2002: Coldplay, The Vines, Rival Schools, Muse… CD:UK?

Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head

2002.  The year that Eminem cleaned out his closet, The Streets pushed things forward, Lostprophets’ fakesoundofprogress got a shiny new production job, every other new band was The something and I started college, passed my driving test and went to my first ever festivals.

Ahh, Glastonbury.  My first ever festival.  It was the year of the Super Fence and of Elvis roaming said fence.  Coldplay were daringly installed as headliners armed only with Parachutes and the yet to be released A Rush Of Blood To The Head (they pulled it off).  The big draws for me, however, were the bands at the forefront of the NME’s New Rock Revival (in hindsight, this was a disturbing sign of things to come with regard to the NME’s shameless scene hopping).  The New Rock Revival, coined on the back of what The Strokes had started the previous year, championed the likes of The Cooper Temple Clause, who released the beast that it See This Through And Leave, battering and bruising all comers with the likes of ‘Who Needs Enemies’, ‘Film Maker’ and ‘Panzer Attack’.  The Vines were crazy.  Packing the barely contained lunacy of ‘Highly Evolved’ and ‘Outtathaway’, they also had in their canon the ability to evoke a feeling of isolated melancholy with ‘Autumn Shade.  Their take on OutKast’s ‘Ms Jackson’ at the festival was one of my highlights.

The band that preceded The Vines was Rival Schools.  I had heard the singles ‘Used For Glue’ and ‘Good Things’ on the wireless and went to check them out…United By Fate was the one album I went to buy as soon as I got home – I didn’t even baulk at the £14.49 price sticker.  I still listen to it regularly to this day.  They were THAT good.

At the end of August, I decided to go to Reading.  The day before the gates opened.  I got a ticket legally and all.  Seems strange given that the festivals these days sell out in a couple of days…anyway, I digress.

The aforementioned Strokes were the main reason I jumped the train but the rest of the line up wasn’t too shabby either.  The Hives were briefly everyone’s favourite new band, but it was the cementing of some reputations that were the most memorable points of my festival.

Muse played the second slot on the back of 2001′s Origin Of Symmetry and amongst the rain and lightening played a set that I remember every time the band are mentioned – ‘Unintended’ was both mesmerising and menacing and ‘Plug In Baby’ just took the proverbial roof off.

You almost felt sorry for the band that would have to try and follow – except that band was Foo Fighters.  Reinvigorated by his spell behind the drum kit with Queens Of The Stone Age, Dave Grohl and company released the album that propelled them to the mainstream.  Hyped by the release of lead off single ‘All My Life’, One By One was a bit of a monster – they even had a guest spot by Bryan May and appeared on CD:UK with ‘Times Like These’.

Feeder made a welcome return with Comfort In Sound after the trauma suffered earlier in the year.

Other notable musical bits and pieces from 2002 for me included Queens Of The Stone Age’s Songs For The Deaf (for me it’s THE QOTSA line up), The Coral‘s super-extended version of ‘Dreaming Of You’ at Glasto, driving in my “boat” blaring The Transplants debut and Colin MacIntyre (a.k.a Mull Historical Society) forward rolling across the stage in excitement.

One last note – 2002 saw the release of an album called Up The Bracket by a cheeky young band called The Libertines… whatever happened to them?

Read more:
2000 | 2001 |2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009

No related posts.