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Glastonbury 2008

William of Walworth said:
I believe what several people tell me and Flip it seems had a really bad time at their hands in the Dance Village, but I have to say I noticed nothing of this ... did you?? :confused:

The only security types I had any dealings with (very very few) were actually OK what little that I could see. Quite friendly even! :eek:

But sounds like there were dodgier moodier types too. Some got unlucky I guess.
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I didn't notice security at all.
 
Sunray said:
In response to someone talking about the atmosphere lacking that crazyness at Glastonbury. I really think this is entirely driven by the weather and there is little people can do about it.
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I think it's entirely down to the people who show up with interlinked folding chairs, who sit there waiting to be entertained by the crayzeeness. :D
 
You're just in denial because you're a mud and rain loving Manc ;)
Bloody Northerner :p

I do sort of agree though about more people (some even with chairs! ;) passively expecting to be entertained. And there being less DIY-entertainment/bring what you expect to find spirit than in previous years -- that was always wiskey's argument too.

But I still think the w**th*r's more important than you do in dampening down the overall vibe .... I'm gambling (far too much :oops: ) that that will change this time though .... a la 1999 maybe ... <pushes argument too far :p >
 
The serried ranks of chairs thing is annoying, but I'll be charitable & suggest it again may be a weather related - who wants to sit in a sea of mud?

I'd like, by the way, to personally thank William for not going & thus ensuring we have glorious sunshine this year :D
 
William of Walworth said:
Things will change this time up that way quite a lot I expect, with everything Joe Rush/the Mutoid Waste and Trash City thing/Chris Tofu/Continental Drifts seem to be planning. LV had got tired and samey and Roy had pissed off Michael Eavis and various others several times too often, I wasn't too surprised at all that LV were sacked to be honest. I'm looking forward to the new arrangements :)
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I'm really glod if LV is gone now, its presence really changed the character of the whole greenfields to my mind. I didn't find people wandering round in dinner jackets kooky, eccentric and cool, just weird and slightly awkward. Remember last year trying to cut through one field back to my tent, and being told by security that there was an hour and a half wait to get through there. Bonkers.

I liked the greenfields at night for the small cafes, tents and random entertainment that you had to go and look for. If i wanted to go to a 1950's diner or wear a dinner jacket, i could do that whenever. For me, glasto is a chance to see and do things you couldn't do anywhere else.
 
Socket said:
but this hasn't been the most predictable of years!
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Really? Based on this thread, which is a tiny minority of Glasto goers, I'd say it was fairly obvious. People being fed up with various things, fed up with the worry of getting tickets etc etc...
 
Kanda said:
Really? Based on this thread, which is a tiny minority of Glasto goers, I'd say it was fairly obvious. People being fed up with various things, fed up with the worry of getting tickets etc etc...
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It always seems like that to me, from overcrowding to registration to weather to the line up, though I agree that it has seemed worse this year. I didn't expect it to affect sales so much though. We always moan but the tickets still usually sell out in a couple of hours.
 
William of Walworth said:
I believe what several people tell me and Flip it seems had a really bad time at their hands in the Dance Village, but I have to say I noticed nothing of this ... did you?? :confused:
Click to expand...

Yes! I have never seen anything other than cursory checks for glass bottles at the gates before and yet as soon as I got there on the Tuesday last year we were warned by a steward that security on the gate were making thorough searches of people’s bags. And this was of course on a day when only staff were arriving. They appeared to be concentrating on Oxfam Stewards and one poor lad has all his possessions dumped out of his rucksack as we passed. There were numerous similar stories from paying punters of being aggressively searched and told that they should “tell us where your drugs are because we’ll find them anyway!”

I have also never particularly noticed much in the way of obvious security inside the fence and yet last year they appeared to be hunting the arenas and the campsites in packs 5 or 6 strong. The police at Glastonbury are always happy to join in the fun & cast a blind eye to minor misdemeanours but these thugs were just looking out for the slightest opportunity to chuck their weight about. There were numerous tales of aggressive searches & suspected thefts by security guards. In another instance a guy was knocked to the ground & thrown offsite simply for climbing a flagpole. And there were several reports of one particular rogue group who operated in the Park and seemed hellbent on making everybody’s life a misery. Their supervisor was overheard to say “lets have a bit of fun with this lot” as they approached a group of teenagers who were completely minding their own business. And in one instance they were responsible for beating a bloke senseless & trashing his mobile simply because he had the audacity to take their photo.

My personal experiences were relatively minor but while I was on duty I had to rescue one lad from a couple of goons who were showing rather too much interest in him simply because he appeared to have over-indulged & was a little unsteady on his feet. At first I would have been happy to have given them the benefit of the doubt and that they were genuinely concerned for his wellbeing but it was noticeable how quickly they disappeared when I pitched up with my tabard on. I also had a complaint while I was on duty from a couple of women in their 50’s who claimed that a group of security had deliberately kicked a muddy football at them, covered their numbers to prevent them being identified & run off laughing.

In short, I have no doubt that violence & thuggish brutality has gone on outside the fence for years but there was an obvious and worrying move towards more imposing and hostile security onsite last year and I for one felt it was sufficient to impair my enjoyment even though I had the relative impunity of a staff wristband in the event they tried to give me any grief. My reasons for not going this year are numerous but the apparent sea-change in security measures is way up there!
 
Socket said:
It always seems like that to me, from overcrowding to registration to weather to the line up, though I agree that it has seemed worse this year. I didn't expect it to affect sales so much though. We always moan but the tickets still usually sell out in a couple of hours.
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Hopefully all the Barbour jacket wearing mob are off to Europe :)
 
As long as I've been going there have been stories of agressive/thieving/useless/drugged security guards tho - not sure last year was any different there. One thing Tort missed out is the corruption - we've had them going from tent to tent offering 'access all areas' wristbands to the highest bidders.
 
Tort said:
And in one instance they were responsible for beating a bloke senseless & trashing his mobile simply because he had the audacity to take their photo.
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I remember all the stink about that and, having seen the security around the dance tent, wasn't really surprised. I think someone must have forgotten to point out that Glastonbury isn't like the other festivals!
 
Superape said:
As long as I've been going there have been stories of agressive/thieving/useless/drugged security guards tho - not sure last year was any different there. One thing Tort missed out is the corruption - we've had them going from tent to tent offering 'access all areas' wristbands to the highest bidders.
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They did seem more overbearing last year, though again that could have been partly down to the general muddy downtrodden vibe.
 
Socket said:
I remember all the stink about that and, having seen the security around the dance tent, wasn't really surprised. I think someone must have forgotten to point out that Glastonbury isn't like the other festivals!
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Or more to the point - it is becoming increasingly like the other large commercial festivals.

I know I keep banging on about how much more fun the smaller festivals are these days but at those events you simply don’t see security as such other than on the gates. I’m sure that they are there just in case there is trouble but they are deliberately kept in the background so that they don’t impair the atmosphere and the punters don’t feel intimidated & threatened.

I wasn’t there but there were stories from Eastern Haze in 2006 where they hired nightclub bouncers & received a number of complaints from punters over their aggressive attitude. So in 2007, when I did go, they were replaced by guys who went out of their way to be polite and almost apologetic for the inconvenience of having to ask a few of the punters if they minded terribly being searched as they entered the arena. There was nothing to stop you saying “actually, do you mind if I just pop back to my tent for a moment first” :D I think Glastonbury could take a leaf out of their book.
 
Tort said:
Yes! I have never seen anything other than cursory checks for glass bottles at the gates before and yet as soon as I got there on the Tuesday last year we were warned by a steward that security on the gate were making thorough searches of people’s bags. And this was of course on a day when only staff were arriving. They appeared to be concentrating on Oxfam Stewards and one poor lad has all his possessions dumped out of his rucksack as we passed. There were numerous similar stories from paying punters of being aggressively searched and told that they should “tell us where your drugs are because we’ll find them anyway!”

I have also never particularly noticed much in the way of obvious security inside the fence and yet last year they appeared to be hunting the arenas and the campsites in packs 5 or 6 strong. The police at Glastonbury are always happy to join in the fun & cast a blind eye to minor misdemeanours but these thugs were just looking out for the slightest opportunity to chuck their weight about. There were numerous tales of aggressive searches & suspected thefts by security guards. In another instance a guy was knocked to the ground & thrown offsite simply for climbing a flagpole. And there were several reports of one particular rogue group who operated in the Park and seemed hellbent on making everybody’s life a misery. Their supervisor was overheard to say “lets have a bit of fun with this lot” as they approached a group of teenagers who were completely minding their own business. And in one instance they were responsible for beating a bloke senseless & trashing his mobile simply because he had the audacity to take their photo.

My personal experiences were relatively minor but while I was on duty I had to rescue one lad from a couple of goons who were showing rather too much interest in him simply because he appeared to have over-indulged & was a little unsteady on his feet. At first I would have been happy to have given them the benefit of the doubt and that they were genuinely concerned for his wellbeing but it was noticeable how quickly they disappeared when I pitched up with my tabard on. I also had a complaint while I was on duty from a couple of women in their 50’s who claimed that a group of security had deliberately kicked a muddy football at them, covered their numbers to prevent them being identified & run off laughing.

In short, I have no doubt that violence & thuggish brutality has gone on outside the fence for years but there was an obvious and worrying move towards more imposing and hostile security onsite last year and I for one felt it was sufficient to impair my enjoyment even though I had the relative impunity of a staff wristband in the event they tried to give me any grief. My reasons for not going this year are numerous but the apparent sea-change in security measures is way up there!
Click to expand...


How you lot put up with this shit is beyond me. The last year I attended was the first they let the police in and the first that had goon security, 1990 or thereabouts.

At my fav festival last year, I was accosted by a security person whilst tripping of my nut, carrying a large nitrous cracker and had a spliff dangling out of my mouth. He kindly asked me if I wanted a light for the spliff. :cool:
 
Over the years the commercialism, health and safety and various other legislation and impact would have changed the boundaries. That's why it's become more like other festivals etc... it's hardly some illegal gathering or whatever now, they have all that shit to comply to.
 
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