Supernintendo Chalmers

Good Livelier, more up-for-it crowds. There was a time a few years back when it felt like the audience was pretty static. Certainly not this year. General atmosphere was on point. Everyone I interacted with was friendly and fun. Arcadia was a success. I think they have a platform to really expand around the dragonfly. Maybe not the exact same wow factor as the spider's first outing, but still very cool. The Temple still reigns supreme as the best micro venue of any festival I've attended. Improved, more organised crowd control measures. The weather. Maybe not as warm and sunny throughout but it was dry and comfortable. Bad No lanyards. Been collecting them for years. Would have been happy to pay for one if they produced a limited run. Some of the artist scheduling this year was baffling. Almost as if it was planned by an intern with no previous experience of the festival. The Brothers cider tasted watered down. Grim, actually. It might finally be time for Shangri-La to get the boot and introduce some new ideas there. Overcrowded, style over substance. The same bottlenecks every year.

I didn't go there this year and I can count on one hand the number of acts I've actually seen there in 16 years but to hear it's seemingly being slowly eroded is sad. It does feel like one of those areas that's part of the furniture at the festival and still really popular, so the whole situation is quite puzzling

Based upon non-coach tickets (they could remain unchanged), I'm spit-balling on the numbers here, but something like: Wednesday-entry: £375 (60% capacity) Thursday-entry: £360 (80% capacity) Friday-entry: £350 (100% capacity) Not only would it regulate capacity when there's less on but it would also spread traffic flow, too. As I said before, it could get confusing and there's bound to be people who take the piss and purposely turn up early in the hope they are let in. A flawed idea, but an idea nonetheless.

And whoever signed-off on Avril Lavigne on the Other Stage should've picked up their P45 yesterday

I wonder if it would help if there were tiered tickets? For instance, a certain percentage of Wednesday-entry, Thursday-entry and Friday-entry tickets? Might be difficult to coordinate, could be confusing and adds to the jeopardy of actually securing a ticket I guess, but it's an idea. Of course that doesn't help the weekend crowd control at all, but would help on Wednesday and Thursday when tens of thousands are scratching around for something to do. Two things are certain: 1. They won't be reducing the punter numbers any time soon, unless there's a significant price increase to compensate. 2. Despite any crowd complaints, it's going to be harder than ever to get a ticket this October/November.

Everything I saw was amazing. A particular (unplanned) highlight was Daria Kolosova on the Temple. I even missed (my previous must-see) Stingray to see out her entire set. The Temple's vibes remain unrivaled at the festival. Or any festival for that matter. When you're in there, it feels like its own little world.

The sound beyond the speakers at Arcadia was poor.

Justice from 22:00-23:15. Set a tiny fraction better in 2017 but the crowd was livelier this year. "Chorus" though. Absolutely mega.

Fabric 25th birthday celebration in Maceo's from 9:30pm on Sunday. So who knows who might drop in...?

I know that Troxler is playing Maceo's at 11pm on Thursday

Have a good one, Captain. Already looking forward to your post-Glastonbury report

The day has finally come. Most of you will be making the pilgrimage to the farm at some point today or tomorrow. Firstly, have a safe journey, however you're traveling. We spend 360 days obsessing over all aspects of the place, from the lineup to the weather and everything in between, and only get 5 days to actually enjoy it. It's easy to be over or underwhelmed when you arrive, given all of the build-up beforehand but keep reminding yourself that your time there is finite and rinse out every minute of it. Have an incredible festival everyone, be safe, look out for each other and just have the best time.

No Justice, no peace

Is there a more beautiful sight than it all lit up? So close now. We talk about it all year, then the Wednesday creeps upon us seemingly from nowhere. I have friends on site now, already having a ball

The National 166 Justice 120 (+10) Fontaines D.C 235

The National 90 Justice 120 (+10) Fontaines D.C 225

No worries!

Thoroughly recommend Origin8a & Propa too!

I won 2 tickets for Deadmau5 at Motion, Bristol for tomorrow night but I can't make it. If anyone would like them for nix, drop me a DM

In Pikes? 100% go see!

The National 70 (-5) Justice 205 (+5) Fontaines D.C 210

Where the heads will be

I won two tickets for Deadmau5 at Motion on Saturday but I can't make it, if anyone would like them. Free to a good home

It's lucky the Polyphonic Spree aren't headlining stadiums...