festivals report in the observer yesterday

[russycarps]

anyone read it? http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/mar/31/out-love-british-music-festival

nothing new here. I reckon festivals are dying as most of the music in the public eye these days is utter garbage.

What depresses me is that there will never ever be another paul mccartney/david bowie/leonard cohen/bob dylan/john lennon etc. There will never be another legendary artist.

Why is this? And if I'm wrong, who are they then?

[jump]

anyone read it? http://www.guardian....-music-festival

nothing new here. I reckon festivals are dying as most of the music in the public eye these days is utter garbage.

What depresses me is that there will never ever be another paul mccartney/david bowie/leonard cohen/bob dylan/john lennon etc. There will never be another legendary artist.

Why is this? And if I'm wrong, who are they then?

[grumpyhack]

It's a brave person who puts up money to stage a music festival when there's so much other competition for our limited cash. A few years ago the Association of Festival Organisers commissioned a study into competition in the festival world which concluded that the biggest competitor or festivals was cheap package holidays. A week in the sun can cost less than a long weekend in a muddy field. But it would be a tragedy if more festivals go under. Hopefully when the Olympics are over things will settle down again.

For me nothing beats the live music experience or friendship at a good festival. This summer I've got four instead of my usual three.

[russycarps]

Lady Gaga & Pete Doherty!!! .....

[jump]

the sad thing is...you're quite right! Maybe not so much lady gaga, but pete doherty...there are loads of people who would rate him as one of the most important artist of the 2000s. Dont get me wrong, I quite like a couple of babyshambles songs and quite like a couple of libertines songs but both bands get about a 2/10 from me when compared to every band ever to have existed.

I actually quite like his "rockstar" lifestyle though. Shagging supermodels, heroin and all that other guff. That's what I want from my rockstars.

Just a shame his music is largely shite

[russycarps]

a glastonbury was what, £120 in 2005? And in 2013 it is undoubtedly going to be over £200.

I know there is an argument that even £200 is value for money, but that level of inflation is disgraceful.

I understand quite well that the increase is largely due to the masses of red tape and ridiculous health and safety costs etc, but regardless of whose fault it is, it is hard to justify paying £200 on a ticket, especially when the glastonbury atmosphere has all but disappeared.

I'd rather see the festival end than turn into just another V festival. And that is the direction it is heading in, no doubt about it.

Hopefully festivals ARE becoming less trendy, then glastonbury can downsize, slash the capacity, and most certainly stop booking ridiculous headline acts such as beyonce etc.

A festival used to be a gathering of like minded people. Can anyone honestly say that is an accurate description of what glastonbury is these days? Have a wander around the pyramid or other stage. It is horrendous.

I'd love it if the pyramid stage and other stage were scrapped, and leave the rest alone. That would be a massive improvement, and would see ticket prices drop to £100.

Edited April 2, 2012 by russycarps

[russycarps]

They both annoy me but I can see why they could be consider so important to some people but couldn't you use the same arguement for Lady Gaga that you just used for Doherty? She plays into the whole over the top life style shit too.

[t8yman]

ive never been to glasto, and tbh i cant think of anything i would like less festival wise. but i fear it has become a victim of its own success. festivals are eating themselves. it has been fashionable to be a festie goer for a few years, the sooner the trend reverses the better for the scene as a whole imho.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

a glastonbury was what, £120 in 2005? And in 2013 it is undoubtedly going to be over £200.

I know there is an argument that even £200 is value for money, but that level of inflation is disgraceful.

I understand quite well that the increase is largely due to the masses of red tape and ridiculous health and safety costs etc, but regardless of whose fault it is, it is hard to justify paying £200 on a ticket, especially when the glastonbury atmosphere has all but disappeared.

I'd rather see the festival end than turn into just another V festival. And that is the direction it is heading in, no doubt about it.

Hopefully festivals ARE becoming less trendy, then glastonbury can downsize, slash the capacity, and most certainly stop booking ridiculous headline acts such as beyonce etc.

A festival used to be a gathering of like minded people. Can anyone honestly say that is an accurate description of what glastonbury is these days? Have a wander around the pyramid or other stage. It is horrendous.

I'd love it if the pyramid stage and other stage were scrapped, and leave the rest alone. That would be a massive improvement, and would see ticket prices drop to £100.

[eFestivals]

ive never been to glasto, and tbh i cant think of anything i would like less festival wise.

people who go to festivals regularly but have never been to Glasto tend very much to say that, as their cover for their ignorance.

Perhaps you're right, perhaps it would be the worst festival you could go to. But the facts of others who've said much as you have here but who have later swallowed their pride and gone and seen for themselves gets to show that in the vast majority of cases, people who say what you have here are talking out of their arse.

You should try it some time, so that you can discover that the gigs in a field that you've attended up till now are not what festivals can be. They can be all of that and a massive amount more.

[jump]

probably, I dunno. I dont like either of them really and certainly dont view them as legends. But Doherty has a following of hardcore obsessive fans that really do view him as the messiah. He must be doing something right somewhere. But meh, I dont like either of them. It is a sad state of affairs that either of them are as popular as they are really

I just think most of the music that has "broken through" in the 2000s has been appalling, and festivals are paying for that now.

Hence all the endless 90s bands headlining everywhere

[zahidf]

people who go to festivals regularly but have never been to Glasto tend very much to say that, as their cover for their ignorance.

Perhaps you're right, perhaps it would be the worst festival you could go to. But the facts of others who've said much as you have here but who have later swallowed their pride and gone and seen for themselves gets to show that in the vast majority of cases, people who say what you have here are talking out of their arse.

You should try it some time, so that you can discover that the gigs in a field that you've attended up till now are not what festivals can be. They can be all of that and a massive amount more.

[Alcatraz]

What depresses me is that there will never ever be another paul mccartney/david bowie/leonard cohen/bob dylan/john lennon etc. There will never be another legendary artist.

[russycarps]

But there's loads of other events taking place at Glastonbury that you'll not get at V. It's not all about the music. I do agree with you though that some music acts are painful to bear. I go to just to 'live' with my mates for 4 or 5 days of the year and have the craic. That hasn't changed or diminished from when I first started going until last year. There's still plenty of joy and happiness to be had in that natural amphitheatre.

[russycarps]

Can we really say that though? A guy like Jack White for instance, I can see making music til the day he dies, and give it 20 years and people will be clamouring to hear White Stripes songs. Yeah he may not be as groundbreaking as Dylan, but Dylan came at a time of massive historic significance

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

But imagine glastonbury with a capacity of say 40,000 with no pyramid stage and no other stage, and none of the people who only hang around at those stages. But with all the other gooodies remaining, and a £100 ticket price.

That would indeed be pretty fab there can be no denying. Maybe in 2013 you should avoid the Pyramid and Other stages a little bit more. Get back out to other parts of the fest and leave the kids to their nonesense at the two main stages. Maybe you already do this - it was just a thought.

[Rufus Gwertigan]

Oh I agree with everything you say. But imagine glastonbury with a capacity of say 40,000 with no pyramid stage and no other stage, and none of the people who only hang around at those stages. But with all the other gooodies remaining, and a £100 ticket price. Now that is what I would like to see.

I wonder what % of the £200 ticket price goes to paying the mega stars on the pyramid stage? I reckon its 50% at least (pure guesswork admittedly).

I love glastonbury and have had the best time of my life there, but paying £200+ for what the festival is becoming is gettign hard to justify..

Of course I will still be going in 2013, I've been moaning like this for the last 5 years at least! but I do also worry about future headliners. Whilst it is all the little bits and pieces that make the festival as great as it is, there is still nothing quite like a mccartney 2004, or a david bowie 2000 set. And I wonder if we will ever see another set like those again, given that there are no obvious replacements for the likes of them.

I am loathe to pay £200 to fund lady gaga or katy perry

[russycarps]

But imagine glastonbury with a capacity of say 40,000 with no pyramid stage and no other stage, and none of the people who only hang around at those stages. But with all the other gooodies remaining, and a £100 ticket price.

That would indeed be pretty fab there can be no denying. Maybe in 2013 you should avoid the Pyramid and Other stages a little bit more. Get back out to other parts of the fest and leave the kids to their nonesense at the two main stages. Maybe you already do this - it was just a thought.

[russycarps]

Glastonbury isn't what russycarps wants it to be anymore

stop the press

[russycarps]

part of the reason why there'll never be another Lennon/Beatles/Elvis/Dylan etc is because it can never be new, as it was the first time round, again

[strummer77]

I wonder how many of the people who enjoy the more weird and wonderful side of glastonbury, and make it the weird and wonderful place it is, will be able to afford these skyhigh prices? Without those punters, that side of the festival festival is nothing.

[strummer77]

that makes no sense. I dont want someone to replicate their work, I want someone to replicate their levels of innovation and imagination.

Where are they all? Why do they not exist?

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

Oh I do, believe me. I only trekked to the pyramid I think for paul simon, U2 and maybe a couple of others. But I dunno, £200+ is pricing a lot of people out of glastonbury (most of my friends have ditched it).

**mass generalisation alert**

I wonder how many of the people who enjoy the more weird and wonderful side of glastonbury, and make it the weird and wonderful place it is, will be able to afford these skyhigh prices? Without those punters, that side of the festival festival is nothing.

[strummer77]

a lot of what you don't like it about it any more will be as much to do with your familiarity with the festival. Anyone who goes for the first time is, 99 times out of a hundred, gobsmacked by the experience

Edited April 2, 2012 by strummer77

[russycarps]

A lot won't do it. I think that now the ticket will break the 200 barrier at face value, many will decide against it.

I won't because it makes my summer, but for many I think £200 will be reaching a milestone they won't want to pay. Which is a shame.