"The most civilised festival in the UK". That's what Morrissey said about Hopfarm.
The crowds poured in on a dreaded sunny day. Mary Coughlan was singing for the early birds when we arrived midday. Damien Dempsey was in great form. What an amazing song 'Maasai' is! Brother borrow a lot from Suede as does Frankie and the Heartstrings, to a lesser extent. Newton Faulkner's an interactive, charming genius. "U.F.O.---hello!"
Magazine's intensity caused some perplexity. Patti Smith enthralled everyone, her immortal butterfly spirit alighting everywhere at once; beautiful. God bless Lou Reed, as Morrissey said later. He's slowed down, but the Velvet Underground were always coming from a place without conventional equilibrium. The crowd thoroughly enjoyed the video of his youthful interview during the montage. Iggy Pop stole all hearts away, a whirlwind on legs, inviting stage-invaders up (including a Moz irregular regular who got manhandled by security and thrown to the back), strutting fearlessly into the crowd. 'How can anyone be expected to follow that?' asked Morrissey after him. Which is why he can, because he pays his dues to his influences, blending and transcending.
Morrissey's first words on stage were 'my pretty face is going straight to hell', adapting an older Stooges lyric. The masses lapped up the show. The Kid's A Looker replaced People Are the Same Everywhere; Speedway was played, and Panic brought the night to a close. He said he loved Iggy, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, and he also loved Boz Boorer, going on to name each of the band-members when introducing them, adding, 'as for me, Action Is My Middle Name', which he sang. A few times he stressed that it was up to the people to take back power and choose better government, no royalty and so on. Before Meat is Murder, he said that eating meat is the number one threat to the planet. He yelped the first few bars like a creature in pain, and the song ended on a prolonged crescendo, with gongs and flashing red lights, making its mark. Coincidentally my friend had brought for me Jeffrey Masson's 'The Face on Your Plate' which backs it all up.
Faces around me were rapt, the audience a ready-made backing choir. Three women near me annoyed for a while as they were taking pictures of each other and phoning home excitedly during the show! But sometimes they'd take to a song, vocalising with gusto, and one turned to the others at some point, exclaiming theatrically, 'oh, I'm so happy'/! She wasn't the only one finding herself suddenly dipped into a pool of joy. One of them also shouted up at him, after he came back for the encore saying 'just because', and reminded him of an old advert catchphrase, 'and all because the lady loves Milk Tray', which he seemed to slightly acknowledge. Leaving the stage he simply cried, 'I love you'; the needed and wanted thing. Last Saturday in Kent, the garden of England, Morrissey, accompanied by his hopping men, was the prize-winning rose!
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