Glastonbury Through The Eyes of a Virgin
If Glastonbury came in pill form, it wouldn't be weed or coke or herbal highs, it would be the best and most powerful antidepressent in the world. It breathes happiness, the atmoshphere so relaxed and unassuming and the music, despite being the main ingredient, only highlights the gorgeousness of what Worthy Farm becomes for five magical days.
I was less than a twinkle in my father's eye when Glastonbury began and grew into what it is now. It is not my place to write about the choice of bands or the ethos, I cannot comment on how the festival has changed over the years or whether that is a good or a bad thing. I live in the here and now and experienced Glastonbury with that view - the only comparisons I could make were not historical, but geological, having been to festivals in Leeds (bad), Holland (pretty damn good) and Belgium (all good too). After Leeds, I turned into a European festival convert, but thought I would give Glastonbury a go, just to see if the hype was true before I committed to a life of travelling overseas to get my annual festival fix. It turns out that old idea that Glastonbury is the best festival in the world is in fact, so true.
I found it hard to believe that some reviewers could pick out as many negatives as they did, as for me the only downfalls were inevitable but painful clashes, dust inhalation, unsuccessful 'shade-searching' which resulted in a pair of very burnt lips and only one awful performance - that of poor Kate Nash. I'll get the bashing out of the way:
I have had a thing about Kate Nash the second I heard the lyric "You said I must eat so many lemons, 'cause I am so bitter. I said "I'd rather be with your friends mate, cause they are much fitter". You understand. We arrived at the Other Stage regretably early and were forced to overhear most of her set - a yappy dog mashed up with a skwarking, dying parrot having an argument with an angry cockney. Not nice, not nice at all, but at least it proved that I was correct in casting her off a long time ago.
Everything else was mindboggling in every way that anything can boggle the mind. My eyes never stopped darting about - bright colours, flowers, creations, beauty and madness everywhere you look. Who needs LSD? There is no way that I can possibly capture just how perfect and wonderful it all looked and felt, from watching the sunset and rise at the Stone Circle to strolling around GreenFields, dancing by fires with strangers at Avalon and waking up after using an unneeded welly as a pillow to singing 'Waterloo Sunset' at the top of my voice all alone in the crowd, letting go of all inhibitions and almost crying at the sight of so many hundreds of children enjoying themselves in the idyllic Kidz Field. I can't squeeze it all in, I just cannot, but I'm trying - do forgive me.
Onto the music. Kate Nash aside, everything I saw was really, really good. I began with a little-known band from East Van in Canada, Blackberry Wood. Nice chaps (and lady), complete with a mop for a bass. They played in the bandstand and managed by the end of their playfully chaotic to get all their audience on their backs kicking legs everywhere - a fantastic start. Next up on my new found favourite list is one that have been around since 2003 but, despite my love of Scottish accents, have bypassed me. Frightened Rabbit played to a scorched audience and I fell in love with them as they ended their set by pelting out "It takes more than fucking someone You don't know to keep warm", the anthemic chorus to 'Keep Yourself Warm'. Stunning stuff. Other highlights bandwise included Florence and the Machine (despite sound problems, she shined and proved herself Pyramid Stage-worthy for next year), The Temper Trap (Dougy Mandagi has the most beautiful voice, often nodding to the soft, high sound produced by Jonsi of Sigur Ros), a glimpse of Laura Marling's secret set and I danced my face off to Editors, who pleasingly played plenty of songs from their debut album - brilliant crowdpleasers with the odd special gem thrown in for good measure. Other less 'obvious' music came from the 'Come and Play' tent, a sort of wierd, crazy jamming session that encouraged passers-by to join in - interesting results, progressively messy throughout the day.
The talking points, aside from the weather (yawn), centred around the 'special guests' (completely gutted that I missed out on Thom Yorke's set at The Park) and of course the headliners and other big names on the Pyramid Stage. Snoop Dogg ruled the crowd and got us all built up for a Friday night of high energy music, he certainly knows how to get Glastonbury going, mainly by yelling out "Who likes to smoke Weeeed?". Rapturous all around. Vampire Weekend followed and I heard them sounding right on form from my tent as I fuelled up on hot wine and gathered a few layers for the night ahead. Dizzee Rascal wowed everyone and undoubtedly earned huge amounts of respect and new fans as he incorporated the iconic 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' amongst a set full of his own hits and welcomed Florence Welch onto stage to perform 'You've got the Dizzee Love'. Many would have you believe that Gorillaz failed to live up to high expectations, and although I was forced to miss out on The Flaming Lips in order to see them, intrigue turned into enjoyment as I danced my way through their set. It possibly didn't quite live up to the hype, but unlike many, I found them decent enough to stick with it, and by the end they were on it. Still, after watching highlights of Flaming Lips I do think a wrong decision was made just that once.
Saturday night ended with Muse filling Glastonbury with some of the best live music I have ever heard. Matt Bellamy was quite obviously in his element as the masses sang along to a string of elongated versions of all the hits, a perfect mix of old and new - a bit of Origin of Symmetry always goes down well. The Edge made a fleeting visit and together they played 'Where the Streets Have No Name' - it should have been a highlight but for me it had to be 'Plug in Baby'. That Matt is a musical genius, don't believe anybody who tells you that Muse are past their best. On the closing night I caught Ray Davies, who again seemed so moved to be up their and that feeling was felt by every member of the audience, repaying him and provoking tears in his eyes as we went mad for his acoustic version of 'Lola'. Faithless absolutely rocked and as for Stevie Wonder - there are no words except legendary. Michael Eavis appeared onto the stage alongside Stevie for a rendition of 'Happy Birthday' - the perfect closing ceremony.
Magical, fantastical, amazing, amazing, amazing. Glastonbury is happiness personified. It has the ability to spread a smile to everybody there, allows you to be anyone you want to be and makes you never, ever want to leave - the prospect of going back to 'real life' was unthinkable. After long days of sun beating down, lying in fields whilst soaking in the atmosphere and the endless music, I felt like sleep was something that was wasted at Worthy Farm and so continued the experience into the night - and the morning. Nothing matters at Glastonbury, every stress is left behind and a peaceful air carries you through the weekend - it goes all too quickly.
Glastonbury, I'll be back if you will have me.
x
I was less than a twinkle in my father's eye when Glastonbury began and grew into what it is now. It is not my place to write about the choice of bands or the ethos, I cannot comment on how the festival has changed over the years or whether that is a good or a bad thing. I live in the here and now and experienced Glastonbury with that view - the only comparisons I could make were not historical, but geological, having been to festivals in Leeds (bad), Holland (pretty damn good) and Belgium (all good too). After Leeds, I turned into a European festival convert, but thought I would give Glastonbury a go, just to see if the hype was true before I committed to a life of travelling overseas to get my annual festival fix. It turns out that old idea that Glastonbury is the best festival in the world is in fact, so true.
I found it hard to believe that some reviewers could pick out as many negatives as they did, as for me the only downfalls were inevitable but painful clashes, dust inhalation, unsuccessful 'shade-searching' which resulted in a pair of very burnt lips and only one awful performance - that of poor Kate Nash. I'll get the bashing out of the way:
I have had a thing about Kate Nash the second I heard the lyric "You said I must eat so many lemons, 'cause I am so bitter. I said "I'd rather be with your friends mate, cause they are much fitter". You understand. We arrived at the Other Stage regretably early and were forced to overhear most of her set - a yappy dog mashed up with a skwarking, dying parrot having an argument with an angry cockney. Not nice, not nice at all, but at least it proved that I was correct in casting her off a long time ago.
Everything else was mindboggling in every way that anything can boggle the mind. My eyes never stopped darting about - bright colours, flowers, creations, beauty and madness everywhere you look. Who needs LSD? There is no way that I can possibly capture just how perfect and wonderful it all looked and felt, from watching the sunset and rise at the Stone Circle to strolling around GreenFields, dancing by fires with strangers at Avalon and waking up after using an unneeded welly as a pillow to singing 'Waterloo Sunset' at the top of my voice all alone in the crowd, letting go of all inhibitions and almost crying at the sight of so many hundreds of children enjoying themselves in the idyllic Kidz Field. I can't squeeze it all in, I just cannot, but I'm trying - do forgive me.
Onto the music. Kate Nash aside, everything I saw was really, really good. I began with a little-known band from East Van in Canada, Blackberry Wood. Nice chaps (and lady), complete with a mop for a bass. They played in the bandstand and managed by the end of their playfully chaotic to get all their audience on their backs kicking legs everywhere - a fantastic start. Next up on my new found favourite list is one that have been around since 2003 but, despite my love of Scottish accents, have bypassed me. Frightened Rabbit played to a scorched audience and I fell in love with them as they ended their set by pelting out "It takes more than fucking someone You don't know to keep warm", the anthemic chorus to 'Keep Yourself Warm'. Stunning stuff. Other highlights bandwise included Florence and the Machine (despite sound problems, she shined and proved herself Pyramid Stage-worthy for next year), The Temper Trap (Dougy Mandagi has the most beautiful voice, often nodding to the soft, high sound produced by Jonsi of Sigur Ros), a glimpse of Laura Marling's secret set and I danced my face off to Editors, who pleasingly played plenty of songs from their debut album - brilliant crowdpleasers with the odd special gem thrown in for good measure. Other less 'obvious' music came from the 'Come and Play' tent, a sort of wierd, crazy jamming session that encouraged passers-by to join in - interesting results, progressively messy throughout the day.
The talking points, aside from the weather (yawn), centred around the 'special guests' (completely gutted that I missed out on Thom Yorke's set at The Park) and of course the headliners and other big names on the Pyramid Stage. Snoop Dogg ruled the crowd and got us all built up for a Friday night of high energy music, he certainly knows how to get Glastonbury going, mainly by yelling out "Who likes to smoke Weeeed?". Rapturous all around. Vampire Weekend followed and I heard them sounding right on form from my tent as I fuelled up on hot wine and gathered a few layers for the night ahead. Dizzee Rascal wowed everyone and undoubtedly earned huge amounts of respect and new fans as he incorporated the iconic 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' amongst a set full of his own hits and welcomed Florence Welch onto stage to perform 'You've got the Dizzee Love'. Many would have you believe that Gorillaz failed to live up to high expectations, and although I was forced to miss out on The Flaming Lips in order to see them, intrigue turned into enjoyment as I danced my way through their set. It possibly didn't quite live up to the hype, but unlike many, I found them decent enough to stick with it, and by the end they were on it. Still, after watching highlights of Flaming Lips I do think a wrong decision was made just that once.
Saturday night ended with Muse filling Glastonbury with some of the best live music I have ever heard. Matt Bellamy was quite obviously in his element as the masses sang along to a string of elongated versions of all the hits, a perfect mix of old and new - a bit of Origin of Symmetry always goes down well. The Edge made a fleeting visit and together they played 'Where the Streets Have No Name' - it should have been a highlight but for me it had to be 'Plug in Baby'. That Matt is a musical genius, don't believe anybody who tells you that Muse are past their best. On the closing night I caught Ray Davies, who again seemed so moved to be up their and that feeling was felt by every member of the audience, repaying him and provoking tears in his eyes as we went mad for his acoustic version of 'Lola'. Faithless absolutely rocked and as for Stevie Wonder - there are no words except legendary. Michael Eavis appeared onto the stage alongside Stevie for a rendition of 'Happy Birthday' - the perfect closing ceremony.
Magical, fantastical, amazing, amazing, amazing. Glastonbury is happiness personified. It has the ability to spread a smile to everybody there, allows you to be anyone you want to be and makes you never, ever want to leave - the prospect of going back to 'real life' was unthinkable. After long days of sun beating down, lying in fields whilst soaking in the atmosphere and the endless music, I felt like sleep was something that was wasted at Worthy Farm and so continued the experience into the night - and the morning. Nothing matters at Glastonbury, every stress is left behind and a peaceful air carries you through the weekend - it goes all too quickly.
Glastonbury, I'll be back if you will have me.
x