Glastonbury stars gather for Africa Express

United Kingdom | | 24 June 2007

Fatboy Slim, Blur's Damon Albarn and The Magic Numbers were among the acts who collaborated to make a very special second night on Glastonbury's Park Stage.

A host of African acts played alongside some of Britain’s biggest stars to set Saturday’s (23 June) Park Stage off with a bang. The Magic Numbers, Hard-Fi and Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly all played alongside some of Africa’s best musicians as Africa Express took over the entire stage from 7.00pm.

The acts were all hand-picked by Damon Albarn for the evening and he himself joined The Specials’ Terry Hall on the piano for an African version of their classic ‘A Message To You Rudy’.

Hard-Fi performed ‘Hard To Beat’ and Fatboy Slim spun a few dance tracks to get the crowd moving including ‘It Began In Africa’ by The Chemical Brothers. The unique evening included a version of The Clash’s ‘Rock The Casbah’ as the stage created a special bit of Glastonbury history.

The Park was packed as artists watched each other from the side of the stage. Ben Hudson from Mr Hudson and The Library added guitar to Tony Allen’s drums from The Good, The Bad and the Queen as the pair collaborated with a multitude of African performers including Tinariwen.

Michael Eavis had said “Everyone’s coming down,” and a large crowd duly gathered at The Park Stage. As the party was in full swing, the stage manager pulled the show because it had already run ten minutes over the 12.30 curfew.

More information on the evening can be found HERE.