Festival review by : Vern

Glastonbury Festival 2000

Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th June 2000
Worthy Farm, Pilton, nr Glastonbury, Somerset, England
£89 including booking fee and postage

Daily capacity: 80,000

Maaaan! Glastonbury 2000 wuz tops!! We arrived on the Thursday afternoon, like every year, only this time it was pissing down - like a flippin' monsoon. We sat in the car hyped up 'till about 4 o'clock but some heads were beginning to drop as memory of '97 came flooding back, no pun intended! Finally the rain stops and we all head out, tents, ale, smokes, the works, - straight up to Hitchin Hill to find our usual haunt.

A few smokes later and we were doing the rounds - up to Greenfields, Healing Fields and Stone Circle, got chatting to scores of people, scored ourselves and went a wandering. The rain had made the festival site sludgy so it wasn't long before we were all caked in mud and had huge great snowball-size feet from all the mud we were carrying around. The site was beginning to build up, but not half as busy as last year. How many mobile phones?? I couldn't believe how in-touch with the outside world some people needed to be, daily papers, bank machines.... is this the way we're going? If so it's such a shame. I was surprised by the amount of people telling me they were staying in B&Bs "in town", don't you people understand what Glastonbury's about? Sponsors in the form of Oxfam, Greenpeace and Wateraid are expected and welcome, I don't count this as commercialism. But I have a healthy dislike for the scally's and vendors who are out for one thing - to blatantly rip you off!

As night fell we found a new area called The Glade - a drum n' bass area in the trees - turns out this would be a 24 hr. party place and a lot of chilling out/coming down would be done there.

Woke up Friday morning and the sun was out, still rather cloudy though. The mud was beginning to dry and the puddles evaporating. We headed towards the Greenfields again and took in the 'alternative' culture that is known as Greenpeace - clearly the way forward. There weren't that many bands that motivated us to get to the main stages so we just meandered around dizzy-headed soaking up the sun that was now beating down. Soon the grass would be dry and we'd all be lazing, toking and listening to the vibes reverberating from the stalls and the general patter that is uniquely Glastonbury.

Again, because the 'big' bands weren't that great, we found more of a focus in the side shows - loads of unannounced and unheard of bands/comedians/street theatre people keeping us away with the fairies. By nightfall on Friday we'd met up with some old mates - dropped some pills and were smiling around to Moby - get in! Things were beginning to liven up! A quick walk from the Other Stage to see the Chemical Bros. on the Pyramid stage, another pill and BANG!! Weyeheyhey! There was plenty of room at the front of the stage due to fewer people - obviously been put off by the earlier rain, so we were getting down and moving like true dancefloor gurners to the most amazing light show! The boys were on top form shouting, whooping and punching the air in (literal) ecstasy. Catch phrase off the night became "Look! No roof!!"; it would stick for the rest of the festival!

Saturday morning was missed after last nights exertions. We all woke around 1.30pm to the most gorgeous day. Blazing sun, spliffs and beautiful women. We started slowly as we wanted to still be standing for Saturday night, as both Death in Vegas and Leftfield would be headlining. After bumping in to old travelling mates last seen in Australia we spent most of Saturday spliffing and lying on the grass in front of the Other Stage. By the time Death in Vegas hit the stage, the evening had produced one of the most glorious sunsets to be seen at Glastonbury. A strange, almost surreal golden sky greeted the band who plunged into their music, slightly reminiscent of Pink Floyd - as the sun set the stage lights became more prominent and by dusk the crowd were swaying to some great big beat sounds.

Another pill was dropped and everyone was happy! DIV came and went and the crowd started to build for Leftfield. The temperature dropped (one noticeable thing about Glasto 2000 was how fucking cold it was once the sun had set); everyone set around making fires and huddling to keep warm and fending off dick heads who thought it fun to burn plastic - who are these people? The crowd continued to grow and E was taking effect. The atmosphere was building and building and being constantly stoked by the DJ. The dance tent was emptying as all the e-heads made there way to see Leftfield and the area in front of the Other Stage became a sea of Beanies and raves glow-sticks. Enter Leftfield - fucking A1! The place was rocking, the atmosphere superb.

Wide eyed and legless we built and sat around another fire at the end of the gig - everyone was your best mate. Eventually we made it over to The Glade where the most amazing side show of dancers were performing in the dome. Totally psychedelic, totally funked up and totally full of pill heads and acid freaks. Soon it became too cold to handle and we were on our way back to Hitchin Hill as the dawn broke.

Sunday was even sunnier and hotter. We stocked up on ale and ventured to the Main Stage to wait for the Happy Monday's at 5.30 - we were so fucked we lay in the sun burning and returning to normal thanks to me old mate Scrumpy (Mad) Jack. Didn't move from the main stage all day - pissed up and mockingly abusive in a VERY humorous and mellow way. Gave Shaun and Bez a mouthful in true Manc style and laughed our tits off at their antics. As the sun went down again it became really cold and we opted to watch Bowie then headed up to the tent - completely knackered.

Monday awoke and we packed up - another glorious day but depression set in as it began to dawn on us that Glasto 2000 had been and gone - all good things come to an end, but why when you're just getting into it? Everyone was a bit edgy through lack of sleep and generally down at the thought of going home. Misread the situation like last year and ended up sitting in the car park for 7 hours listening to tunes, dancing, smoking and laughing in disbelief and all the 'chilled-out' mass getting stressed and reverting to the 'every man for himself' mentality! Eventually got through the crowds and on to the main roads. Totally stoned, sunburnt and tripping - if the police could've been arsed they'd have had a field day with the state we
were in!

So that was Glastonbury 2000 (albeit a shortened version).

2000 highlights for me included:
Thursday night's magical mystery tour;
Watching my Glasto first-timer brother's face, as the very size and scale of the festival began to sink in;
Friday's sunshine after Thursday's rain;
The 'rush' to see the Chemical Brothers;
Sunset for Death in Vegas and the build-up to Leftfield;
Rolling Stones at The Glade on Saturday night/Sunday morning;
Happy Mondays on a Sunday.

Lowlights:
Cold nights;
Mobile phones;
Scally's out to rip you off or do you over;
Fence-jumpers who got cold on Saturday night and set about lifting tents;
Litter, much more than in previous years, and the careless attitude of a minority - you're not welcome, go trash your own home.

All things considered, a truly magical event that got better as the weather got warmer. Not as chilled as '99 though, but I guess the dance acts on the main stages stoked a lot of people up that bit too far. The 2000 line-up hardly inspired - compare this to REM in '99 - absolutely phenomenal. Far too many mobile 'phone-home-ers' and the litter! Man, some of you people should be embarrassed! Michael Eavis you're a star and you deserve every ounce of praise you receive.

Review submitted by
Vern