Glastonbury 26/06/19 - 01/07/19
Jul. 14th, 2019 01:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
satyricaI was making my way to Glastonbury by train for the first time and the train part of it was all impressively smooth, then I stepped off the train at Castle Carey straight into a queue which stretched along the platform, over the bridge, along the other platform, through the ticket inspectors, then zig-zagging through the car park and round the corner to get onto the buses to take us to the site. The sun was beating down and the queue, however slowly, was constantly moving, inch by inch, so you were never able to set down your bags for more than a few seconds, which made for a fairly agonising 3 hours until I finally made it onto a bus. It meant I was quite late onto site and I pitched up pretty much as soon as I got through the gate, most of the people I knew who were going this year being camped in various exclusive areas.
It was evening by the time wandered off around site and, after grabbing food in the Park, I made my way out to the Rocket Lounge to fittingly start my musical journey with festival favourites the New York Brass Band. I meandered back across the site for a tactical early night but lingered at a couple of enjoyable performances I happened across en route, first Joshua Burnside, an Irish singer-songwriter, at the Greenpeace stage, then folk-punky Three Daft Monkeys at the Bandstand.
It was dry and roasting sunshine for pretty much the whole festival which was certainly preferable to the dreaded mud, but quite hard work in its own way: being out in the sun was intense but the warm air caught in the tents made them even hotter. On Thursday morning I headed along to the Avalon Cafe, seeing the end of an older folky twosome, Splinters, before my traditional Glastonbury openers, mostly instrumental folk from young duo The Drystones. I met up E&C and Will and we hung out in the cafe's shade before wandering off.
I spent the next few hours around the Greenpeace stage: first coming across Tensheds, a guy at a keyboard with an industrial look about him and a Tom Waitsish delivery; next the crowds descended for Beans on Toast, who I'm legally obliged to watch at a festival at least once per year, and he was followed by Will Varley, who brought on Frank Turner (one of a whole range of surprise sets and guest appearances he seemed to be making across the weekend) for his last song.venta & ChrisC had been in the vicinity and we had our customary Thursday afternoon catch-up at the Tiny Tea Tent.
I headed off to meet up with A, negotiating the site on a mobility scooter, and J, with kids in tow; the main festival not having started yet pushes big crowds to some of the smaller spaces on the Thursday and we ended up just camping out outside of Williams Green, which the crowd was spilling out of, and listened to, rather than saw any of, first Massaoke, who were banging out crowd-pleasing singalong covers, then the all-female The Big Moon. I headed out to the South East Corner, seeing some of the impressive new dance areas en route, and saw the end of Dat Brass, a sprawling hip hop brass band, at the Truth Stage before Tankus the Henge came on to deliver a customarily energetic set.
I carried on to the Rocket Lounge to rejoin A, who had decided that her tactic for the weekend was to position herself there at the front in her scooter early in the evening and stay put as much as possible. We watched Red Hot Riot, an enthusiastic young rock'n'roll trio, then Zipheads, a rockabilly trio that peppered their set with some pretty random snatches of TV theme tunes etc. before I wandered back via the Stone Circle at about two in the morning.
It always feels an achievement to have made it to the start of the festival and it felt even better to have a shower before pitching up to watch The Vaccines open up on the Other Stage; they were solid but a little unengaging. I headed round to Williams Green and watched some of the heavyish Hey Colossus: I was there to see scheduled Yak, but it turned out that they had switched slots with Yellow Days, whose smooth grooves weren't my usual thing but it was pleasant enough, there was nothing else on I wanted to see, I was out of the sun and the singer was pretty easy on the eye, so I stayed put. I couldn't stay for Yak as I was keen to catch The Wombats back at the Other Stage, who didn't disappoint.
I bounced back to Williams Green to see some of Aussie female-fronted young punks Amyl and the Sniffers then stayed for Sundara Karma. I had a bit of a wander then saw the start of The Charlatans at the Other Stage before heading up to the Park to get in position for Idles, who had the crowd in a frenzy. I caught the end of a couple of sets further up the Park, Sleaze at the Bimble Inn, whose one song that I saw seemed a lot of fun, then Pip Blom in the Crow's Nest- I ran into my gig-buddy J's brother and friends, who I'd camped with two years ago, chilling out up there and hung out for them for a while, which was really nice and made me feel like I was finally fully into the Glastonbury atmosphere.
Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls were headlining the Avalon Stage and, conscious it wasn't the biggest, I went there early to make sure I got in: even having seen him play twice already this year, it still seemed fresh and the full-throated crowd made it probably my highlight of the festival. I stayed around to see Mad Dog Mcrea's folk rock at Croissant Neuf then headed back over to the Rocket Lounge to see Black Kat Boppers, rocking blues from Southampton, then The Trojans, who were Gaz who runs the Rocket Lounge's band of veterans. J&I also managed to find a well-concealed rock-club style space, although only for the last two songs before the DJs finished; we did, however, run into Long-Haired Rob from our Popstarz and Red Eye days. We formed a protective phalanx to escort A's mobility scooter away through the oblivious crowds, then I headed up to the Stone Circle as it got lighter, although I didn't quite have the patience to see the sun emerge over the horizon.
Saturday morning I trekked down to the Circus fields and lounged in a deckchair to watch some of Pronghorn at the Summerhouse Stage, who had the full Glastonbury-band complement of banjo, fiddle and accordion. I switched to the more exposed Gateway Stage to see Land of the Giants whose upbeat brass-featuring reggae-tinged foot-stompers were ideal for the punishing sunshine. I strode over to the Park, trying to find the Free University of Glastonbury, which didn't appear to be where it was marked on the map and was similarly a mystery to the first three stewards I spoke to: having been sent up and down the hill several times in the heat, I was eventually told it was actually in the Crow's Nest so I only caught the last half of Brett Anderson in conversation, with scene-stealing interventions by his young son.
I went over to the John Peel tent for Gerry Cinnamon and his large, loyal following then came back to Williams Green and saw the end of Snapped Ankles who played a kind of mesmeric tribal music that could have been amazing to dance to in a less crowded and sweaty environment. I stayed for Fontaines DC, an Irish band with a lot of buzz about them, they're an odd mix, slightly low key to start then exploding into some more punky numbers at the end. I was on a run at Williams Green and came back again to watch a full set from Pip Blom, Dutch youngsters who play decent indie rock.
I took a break to sit in the Cabaret tent and saw some camp Irish acrobatic comedy in the form of Lords of Strut, then watched Josie Long's set, largely centred around her recent transition into motherhood. I went back to Williams Green to meet up with J & A for Shame, who were great, then most of us wandered over to the Pyramid Stage for The Killers: it was slick with lots of fireworks and lights and cameos from the Pet Shop Boys and Johnny Marr but it didn't quite have the excitement that their secret set two years ago had had, with only two songs from Sam's Town, my favourite album, which seemed a shame when they had an opportunity to play for so long. J&I caught the end of Land of the Giants playing again to a bigger crowd at the Bread & Roses, then journeyed to the SE Corner, I did pop into the Rocket Lounge, but had mostly decided to hit the dance areas and was at Genosys in Block 9 until dawn.
Sunday was a bit cloudier, meaning I actually managed to sleep in a bit: I didn't have much I wanted to see early on so eased myself into the day but sat outside the Glade to watch Cassette Boy's video mash-ups then caught up with Will & Em at West Holts to soak up Jeff Goldblum & the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra's undemanding jazz. I'd heard a lot about Bring Me the Horizon so went to watch some of their set at the Other Stage, although their heavyish rock didn't particularly grab me. I moved on to Red Rum Club in the BBC Introducing tent (my only really painful clash, I'd foregone Fat White Family to support two smaller bands) who again produced a fantastic show.
I headed over to the LeftField tent to see Queen Zee, who gave it their all and deserved a bigger crowd, then stayed put to watch Fontaines DC again. I'd hope to catch a bit of Tell Tale Tusk up in the Green Fields but their set had been moved and they'd already played so I headed back to the Pyramid Stage to watch The Cure. They were my most-anticipated act, having never seen them play, and they didn't say much, had no flashy presentation or special guests, but just let the songs speak for themselves and it was great.
J and I met up at the Bread & Roses again and saw the end of the all-female Manchester-based Liines, who had a pleasingly 90s sound, then wandered up through the Park, perched in the Bimble Inn for a bit where the rocky John Fairhurst was playing. We headed over to the SE Corner and dipped in and out of various things, including Bristol-based funksters Crinkle Cuts at SHITV, before settling on dancing in the Temple. We went up to the Stone Circle to see the sun rise one last time and finally accepted it was all once again all over.
I had briefly considered packing straight up and getting in the queue but decided I needed some sleep, so it was several hours' wait to get on the coach to the station once I'd got back up, but happily I got pretty much straight on a train at the station and slumbered all the way to London.
It was evening by the time wandered off around site and, after grabbing food in the Park, I made my way out to the Rocket Lounge to fittingly start my musical journey with festival favourites the New York Brass Band. I meandered back across the site for a tactical early night but lingered at a couple of enjoyable performances I happened across en route, first Joshua Burnside, an Irish singer-songwriter, at the Greenpeace stage, then folk-punky Three Daft Monkeys at the Bandstand.
It was dry and roasting sunshine for pretty much the whole festival which was certainly preferable to the dreaded mud, but quite hard work in its own way: being out in the sun was intense but the warm air caught in the tents made them even hotter. On Thursday morning I headed along to the Avalon Cafe, seeing the end of an older folky twosome, Splinters, before my traditional Glastonbury openers, mostly instrumental folk from young duo The Drystones. I met up E&C and Will and we hung out in the cafe's shade before wandering off.
I spent the next few hours around the Greenpeace stage: first coming across Tensheds, a guy at a keyboard with an industrial look about him and a Tom Waitsish delivery; next the crowds descended for Beans on Toast, who I'm legally obliged to watch at a festival at least once per year, and he was followed by Will Varley, who brought on Frank Turner (one of a whole range of surprise sets and guest appearances he seemed to be making across the weekend) for his last song.
venta & ChrisC had been in the vicinity and we had our customary Thursday afternoon catch-up at the Tiny Tea Tent.I headed off to meet up with A, negotiating the site on a mobility scooter, and J, with kids in tow; the main festival not having started yet pushes big crowds to some of the smaller spaces on the Thursday and we ended up just camping out outside of Williams Green, which the crowd was spilling out of, and listened to, rather than saw any of, first Massaoke, who were banging out crowd-pleasing singalong covers, then the all-female The Big Moon. I headed out to the South East Corner, seeing some of the impressive new dance areas en route, and saw the end of Dat Brass, a sprawling hip hop brass band, at the Truth Stage before Tankus the Henge came on to deliver a customarily energetic set.
I carried on to the Rocket Lounge to rejoin A, who had decided that her tactic for the weekend was to position herself there at the front in her scooter early in the evening and stay put as much as possible. We watched Red Hot Riot, an enthusiastic young rock'n'roll trio, then Zipheads, a rockabilly trio that peppered their set with some pretty random snatches of TV theme tunes etc. before I wandered back via the Stone Circle at about two in the morning.
It always feels an achievement to have made it to the start of the festival and it felt even better to have a shower before pitching up to watch The Vaccines open up on the Other Stage; they were solid but a little unengaging. I headed round to Williams Green and watched some of the heavyish Hey Colossus: I was there to see scheduled Yak, but it turned out that they had switched slots with Yellow Days, whose smooth grooves weren't my usual thing but it was pleasant enough, there was nothing else on I wanted to see, I was out of the sun and the singer was pretty easy on the eye, so I stayed put. I couldn't stay for Yak as I was keen to catch The Wombats back at the Other Stage, who didn't disappoint.
I bounced back to Williams Green to see some of Aussie female-fronted young punks Amyl and the Sniffers then stayed for Sundara Karma. I had a bit of a wander then saw the start of The Charlatans at the Other Stage before heading up to the Park to get in position for Idles, who had the crowd in a frenzy. I caught the end of a couple of sets further up the Park, Sleaze at the Bimble Inn, whose one song that I saw seemed a lot of fun, then Pip Blom in the Crow's Nest- I ran into my gig-buddy J's brother and friends, who I'd camped with two years ago, chilling out up there and hung out for them for a while, which was really nice and made me feel like I was finally fully into the Glastonbury atmosphere.
Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls were headlining the Avalon Stage and, conscious it wasn't the biggest, I went there early to make sure I got in: even having seen him play twice already this year, it still seemed fresh and the full-throated crowd made it probably my highlight of the festival. I stayed around to see Mad Dog Mcrea's folk rock at Croissant Neuf then headed back over to the Rocket Lounge to see Black Kat Boppers, rocking blues from Southampton, then The Trojans, who were Gaz who runs the Rocket Lounge's band of veterans. J&I also managed to find a well-concealed rock-club style space, although only for the last two songs before the DJs finished; we did, however, run into Long-Haired Rob from our Popstarz and Red Eye days. We formed a protective phalanx to escort A's mobility scooter away through the oblivious crowds, then I headed up to the Stone Circle as it got lighter, although I didn't quite have the patience to see the sun emerge over the horizon.
Saturday morning I trekked down to the Circus fields and lounged in a deckchair to watch some of Pronghorn at the Summerhouse Stage, who had the full Glastonbury-band complement of banjo, fiddle and accordion. I switched to the more exposed Gateway Stage to see Land of the Giants whose upbeat brass-featuring reggae-tinged foot-stompers were ideal for the punishing sunshine. I strode over to the Park, trying to find the Free University of Glastonbury, which didn't appear to be where it was marked on the map and was similarly a mystery to the first three stewards I spoke to: having been sent up and down the hill several times in the heat, I was eventually told it was actually in the Crow's Nest so I only caught the last half of Brett Anderson in conversation, with scene-stealing interventions by his young son.
I went over to the John Peel tent for Gerry Cinnamon and his large, loyal following then came back to Williams Green and saw the end of Snapped Ankles who played a kind of mesmeric tribal music that could have been amazing to dance to in a less crowded and sweaty environment. I stayed for Fontaines DC, an Irish band with a lot of buzz about them, they're an odd mix, slightly low key to start then exploding into some more punky numbers at the end. I was on a run at Williams Green and came back again to watch a full set from Pip Blom, Dutch youngsters who play decent indie rock.
I took a break to sit in the Cabaret tent and saw some camp Irish acrobatic comedy in the form of Lords of Strut, then watched Josie Long's set, largely centred around her recent transition into motherhood. I went back to Williams Green to meet up with J & A for Shame, who were great, then most of us wandered over to the Pyramid Stage for The Killers: it was slick with lots of fireworks and lights and cameos from the Pet Shop Boys and Johnny Marr but it didn't quite have the excitement that their secret set two years ago had had, with only two songs from Sam's Town, my favourite album, which seemed a shame when they had an opportunity to play for so long. J&I caught the end of Land of the Giants playing again to a bigger crowd at the Bread & Roses, then journeyed to the SE Corner, I did pop into the Rocket Lounge, but had mostly decided to hit the dance areas and was at Genosys in Block 9 until dawn.
Sunday was a bit cloudier, meaning I actually managed to sleep in a bit: I didn't have much I wanted to see early on so eased myself into the day but sat outside the Glade to watch Cassette Boy's video mash-ups then caught up with Will & Em at West Holts to soak up Jeff Goldblum & the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra's undemanding jazz. I'd heard a lot about Bring Me the Horizon so went to watch some of their set at the Other Stage, although their heavyish rock didn't particularly grab me. I moved on to Red Rum Club in the BBC Introducing tent (my only really painful clash, I'd foregone Fat White Family to support two smaller bands) who again produced a fantastic show.
I headed over to the LeftField tent to see Queen Zee, who gave it their all and deserved a bigger crowd, then stayed put to watch Fontaines DC again. I'd hope to catch a bit of Tell Tale Tusk up in the Green Fields but their set had been moved and they'd already played so I headed back to the Pyramid Stage to watch The Cure. They were my most-anticipated act, having never seen them play, and they didn't say much, had no flashy presentation or special guests, but just let the songs speak for themselves and it was great.
J and I met up at the Bread & Roses again and saw the end of the all-female Manchester-based Liines, who had a pleasingly 90s sound, then wandered up through the Park, perched in the Bimble Inn for a bit where the rocky John Fairhurst was playing. We headed over to the SE Corner and dipped in and out of various things, including Bristol-based funksters Crinkle Cuts at SHITV, before settling on dancing in the Temple. We went up to the Stone Circle to see the sun rise one last time and finally accepted it was all once again all over.
I had briefly considered packing straight up and getting in the queue but decided I needed some sleep, so it was several hours' wait to get on the coach to the station once I'd got back up, but happily I got pretty much straight on a train at the station and slumbered all the way to London.
