Rockness: Scotland Kick Starts The Festival Season

Week One: A Wet Start

June started with good news for Gaga and bizarre news for Arctic Monkeys, as the pop star shifted a million units for her new album Born This Way in the US alone and the indie heroes saw the words “Suck It” censored on the cover of their latest LP Suck It And See stateside.

Rockness kicked off the festival season with big name headliners Kasabian and The Chemical Brothers but oddly it was the unassuming Paolo Nutini and the mind blowingly brilliant Jamie xx who stole the show on the festivals final day, bringing the crowd together despite some truly temperamental weather.

Adele fearing for her voice was forced to cancel her US tour, the first of a series of cancelations that would plague the singer but help to reinforce her rapidly growing mystique.

Coldplay were accused of plagiarism (again) as the world got to grips with the bright and colourful “Every Tear Drop Is A Waterfall”, it was infectious enough but it was hard not to grimace as Martin bellowed “I’d Rather Be A Comma, Than A Full Stop”.

Lady Gaga continued to capture headlines as she was named the most played artist on UK Radio while Born This Way was banned in Lebanon for being “offensive to Christianity”.

In the charts everything stayed the same as Pitbull enjoyed a third week atop the singles chart and Gaga continued to rock it on album charts.

Pulp: Return At Isle Of Wight Festival With A Show Stealing Set

Week Two: Pulp Return

Isle Of Wight festival got the English festival circuit rolling with a surprisingly contemporary line up that was topped off by a measured and emotive set from Kings Of Leon, the business as usual bombast of the Foo Fighters, and a damp squib of a washed out final day topped off by an underwhelming Kasabian.

Pulp freshly returned to the UK’s shores were the real stars, mixing a rapier sharp wit with a selection of sublime hits as they warmed a 50,000 strong crowd up for Dave Grohl and co. The same can’t be said of Liam Gallagher and Beady Eye who flopped with a disastrously dull sub headline set.

System Of A Down absolutely smashed it at Download creating an instant legend of a set in the process. The same can’t be said of Def Leppard and Linkin Park who performed competently in what was an otherwise underwhelming year for the metal goliath.

The most unexpected news of the festival season came from Belgium where Lokerse Feesten was convinced to go meat free in an effort to appease festival headline Morrissey.

Ja Rule was sentence to two years in jail when he was found in possession of a semi-automatic handgun.

Michael Eavis said booking The Wombles was a mistake. The Wombles up for a fight, withdrew their offer to help clean up the festival.

Clarence Clemons Bruce Springsteens legendary sax player suffered a stroke and was the first sign of his impending death. His passing would touch a generation as the sax player had been an unmistakably stoic pop culture icon who, believe it or not, appeared in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

Example announced himself as a force to be reckoned with when “Changed The Way You Kiss Me” topped the singles chart beating out Paramore’s “Monster” and Katy B’s “Easy Please Me”, while Arctic Monkey’s booted Gaga from the top spot as Suck It And See topped the album chart.

On The Rocks: Amy Winehouse Booed Off Stage In Belgrade

Week Three: Winehouse On The Ropes

In a worrying sign Amy Winehouse was forced to cancel a tour after being jeered off stage in Belgrade amid a disastrously chaotic performance.

Meanwhile Beyonce was caught rehearsing Kings Of Leon covers as intrigue built over the star’s Glastonbury headline set.

Another bizarre story emerged in June as two men where arrested and then charged in Devon as the Joss Stone “Murder Plot” became headline news.

Speaking of murder; a prisoner, Dexter Isaac, currently serving a life sentence on unrelated charges, admitted to the non-fatal shooting of Tupac Shakur in 1994.

Lou Reed and Metallica recorded an album together, and to think back then people were actually getting excited.

U2 were named the highest-paid musicians in the world just as they were set to take to Glastonbury main stage. Not great timing it has to be said, as a major protest was planned during their set, as U2’s Bono stood accused of Tax Evasion.

Michael Eavis admitted that Glastonbury had lost its soul, apologizing to fans over the high tickets prices and promising a return to activism.

The rift between Liam and Noel Gallagher appeared irreconcilable as Noel married Sara MacDonald without inviting his younger brother to the ceremony.

Example held onto the no.1 spot as a re-release of Take That’s Progress topped the album chart.

Beyonce: Conquers Glasto, Diva Style

Week Four: Glastonbury Surpasses The Hype

What a year! Beyonce surpassed all expectation closing the Glastonbury in style with heartfelt ballads (“Halo”, “1+1”) and dazzling showmanship (“Crazy In Love”, “Countdown”). Queens Of The Stone Age had their audience in awe as they blew through a setlist selected by the fans themselves. Coldplay reaffirmed themselves as this generation’s biggest festival headliner with a colourful and explosive set full of old favourites and renewed energy.

U2 on the other hand kicked off the festival with their costmary bigness, reminding the world that behind all the stupidity lay some brilliant tracks with “Pride” and “Mysterious Ways” stealing the show. Huge sets came thick and fast, in a year where Glastonbury effortlessly reclaimed (retained) its best festival crown.

Heads were scratched on site however when the anti-Bono protests where brutally shut down by heavy handed security and a senior Tory, one Christopher Shale, was found dead in a VIP toilet on Sunday morning.

Hard Rock Calling not to be outdone was headlined by the returning Killers who, for once, dodged sound problems. Bon Jovi brought the big time smaltz with a crowd-pleasing set topped off by a saccharine reading of “Always” that saw 40,000 hands pointing skyward. Rod Stewart certainty had the sing alongs but found himself upstaged by a resurgent Stevie Nicks, even if he did create his own magic moment with a surprise appearance from former band mate and Rolling Stones star Ronnie Wood.

Back in the financial world, digital sales blasted beyond the 10 million mark with help from Adele and Rihanna while Brother, who’s year was going from bad to worse, were forced to change their name to Viva Brother.

Arcade Fire rounded of the June with a star studded Hyde Park gig with support from Mumford & Sons, Beirut, The Vaccines and Owen Pallett. Sadly, the band were hit by noise restrictions and struggled against a quite sound system. Still few seemed to care by the time the “Month Of May” and “Mountains Beyond Mountains” rolled around.

Jason Derulo topped the singles chart with “Don’t Wanna Go Home” as Gaga’s Born This Way returned to the top of the album charts.