After the rain hit the site hard we're looking at Glastonbury '98 style mud issues. Biggest sympathy goes out to the on-site stilt walkers who keep keeling over in the glop. The robotic wheely bins and Terminator model (really) suffer the same fate and the Virgin festival's famed organisational abilities come under strain.
Plenty of space then for former Crowded House front man Neil Finn to take the piss with 'Weather With You'. He even wears a suntastic lime green Hawaiian shirt. Thanks. Only the fully loaded heavens know how the New Zealander manages to keep a straight face. Finn also gets stuck into his old band's back catalogue with classics like 'Fall At Your Feet'. Take note David Gray, this is how it should be done.
But gentle lyrics aren't what's required for a day that varies between sodden and sodden and cold. With brisk business going on at the Espresso coffee bar Placebo hit the stage with nothing less than ten toes on the pedal. The unadulterated energy of 'Pure Morning' slaps up any damp ears, replete with the festival friendly lyrics: "A friend in need's a friend indeed/ A friend with weed is better." Their set's a short but sweet jolt to the senses.
Onto the main event. Which means sitting through Dave Grohl's hardcore tryers the Foo Fighters in order to hear the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The festival site is liberally adorned with advertisements for the Chilli's excellent, but not that recent album 'Californication' from which the group draw most of their set. 'Scar Tissue', 'Parallel Universe', 'I Like Dirt' and the title track are great warm ups but it's the big hits such as 'Under the Bridge' and 'Give It Away' from 'Blood Sex Sugar Magic' that have the crowd screaming, wailing and gnashing in the slop.
Wayward bassist John Frusciante is back on the team and the group rock hard for well over an hour (though still finish 20 minutes early). It's a much better performance and crowd than the Stafford one by all accounts. While everyone around is talking about cocks in socks the band have gone the other way, wrapped up in post grunge sportswear and large amounts of beard. Still they're head and shoulders above almost everyone else who has played the festival. A fitting close to the proceedings.
