Glasto veterans - when was the golden age of glastonbury?

[Tom A]

I know some will accuse me of blasphemy for this, but IMO 2002/3. Simply cause (a) I could still afford to go (b) 2002 was my first Glasto ever (at the golden age of 19) (c) it wasn't a mudbath all the time (a few people I know who braved it this year have been commenting about it, and don't forget when whole tents were washed away in either 04 or 06, maybe both...)

 

[moose]

It was only really in the last 2 times before the fence that things were a bit dodgy.
Personally I preferred the festival when it was a bit more DIY, and, surprisingly for an old lush like me, I preferred it when there was less alcohol available.

 

[J77]

Can any of the mods stick all these surplus Glasto threads in one big pile of...

btw: http://urban75.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=212059

 

[marshall]

I miss that Dickensian/Mad Max atmos around the Traveller’s Field where you were offered everything from opium to dodgy MOTs...and those peace convoy kids running around looking like 19th century chimney sweeps.

But I certainly don’t miss the guide-rope-slashing-tent-stealing scousers that could make your w/e a misery if you were unfortunate enough to run into them.

 

[marshall]

Oh yeah, also think it was better before mobile phones made it impossible to lose your mates.

 

[Juice Terry]

My first was in 85, last was in 97.

85 was about 5 trillion times better than 97.

Simple fact it went downhill once it became trendy and too many people started turning up which is what attracted all the thieves and subsequent ott security.

In 85 you could drive right into the site, park and pitch your tent wherever you liked, drugs everywhere, no crime, weird shit and freaks all over the place, big StoneHenge overflow, cos that was gone.

The crime didn't start til the early/mid 90s.

I thought it was shit in 97 hate to think what its like now.

Cashpoints and mobile phone chargers pft...back in the day you had to make do with a black bin liner and a wigwam

 

[corporate whore]

Was quite overwhelmed first time in 93, depite how much room there was to camp and biff around - where the glade is now was a dark, scary place (for a naive young fella) & seeing vanloads of police busting the "hash-for-cash" crew (and their clientele) at the Pennards/Railway junction sure kicks the shit out of any shoulder-mounted camera action.. genuinely intimidating.

Got a little freaked in 94 after 6 people got shot in the markets. Is this what people mean when they say it's "losing its edge?"

Reckon 97 was the sketchiest - too many crooks, mate got his head knocked in by some maglite-wielding fucko in the Dance Tent. Became obvious something was gonna change.

Possibly as a result of that, the rest all blur into one, really Comes down to "was that the year xxx played" or "the year you fell into those people" or whatever.

Such a personal thing, though. Enjoyed 2004 more than any, I think, due to the company I was keeping.

"And if I were much wiser
Maybe I would realise
That it's not where you are
It's who you're with"

 

[Crashing Boar]

For me it was '95 - because it was hot and dry!

 

[J77]

Got a little freaked in 94 after 6 people got shot in the markets. Is this what people mean when they say it's "losing its edge?"

Remember one time when all the Rastas got circular barriers together in the Babylon area, got in them and were waving about guns.
(When I say remember tho'...)

Still, you don't see that these days.

btw: 95 for me

 

[newbie]

the best times wre the late eighties, simple as.

okay, the bands weren't quite as big as they get now, but:

prices were reasonable - about a weeks dole money, and fence jumping was possible but not 'overbearing'

numbers weren't ridiculously high, so you could get from the main stage to a smaller one even after fairly big act

crime - other than drug related -was still pretty minimal

the weather was better (85 excepted)

travellers fields meant there was far more unpredicatable goings on

hardly any 'professional hippies' - selling you their shitty 'arts' at ridiculously over-priced prices

It was in the late 80s I was running a gate with a security crew (untrained thugs on speed) who just wanted to beat people up and there was little or nothing that could be done to stop them. At least they weren't robbing people or scamming tickets, as other crews were doing on other gates. Around then was the only time I've ever had to deal with someone who'd been knifed. That was when there were rows of people along the main paths and at the bridges yelling 'black hash', while behind them, not very discreetly, were groups of big blokes with pickaxe handles and dogs. Stallholders were being run by protection rackets and there was at least one incident when someone was driving around site with a gun.

Yes there was more 'edge' in those days, but let's not get too misty eyed about how good it was. Plenty of people (inc my beloved) stopped going because it had become too heavy and drifted far away from the 70s/early 80s vibe.



As for 'professional hippies' and their arts, your memory is playing tricks. They've been there since the beginning

 

[chintz]

95 for me too

 

[JTG]

Listening to and reading newbie's recollections of working at Glasto past always makes me take other people's misty eyed accounts of back in the day with a large pinch of salt

I do wish I'd been around then - but not that much really. Anarchic is good but dangerous isn't.

 

[William of Walworth]

For me it was '95 - because it was hot and dry!

I said in the other thread -- 1994 and 1995 rule for me -- partly on those grounds ...

My memories of my first, 1984, are too vague to really remember many details, except that Glastonbury was tiny compared to ten years later.

I missed the 'wild years', 1985 to 1993 at self ...

 

[William of Walworth]

It was in the late 80s I was running a gate with a security crew (untrained thugs on speed) who just wanted to beat people up and there was little or nothing that could be done to stop them. At least they weren't robbing people or scamming tickets, as other crews were doing on other gates. Around then was the only time I've ever had to deal with someone who'd been knifed. That was when there were rows of people along the main paths and at the bridges yelling 'black hash', while behind them, not very discreetly, were groups of big blokes with pickaxe handles and dogs. Stallholders were being run by protection rackets and there was at least one incident when someone was driving around site with a gun.

Yes there was more 'edge' in those days, but let's not get too misty eyed about how good it was. Plenty of people (inc my beloved) stopped going because it had become too heavy and drifted far away from the 70s/early 80s vibe.



As for 'professional hippies' and their arts, your memory is playing tricks. They've been there since the beginning

Was this sort of thing going strong in 1984, newbie, or was it later, in the 'wild years'?

 

[Yetman]

Has nobody complained yet about all the fucking music stopping at 12.30?

I went to the Glade at 12.30 to settle into some banging tunes for the night and there was just a load of people standing around wondering what was happening - they then announced NO MORE MUSIC

Fucking joke.

And getting stopped and searched by security WITHIN THE SITE??

Fucking cocksuckers - 'its a random search mate' then got all shirty when they found my weed (didnt clock the massive bag of shit down my balls tho did ya fuckface) - I was searched THREE times while there.

And some bands didnt turn up - fair enough but no explanation or nothin.

Fuck it. Its lost its soul man. The posh twats can have it.

 

[Dubversion]

Has nobody complained yet about all the fucking music stopping at 12.30?

apart from the large number of places where it doesn't, obviously.

 

[Yetman]

apart from the large number of places where it doesn't, obviously.

Yeah but when it means trudging through a mile of fudge to get to them, along with 100,000 other gurned up zombies, and then getting there and having to queue to get in, in the rain, it kind of makes it not worth it.

I mean the Glade, ffs.....why advertise it as on til 3.00 and then shut it at 12?

 

[newbie]

Was this sort of thing going strong in 1984, newbie, or was it later, in the 'wild years'?

1984 was the miners year, blokes with buckets everywhere. That was a fantastic festival, I think the last one where the market was up on Big Ground (or maybe that was the next, wet, one).

I don't recall any problems really... the real heaviness didn't start until the inner city drugs gangs discovered the festival a few years later, although it changed a lot after the Beanfield meant that all the convoy headed the Glastonbury, instead of just a bit of it.

 

[newbie]

And getting stopped and searched by security WITHIN THE SITE??

Fucking cocksuckers - 'its a random search mate' then got all shirty when they found my weed (didnt clock the massive bag of shit down my balls tho did ya fuckface) - I was searched THREE times while there.

inside???? blimey, first I've heard of that. Where on site?

My mate was outraged at being searched at the gate and having his stash confiscated... "I've been coming to festivals here for 37 years.... Michael will hear about this...."

 

[Yetman]

inside???? blimey, first I've heard of that. Where on site?
."

By the cinema - there werent many pepole around so I think they were just looking for something to do. Jobsworth twats

 

[J77]

By the cinema - there werent many pepole around so I think they were just looking for something to do. Jobsworth twats

The bastards were probably a bit short themselves so decided to go out "mugging"

 

[mr steev]

And getting stopped and searched by security WITHIN THE SITE??

Fucking cocksuckers - 'its a random search mate' then got all shirty when they found my weed (didnt clock the massive bag of shit down my balls tho did ya fuckface) - I was searched THREE times while there.

Fucking hell!
Where abouts was this? The police I presume?

We were quite paranoid about getting stuff in this year, after Beautiful Days and Strawberry Fair! But I don't think we saw a single copper until we got into the site. One of my friends had a different experience though... with police searching her bags and gingerly dabbing her salt saying they thought it was chrystal meth!!

 

[Yetman]

Nope, it was two security guards - not a copper in sight

He was feeling around all my pockets trying to find pills - he knew he couldnt dip into my pockets but that didnt stop him trying either.

And it was just inbetween the dance arena and the pyramid - by the cinema. I had a gone-out spliff in my hand if that makes a difference.

He did give me my weed back after a 'why didnt you tell us you had this, I asked you if you had anything and you said no' etc. Patronising prick. Looked like he was on work experience from Oxford University or something.

 

[mr steev]

That's wank, Yetamn

I had a gone-out spliff in my hand if that makes a difference.

It really shouldn't have considering where you were!!! I was walking around constantly with a joint on ... it was Glastonbury afterall!

 

[newbie]

That's wank, Yetamn



It really shouldn't have considering where you were!!! I was walking around constantly with a joint on ... it was Glastonbury afterall!

of course it shouldn't, but some people turn ridiculously authoritarian as soon as they have a tiny bit of power. Complain, I say. Not sure it'll do any good because the festival has to be seen to comply with the law but security randomly harrassing festival goers isn't on, even if they have the excuse that there was a spliff being openly smoked.

The bloke on the gates that searched my mate claimed that there were families there, and they wouldn't want that sort of thing. Protestations that his kids had been going all their lives and were currently onsite with his grandkids didn't seem to make any odds.

 

[Dubversion]

note to my mate: please don't deal MDMA to undercover cops

means i don't get to see you all weekend

 

[Dubversion]

I mean the Glade, ffs.....why advertise it as on til 3.00 and then shut it at 12?

the Glade's been under heavy manners for ages - i think sound-wise, it's the 'leakiest' part of the site, which is why the Glade peeps now run half the Dance village..

 

[Yetman]

, even if they have the excuse that there was a spliff being openly smoked.
.

I wasnt even smoking it - it had gone out

 

[Guineveretoo]

I think this question is impossible to answer. Glastonbury has been going for a long time, and has developed out of all recognition from when it started.

Personally, I don't like the huge festivals, which are like cities of music and arts, and which cost a lot of money and take a lot of organising, but many other people love them. There is no doubt that Glastonbury is now a huge festival, and that it is open to a wider group of people as a consequence. That has got to be a good thing.

Some people do go on about how much better it was In The Olden Days and, for some people, that may be true. However, there was a lot of trouble at some of the earlier festivals, including quite a lot of violence including knifings and muggings, and people being sold duff drugs and the like. It's like we forget all that

I think it is wonderful that Glastonbury is now an event which my parents are reading about in their newspapers and watching on their telly, and not just about the arrest/violence, but about the music and the arts.

However, I will never go again, because I remain a sad old ex hippy who pines after the days of the Albion and other festivals, some of which were organised at the last minute, or were completely spontaneous. That's my loss!

 

[Yetman]

the Glade's been under heavy manners for ages - i think sound-wise, it's the 'leakiest' part of the site, which is why the Glade peeps now run half the Dance village..

Really? I thought it was quite central? Fair enough though, but why advertise Hextatic on at 2.00am then just close it all down at 12? I was fucking well looking forward to them

The only other things open were Hari Krishna tents or little bar type things that were absolutely packed with people. The NY Gay club thing in trash city was the business, but again, packed with a massive queue outside