Glastonbury 2007 pt1: the build-up

[clandestino]

A man who is tired of Glastonbury, is tired of life, as Dr Johnson didn't say ...

I'd argue the opposite in my case, actually. It's precisely because I want more from life, that I feel bored with Glastonbury. It's increasingly just the same old, same old. Lost Vagueness gave it a welcome dose of fresh blood, but that's feeling over familiar now. They need something new. Or at least, the stalls need to be in a different place.



Last year, instead of Glastonbury, we went to Primavera Sound in Barcelona, the Big Chill, and camping with our usual Glastonbury crowd on the weekend of Glastonbury. That was fun. I guess I just like variety.

 

[William of Walworth]

I guess I just like variety.

So tempted to get into a long and pointless argument (pointless because diffeent strokes for different folks and that's inevitable)

All I can say is that variety from other festivals, and other things generally, is what I try to do as well...

The similarity between the most recent Glasto and previous ones is as NOTHING compared to the difference between Glastonbury and day to day life the rest of the year!

I suppose I'm too committed after all these years. Even if I do fewer festivals in 2007 (for various possible reasons ) Glasto will still be on the agenda, and by the time I go next year, it will be TWO YEARS since my last one, so however samey to before, it will still be fresh by reason of the two year layoff ...

 

[Brixton Hatter]

reading this thread has got me all excited!

i want to go to glastonbury next year, but i dont necessarily want to take madge. is that wrong?

that's not at all wrong rollem...kids at glasto are a bit of a responsibility and you might find it easier to enjoy without them...tho having said that, the time will probably come when the little lady's a bit older and you've got a few more years of getting caned under your belt! when i was little, i was always taken to glasto by my parents and it was a wicked experience for a kid to have i reckon - i'm really glad they always took me and i reckon it made me more curious/creative/worldly etc as a kid...the children's area was always (and still is) brilliant and kids love the whole glasto vibe thing and being able to run around and make new friends and be silly etc. i also remember mum and dad always trying to work out which bands etc they could/couldn't see cos one of them had to look after me and my brother...but they still loved it...and there was always an assortment of space-cadet mates & other parents to help look after the children. one year - about 83-ish i reckon - i remember some of my parents mates were selling cans of stella out of the back of their ambulance and all the kids loved that...it became our creche and we just stayed there for most of the festival, 6 year olds helping to sell beers to pissed up punters! point i guess is you're gonna love it, kids or no kids

Glastonbury has to sort out the entrance and exit procedures.. taking about 5 hours (I'm optomistic) to get in and out a place is simply ridiculous... there must be some way around it.

well , it is on a small somerset farm in the middle of fields and winding single-track lanes...but i get your point. tho i reckon getting in/out is much much better than it used to be, from what i've seen myself around the site. people also tend to come earlier these days (mostly weds now) which spreads things out a bit. (but i'm also one of the lucky ones who works and gets to arrive on tuesday or whatever, so it's not usually a problem )

Originally Posted by William of Walworth
A man who is tired of Glastonbury, is tired of life, as Dr Johnson didn't say ...

yep.

I'd argue the opposite in my case, actually. It's precisely because I want more from life, that I feel bored with Glastonbury. It's increasingly just the same old, same old. Lost Vagueness gave it a welcome dose of fresh blood, but that's feeling over familiar now. They need something new. Or at least, the stalls need to be in a different place.

the stalls being in the same place each year really helps in sorting out the organisation/infrastructure...but yes, maybe there's a need to move things about a bit, freshen it up by having different stuff in different areas, moving the stages/markets about a bit perhaps...? post your ideas here!

i guess us seasoned glasto heads know it inside out by now...but even after 28 years i still find something new/interesting every time i go and that's one of the things i love about it. if you're feeling a bit jaded, getting involved in the organisation/running of the festival is a really good way to get more out of the festival imo. or even set up your own stall/entertainment or something..

 

[Brixton Hatter]

next time im going to book time off work after glastonbury too - was still half cained when i went back to work

always a good idea. i used to take an extra day off afterwards...then two days...these days it's about a week being in work after is a nightmare...and it's not just the still being caned/hungover thing, i also find it difficult to adjust back to normal life (the life where you don't do pills at 10am, have breakfast at 4pm, get totally wazcocked 24/7 and spend all day chatting to random people you've never met before...) a right headfuck that is

 

[Skim]

In a parallel stoned on Good Friday universe, Mr Eavis (praise be upon him!!) would open up a huge fuck off Travellers Field outside the fence, with multiple trucks n buses and sound systems and bonfires. And acid on ale from a hippy ambulance, at 5:30 am. Inna 2000 stylee!!!

Sounds great, but "inna 2000 stylee" brings back memories of the dreaded scallywags who ran amok wearing jester hats and trying to set up toll booths between fields

Damn this thread. I've already been making babysitting arrangements for 2007 and my kid's months from being born

 

[Tort]

A bunch of mates of mine from the Glasto boards have been on a camping meet down in Wiltshire this weekend. Look who turned up out of the blue!

Mystery Guest

 

[clandestino]

the stalls being in the same place each year really helps in sorting out the organisation/infrastructure...but yes, maybe there's a need to move things about a bit, freshen it up by having different stuff in different areas, moving the stages/markets about a bit perhaps...? post your ideas here!

Yes, fair enough. I guess they've got enough organisational nightmares to contend with!!

I don't think the stages should be moved - their positioning works well, although I did prefer it when the New Bands stage was over towards the Jazz Field rather than tucked in the back of beyond way past the Dance Tent. My tastes tend towards newer groups and it's a real trek to get to that stage sometimes. I remember one year hiking from the Acoustic Tent to the New Band Tent to see Bright Eyes, only to discover that the Q Daily had got the times wrong and that Bright Eyes wasn't on at all. After which I had another hike back to the Acoustic Tent. Maybe I spend too much time marching from stage to stage at Glastonbury.

I don't think it would be too much trouble to put some of the stalls in different places. Not the physical location of the plots, but different vendors in different places. I can't explain it, but I found the fact that, say, Manic Organic was in exactly the same place depressing.

A good, fresh line up would really help too. I think they need to bring in a surprise legend. I actually think Kylie's a decent idea for a headliner, but a good old timer would really shake things up a little. I vote - as I do every year - for Dolly Parton.

As for new bands, there's been so much good stuff in the last few years that side of it should be easy. But please - not so much drab NME-style haircut indie. Maybe they could get ATP to book the new bands tent.

 

[the B]

Oooh, I'd like to go in 2007

2005 was ace.

And I don't think there's any football next year. As for the exams thing, most GCSEs are over by the last week of June. Best guide to checking though is how early Easter is. The earlier, the better...

 

[William of Walworth]

Sounds great, but "inna 2000 stylee" brings back memories of the dreaded scallywags who ran amok wearing jester hats and trying to set up toll booths between fields

I was stoned, not serious. Honest!

 

[William of Walworth]

Mean Fiddler TAKEN OVER by even more avaricious corporate monsters.

Can't believe how this wasn't reported here on these forums around April 8 .

The implications worry me .. will dig around and do some research.

Meanwhile, I've just posted this on the Festival Season 2007 thread :

Oh do keep up!

Mean Fiddler sell to Clear Channel Entertainment (click Tort's link for outline BBC story)

MF had a 39% stake in Glastonbury.

I admit I'd missed this completely (I can scarecely believe it actually), what on earth is Urban75 on that no-one saw fit to mention it here, back around April 8?

The potential implications are horrendous -- Glastonbury had better promptly sever ALL contact with Mean Fiddler's successors, because Clear Channel Entertainment have an utterly dreadful reputation -- far more avaricious and corporate than even Mean Fiddler were. I can't see CCE being content with the relatively low profile at Glasto that MF in its precious incarnation were OK about settling for.

 

[Sunspots]

Can't believe how this wasn't reported here on these forums around April 8 .

I believe it was actually discussed on here LAST year, when it occured!

 

[Tort]

I believe it was actually discussed on here LAST year, when it occured!

The fact the news article is dated 8 April 2005 kinda gives it away doesn't it

 

[Sunspots]

The fact the news article is dated 8 April 2005 kinda gives it away doesn't it

Yeah!

Tbh, I'm more concerned by the wider implications of Clear Channel's increasing market share of media/advertising in general.

Thanks to laws deregulating media ownership in America, Clear Channel have aggressively attempted to monopolise the airwaves and billboards, are pro-Bush/Republicans, have been accused of censorship, and have even organized pro-war rallies there.

They now control a large chunk of media in the US, and wield huge amounts of influence on what people see and hear. Don't think they wouldn't try similar here in the UK. Take a look at who owns the advertising billboards next time you're out and about. See who's name is increasingly on them.

So they've bought Mean Fiddler here, and now effectively have a 39% stake in the running of Glastonbury festival. It's obviously highly alarming; who knows where it might lead?...

**Read more about Clear Channel.**

I'm sure I posted on a thread about this last year, but I can't find it at the mo'.

(Apologies for the slight derail, Glasto folks. )

 

[William of Walworth]

I'm really sorry, I can't believe I didn't pick up on this last year ...

 

[clandestino]

I've been thinking about this some more and I have an idea of how Glastonbury festival could be improved.

I think the Dance Tent and the New Bands Tent should swap locations. The Dance Tent is in a weird position - not really in a space of its own, more on the way somewhere else. And when you walk into the area around the Dance Tent, it's like entering another zone entirely - but a zone that doesn't feel particularly defined. I reckon if it was moved to the field that contains the New Bands Tent, then some more work could be done to really define that space. It could be another Lost Vagueness style area with its own character and energy, and using that whole field would really give the Dance Tent and the people and scene the room it needs. I also think that the hill in that field would really come into its own - I can just picture people dancing at the top of that slope, looking out over the festival. It would be a magical spot - whereas now it's just a bar next to a tent with some indie bands in it. A missed opportunity.

Let's face it, dance music is growing in popularity. Only a few years ago, The Glade was a hidden spot enjoyed by a select few - I can remember dancing in a crowd of fifty or so at 4am there about four or five years ago. When I tried to go there at the same time the year before last it was crammed full of people. Not much dancing and not much fun. But I think people were still going there because The Glade is a recognisable space - whereas the Dance Tent is just a tent stuck beside a footpath.

The New Bands Tent, meanwhile, would be near the second stage, which would make sense I think. The kids seeing the NME-approved bands on the second stage could then nip over to the New Bands Tent when Athlete or Snow Patrol once again pop up on the bill.

I really think the Dance Tent needs to be rethought. You either give it an entire field - or you get rid of it completely. And stick the DJs and bands on open air stages around the site. I think it's fairly ridiculous that someone like Fatboy Slim plays the Dance Tent when he could easily get the Pyramid Stage crowd rockin. He's played far bigger crowds, after all.

Anyway, there we are. My two pence.

 

[the B]

Fatboy was on the second stage, wasn't he?

Do agree that the dance tent(s) are in an odd area...

 

[Flashman]

Be nice if Richard Hawley turned up. Fuck knows if I'll ever get around to going, should do really but, you know, I'm a cunt.

 

[Strawman]

The dance tent did have an entire field this year , even though the best part of it was the burger van pumping out DnB all night

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

I really think the Dance Tent needs to be rethought. You either give it an entire field - or you get rid of it completely. And stick the DJs and bands on open air stages around the site. I think it's fairly ridiculous that someone like Fatboy Slim plays the Dance Tent when he could easily get the Pyramid Stage crowd rockin. He's played far bigger crowds, after all.

Where you there last year?

And FBS can fuck off site as far as I'm concerned

 

[William of Walworth]

Bees is right ianw -- the whole dance set up was completely rethought last year (2005). The main (huge) Dance Tent of former years was got rid of and replaced, in a different location, by a field with a series of smaller tents for different dance genres.

Seemed to work!

 

[strung out]

Bees is right ianw -- the whole dance set up was completely rethought last year (2005). The main (huge) Dance Tent of former years was got rid of and replaced, in a diffeent location, by a field with a series of smaller tents for different dance genres.

Seemed to work!

I quite like the new set up to be honest. Much better than the single dance tent of previous years.

 

[wiskey]

having just seen the film i feel ready and re-inspired for another year

but i'm so glad this year is a year off. by last year a lot of the crew were at breking point

 

[clandestino]

Oh really? Cool!

As I stated on previous posts in this thread, I didn't go last year, so I had no idea. I'm pleased that that's been rethought.

Is the New Bands Tent in the same place, though?

 

[the B]

The new set up was still in the middle of nowhere... or it felt like it, late at night, when a bit out of it... quite a walk anyway

 

[clandestino]

It's nice to know I was thinking along the right lines....even if I was a year out of date!

 

[wiskey]

thats because this massive gulf appeared along the stage road which punters couldnt walk down. this means a huge trek around various fields to do what should have ben a 10min walk. and in mud it just seemed further.

 

[clandestino]

so where exactly was the new dance field?

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

so where exactly was the new dance field?

Same place as the dance tent was IIRC

 

[Skim]

Did anyone go to the dance tent (or wherever it was) when they had headphones for individual dancers instead of a PA speakers, to keep down the noise? I can't imagine how that would have worked on a number of levels, not least because there would have been a risk of dropping loads of headphones in mud I would like to know how that all worked out in the end.

 

[wiskey]

it wasnt to keep down the noise was it? i thught it was some deeply ironic arty wank

and no i didnt. i didnt really get to spend much time in the dance arena last year.