Edge Encores at Glastonbury

If ever U2 composed an epic, festival-worthy track fit for fields and sunsets and crowded moonlit nights, it’s “Where The Streets Have No Name.” So, it’s no wonder that when MUSE brought U2’s The Edge onstage for their encore at last week’s Glastonbury festival in the UK, they picked “Streets” as the U2 song to cover.

Originally, U2 were booked to headline Glastonbury for the first time, but Bono’s back injury put the plans on hold. Already, rumors about when U2 might return to fulfill their fate to headline Glastonbury have begun to circulate. For some fans, 2011 seems an unlikely choice, especially because U2 also need to reschedule a bunch of dates in the United States.

Speaking of U2 at festivals, next year, the Bonnaroo festival celebrates its 10th anniversary, so I do hope my friends over at AC Entertainment and Superfly Productions might consider bringing U2 to Tennessee. (As always, the Interference forums are a place for active speculation and prediction about such rumors.)

Here, we repost a Rolling Stone report on the U2/Muse collaboration (alongside other Glastonbury tidbits) along with a video of the performance. –Andrew William Smith, Editor

With scheduled headliners U2 out due to Bono’s back injury and the entire nation of England mourning their nation’s exit from the World Cup, Glastonbury — Britain’s biggest rock & roll blowout — still managed to thrill an audience of 150,000 fans in Somerset, England. Gorillaz recreated their latest disc Plastic Beach by bringing out Bobby Womack, De La Soul, the Fall’s Mark E. Smith and Lou Reed to reprise their guest spots. Snoop Dogg joined Damon Albarn’s band for the final song of the night, adding two fresh verses to “Clint Eastwood.”

Check out photos of Gorillaz, the Flaming Lips and all of Glastonbury 2010′s headliners and special guests.

Muse made sure U2 fans got at least a taste of what would have been — bringing out the Edge during their Saturday night headlining set for a cover of “Where the Streets Have No Name.” It wasn’t the only nod to the band over the weekend: Keane also paid tribute to Bono and Co. with a cover of “With or Without You” during their acoustic set.

But the biggest surprise was an entire unannounced solo set from Thom Yorke, who took the stage with a simple, “Hi, My name is Thomas Yorke” to perform tracks from The Eraser. Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood joined him for a killer five-song mini-set of Radiohead classics, including “Karma Police” and “Street Spirit (Fade Out),” AtEase reports.

Glastonbury’s final day coincided with England’s World Cup soccer match against Germany, and an estimated crowd of 50,000 gathered at a pair of festival fields to watch England’s 4-1 loss on huge screens. Ray Davies was among the artists who had the unenviable job of performing during the soccer match, but his set lifted the bummed crowd: he paid tribute to the Kinks’ founding bassist Pete Quaife, who passed away last week, dedicating “See My Friends” and two of Quaife’s favorite Village Green Preservation Society songs to the late bassist. “I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for him,” Davies told the crowd.

Stevie Wonder capped the weekend with a set packed with hits and covers (the Beatles’ “We Can Work It Out,” Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature”). In celebration of the festival’s 40th anniversary, he wrapped things up appropriately, with a jubilant take on his version of “Happy Birthday.” –Daniel Kreps

reposted from http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/17386/122372