While the Reading and Leeds festivals were clearly great successes in terms of corralling the zeitgeist into a single time zone, feverish coverage of the likes of The Strokes and The Vines beforehand meant there weren't any spectacular career-making performances over the bank holiday weekend. Glastonbury, however, threw up two surprises. One: Coldplay's ability to handle the grand arena with charisma and good grace. And two: a little known superstar called Manu Chao.
For many in Britain, Chao was an unfamiliar quantity before his Shepherd's Bush Empire shows in February, but now the phrase "global phenomenon" is used with increasing regularity about the man who has the potential to become the 21st century Bob Marley. Quite how a fortysomething Parisian with past form in a cult folk punk band (the highly regarded but commercially unsuccessful Mano Negra), has managed to sneak into the limelight is captured on this twenty nine track live album.
After disbanding Mano Negra in 1994, Chao travelled around south America, picking up the styles and languages that would feature on his two superb studio albums 'Clandestino' and 'Proxima Estacion: Esperanza' (next stop: hope). He went on to play over 130 gigs in three years, taking in Ecuador, Bolivia, every European festival going, Russia, and, after Glastonbury, Bosnia and Japan, and on each visit it seems he's picked up a little of the local culture.
The musical range included on this album is startling: salsa, reggae, Latin pop, African pop, punk, anything that can be twisted around an uplifting melody and a rousing, forward thinking lyric. The use of language is also impressive: Chao switches from English to French to Spanish without a second thought, often in the same song, adding to the impression that here is a true citizen of the world, playing music that transcends all tongues and boundaries.
Were he to sing more in English, there's no doubt that Chao could become this generation's Marley, but somehow that would be missing the point. The power of these songs is their ability to make you want to dance in celebration of the styles and ideas they convey in whatever language Chao decides to favour. Like kindred spirits The Pogues before them, there is a sense of tradition being brought into the modern world, of romance and joy and poetry coming together in the name of throwing the biggest party imaginable.
Highlights are numerous but special mention goes to the following. 'Bienvenida A Tijuana' is a tender reggae singalong that sounds all the more poignant for being in Spanish. The African pop and salsa of 'Casa Babylon' is gloriously infectious. 'Mr Bobby', a worthy tribute to Senor Marley, revolves around the chorus of the year: "Hey Bobby Marley, sing something good to me/this world's gone crazy/it's an emergency". Even the tunes from the Mano Negra days sound fresh and intoxicating, less manic hoedown and more justified fiesta. On all, the crowd add brilliantly to the joyous atmosphere: cheering, clapping, whistling, and generally going berserk.
Right now, Chao is undoubtedly throwing a party for a few thousand delirious revellers in Paraguay or Bulgaria or wherever there's a need for trumpets and shouting (ie everywhere). And it can only be a matter of time before he conquers America, via the Spanish-speaking working class. So take some good advice and leap on the bandwagon while you can. Manu Chao es estupendo.
by Ian Watson