Blondie at Glastonbury 2014 review – a cheery anticlimax
Blondie are still a souped-up monster truck of a band – even if the air-horn has gone a bit wheezy
theguardian.com – 27th June 2014
By Mark Beaumont
Where and when: Other stage, 12.15pm
Dress code: Bizarre white harness as if fresh from a skydiving fashion shoot.
What happened: The masses descended, phasers set to frug. Unfortunately, Blondie suffer from that frustrating and fast-spreading affliction of New Waver’s Tonsil – the inability of post-punk-era singers to wallop it out like they used to. At 68, Deborah Harry’s insouciant snarls have shrivelled to frail, stilted wobbles, and she can only manage a shadow of the bellows from Atomic and Call Me, so a good-natured air of anticlimax pervades. It’s telling that the cheer that greets Harry yelling “do the punk rock!” at the end of her legendary Rapture rap is easily matched by those for a 45-second guest appearance from the sun.
Harry fares far better when all she has to do is sigh along to Heart of Glass, her sculpted Studio 54 pout making a welcome return as the crowd will her along with a communal display of arm-waving that might well have wafted the storm clouds away. And the band power admirably through Hanging on the Telephone, Maria and a cover of the Misfits’ Hollywood Babylon, showing they are still a souped-up monster truck of a band – even if the air-horn has gone a bit wheezy.
Best bit: When the cameras pick out a bouncing female fan hoisted on someone’s shoulders during Atomic.
Worst bit: An incongruous cover of (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!) complete with Harry’s ungracious gurning and look-away-Marjorie sex-grinds.
In a Tweet: Blandie #stillfunthough
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jun/27/blondie-glastonbury-2014-review
