“Glastonbury! Are you seeing clearly now the rain has gone?” Guy Garvey bounds onto the Pyramid Stage, flooding the festival with avuncular game-show cheer, like that favourite teacher who always managed to get the kids on his side at school.
In a welcome blast of sunshine between downpours, an excursion to the fringe stages on the southern slopes of the Glastonbury site provides a welcome relief from the liquid mud lakes and crowd crushes around the main arenas.
Thunder, lightning and heavy downpours over Glastonbury right now. Deep joy for the 125,000 people already onsite, with more arriving every hour. It seems the gods of rock are angry. And they are not the only ones making a racket.
"Glastonbury!" beams Debbie Harry. "Nowhere else like it!"
Just past midday on Friday in the Vale of Avalon, and the world’s largest voluntary refugee camp is already on the move.
Damon Albarn has played "Song 2" live for the first time without his Blur bandmates – watch footage of it below.
The singer is currently touring the US supporting his solo album, Everyday Robots.
While Albarn has been playing Blur material on the tour, with tracks including "Out Of Time" and "This Is A Low", last night's gig at Royale, Boston, was the first time he has played "Song 2" and the first time ever without his Blur bandmates.
The stage times for this month's Glastonbury festival have been revealed.
Scroll down for information on the timings for the Pyramid Stage, Other Stage, West Holts Stage, The Park Stage, John Peel Stage Acoustic Tent and Avalon Stage. Glastonbury 2014 takes place on Worthy Farm over June 27-29, with the gates to festival opening on June 25.
Pyramid Stage
Friday
Arcade Fire 22.00-23.45
Elbow 20.00-21.15
Lily Allen 18.30-19.30
Rudimental 16.45-17.45
De La Soul 15.15-16.15
Rodrigo y Gabriela 13.45-14.45
The War on Drugs 12.30-13.15
Deep into 2001’s Southern Rock Opera , there’s a point where Patterson Hood produces a mission statement for the Drive-By Truckers – and for an enlightened generation of bands from below the Mason-Dixon line. “You think I'm dumb, maybe not too bright,” he sings, “You wonder how I sleep at night/Proud of the glory, stare down the shame/Duality of the southern thing.”
Jack White has been playing a new song, "Temporary Ground", while on tour in America.
Click below to watch footage of White performing the track last night (June 1) on stage in Houston, Texas. The song features on White's new album Lazaretto, which is released on June 9.
