So what do you do when you are headlining what has traditionally been a rock gig and you have been essentially challenged by one of the most popular bands at the festival? Well, why not cover their most famous song? That is exactly what Jay Z did in opening his headlining gig at Glastonbury. And to be quite honest, I think it was the best move he could make.
We were discussing this with a friend the night before the gig, and my friend said, “you’ll see, he’ll turn up with guitars and go hardcore on them”. Well my friend had no idea how right he was. I loved watching the video of Jay Z sing along to Wonderwall. He could not possibly stand by and let Noel Gallagher’s comments go unanswered, but you don’t want to ruin the atmosphere at the festival. After all, people are there to have fun. So Jay Z treated the crowd to a singalong of Wonderwall and everyone joined in, to sing with Jay Z who had a broad smile on his face. It worked and the atmosphere was fantastic (although the word is that that was the song that got the biggest cheer).
In any case, I find it was the most mature way to get back at Noel for his comments, without resorting to namecalling and starting some silly feud. That friend of mine emailed me today after I asked if he’d seen what happened at Glasto. “He didn’t just come out with guitars, he broke it over their head”. Yes he did…
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