Perhaps their booking isn’t quite as off-kilter as Enter Shikari’s blurring of the ludicrously distinct boundaries between trance and metal. Knowing what can be lived with and without, they’re largely avoided like swine flu. Switching the magnet from repel to attract, Karen O’s arthouse New Yorkers Yeah Yeah Yeahs could almost hold their own sequined fate headlining tonight. New additions Dull Life, Runaway and Zero add to the flash stage show, taking in everything from spangly blue backdrops to inflatable eyeballs that roll over the thousands that sprawl out across the green green hills of home. Well, judging by the Glastonbury addiction experienced by every last veteran it’s at the very least a spiritual home. Maybe Eavis should leave it open all year round? Karen O’s enviable quirkiness/ madness (both overheard during their blistering set) is toned down by Natasha Khan’s Bat For Lashes although the sequins hold on for another hour or two before depression sinks in. Adorned in sparkles that Björk may come back for, she’s not so single-handed these days, having roped in perhaps the alt. female supergroup, comprised of New Young Pony Club’s drumming damsel Lou Barlow and Ash ex-pat Charlotte Hatherley. Haunting opener Glass is otherworldly enough for late night strolls deep into the hidden holes of Glastonbury, the zither twang of Prescilla is as sublime as any sunset and Daniel has become the undeniable ace in Khan’s pack, rounding off a subdued obliteration of Sunday evening amidst the smell of cinders and rain. Needless to say, the glitz and the glamour of Khan and O are, for the most part, absent from Justin Vernon’s Bon Iver. It’s no wonder that the record of the past year translates to one of the indispensable shows of the festival. Frankly, it seems criminal that Nick Cave & his Bad Seeds sit atop the Pyramid drawing anything away from Vernon’s tales of smashed hopes and hearts. Once more, The Wolves swathes wondrously into the lantern-filled heavens and regardless of what happens from here on in, For Emma, Forever Ago will never be forgotten. Nick Cave is about as energy-fuelling as the dirty noodles strewn all over the floor, as he growls and prowls his way through a lacklustre outback of nothingness. The only oasis comes in the shape of There She Goes, My Beautiful World, where Cave’s botany brain cells get an exercise although without the ecclesiastical gospel choir committed to Abattoir Blues, there’s room for improvement. Or retirement.

And finally, flying the flag for quintessential Britain, Colchester’s finest and Damon’s day job, Blur. Opening with the ground-breaking This Is A Low, it’s an ecstatic excursion from here on in. The shyness of specced-up unsung hero Graham Coxon puts fears aside to belt out Coffee & TV to the hundreds of thousands gathered to witness history/ relive the glory days of Britpop/ round Glastonbury off with the best karaoke show of all time. Their nostalgia bus stops off at Girls & Boys, Parklife, Out of Time, Beetlebum and a mesmerising Song 2, regurgitating the incomprehensible dilemma of quite how there ever were a ring fit for the Gallaghers’ egocentricity and monotonous, dirgy records, and Blur’s pop genius. Maybe the dispute will settle itself once and for all come August when Oasis’ dreary presence and weary heads headline this year’s V Festival. If they beat Albarn’s majestic final frontier, we’ll all be rushing out to grab one of Liam’s extortionate Pretty Green parkas.

Once more, Michael and Emily have pieced together the knees-up the temperamental British summer yearns for as the coronation of the crown of roses for the best festival on the planet has already been bagged. Keep it coming, Michael. There’s life in this old beast yet.

Dropping in Bonkers, Teardrop and Out Of Space just for good measure, he’ll take some beating. Bashing the eardrums of an entirely different demographic, Deadmau5 draws a mob of Radio 1 ravers to spin his web of paradisiacal house breaks as I Remember swathes across the sweat-drenched obsessed adorned in flashing mouse helmets. Such is the warmth in the sweltering East tent that the mau5 behind the mask appears to bask in his ecstatically ephemeral euphoria. The essential dance set of the weekend. Not so revolutionary are the tired screams of Pendulum’s nu rave, the elephant defeated at the hands of the mau5. Bringing true desperate inspiration to Worthy Farm is Bon Iver. Playing the first of two sets over on the secluded Park Stage, the intimacy pulls enough heart strings for human organs to fall to the floor, hanging by a thread. Creature Fear and RE: Stacks drag the first few tears flooding from their reservoirs, whilst the rousing chorus of The Wolves (Act I And II) sees existence reaffirmed, as every mouth gradually whispers, yells and bellows the emotion-splintering refrain of ‘What might have been lost’ ad infinitum, before gearing up for it all over again in a fair few hours.

Whilst the yanks provide many of the bricks to Eavis’ Pyramid over the weekend, over on The Other, the fruits of White Lies’ endless labours seem to have finally ripened, as their apocalyptic anthemia blasts out, soaking the throng in washes of majestic grandeur and crashing choruses. Their time is now. With a splattering of special guests smeared all over this year’s bill, they range from practically homecoming heroes Klaxons to the downright disappointment of Supergrass spin-off Hot Rats. However, The Park Stage truly puts the special back, airing a debut festival show from Jack White’s new venture, The Dead Weather. Fronted by sultry Kills woman Alison Mosshart and flanked by Raconteurs bandmates, White installs himself in the background, glaring out from behind a rather modest drum kit. Bashing it half to death, they’ve staked themselves out as quite possibly the coolest collective of all time. Their highly-anticipated dirty blues debut record may leave a fair bit to be desired but in the flesh, Hang You Up From the Heavens is utterly devastating.

From the devastating to the dishevelled, the newly crowned Princess of Red Light Pornographic Dance Fight Pop Lady Gaga looks about as out of place down on the farm as she does fully clothed and with twelve varieties of soft drink on the old rider and almost as many costume changes, she’s eclipsing the diva tendencies of La Roux and her ginger fluming fringe. Cavorting about on motorbikes and a clan of robotically choreographed muscled torsos, she slurs her way through the polished sleaze of Beautiful Dirty Rich and Poker Face as if Michael Eavis is paying special rates. Unquestionably the all-out show of the weekend. And to top it all off, a secret early morning masquerade show down in Shangri-La equipped with firework bras. Ideally imperfect. The Pyramid photo pit’s buzzing with bigger lenses than those aimed up Gaga’s numerous skimpy skirts come Neil Young as his cult Americana blasts out across the main arena bowl, rattling rib cages with giddy guitar solos whilst standing every last hair up on end. But it’s over on the Acoustic Stage that jaws are dropping the mud as Kinks man Ray Davies delivers unsung Glastonbury moment upon moment, firing off the likes of Sunny Afternoon and All Day And All Of The Night at will. Returning for no less than three encores in which Waterloo Sunset and Lola are unleashed on the baying throng, he makes as strong a claim as any to the most gifted songwriter on site all weekend long. A Well Respected Man indeed. And on that triumphant note, it’s off to get down and dirty all over again down in the gender-blurring murky clubs and dingy night boxes of the outer reaches of Shangri-La and Trash City. Lord help us.

Despite destructive downpours, storms sounding as if the sky was cracking/ God was chomping through a fair amount of Kit Kats (depending on your religious standing) and the fickle clay ground underfoot, this year’s festival went off without a hitch. Despite the Stone Circle not being half as ancient as it may appear, Wednesday night sees traditions upheld as a bleary-eyed bunch scale the hills, alighting lanterns and necking the finer concoctions of juice cartons hijacked by spirits before warm cider takes the reigns. And so with Glastonbury inaugurated, let the festivities begin…

Thursday was this year officially incorporated into the musical end of the weird and wonderfully skewed spectrum that Eavis has refracted through tie-die beards over the past few decades, as Maxïmo Park’s afternoon slot on the Queen’s Head stage draws a monstrous rabble. Their brand of lightweight intellectual indie is anthemic enough but maybe the recently reformed East 17 would have been a more bountiful kick-off. As spirits are gradually raised throughout the evening, so too is the eccentricity of those guitar-slingers signed away to prolong their hedonism for the sake of an extra show or two; Golden Silvers’ spangling funk-pop sees them sparkle more effervescently than ever, Kap Bambino kick and scream their way through a categorically cacophonous ramshackle show and Metronomy’s synced saxophonic blasts run rejoicing into the night with spanked bass lines. The dominoes are up and they’re condemned to fall.

The possibility of this has been made all the more real by a recent meet of three of the bands members, including elusive guitarist Kim Thayil.  Former Soundgarden singer, Chris Cornell, has also been playing several Soundgarden songs as part of his set list, as witnessed at the Download festival.

Soundgarden were one of the original bands in the Seattle grunge scene but arguably shared more in common with heavy metal bands than the brand of sludgy punk rock played by groups such as Nirvana. Though probably most famous for their song Blackhole Sun, here’s the video to My Wave to show you why Cornell was voted as having one of the top ten voices in rock.

To respond to the sharp decrease in national social giving, Virgin Mobile FreeFest is giving music fans opportunities to devote time to community service at designated homeless youth shelters around the country for a VIP ticket to Virgin Mobile FreeFest.  Virgin Mobile USA is also encouraging people, regardless of wireless carrier, to text “FREEFEST” to 20222, making a $5 donation  which will go to select youth homeless centers through The RE*Generation program, Virgin Mobile USA’s initiative to help homeless youth.

“Over two million young people will experience homelessness in the U.S., many of them due to domestic violence, abuse or neglect,” said Ron Faris of Virgin Mobile USA. “With charitable giving at a low, we hope this program inspires music fans to volunteer locally and engage in this issue. There’s never been a better opportunity to reward fans with a free VIP ticket to this amazing, sold out festival.”

“Once again, the folks at Virgin have come up with an idea that is so simple and wonderful, it reminds us we need people from outside the concert industry to take a fresh look,” said I.M.P. Chairman and FreeFest producer Seth Hurwitz.  “The idea of offering people the opportunity to do charity work in exchange for concert tickets is truly inspiring, and I am going to look for ways to do that the rest of the year.  Why not use our power to give?”

Get Involved Locally
Sign-ups for volunteers in Maryland and Washington, D.C., are being coordinated at Virgin Mobile’s FreeFest website starting today at http://www.virginmobilefreefest.com/; select homeless youth organizations have been aggregated together to accommodate volunteers around the country.

People in the Maryland and Washington, D.C. area can sign up to volunteer 13 hours in exchange for one Free I.P. ticket. This offer is good while supplies last, as there are a limited number of tickets available. Volunteers can also participate in broader community service projects offered by Howard County for a general admission ticket.

“When we started the concept of Summer of Service in Howard County, we wanted youth to contribute,” said County Executive Ken Ulman. “We’re honored to partner with Virgin Mobile around this truly unique and inspired initiative.”

Volunteer Opportunities on the East Coast
Outside Maryland and Washington, D.C. Virgin Mobile USA is organizing volunteer projects in Philadelphia, New York and Boston. Two Free I.P. (VIP) tickets will be awarded to the volunteers who complete the most time above the minimum of 13 hours. Winning volunteers from Philadelphia, New York and Boston will receive free transportation to Virgin Mobile FreeFest courtesy of Megabus, the official bus partner.

Homeless youth organizations working with Virgin Mobile USA include Bridge Over Troubled Waters in Boston, Green Chimneys in New York, HELP USA in Philadelphia, Sasha Bruce in Washington, D.C., and StandUp For Kids in Baltimore.

Other acts joining Pearl Jam on day one are Canadian hip hop artist K-OS, electronic music duo Thunderheist, Hamilton rockers Arkells, indie rockers Mother Mother, and Toronto trio The Cliks.  Joining Billy Talent on day two are new wave indie rockers Metric, Juno award nominees Tokyo Police Club, Brit rockers White Lies and Edmonton natives Shout Out Out Out Out.  More hot talent will be announced in the coming weeks.

“Calgary, we are back! I’m thrilled to announce that Pearl Jam and Billy Talent will headline the second Virgin Festival Alberta on August 8 & 9 at Canada Olympic Park,” announced Richard Branson, chairman of the Virgin Group. “Last year, Virgin Festival Alberta was the buzz of the town, rocking 35,000 fans, and ever since Calgarians have been crying out for us to come back.  I’m delighted that we’re doing it all over again and promise that Virgin Festival will deliver another unforgettable weekend of music and experiences.”

General ticket sales for two-day and VIP Weekend tickets begin Saturday, July 4th at 10 a.m. in person at all Ticketmaster outlets, select Future Shop locations, online at www.ticketmaster.ca, or www.futureshop.ca and by calling (403) 777-0000. Ticket information is also available at www.virginfestival.ca.  Two-day tickets are $132.00 plus $4 facility fee and a $2 donation to Virgin Unite (includes all sales taxes).

As always, when you’re with Virgin Mobile Canada you move to the front of the line. Virgin Mobile Canada customers can get their hands on Early Bird tickets before anyone else.

Keep an eye on www.virginfestival.ca for more line-up announcements. Fans can also keep up to date with Virgin Festival on Twitter at www.twitter.com/virginmobilecan and on the Virgin Festival Canada Facebook® fan page.