The Stones at Glastonbury

Despite being a regular visitor to music festivals, I've never been to Glastonbury. I like some warmth and sunshine when I listen to my music, along with plenty of soul and blues, and most years I'm extremely happy not to be there, because of the mud and the blandness of many of the acts. But this year the sun has shone and, to judge by what I've seen on TV, it could well have been one worth attending.
It looks like the first ever performance there by the Rolling Stones lived up to expectations, with Mick strutting his stuff just like the old days. The BBC was only allowed to show one hour of their performance, but they looked and sounded fine on Brown Sugar, Sympathy For The Devil, Satisfaction etc. I last watched them live nearly 50 years ago when they were the support act for Bo Diddley and the Everly Brothers on a package show in Croydon and I took little notice of this blues cover band, as they then were, at the bottom of the bill. But they have shown incredible durability over the years and today they outshine pretty well all of the younger bands that have come along. Long may they keep the flag of the sixties generation flying.
I also watched Kenny Rogers this afternoon who, at 75, is even older than Mick, Keith and Charlie, and he's clearly lost none of his appeal either. Like those at Glastonbury I found myself singing along to Ruby Don't Take Your Your Love To Town, Lucille, the Gambler and Coward Of the County, and I felt a distinct twinge of nostalgia. Completing the march of the oldies, Bobby Womack is on tonight - another one well worth watching.
* On a separate topic, I picked up an excellent LP today at a car boot, by an Afro Rock band called Assagai, which was released on the Vertigo label in 1971. It obviously didn't sell too well at the time, as it's valued at £150 today.