88: Maximo Park - Going Missing

Looking back on the decade as it draws to a close, one of the obvious trends in music has been the rising popularity of the music festival. The turning point may well have been Glastonbury 2000 (100,000 tickets sold, 250,000 in attendance), and the introduction, after a year's hiatus, of the "superfence". Stricter licensing rules and tighter security meant fewer gatecrashers and less crime. Other festivals, as ever, took their cue from Glastonbury. Either way, the music festival, formerly the preserve of the crustie, emerged as the summer holiday option of choice for the discerning middle class adolescent.*

On this basis, is there a more apt song to define this decade than Maximo Park's festival anthem? Not only does the song title accurately describe the experience of most festival-goers (in the same way that Pulp's 'Sorted For E's & Wizz' did 10 years earlier), but as one of the most prolific bands on the live circuit, this song may well have been performed at more festival sets than any other song this decade.



* I count myself in this category, even though I had been attending festivals from 1997