Hop Farm Festival - Part Two

SATURDAY

Saturday’s line-up is for me a ‘dream ticket’; Patti Smith, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and Morrissey all playing the main stage.

But beforehand we head for the big tent to see Britpop stars the Bluetones followed by James’ frontman Tim Booth. The Bluetones were good enough but nothing special, and judging by the banter from Mark Morris there’s a little bitterness that no one wants to hear anything other than the ‘hits’. Get over it Mark, it’s a festival!

Tim Booth though is outstanding. I was quite a fan of James but have never really taken the time to check out his solo stuff, so today’s set list is unknown to me. His stage presence though is something to behold. As he dances, wildly writhing his whole body, it’s clear that he’s genuinely ‘feeling’ the music. The rest of the crowd are as entranced as I am and when he jumps into the crowd the place goes wild.

Next is Lou Reed, another artist with a varied back catalogue, but this time one who’s not interested in pleasing in audience. With so many hits it’s astonishing that he chooses so many unknown songs, including obscure album track ‘Temporary Thing’ which seems to last forever. It’s not all bad. He performs an acoustic version of ‘Sunday Morning’ which is stunning, and ‘Femme Fatale’ and 'Sweet Jane’ make it in too, but on the whole it couldn’t have been much duller.

No such worries for Iggy & the Stooges who have been touring the same around festivals for two or three years now. The man is a pensioner but he’s so wired on stage as he jumps around and into the crowd it’s incredible. If ever there was a case for class A drugs, this man is it.

At one point he invites the crowd onstage for a dance and as usual there are plenty of willing volunteers clambering over the barriers, much to the annoyance of the security guards. They rip through a stunning set starting with ‘Raw power’ and finishing with ‘No Fun’ but it’s ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ that really gets Hop Farm jumping.

So to tonight’s headline act, Morrissey. He takes to the stage (possibly wondering "how do I follow Iggy") and launches into the first of a handful of Smiths songs ‘I Want The One I Can’t Have’.

His performance at Glastonbury received mixed reviews but tonight Mozzer is on top form as he delves into an extensive back catalogue, focusing more on earlier releases.

He doesn’t really have any bad songs, but I'm a little disappointed to hear songs like ‘Ouija Board’ and ‘Alma Matters’ when the catalogue is so peerless. Nonetheless he plays a blinder and seems actually happy to be there!

‘This Charming Man’ and ‘Panic’ also make an appearance but the highlight has to be ‘There Is A Light’ which, as you might expect, has approximately 30.000 people singing along! After the Human League last night and Morrissey tonight I’m feeling rather spoilt - Prince is gonna have is work cut out.