Crowe's shockingly good set adds the feelgood factor
The Independent|July 01, 2024
The Gladiator’ star charged enthusiastically through covers of Dire Straits and Johnny Cash, along with some original songs, on the Acoustic Stage. Louis Chilton was charmed
Louis Chilton
Crowe's shockingly good set adds the feelgood factor

He may have had a Beautiful Mind, but does he have a beautiful voice? The idea that Russell Crowe can’t sing is one of those snarky takes that’s been etched into stone, thanks largely to the Australian actor’s breathy Javert in Les Misérables (2012). And yet, as he marched out onto Glastonbury’s tented Acoustic Stage on a sun-baked Saturday afternoon, to perform with his Indoor Garden Party music project, you would have thought he was every inch the rock star.

It’s easy to be cynical about Crowe’s reinvention as a blues-rock crooner; the words “vanity project” hung in the air like the dust that was, by this point in the weekend, filling festivalgoers’ lungs in every mud-caked thoroughfare.

The Nice Guys star, a busker in his youth, is not the first actor to have reached for the mic at Worthy Farm. Jeff Goldblum regaled Glastonbury crowds in 2019 with a set of easy-listening jazz numbers — as well as the theme from Jurassic Park, because, well, this was Jeff Goldblum after all. But Crowe, to his credit, took the brief seriously: there were to be no Gladiator motifs, no rotely warbled “One Day More”.

Ahead of the gig, he told Sky News: “Chuck all the celebrity bullshit aside, or the fame for doing some other job. You’ll see a serious band and it’s full of monster musicians who know what they’re doing.”

Bu hikaye The Independent dergisinin July 01, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye The Independent dergisinin July 01, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

THE INDEPENDENT DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
A slow train to Manchester
The Independent

A slow train to Manchester

With HS2 firmly on the scrap heap, Simon Calder inspects proposals from companies eager to fill the yawning gap

time-read
2 dak  |
July 03, 2024
'We just want him to stop'
The Independent

'We just want him to stop'

Netflix docuseries The Man with 1000 Kids’ explores the case of a sperm donor who was banned from fathering any more children. Two mothers at the centre of the controversy talk to Kevin EG Perry about how their lives were upended

time-read
7 dak  |
July 03, 2024
Keir clocking off wouldn't make him a part-time PM
The Independent

Keir clocking off wouldn't make him a part-time PM

Is anyone else worried that Keir Starmer is deluding himself? The Labour leader has said that if he makes it to No 10, he hopes to continue his routine of carving out “protected time” to spend with his wife, Victoria, their 16-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter.

time-read
2 dak  |
July 03, 2024
Boulter and Dart advance to set up spicy Battle of Britain
The Independent

Boulter and Dart advance to set up spicy Battle of Britain

With one sweeping backhand passing shot down the line, British No 1 Katie Boulter sauntered through to the second round at Wimbledon yesterday evening.

time-read
3 dak  |
July 03, 2024
Draper marches into void as Murray departs centre stage
The Independent

Draper marches into void as Murray departs centre stage

Under the roof on Centre Court, the symbolism felt a little too obvious.

time-read
3 dak  |
July 03, 2024
Ruthless Gakpo leads the way as Oranje hit top form
The Independent

Ruthless Gakpo leads the way as Oranje hit top form

For the first time in 16 years, the Netherlands have made it through to a European Championship quarter-final, and a showdown with Turkey in Berlin on Saturday.

time-read
4 dak  |
July 03, 2024
Turkey stuns Austria with chaotic but deserved win
The Independent

Turkey stuns Austria with chaotic but deserved win

Turkey were supposed to be Euro 2020’s dark horses. Maybe everyone whose predictions looked hideously bad when they crashed out with no points and a lone goal merely got the wrong tournament.

time-read
3 dak  |
July 03, 2024
Foreign judges urged to quit Hong Kong by mogul's son
The Independent

Foreign judges urged to quit Hong Kong by mogul's son

The son of media mogul Jimmy Lai has called on all foreign judges to leave Hong Kong’s judicial system, which he claimed pressures them to go along with Beijing’s clampdown on “prodemocracy protesters”.

time-read
2 dak  |
July 03, 2024
Beryl heads towards Jamaica leaving a trail of destruction
The Independent

Beryl heads towards Jamaica leaving a trail of destruction

Hurricane Beryl roared through open waters yesterday as a category 5 storm on a path that will take it near Jamaica and the Cayman Islands after earlier making landfall in the southeast Caribbean, killing at least six people.

time-read
3 dak  |
July 03, 2024
Orban to Zelensky: Seek a quick ceasefire with Russia
The Independent

Orban to Zelensky: Seek a quick ceasefire with Russia

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has urged Ukraine “to consider a quick ceasefire” with Russia during his first visit to the war-torn country since its invasion by Vladimir Putin.

time-read
3 dak  |
July 03, 2024