this festival is awful

[MEGABOWL]

I thought the point Neil was making was that Glastonbury is a 'festival', not just a 'music festival'.

Anyway, festivals are horses for courses, but I have to say, some of the criteria used for comparison are strange-Reading costs less??!!

[_rob]

But bands like Rage Against The Machine, Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, Slayer, Eminem, Tenacious D, Foo Fighters haven't played Glasto but have Reading and probably never will and vice versa.

The Foo Fighters when they headline last time even slagged glasto off. Both have sense of the kind of bands that should and shouldn't play, and I like to see the likes of Nine Inch Nails, Rage etc not because they are heavy but they are brilliant bands.

[eFestivals]

I agree. My basic complaint is that this is far more true this year than usual.

while there might be a tad more this year than normal, it's always the case that a large chunk of the bands at Reading can also be seen at Glasto. As has been said in this thread already, there's more than enough at Glastonbury to keep any music fan (as opposed to one-genre-only fan) happy. Far too many people judge Glastonbury by its main stage headliners.

[eFestivals]

Why publicise Reading on eFestivals then and not eGigs?

because it calls itself a festival, and via the criteria we use here for what is a festival and what is not, it's a festival.

But that doesn't alter the fact that, when put alongside Glastonbury, Reading is little more than a big gig.

[eFestivals]

But bands like Rage Against The Machine, Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, Slayer, Eminem, Tenacious D, Foo Fighters haven't played Glasto but have Reading and probably never will and vice versa.

WRONG!!!

RATM & Foos both played Glasto before they played Reading.

[eFestivals]

But After Jay Z they are too scared of a backlash to try anything out of the norm again.

No they're not.

They simply avoided doing the same again this year as they didn't want a repeat of the troubles that pathetic backlash caused them last year, so that the festival remains known for what it does rather than for blown-up-waaaay-out-of-proportion controversy.

[travelling mr pastry]

dont forget nine inch nails.

[eFestivals]

So you disagree with me, but then rephrased my point???

No, I said something entirely different. Glastonbury are not scared of doing something similar again as you suggested, they merely avoided doing something similar for this year.

But anyway, in any comparison, it's certainly not Glastonbury that has fear of doing anything different, as the line-ups for Reading get to prove year after year after year after year after year after year.

[Marshall]

WRONG!!!

RATM & Foos both played Glasto before they played Reading.

[MEGABOWL]

I will extend I what I mean by scared, Glastonbury have as so much pride in themsleves that when they tried to put on as Eavis said "something for the kids" it completely failed, caused a backlash and was so vein in being the best festival in the world they were giving away tixs at the door, that this year they want to be the best festival in the world by the doing everything in the norm and if they try to put on someone like Jay Z or Metallica the would rethink it because of this.

Reading already had a rapper headline, and besides I have already said Glastonbury has the stronger line up.

[pedmills]

Reading is only better for people who in bed by midnight, don't mind arenas, have no interest in non-musical activities and only like indie rock, emo or heavy metal.

If you aren't one of those people and still prefer Reading to Glastonbury then its probably due to some personal reason (e.g. more of your friends go to Reading).

[Marshall]

Reading is only better for people who in bed by midnight

[eFestivals]

I will extend I what I mean by scared, Glastonbury have as so much pride in themsleves that when they tried to put on as Eavis said "something for the kids" it completely failed, caused a backlash and was so vein in being the best festival in the world they were giving away tixs at the door, that this year they want to be the best festival in the world by the doing everything in the norm and if they try to put on someone like Jay Z or Metallica the would rethink it because of this.

You just love to post very very wrong stuff don't you?

Jay-Z was a HUGE success. In no way can it have been said to have failed.

They weren't giving away tickets. It sold out.

It didn't sell out as quick as normal, granted - which just goes to show how many morons there are who think the likes of The Sun is the source for what's worthwhile musically.

[hearing_aid]

no, the cider festivals are a celebration of cider, they have various different ciders from all around, not just the popular ones at wetherspoons.

yes blur in hyde park is a gig in a feild, there is just the music on then when it finishes you go home. its the same at reading, except you go to your tent. if you go to glastonbury you will understand the difference. at reading once the music finishes they kick you out cos they cant sell you anything else in the arena, glastonbury is.... well its very different. i might not be able to articulate it as well as others but yeah.

[Paul ™]

Sorry, they weren't giving away tickets they were selling them for £2 or whatever on the door.

[eFestivals]

Sorry, they weren't giving away tickets they were selling them for £2 or whatever on the door.

you only post VERY wrong things.

I talk to people with experience regardless of the point of view rather than argue with people who have a different view or be as naive/pig headed as to declare what is the best festival like some. I talked to people didn't go to Glastonbury because of Jay Z because it isn't what they expect of Glastonbury but went this year.

oh, well on the same stupid basis, I talk to huge numbers of people who avoid Reading each and every year because they hugely dislike the line-up yet like the types of music that Reading offers. In which case, Reading fails every year.

I btw went to Wireless to see Jay Z and laughed at the the moaning about it. But Jay Z and the other headliners were the cause of the slow sells given that the 1st thing the organizers did after the festival was too assure people it'll be back to normal. And for all you talk of Glastonbury being more than a gig in a field why then did the trouble happen when the headliners were weak, as ultimately festivals are decided on what the big bands are and not the poetry readings, funfairs or other fun activities.

People buy tickets to a particular festival for a whole host of reasons. For the most shallow, it's all about the headliners.

The booking of Jay-Z caused Glastonbury sales problems. Similarly, it can be said that Reading booking Radiohead this year caused Reading similar problems, because demand was down this year compared to last year.

That says nothing about whether or not those bookings were/are failures. Both sold all the tickets it was possible to sell. And then there's the actual performance.

In the case of Jay-Z, Glastonbury got to prove that they got the booking right, and it was the likes of Noel Gallagher and pop-band loving Sun that got it wrong.

But the ego involved with both Glastonbury and Reading do my head, like this thread it can't be about what bands you like play it has too be more, like how you got the Eavis banging on about what they are doing to make it the best festival ever all the time or you bangin on about how Reading isn't a festival just a giga s it conflicts with your opinion of Glastonbury.

the point that I and others are trying to make which it seems you just can't grasp is this....

Music line-ups are just the music line-ups. There is of course a love or hate factor with these due to the subjectivism of the appreciation of music, and any line-up has its place, as do the festivals with those line-ups.

If you take away the music from both, you're left with what are the comparable aspects of each - and on that basis, Glastonbury wins hands down.

But back to the music line-ups. Reading has four stages with approx 200 bands. Glastonbury has around 40 stages with approx 1,200 bands. Again, Glastonbury wins hands down.

And then within those 1200 bands, you have many repeat performances of those bands - and so you have extra opportunity to see all of the bands you might want to see, as it's possible to avoid clashes via those extra performances. Again, Glastonbury wins hands down.

And finally ...... (I'll come back to you with this)......

Edited August 13, 2009 by eFestivals

[eFestivals]

It was on Planetsound at the time.

I'll double check that via my definitive PS source.

[eFestivals]

And finally ...... (I'll come back to you with this)......

..... of the 206 acts that are playing Reading 2009, sixty eight of those acts also played at Glastonbury this year.

Sixty eight bands are more than double what it's possible to see at Reading in three days (if you see the full sets), and probably more than it's possible to see at Glastonbury in the four days those acts played over there.

So it's possible to have more than the full band experience that can be got at Reading at Glastonbury instead - but in a MUCH better setting and at a far cheaper price.

[eFestivals]

I could go with something as stupid as why does Reading win the NME best event awards all the time when Glastonbury doesn't but that's bullshit as there 2 different festivals both with pros and cons and instead of talking opinions you what to talk technical crap, to see what is the technically the best festival.

- here's betting you'd get the reasons for that as wrong as you've got everything else.

Go on then, give me your reasons for why this is, I can do with a laugh.

[travelling mr pastry]

And here you again go again to turn it to which is better, which I haven't trying to do until I bite you crap.

I could go with something as stupid as why does Reading win the NME best event awards all the time

[eFestivals]

I'll double check that via my definitive PS source.

.... and he's just told me - as the man who writes Planetsound - that he's as sure as he can be this far from the time it might have happened that it no such story was published.

(Aside form that, if it were true that tickets are really on sale at that price I'd know about it).

[travelling mr pastry]

The story was something like by the time they got there people started haggling about with the prices and going as low as £2/5 and then just giving them away.

[Paul ™]

The story was something like by the time they got there people started haggling about with the prices and going as low as £2/5 and then just giving them away.

[Ashaz42]

And here you again go again to turn it to which is better, which I haven't trying to do until I bite you crap.

I could go with something as stupid as why does Reading win the NME best event awards all the time when Glastonbury doesn't but that's bullshit as there 2 different festivals both with pros and cons and instead of talking opinions you what to talk technical crap, to see what is the technically the best festival.

[Marshall]

that's not true, Foo Fighters played reading 95 in a rammed tent but as far as I'm aware wasn't at Glastonbury until 98.