Hobo Jones unofficially open the festival with their skunk rock

Presenting the unofficial opening act of Glastonbury 2009, Hobo Jones & The Junkyard Dogs ,there to draw crowds in advance of the eFestivals' inaugural world cup match that did eventually have Michael Eavis in attendance at. They played without amplifiers, they made us laugh, and they will for evermore tell their audiences that they opened the main stage at this wonderful festival of music and arts. 500+ punters in a big open field near a Cider Bus can't be wrong.

The Hobo gents play skunk rock. Go see them if you want to know how and why, there’s plenty a punchline I could ruin here. Suffice to say that they were on good form, mixing their regular jokes in with the unique environment and the best that the hecklers had to offer. Even Jesus in the background was not to be outshone.

They played their first song about their mojo, then are immediately halted for an impromptu interview by a TV crew who have clearly had their ears to the ground. TV debut out of the way, it's back to the amusing attempts at music. There's a Johnny Cash cover, a reworking of Led Zeppelin's 'Rock & Roll', and a version of 'American Idiot'. All with trademark junkyard instruments such as a washboard and a discarded Guitar Hero guitar that's played, shall we say, in an unusual fashion.

The recent tour supporting The Levellers is referenced with a cover of 'Riverflow'. Then a triad of unsuspecting revellers are beckoned to the front just through having their own guitars. They get to play a tune of their own, with the Hobo collective showing their true professionalism by stating that they'll follow whatever's played. They just about cope.

The set's ended with some Hobo standards: 'Drunken Sailor' and ‘Mama don't 'low no skiffle playing round here'. The latter gets the crowd involved with the usual practice of distributing assorted 'instruments' from the travelling suitcase, whilst the likes of me make do with two empty tinnies for percussive effect. It's a hoot, and a most welcome way to start the festival now that the tents are up. The Hobos proceeded to pack-out two headline slots at the Avalon café across the nest two nights, and rightly so. Main stage headliners next year then?

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