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THE PLAYLIST: SUMMER FESTIVALS

Which songs will ring out most memorably at this summer’s festivals? Hazel Sheffield takes an educated guess ...

From INTELLIGENT LIFE Magazine, Summer 2010

What makes a great festival anthem? When Damon Albarn reunited Blur for last year’s Glastonbury, they came armed with a whole set of contenders, but it was an unlikely one, the gospel-tinged pop song “Tender”, that ignited in the flag-filled skies above Pilton. It captured the moment, ripping up the band’s feuding past, echoing long into the night and feeding off the shared nostalgia of tens of thousands of people who came together, arms aloft, to prove that pop can be a many-splendoured thing.

PAUL McCARTNEY:  HEY JUDE (single by the Beatles) 
A song with a magic that the open air can only amplify. As those hymnal verses cave into that hypnotic, lingering outro, expect fields of people to embrace in hippy nostalgia. Even the most inebriated camper should remember how to “na” along to this.

STEVIE WONDER:  SUPERSTITION (from the album Talking Book)
The best anthems don’t come with a sell-by date and this Motown classic has an ageless combination of dirty funk and howling brass. When Wonder headlines Sunday night at the 40th Glastonbury, the crowd will be on their feet from that first clavinet riff.

PAVEMENT:  STEREO (Brighten The Corners)
The Pavement reunion is what grown-up indie-rockers have been waiting for. When Stephen Malkmus’s bumbling verses explode into that screeching chorus, watch out for any die-hard fans nearby: they might just combust with it.

NAS AND DAMIAN MARLEY:  AS WE ENTER (Distant Relatives)
The notorious hip-hop superstar Nas will appear with Marley junior at only a handful of niche festivals, but that’s unlikely to stop this blinding bit of reggae fusion spreading like wildfire through the campsites. Clean beats, pass-the-mic rhymes and a slice of organ add to the summer vibe.

THE STROKES:  LAST NITE (Is This It)
The Isle of Wight Festival in June marks The Strokes’ first performance together since 2006 and hopes are running high. Consistently voted one of the best rock songs of all time, “Last Nite” will prompt 30-somethings to pogo like teenagers.

VAMPIRE WEEKEND:  HOLIDAY (Contra)
Early contenders for band of the year with “Contra”, which came out in January but gave their clever African-flavoured indie sound a twist of summer. “Holiday”, with its busy bassline and cheeky reggae synths, will bring smiles to a string of European festivals, even if the weather’s grim.

DIZZEE RASCAL:  DIRTEE DISCO (Tongue N Cheek)
“Bonkers” became the anthem of festival campsites across the land in 2009, blared out by neon-clad clubbers intent on recreating Ibiza in the muddiest of fields. This track, Dizzee’s first foray into glitterballs and flares, is another single primed for festival ubiquity.

BOB DYLAN:  LIKE A ROLLING STONE (Highway 61 Revisited)
Dylan’s umpteenth European tour is mostly going to the arenas, but there are a handful of festivals including Azkena in Spain, the Hop Farm in Kent and Limerick in Ireland. Those who catch him may be in for the festival moment of the year. “Like a Rolling Stone” is the song Dylan performs most faithfully, and its delicious venom will be conveyed by a chorus of thousands, even if the man himself can muster no more than a croak.

(Hazel Sheffield writes about music for the Daily Telegraph and at hazelsheffield.wordpress.com)

Picture Credit: David Jones (via Flickr)