WATCH THAT MAN!

In this chapter from his new biography of David Bowie recounts the sequence of events that led to a history-making performance at the Glastonbury Festival

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When Bowie walked on stage at Worthy Farm in Somerset on 25 June 2000, received wisdom has it that the gig he performed over the following two hours was not just the highlight of that year's Glastonbury Festival, but one of the greatest performances - if not the greatest performance - in the history of the festival. In terms of Bowie’s own career, it is commonly believed to be the single moment that he regained his crown as the reigning monarch of contemporary music, transforming him at a stroke from a figure whose best work was behind him to a peerless performer who inspired and impressed audiences, and artists, who were not even born when he began his career.

Many of those who were involved in the Glastonbury gig, whether as performers or organisers, have described it as their finest hour. Bowie’s keyboard player Mike Garson comments that “people still talk about it as the best show ever” while co-organiser Emily Eavis said, “I often get asked what the best set I’ve seen here at Glastonbury is, and Bowie’s 2000 performance is always one which I think of first.” Bowie’s PR Alan Edwards recalls that “David knew when he came off stage it had been a seismic moment. Everything changed from that day on.”

How he came to perform the iconic gig of the second half of his career is a fascinating story that combines high art, low chicanery, opportunism, luck and plain old- fashioned brilliance. As Edwards describes it, “I wouldn’t quite describe it as ‘underhand machination’: more like ‘accidental brilliance.’”

The year before, Michael Eavis came to see Bowie play London’s Astoria with an attitude of interest and expectation. This was soon dispelled by the set that Bowie played, which combined songs from Hours with more obscure tracks from earlier in his career, including “Cracked Actor” and “Repetition”. This did not necessarily suggest that Bowie was performing at the level of a Glastonbury headliner.