Having looked over what was available for the afternoon's entertainment we
decided that Ms Matthews would be interesting - who knows, she may throw in
the odd Catatonia track & she does have an amazing voice.
It seemed, having got to the Acoustic Tent, that a hefty chunk of GF-goers
had had the same idea, & once the Roddy Frame fans had left the tent rapidly
filled up again to bursting point and beyond.
Whenever Sam Brown appears with Jools Holland there is a detectable wave of
sympathy & appreciation, of 'come here love it's going to be fine' from the
crowd & Cerys was on the receiving end of a similar feeling. Our Cerys'
troubles have been well documented and a number of her new songs seem to
comment on the past that she seems to be leaving well behind her. She's with
an extremely good band, has some strong material that is ideally suited to
her voice (a cross, these days, between Janis Joplin & Dolly Parton) and
she's up the duff too, so she must have been having a good time at some
point.
As for the performance - flawless. Her time in Nashville has produced a very
nice country/bluegrass feel & she is in fine voice. Very fine. Very
spine-tingly hairs on the back of the neck fine. It was quiet & soulful on
the quiet & soulful numbers, & very very powerful on the louder ones,
putting her heart & soul into every note. Every song ended with a tremendous
roar of appreciation & respect from the mostly standing crowd that lasted
far longer than the usual 'OK that was great now do another one' applause
you usually hear. She was chirpy & chatty with us, she charmed us with a big
smile, she jigged about in a way most pregnant people don't, & there was
even a great comedy moment in the encore: when she announced that the song
she was about to do was part written by Pete Townsend it was greeted by a
high pitched 'oooh get you' sort of response. It seemed we were all having
the same good time.
This passing fancy that we had to see a great voice perhaps do something
interesting turned into a genuine Glastonbury highlight filled with lovely
Glastonbury moments, and not a Catatonia hit in sight - she doesn't need
them anymore. Go out & buy her records now.
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Glastonbury Festival 
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