Glastonbury 2009

[William of Walworth]

Everything I hear from them suggests that WBC workers get thoroughly exhausted at Glasto, they work so hard.

They get some nice perks as were posted about earlier up, but I'd never do barwork at Glasto myself unless I developed a weird taste for ending up dead on my feet

 

[Tank Girl]

dead on my feet was exactly how I was after one day with them, I wouldn't be able to hack it for any longer than that! nice bit was being able to be rude to twattish punters though, cos it wasn't my job and couldn't get sacked

 

[William of Walworth]

40,000!!!!!!

Nice to have a nicer job than that now innit?

I belatedly realise that I now exceed 40,000 posts, having had eight short of that landmark total just before I went to Glastonbury.

I can only hope that my 40,000th was on this thread and not on one of the others ....

 

[Tank Girl]

yeah, my job is good, just a bugger that it interferes with my weekend

 

[moose]

Yes, William, we were there Friday and Saturday nights before heading off to Devon. Sat on the monument thing on high street till the early hours listening to bands playing in Backpackers and meeting loads of interesting peeps.

 

[Art Stephens]

Bad energy

I find it unsuprising that the WBC were behaving in such a way. I experienced appalling service there 4-5 years ago - and missed out on hearing Dave Edumunds playing 'I hear you knocking' in the acoustic tent - cause I was waiting to be served. Not good.


A nice touch this year withe the cardboard beer carriers. So all-in-all a good festival.

 

[Boycey]

They also ejected quite a few staff and chucked them off site for rounding down the cost of drinks when they had no change. There were several disgruntled bar people in Glastonbury town centre on Saturday night with nowhere to stay and no means of getting home.

w......t............f............

not quite as right on as their literature would suggest. fuckin horrible.

 

[Art Stephens]

How do you get the cushy jobs? I saw lots of people litter collecting. Wouldn't want to do that - though it has to be done, to help the soil. Why are some people given cushy jobs. Surely that's not fair, nor in the Spirit? Or do they share the jobs - 1 hour litter collecting, 1 hour stewarding etc? Surely that would be fairer?

 

[Mooncat]

Arcadia crew party, Monday morning. Have just got back. Will try and make sense of it all later x

 

[pennimania]

Arcadia crew party, Monday morning. Have just got back. Will try and make sense of it all later x

you bonkers people

 

[Mooncat]

you bonkers people

The crew are the most hardcore of the lot - -Did anyone manage so see the Guerilla Bar?

 

[paolo]

i only ever really felt that in dance village and around the pyramid stage- though i had backstage round there* so could move pretty freely round the backs when it went mental.

*round shangri la/arcadia/trash city i mean

I had crew access at Shangri-La and Arcadia but even when it was busy it was OK front of house. I did the pedestrian one way on Sunday night post headliners, and it worked really well I think. Once we dropped down into Shangri-La there was still lots of space in the Hub, even if other bits were quite busy.

I expected it to be far worse... was OK as long as you just had five minutes patience along the track.

 

[belboid]

agree there, arcadia was awesome. evil nine on the saturday night was one of my top moments from the festival (though it wasn't loud enough!)

aye, mine too, a very pleasant surprise to be wandering past their just when they came on. took a few tracks top realise they were evil 9 of course, but what the hey.

a cracking weekend all round, tho i dont know if i'd do the campervan thing again - a pain in the arse to get back to, not to mention having to go through the ticket thing every time, and getting stopped n searched twice. it was very quite up there tho, so i probably got a bit more sleep than i normally would have done

Must say i thought all the headliners were great, first time I've ever been to see all of them, and I wasn't disappointed. Cracking best of set from Neil, who looked to be having a great time, Bruce played a great balance between faves and depression era stuff, superb to hear Tom Joad done so well, and we got such a good spot too, could just about see through all the shitty fucking flags. Next year I will take one that reads 'flags are for wankers', or 'Blocking 100 peoples view'. Blur were on top form, i think even Graham smiled.

Other than that, twas much of the usual pleasantries, ambling around, seeing some odd shit and some strangely groovy things i still dont know what they were.

Who said they saw Broken family Band at Dirty Boots? Whoever it was, I hope you weren't the incredibly drunken bloke who kept staggering around and making a bit of a prat of himself at at least four stages! BFB were quite good tho, if a bit pissed off at having so few people there (they might have played more than 25 mins had there been more of us)

What else... Fucked Up were a great way to start the friday, must have been the only time the security people actually got a cheer (and it was funny seeing the one bloke having to stagedive into the crowd to try and carry the singer blokes' mike lead - couldnt they just have got radio mikes?).

Rockingbirds were good, despite having that drunk bloke staggering around again, and I think it was worth staying to see some of Terry Reid, cos you have to see at least one load of old shite whilst you're there. And he was awful.

Probly some other stuff too, but you know what its like.

Had a look for WoW at the info stage on the friday, but he didnt appear to be there, so i went to a bar instead,.

 

[paolo]

The crew are the most hardcore of the lot - -Did anyone manage so see the Guerilla Bar?

Popped in for one minute from backstage side just to ask where the production office was. A band were setting up.

Looked very nice. What was it like up and running?

 

[Tort]

Best Glastonbury ever. Had an absolutely wicked time.

Here's the PHOTOS

http://www.pbase.com/tort/glastonbury_2009

 

[wiskey]

Sorry not to have seen you tort nice pics

ETA: nice to see the sand sculpture as I never made it up there in person.

 

[wiskey]

How do you get the cushy jobs? I saw lots of people litter collecting. Wouldn't want to do that - though it has to be done, to help the soil. Why are some people given cushy jobs. Surely that's not fair, nor in the Spirit? Or do they share the jobs - 1 hour litter collecting, 1 hour stewarding etc? Surely that would be fairer?

you apply for them.

Each job is run by a different organisation, the biggest recruiters are Oxfam (2000 stewards), WBC, AP/Stuart security, Wateraid, litter pickers/network recycling and Greenpeace. Each do a different set of shifts but the general theme is 3x8hr or 4x6hr I think.

Other jobs come about through nepotism mainly.

 

[LilMissHissyFit]

wow tort, amazing piccies

 

[Garcia Lorca]

Best Glastonbury ever. Had an absolutely wicked time.

Here's the PHOTOS

http://www.pbase.com/tort/glastonbury_2009

excellent photos there tort. same as yourself, this year the conditions were ideal for checking out different acts all over the festival.

and what a lovely reminder in your people photos of the serious tongueing session i had to go through on my way into the new york style disco. thank god i was pickled at the time

 

[Garcia Lorca]

you apply for them.

Each job is run by a different organisation, the biggest recruiters are Oxfam (2000 stewards), WBC, AP/Stuart security, Wateraid, litter pickers/network recycling and Greenpeace. Each do a different set of shifts but the general theme is 3x8hr or 4x6hr I think.

Other jobs come about through nepotism mainly.

wbc you could do anything from 3 x 6hr shifts to 5 x 6 hour shifts (the one i was on). working you see the festival a completely different way, or at least yiou do if you want to last the 6 days you are there! thats not such a bad thing, i think i probably had the best glasto ive ever been to and it was around my 11th or 12th. first one working.......... wouldnt hesitate to do it again.

 

[paolo]

Five piccies from my bunch:


Elly Jackson, La Roux.

(Couldn't move to get round that video camera set up in the pit, but I like the shot all the same)

Arcadia, Alex Metric playing.

One camera, so many memories:

Bassline Circus

Park Tower

Full set is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulholmes/sets/72157620788841464/

 

[Sunray]

you apply for them.

Each job is run by a different organisation, the biggest recruiters are Oxfam (2000 stewards), WBC, AP/Stuart security, Wateraid, litter pickers/network recycling and Greenpeace. Each do a different set of shifts but the general theme is 3x8hr or 4x6hr I think.

Other jobs come about through nepotism mainly.

I made a point of asking all the crew stewards (ones with the darker reddish pink tabards) how they got the jobs stewarding the stage they were on. That is exactly how they got them. Their mum was a friend of the production manager of the stage or they knew someone working in the stage. Not one I asked had applied to work there. Just got a call.

I reckon I could have asked about on the Monday for next year when back stage was open but I'm happy with Oxfam.

If you want to work, Oxfam is a good choice, but the work is generally gates only at Glastonbury.

 

[paolo]

Best Glastonbury ever. Had an absolutely wicked time.

Here's the PHOTOS

http://www.pbase.com/tort/glastonbury_2009

Just having a look... always amazes me how much you manage to cover, and still have time for 27 changes of fancy dress.

 

[wiskey]

Full set is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulholmes/sets/72157620788841464/

wow, so much better than mine!

(btw the oxfam steward actually isn't)

 

[paolo]

wow, so much better than mine!

(btw the oxfam steward actually isn't)

Damn! Trust you to spot my mistake.

PS I am using you and Derv as an example as to why my friends with toddlers should take the plunge and come along for the first time. They've decided to bail from London, and by random chance, have settled on Castle Cary.

 

[strung out]

btw, did anyone else see hypnotic brass ensemble in shangri la over the weekend (or even in dance village) i was pretty blown away by them, a complete shock and totally different to the kind of stuff i expected them to be playing when they first came on stage.

 

[Gerry1time]

btw, did anyone else see hypnotic brass ensemble in shangri la over the weekend (or even in dance village) i was pretty blown away by them, a complete shock and totally different to the kind of stuff i expected them to be playing when they first came on stage.

Yes, randomly in club dada, fuckin' awesome they were too!

 

[hammerntongues]

Who said they saw Broken family Band at Dirty Boots? Whoever it was, I hope you weren't the incredibly drunken bloke who kept staggering around and making a bit of a prat of himself at at least four stages! BFB were quite good tho, if a bit pissed off at having so few people there (they might have played more than 25 mins had there been more of us)

,.

It was me , that is it was me that saw them at Dirty Boots , not me that was the incredibly drunk bloke I thought that bearing in mind there were only a handful of us there , the banter with the CROWD went down well . I was amazed not more people made the effort after they announced the performance earlier on the Other stage. The drum solo on the Toy drum kit was pretty good too.

 

[Sunray]

Five piccies from my bunch:


Elly Jackson, La Roux.

(Couldn't move to get round that video camera set up in the pit, but I like the shot all the same)

Arcadia, Alex Metric playing.

One camera, so many memories:

Bassline Circus

Park Tower

Full set is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulholmes/sets/72157620788841464/

Some great pictures there.

 

[pennimania]

Thanks for delicious piccies Tort

The people who had renovated this beautiful van were absolute darlings - my daughter spent so much time with them I thought she had been adopted by them.

Inside was like a fairy princess' den

I have taken a few pix, nothing like so good but will try to post them when I get back to Skye.