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“What if you never come down?” If I’d have got to the “nice one geezer” stage more than a couple of times I’d have taken it, but more of that later. It’s probably lack of memory and all is as usual, but at the moment it feels like a much worse recovery than normal. The dust surely didn’t help and maybe that’s what gave me cold like symptoms in the days after. Lack of sleep, excess drug use and countless hours on my feet, whether walking or dancing surely contribute to a cloudy mind and a broken body. So here I sit reflecting on Glastonbury 2024, number 26 for me, if I can trust my addled brain. If you can wear trainers and sit down anywhere at any time all is good, anything else is a bonus. I arrived really early this year, earlier than I should have been required, however, as it turned out I was needed (if only briefly). Forecasts of heavy rain produced a site-wide “panic”, vehicles were moved to their final positions early, tons of wood chip was deployed in some arenas and walkways, security guards were allocated to ensure no vehicles disobeyed Michael’s instructions not to drive on the grass. Thankfully, aside from a brief, but heavy downpour in the build up, the weather held in our favour. Some say it’s the best bit, the gradual build up to the show, watching the site develop, hanging out with old friends, able to quickly move anywhere, all is clean and fresh and easy going. I even managed a sneaky few minutes on the Pyramid one evening. But of course the whole point is the five days of music and mayhem. Wednesday has always been a bit of problem re “crowd management” with nothing really going on beyond the opening ceremony in the Stone Circle field. With 10’s of thousands of excited arrivals ready to party it’s lucky we’ve managed to avoid a serious crush in recent years. This years solution was to schedule a “drone show” in the Pyramid arena to split the crowd. It worked, but may not do so next year, the totally average and uninspiring 10 minute, noiseless show (apparently it could be listened to on your phone) is unlikely to attract many repeat viewers. At least the fireworks from the hill were still visible after a short walk. Guerrilla Bar, the no longer very secret, but still relatively hard to access backstage bar opens. It’s probably my favourite day in guerrilla, not too crowded and easy to catch up with old mates. Thursday Thankfully it’s a civilised start time, 2 o’clock, Nextmen followed by The Orb at the lovely little Glade Dome. Where my “I took the red pill” T-shirt caused some amusement. There was another act in between, but I guess I must have nipped off for some refreshments. The weather remains pleasant, not too hot and you can still sit down. It’s a real shame that the so called “naughty corner” has become a victim of it’s own success, while at the same time becoming somewhat stale. Apparently “Shangri-La” is being revamped next year, well overdue in my opinion. However, I can still occasionally be tempted into the bottle neck, slightly improved this year by swapping stages around, and with not much to tempt me elsewhere I enjoy or possibly endure 90 minutes of Ewan McVicar on Nowhere. The vibe just ain’t quite there, not even a “nice one geezer”. Somehow I end up back at The Glade Stage and stumble across Desiree the South African “House” DJ. Now this is proper fun, the start of the four day “danceathon”, but still no significant interaction with anyone, in very marked contrast to last year. Time to check out the Levels, a truly spectacular venue in Silver Hayes, for Shygirl presents Club Shy. Not really sure what to expect, but after seeing her fantastic performance on The Park last year, I think this could be fun. Too many on site, always too many on site. It’s Thursday and with no big stages operating the queue stretches half way to the Other Stage, she’ll have finished before I’m anywhere near. So back over to the SE corner. If there was ever a venue made to dance in… Now then! Then queue for The Temple is small and moving, this is more like it. It’s hard to emphasise just how close to perfect a dance venue this is. Built like an amphitheatre, with stepped tiers on three sides, the forth side contains the DJ booth and the strange 3d god like head from which lights and lasers shoot forth. The beauty here is that if you stand on one of the tiers you can see nearly every face in the place. They also have a great door policy, it’s never filled to capacity, there’s always room to move about and dance. Things are looking up, 10 years of Jungle Cakes, various DJ’s and my favourite music to dance to - proper “old school” D&B and Jungle. Sadly I only make the last half an hour. But it’s not all over and I find myself enjoying a bit more curtesy of Uncommon Records Takeover. Suddenly it’s 3am and it’s all over for now. Friday Fantastic scheduling or fantastic personal taste means nothing on till 15.30, and I love it. This allows for the gentle morning routine; coffee, breakfast slowly, slowly, but what’s this? An enthusiastic invite from fellow crew members encourages me to amble along to Strummerville for some Reggae. And why not! It’s many years since I’ve visited that venue, back in the days when it was sited in what is now the Unfairground crew bar, where the Strummer stone still sits. Back in the day Joe Strummer used to host an open campfire and a stone was placed there after his death. The “new” Strummervilleis a lovely little venue set in the middle of small copse on the southern edge of the site. It’s a good distance from any other venue and benefits from this; no sound bleed and lovely tranquil atmosphere, at least at this time of the day. There’s only a handful of people there, chilling on the fire side sofas and occasionally dancing to sweet sounds. A lone litter picker dances through the grass, occasionally deploying her picker, but mostly dancing and chatting. Ain’t nobody, loves me better, makes me happy, makes me feel this way, ain’t nobody, loves me better than you And so I suddenly have my “festival tune”, Ain’t Nobody, Chaka Khan, and what a banger. My buddies drift off, I drift off, bouncy and happy. Noname, which I think is a great name, on West Holts. One of my Glastonbury “fliers” and as I’m feeling like some nostalgic nonsense, Sugababes to follow, then why not? I enjoyed Noname, it was a good performance, but honestly I can’t remember too much. The Sugababes! I’m sure you’re all familiar, it’s silly it’s fun, they’re always tricky to get near at Glastonbury and I’m already in position right near the front, let’s go! I’m told I saw them on The Pyramid in the early 2000’s, I have no memory of this. They put on a show. At some point during the day a meal ticket has found it’s way into my hand (thanks Tony) and with not much to do for a couple of hours I head towards The Park backstage area where our crew meals are served. Unfortunately I have to endure the eternally annoying sounds of Dexy’s as I negotiate the Park Stage arena. Although it is somewhat satisfying to discover that they’re just as dreadful live as they are recorded, a “fact” that I inflict on several unfortunate passers by. I’ve kind of hatched a plan for the next few hours; first up the wonderful LCD sound system on the Pyramid and maybe I’ll hang around for Dua Lipa. It’s a long time since I’ve seen a Pyramid headliner and I’d be in a great position inside the inner barrier AKA “the pit”. I find a comfortable spot against the barrier and enjoy a great “does what it says on the tin” show from a very experienced band. However, I really can’t be bothered to wait an hour between acts, and TBH I’ve not got my “night time drugs” with me, so off I go. I’ve little memory of what I did for the next hour or so, except for hearing “Insomnia” in the background and instantly regretting not going to see Faithless at The Glade. Next up, Jungle on West Holts, while part of me wonders should I have stayed at the Pyramid. I’d no idea they were so popular. I eventually get a reasonable spot, well position wise anyway, but I’m next to a gobby twat, think’s he’s funny, but he’s just annoying. Not even a “nice one geezer”. I’m not getting this, maybe it’s the crowd, then seem more Pyramid than West Holts, maybe it’s the music, maybe it’s me. Ain’t no body…. It took a few years to figure out that north of the old railway line is where to be when in the “naughty corner”, Block 9 and The Common as opposed to Shangri-La and Unfairground. Genosys is back in it’s full glory, the wonderful 3d brilliantly lite structure replacing the bus, and the vibes as good as ever. I love the backdrop of NYC Downlow and the lights from IIcon if you find you’ve danced through half a circle and are “facing the wrong way”. Loves me better, makes me happy, makes me feel this way… At this moment in time, that person is Honey Dijon, and for a couple of hours all is wonderful, there may even have been a couple of “nice one geezer” moments and even one that went beyond. I had a moment of frustration as a what I thought was half a pill carelessly kept from my hand and hid itself in the grass. Out comes the phone torch and as is traditional those around me join in the search and then produce a replacement when we’re unsuccessful. Happy days and thanks to whoever you were. Maybe I passed by Bicep on IIcon, maybe I had a look at The Mez Yard, maybe the queue for The Temple was too big, maybe I stayed a bit longer at Genosys, but I definitely ended up back in The Guerrilla bar for a few hours of wonderful disco. Saturday Another late start, fortunately as it’s an early afternoon crawl out of bed day. Coffee, food, cannabis, off to check out Nitin Sawhney on West Holts, a pleasant late afternoon experience, more food and a relatively quick turn around, back to the Glade for Jamz Supernova B2B Yung Singh. This is great dance along fun, but I’m feeling a strange pull to The Other Stage and The Streets, committing to missing Orbital in doing so. Predictably it’s busy, but easy enough to get a decent spot within the “pit”. Mike Skinner somehow manages to not be a twat, while engaging in some potentially twat like behaviour and fair play, it’s high energy, it’s entertaining and it’s fun. After all he is in some ways a “punter” who fully “gets it”. I wonder if he’ll make to The Temple at 5am? I find my self back at camp and allow myself to be persuaded to check out Jessie Ware on West Holts, fun high energy disco on Spotify, West Holts party time? Not too busy, easy to get near the front and a nicer bunch than The Jungle lot. However shortly after I get the text “ we can see you on the screen” I give in. I tried, but it’s boring pop and I can really do without slow sad stuff at the moment. Glade to the rescue, it’s Goldie, it’s Drum and Bass, it’s live, with actual drummers and it’s fun. Although I’ve no idea how those boys kept up the tempo. IICON In my opinion the best looking stage on site, with a good sound system,little sound bleed from other stages, a large arena, great lasers, and a penchant for booking top DJ’s, but I’ve always struggled at this venue. There’s something about the vibe, it can suffer badly from overcrowding and often seems to attract the more aggressive among the post midnight crew. However, I’ll give it another go for Afrodeutsche. Sadly yet again it’s all too dark. After another maybe half hour of confusion and indecision, never quite finding the right sound or vibe, I’d welcome a simple “nice one geezer” at this point, with some trepidation I approach The Temple. No way, not at this time on a Saturday, not a chance. The queue is unsurprisingly big, but it’s just about within the long snaking rails and occasionally moving. I’m gonna go for it! I reckon it probably took about 30 minutes, but felt like 5, until I was in. Maybe it’s about 3am, maybe it’s Simula on decks, but it’s danceable and it’s The Temple and I’m happy and I continue to worship at the alter of fun, admiring the strange and sometimes disturbing giant head above the DJ. It’s 5am, time for the 4am Kru, something not quite right there. Wow these guys have some energy and thankfully so have the crowd, although still barely more than a “nice one geezer”. Where is the love? And no sign of Mike Skinner. Sunday Sometimes it feels like The Daytime line up is made for me, rarely anything of real interest before mid afternoon, although the reality is that I’m willing to miss acts or have become blind to anything that interferes with a good 6 hours sleep. It also feels like mid Sunday afternoon on West Holts is always “heritage Reggae”. As so we have Steel Pulse, hardly a finer roots Reggae act exists, the perfect way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon. A few years back I took a “flier” on a interesting act headlining West Holts, Janelle Monáe was superb that night, so let’s see how she gets on late afternoon on the Pyramid. As I make my way through the main markets I’m increasingly confused as the bulk of the traffic is heading away, maybe towards the Other Stage. For who? A perfect performance from an extremely talented, confident and comfortable artist delivered with supreme confidence. The music, choreography, costumes, presentation and message we’re all spot on, yet the crowd barely reached the mixing desk, why? Who else was on? You’re not going to believe this, well maybe you are, but I ain’t. Avril Lavigne FFS! Alcohol or irony or both, but wow, just wow! Right here we go, the finale, the big one, well kind of two, we got a starter and a main course. It’s West Holts Sunday night party time and no stage does the last night better. “The warm up”, apologies to Nia Archives for using this term, she was great, and I had no idea she sang. What a wonderful set. In some ways I’d been waiting for Justice right from the moment I arrived on site, or even from the moment the line up was released. I was at the 2017 Justice set, same stage, same slot, one of my all time favourites and knew this was worth the wait. I even did something I’ve only done once before, for Beyoncé in 2011(?, feel free to correct me), wait a whole hour between sets. You see I knew the legend of 2017 would fill the field and more and I needed to secure a good spot. Nia finished and I headed straight for the barrier, time passed quickly as I conversed with my neighbours. Was it as good, or was it better than 2017, as I can’t now repeat either and my memory ain’t the best I’ll never know. What I do know is that it was epic, what I learned is that being right at the front isn’t necessarily the best spot, especially for a dance act, you somehow miss a bit of the vibe. Time for another go at IIcon, DnB legend Roni Size. He’s good, the vibe is okay and I can handle at least for an hour or two, until Goldie comes on and suddenly I’m “drum and bassed out”. Never had that before. What now? Yet again rescued by Genosys, a reoccurring theme of the last two years in Bloc 9. This time it’s the wonderful DIY and some proper old school house, a lovely change and straight into Felix Dickinson as the dawn breaks over NYC Downlow, enhanced by the lasers from here and IIcon. So why the occasional “nice one geezer”? What’s that all about? Well something was different this year, at least in my little Glastonbury world. Last year one thing was constant, one thing could, at least for myself, but relied on. Everyone I meet was friendly, happy, smiley, fun and many good conversations were had, lovely moments shared on the dance floor and mostly with “strangers”. This year nothing more than the occasional “nice one geezer”, without rhyme or reason it just wasn’t happening. Was I different, were they different, too much coke, too much alcohol, was I “unlucky”?

😄 finally someone as confused as me by the weird Avril Lavigne love-in - she was absolutely bloody dreadful twenty years ago, how can people be nostalgic for crap! Packaged rebellion in a cellophane wrapper innit, twas always thus

Staves doing 'You're still the one' was excellent. Probably better than Shania.

Dua Lipa - if you click on the image and then click again to zoom in you can see Dua on stage thru a fortuitous gap in the flags Taken from here

Apparently there was

When one is in a diamond mine one does not complain that there's too much similarity amongst the diamonds.

A few more names are missing. Time to seriously start studying and planning. Thanks @kilero

It was right up there with 2017 for me. Funnily enough it was one of the friendliest festivals for me. Lots of random conversations. Admittedly I probably started a lot of them but I think once you start with a positive most people respond with one.

Good for you! Was your wristband also checked?

Thanks to all the people who didn't turn up ten minutes into a set, physically shove past everyone, then just stand right in front of me, effectively pushing me out of my space 🍻

If they book Macca or Radiohead I don't care who else is playing. I'll be there!

FINE

Not a headliner in any sense of the definition. But I will call out Kangaroo Moon since they played, on the Babylon bandstand this year on Sat, their 150th gig at Glasto. No one generally notices these little fringe bands turning up every year but they have been there even a few years before me, what since 1993, and though not to everyones tastes, I have to commend them for their consistent dedication to the event. Respect. They'll probably be there there again next year...

First reunion band? https://pitchfork.com/news/sunset-rubdown-announce-tour-and-first-album-in-15-years-share-song-listen/ Now just need Galaxie 500, Portishead, Sade, Talking Heads, The Replacements, mbv and Slint to look at coming back.

After that we go to your area, Tebay. As long as the guts can last that long. Reading this thread looks like some folk need a fallow year to recover😉

the farm doing 'the bankrobber' was very good

I’m very much of the have it so you don’t need it school of thought. Mind you I get to park my car next to a pre-delivered caravan so if there’s even a chance I or someone in my wider group might need something I tend to pack it.

Might as well say it ACDC there, someone had to say it !

Given the shift in demographics and the overall appetite for electronic music, I reckon every night at least 2/5, or even better, 3/5 of the main stages (Pyramid, Other, WH, Park and Woodsies) should be a big electronic act. And I mean the biggest stages. The Pyramid needs some big electronica acts on, as does the Other. Seems almost like the festival has gone backwards in this regard. Been years since there was a huge electronica act headlining either of those two stages.

Always a delight to have you join us but next year eat some food!!

Leeds reading and Shambala available on Oxfam now as well

Dunno if many folk are clamouring for him. But I dunno if the repeated rumours can be completely be dismissed out of hand. And, as will now be a standard comeback that we will see deployed on here forevermore, he'll get a bigger crowd than SZA.

I was watching it live on TV and when it zoomed in on you I was almost like ' oooh it's Crazyfool' to my gf but thought explaining how I knew you would take too long lol With regards to the job- there must surely be jobs occasionally going at Glasto? Surely there is like admin roles and such like. Not exactly creative but at least you'd work within an organisation you love

Get someone in to do those bits. Or do them yourself? I agree they don't have to, but there's options. I saw Paul Heaton on tour when Jackie fell ill mid-tour. They didn't just use a backing track. I doubt that ever even crossed their mind. The drummer and bass player sang some of Jackie's parts, and Paul sang Rotterdam himself. I guess I'm just from a generation that love stuff like that. I love it when the song sounds different to the album because of the challenges of performing it live. I actively prefer that. If I want it to sound just like it does on the record I can listen to the record. The joy is in seeing it recreated in a live environment. But then I get that for acts like Dua Lipa, the joy of the live performance is actually in the "show" - the dancing, the choreography, the lighting and so on... they're very different beasts. (And frankly why I suspect we'll never have a consensus of an act like that on the Pyramid being brilliant because the sightlines aren't great and lots of people there won't be able to really experience that part of it.)

I'm always up for people enjoying whatever they want at glastonbury, and everyone flocking to one stage or another for the big nostalgic thing frees up the rest of the site to be quieter, which is a great thing. I had a stupendous nap in the astrolabe when Shania Twain was on, waking up in time for a little stroll up to Woodsies for Kim Gordon that didnt involve wending my way past fifty thousand cowboy hats. I guess the same people would be asking me why i wanted to see Kim Gordon when she's not with Sonic Youth any more, why bother with stuff thats past its best 😆

Someone spotted my non-binary patch on my bag and asked if it was okay to give me a hug, from one human to another. They took me by surprise but it was very welcomed and wholesome, made me smile 😊

Yes day tickets are a thing

theoretically yes, but you often have to vote for an even worse c**t to get rid of the c**t you don't like

For me, phones have ruined this aspect of festivals.

Really appreciated , thanks the hope was to make some people smile and it definately seems to achieve that . The festival has lost a little of the punter interaction over the years and it also means I interact with a huge number of people in a positive manner which isn’t always the way in my supermarket role . I’m hoping it might lead to something positive job wise outside of creating hats . It’s definately something for the CV . Suggestions welcome 🙂

I just wanted to drop in and say the actual SQUEAL I made in the crowd when CrazyFool popped up. Everybody looked at me and I basically had to explain to my husband that I “knew of and am on a festival forum with him”. 😂 He thinks I’m mad but it was one of the best memories of the festival because you put so much effort and thought into them. Nice to see them recognised GLOBALLY ❤️

Hi! Don't blame you, these days I read the forums occasionally, but can rarely find the time to contribute. Katharina x

Great read as always Skip, we will bump into one another one year.

Everyone I met or saw were brilliant Plenty of great people young and old I met to have a chat or dance with. Fantastic crowd.

Hey @Crazyfool01, you make an appearance on Coldplay’s newest insta reel. Hope this link works: https://www.instagram.com/stories/coldplay/3408595390480770485?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=MTdoODF5MW01MXg5YQ==!

Rumor has it (Italian photographer for I-Days) Josh has hernia. I think they canceled the obvious dates where a recovery is impossible and wait for an update after the surgery to decide on the rest. Unfortunately I don‘t see him playing 7 shows in 14 days only 4.5 weeks after emergency surgery for hernia. Fingers crossed but I don‘t have my hopes up. Hopefully they can reschedule the headline shows for the fall.

Thank you, good review and cheers for using some of my photos (the final thoughts section).

His video is designed to discredit, delegitimise and demoralise. Its not welcome.

There's already a wish machine for 2025. And since these names are already suggested to choose, can we expect to see something from this list?

Because they don’t want to pass illness onto others especially old and vulnerable ?

I think there will be enough dance and rap/hip hop/grime acts touring each year to make the new stage a success if it proves a hit this year. Just off the top of my head for potential headliners in the next few years Bicep, Camelphat, Justice, Becky Hill, Charlie XCX, Barry Cant Swim, Blessed Madonna, Peggy Gou, Switch Disco, Chase and Status, The Streets, Central Cee, Steve Lacy, Shy FX, LF System.

Calling bullshit, not a single Twix eaten in 31 hours of trying. How did he sustain himself?

How does it work?

After all that he got in just in time for Coldplay. Serves the c8nt right.

"The festival should change its entire operation so that I, the main character, can be the only one who waltzes straight into the big names without having to plan or sacrifice anything else"

If that is the case why is there not more dance/ DnB music on during the day on the main stages? - eg to 'compete' against non-dance music. I passed through SEC on two separate days around 2-4am and watched the various crowds, the vast majority (95%+) was just standing there talking or on their phones - not even swaying or moving. for most people It's a tourist place to be visted