, it was not meant to be. The band confirmed today that although they'd like to take a trip down to Worthy Farm, it would be as punters rather than performers: "If we're having a good time we might get on the bus and go down. We can go and take our caravan and watch a few other bands, but our production is too big to bring to a festival stage." Take That frontman Gary Barlow also confirmed that there were no plans in place to bring a bit of their cheesy pop to the festival.

So that's a definite no then. Shame, can you imagine a sea of middle aged men in an array of ridiculous hats swaying along to Back for Good with tears in their eyes? That's the stuff memories are made of.

As of yet no headline acts have been confirmed, but Michael Eavis has said that he has asked U2 if they would consider playing the festival, after having to cancel their planned appearance at this year's Glastonbury due to Bono's back troubles.

Radiohead, Foo Fighters and Bon Jovi are just some of the acts floating around the rumourmill at the moment. Who would you like to see at next year's Glasto?