ROMEO STODART, THE MAGIC NUMBERS
The main one is Bjork, tonight. She's on The Other Stage, we saw her in New
York and it was unbelieveable, I think that will be one of the highlights.
Also Bright Eyes, I'm a big fan of Bright Eyes. We've toured with him and
his new album is amazing as well but I haven't seen him tour any of these
new songs. People like Rufus Wainwright, and Martha Wainwright's playing
too. Arcade Fire, I've not seen CSS as yet, that should be fun, I really
love the single. I'm a fan of The Guillemots. But I'm looking forward to
other things as well, there's the Guilty Pleasures thing which we've done,
and Angela, from the band, she's singing Nine-to-Five, the Dolly Parton
song. Ed Harcourt as well, I love to see him and he's playing with Guilty
Pleasures as well, and I think Suggs and Tim Burgess and Terry Hall. That
should be fun. I think that's a good way to kick off the whole Glastonbury
thing. There's also this thing called Africa Express, which is going to have
a lot of African musicians, like Tony Allen who drums for the Good, the Bad
and the Queen, and people who were in Fela Kuti's band and people like BaAba
Maal. And they're going to get other musicians, whoever's on site and is up
for having a jam, really. It's going to be on until four in the morning or
something. In a festival, after everything's done, you wander around and you
find this mad stage, with these f***ing crazy grooves going on, that's a
really great new thing.
PAUL SMITH, MAXIMO PARK
We've got our wellies from two years ago from when we played. They've still
got real Glastonbury mud on them. I'm really looking forward to seeing
Bjork, I'll be very star-struck if I walk past her, she's been one of my
heroes. I don't use that word very often but I got her first record when it
came out and it was fresh then, it's fresh now, and the same can be said for
each of her albums. She reinvents herself but remains Bjork. I don't know
what she's going to wear, her voice is amazing, just standing in front of
her while she's belting things out will be quite an experience. It's a nice
run - Rufus Wainwright, Arcade Fire then Bjork. Anyone who sticks by The
Other Stage tomorrow will be in luck. Arcade Fire and Rufus Wainwright are
often trumpeted as pushing things but I just really like their songs. Rufus
Wainwright's voice is kind of like a foghorn really, you either like it or
you don't. All of his records have something interesting on. I've only ever
seen him in stores, I've seen him at Virgin Megastore and HMV on two
different occasions and every time he's played my favourite song of his, The
Art Teacher, so if he plays that I'll be a very happy chap.
There's so many different stages, it befuddles you a little. There's this one
thing called the Pussy Parlour, it's a bar I think, where rock 'n' roll
stuff happens. There's a troupe called Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, I've got
one of their singles, they're youngsters, I think one of them's 15 - I like
their brand of rockabilly, so if I manage to get out there I'll see that. As
far as mainstage goes, Amy Winehouse. Everyone's queuing up to give her
plaudits, she has an incredible voice. It's jawdropping, you think, where's
that voice coming from? And she's got an attitude as well, it's got
something behind it, even though some of her stuff's quite slick, you think
something's going to happen.
BRAD ELLIS, NEXTMEN
I don't think I'm going to stay the night, I'm not great in tents. Some
friends of mine got washed down a hillside two years ago. They woke up, in a
tent, travelling down the side of a hill. I almost broke my ankle three
years ago, that's how I met Michael Eavis. I went up to the hospital and
there were about 1,000 people with various injuries and 250 of us had ankle
ailments. But it still sold out in two minutes, it is a great festival.
I don't think I'll catch them but I'd really like to see The Police. So Lonely
is one of the biggest records in our set at the moment and it brought it
back. They're a band I didn't catch first time round and I've always been a
big fan. I'm excited especially to see Stuart Copeland who was one of my
heroes growing up. There's three of them and they make an amazing noise. All
the new bands are kind of cool, most of that indie stuff isn't my thing, I
find it too generic and too much of a rip off of things I was listening to
in the early Eighties when I was growing up. There's a DJ called Timo Maas
who I'd really like to catch and I've heard he's like a technical genius, so
it'll be for quite nerdy reasons that I go and watch him. The Who are
playing as well, I've got a Who sticker on my electric piano at home because
a friend of mine performed with them at Shepherd's Bush Empire a few years
ago and my best mate's a Who fanatic. And Shirley Bassey - I just want to
see all the old, established people.
I won't be going to see Paolo Nutini, he gets on my nerves more than anyone
who ever lived, but Lily Allen's kind of cool. Again, her music isn't right
up my alley but I like the fact that she just seems to be a slightly grumpy
teenager. I quite like the fact that she'll be grumpy and rude and tell
people to piss off.
JON WATKINS, THE TWANG
I want to see the Enemy. I've not seen them yet and they've kind of been going
in the same direction as we are. They got signed at the same kind of time,
they're doing the same thing. I like the couple of singles they've had out
too. I'd like to have a look at them and see what they're saying. The
Killers, I'd like to see, they're headlining but I think they're on around
the same time as us. Jamie T's on, I've got his album, we've watched him a
couple of times, quite early before he got big big. We watched him in Leeds
about two years ago and got to know him a bit. I wouldn't mind watching the
View, the View are pretty good. The Guillemots are at the Jazz stage,
they're doing two sets. I just like their songs - I think he's a talented
bloke, the singer, I've seen him do a session on T4 or something and it was
just him and his guitar, man, it was amazing. He's got a great voice, good
tunes.
There's a load I'd like to see but I don't know when we're getting there. I'd
like to see the Arctic Monkeys but I don't think we'll be there. Saunders is
a big Bjork fan, our singer. The Who I'm not really interested in, people
have said you'll never get to see the Who but I'm not arsed to be honest.
There's only two of them left.
ROB DA BANK, DJ
I'm one of those people who likes to explore the nether regions of the
festival. My wife's put a main stage ban on me this year because she's spent
far too many hours stood in front of it bored, while there's all this other
stuff on. The amount of things to do, I was looking through the lineup the
other day and I had to stop, it took me about an hour to get halfway down.
In terms of mainstream stuff, things I'll definitely try and catch are
Arcade Fire, Bjork, Chemical Brothers but then I'll be heading up into the
greenfields. There's an artist who's just signed to our label called Alice
McLaughlin who's going to be a bit of a star in the next year or so. She's
playing on the Tadpole Stage - I like the sound of it, before you reach the
big time you go through the Tadpole Stage - then there's loads of stuff on
at the Park which is Emily Eavis's own field. I'm looking forward to
checking that out, things like King Creosote. My boys Dan le Sac versus
Scroobius Pip in the Dance Lounge on Sunday, then these guys called the
Dukes Box Caravan, they're basically four guys who sit in a converted
caravan that looks like a jukebox and you go up and stick a quid in the
front and type in the track you want - they're hillbillies from Wales, they
play country and western and rock 'n' roll versions of things like Britney
Spears and Shaggy. It's very funny.
Rob da Bank is in the Dance Lounge on Sunday night at 8pm
ARCADE FIRE
“We’ll all get to see Bjork, we’ve played a few festivals with her already…
but we’ve never been to Glastonbury so we’re not really sure what to expect.”
