So 2014. Thoughts?

[ThomThomDrum]

I for one had a good one Prety enjoyable all round but man were those showers a fucker when they came!! Some crazy ass rain!

It restricted us is our movement somewhat (as did that Dolly crowd!) and I ended up seeing acts I would never choose to see as a result but I can deal with that sort of thing nowadays

It was not a vintage year for me personally and not one gig blew me away but I was impressed with the likes of Metallica and enjoyed Royal Blood. Most sets I saw were hit and miss however

One thing I will take away from this year is that the generational changing of the gaurd was even more evident yet again.

Still love the place but some aspects are still changing in a ways in which I'm simply not willing or able to follow. It won't yet stop me going back!

Roll on ticket day

[Englishdragon]

Just had a bath and chilling out now, left the site at 8pm and got in the door just before 1 so a 5 hour drive (was 6 and a bit getting down on Thursday)

Initial thoughts

Thought Arcade Fire and Metallica pulled their headline sets off really well, Metallica was great throughout and while Arcade fire bored me at times Wake up was one of the best moments Ive seen at a gig.

Royal Blood were by far the best band of the weekend, If those 2 dont move up in the next year or so Id be shocked.

I thought the site held up really well, those who think otherwise Id advice you to go watch videos of Leeds 08 or 11. The downpours really fucked the place up when they came but it never felt like a chore to get around site and it looked like a different festival yesterday after a few hours of sun.

Bad Points

Might get slated for this but I thought the food went way downhill this year, anything out of the ordinary has just skyrocketed. Went to the Japanese noodle bar near West Holts last year and it was £6 for tempura and and a massive tub of BBQ noodles, £9 this year! and today I went to a indian wrap stall and paid £9 for a wrap that (while tasty) took all of 30 seconds and 3 bites to eat.

Also while I thought the overall atmostphere got better the isolated dick heads took their antics to a whole new level and some of which Ill bring up in the next few days. Just as a taster I have to say the absolute fucking morons who brought a set of golf clubs to the festival and were hitting golf balls into the crowd at the other stage on Saturday just took the word dick head to a whole new level.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Englishdragon

[freeak]

That's shocking about the golf balls, I hope they were dealt with by the police or security.

[Starks]

I was going to say there are always twats at the festival but seriously what the fuck golf clubs at the other stage that is beyond another level.

I don't usually condone violence but maybe there is a time and a place.

[jimmyt]

Glastonbury was a total bonus for me this year - not going into details but I only got my ticket sorted out last Sunday and by ticket I mean wristband in the post. Having not obsessed over the line up for months, I had a very unrestricted time in that anything I saw was what I felt like at the time because nothing had become essential in my mind. Highlights for me were Royal Blood, J5, White Lies, Manics, Jagwar Ma in the torrential downpour and the William's Green area after hours - much more fun than the SE corner and the continually disappointing Arcadia set-ups. And The Blues remains my go-to area when I'm doing nothing in particular for a second year on the trot.

Super time, isn't it always?! Just arriving back home in time to get ready for teaching kids later this morning!

[Swine_Glasto2014]

Metallica awesone....

Agree about the food, piss poor really.

Arcadia is sadly being forced into health n safety, restricted waste of time. The South East Corner is where it belongs.

Shangri la was shite, lost the alleys, very dull.

Hundreds of.highlights

[phil the shrew]

Another good one for me.

Showers clearly had an impact on the week, but thought all things considered the site coped pretty well and credit should go to the teams that put wood chip down to help. Might be wrong but don't think any area or camp site got closed due to the mud or flooding

Music wise went more off the beaten track more this year and really enjoyed it. Rabbit Hole would be my favourite but nice to see acts close up. Can't knock the spectacle of the pyramid and other stage but for me they are getting too much like V fest with crowds just sat there all day talking through half the acts!

Exception to that was the English National Ballet today. Crowd was totally silent which was increadiably atmospheric. Never seen ballet before and found it pretty moving

Roll on next year! And the stress of trying to get a ticket

[budvar]

Another great festival. My 9th visit to Worthy Farm and I left with countless more happy memories.

Last year felt like my best ever. This year didn't reach that height (did Michael Eavis say it was the best one ever in his press conference; concerning if not because he always does!) but I think that was as much down to the group I was with and the line-up not fitting my personal tastes so well. Personally I thought the atmosphere was great and the crowd were generally wonderful. I honestly did not see so much as a cross word exchanged during my 5 full days on the farm.

One specific note; I could be well off here, but the make-up of attendees felt a little more ethnically diverse to me. Perhaps I started to look out for it after forming that hypothesis in my mind - would be interested to hear whether others agree.

[PurpleFire]

Amazing 5 days, and was better than my first one last year! The sound qaulity was epic and all but one stage...Silver Hayes when are they going to just have a normal tent or stage! Annie Mac was so quiet you could hear the Gully and the Blue stages clearer than in one of the wings of the tent!

Weather was fine except for that appololypse on the Friday and I'm coming back with my nose and back peeling so it couldn't have been that bad!

Late night areas are now becoming a lot of people's main attraction and consequently they are now way to small! Arcadia was unsafe with the entrances and the crowd levels! I walked back from Shangri la last year at 5 am and the place was empty but did the same this year, Sam day same time and it was manic!

The music was fine, the cider was flowing and sad that it's over!

Thanks all! X

[T-Bhoy]

Who the fuck brings a set of golf clubs into a festival and starts launching balls into the crowd?!!That crazy.Lucky someone didnt get a bad one.Well they might of and we just havent heard yet.

[TheNewUnion]

I think the expression "not a vintage year" sums it up for me. Really enjoyed it, saw some great bands, met some great people and had an all round lovely time but movements were limited and I only arrived on site on Friday afternoon so feel like I missed out on too much. I'd say it was probably the worst of the 6 I've been too but that was more as a result of injury shortening my festival rather than the festival itself.

re Golf clubs, I can't even fathom what the hell is going on in some peoples heads - I assume there must be an explanation but I can't think of one. For me I thought the atmosphere was very good and I encountered less dick heads that in the past. My main gripe this year was people not looking where they are going or just hurtling along as fast as they care and barging through anyone who is in their way.

[baxterboy]

Hard work.

[TheNewUnion]

Hard work.

[5co77ie]

very enjoyable, one of my favourites for seeing stuff, though I missed loads, for me Airnadette were easily the act of the weekend, how long did that take to create? Very, very clever! Bit surprised the row behind me left when 2 of them did the line-of coke along the whole stage front (perhaps they were tired, surely not some form of protest?)

I watched more theatre than usual, met loads of happy friends and strangers, the cider was lovely! Attila's 25th year anniversary show was a joy.

I wish I'd seen Royal Blood, but did see Turtle Island, Dolly, War On Drugs, Radiohponic Workshop, Pretty Lights, and Metallica. Ate some wonderful meals, Yalla Yalla in Glastonbury who would have guessed.

Lost both my rain coats - one getting knicked I'm sure, and there was a lot more thefts it seemed from people talking.

Worth the ticket price.

But what about cancellations? Were Bushy One String, and Lizzo there? Did they play at different times? I know Hobo Jones cancelled due to an imminent birth (Miser Bill)

Edited June 30, 2014 by 5co77ie

[A Guy Called Matt]

First GF and I want to go every year now.

The rain was heavy but we were prepared so not too bad though walking got tiring.

Food, we thought, was excellent except near Pyramid where it was overpriced yuk.

We are not veggies but eat veggie lots when out - I really do recommend it - huge amounts of food and very filling.

Excellent music - saw stuff we did not plan on seeing and missed stuff we did plan on seeing but did not care.

Saw so much yet saw so little.

Met fantastic people.

[she bangs the drums]

Was my 4th visit and had a good time. Mud made it hard work at times especially as I was assisting my wife who has cerebral palsy so wet weather has a big impact on us getting around the site. Saw some great things musically Royal Blood, Reignwolf and Metallica and also really enjoyed Blondie and Dolly with loads of people crying around me when she sang I will always love you! Rain messed up the 3 bands I wanted to see (Jimmi Goodwin,Paarquet Courts and Interpol) as Jimmi's set cut short after only a few songs, hung around for about an hour but no sign on Parquet Courts so walked down to Other Stage to watch Interpol but Foster the People were just coming on and had already arranged to meet my wife at the Pyramid for Elbow so didn't really see any of the bands with. The times being out of sync! Seemed like there was a lot more knob heads and people drinking and taking drugs even more excessively than normal. Saw some poor lad carried across the Pyramid Stage to the Medical Centre before the Black Keys yesterday, looked in a very serious condition, really hope he made it. Lots more people talking during sets. Roll on next year.

[The 38 year old virgin]

First GF and I want to go every year now.

The rain was heavy but we were prepared so not too bad though walking got tiring.

Food, we thought, was excellent except near Pyramid where it was overpriced yuk.

We are not veggies but eat veggie lots when out - I really do recommend it - huge amounts of food and very filling.

Excellent music - saw stuff we did not plan on seeing and missed stuff we did plan on seeing but did not care.

Saw so much yet saw so little.

Met fantastic people.

[rachmac]

This was my 10th year and one of the best for me. I think being forced to camp somewhere different - we often camped in Park Home (where Arcadia is now) or the other side of the hedge in Dairy, this year we ending up in Baileys - and I think not walking up/down the hill, but across it, every day made it easier - and actually everything seemed closer to me!

Thursday seemed a bit quieter this year - sure there was more going on in the day last year but did make dopplegangers for first time ever which was fun. But had a good time in William's Green that night. Friday was our music day, we saw 5 bands (more than last year put together) and Crystal Fighters and Arcade Fire were particular highlights. Saturday was spent mostly in the circus/theatre but we did watch Lana Del Rey sat on the hill by the tree in the sunshine before the rain arrived (and it was great fun watching the mexican wave of raincoat putting on sweep over Pyramid). Sunday again lots of circus and White Lies. We did leave around 8pm on Sunday as we werent fussed by headliners and were feeling a bit broken which was hard to do but ultimately the right decision.

I have to say also, that a lot of what I fed back on a survey I did had actually been actioned - felt like much fewer vehicles on site this year, the big tap was stopping when you released it rather than pumping 5litres of water out every time. I also have to say that I feel the site held up really well and there was obviously much more preparation for the mud - they were laying stones by park entrance on Wednesday and the bark made a huge difference!

[Morse Code]

Will comment on the music later but thought it worth commenting on the site layout and how it held up to weather.

Thought the new Arcadia location worked if only to break up the late night crowds. Not really my scene so apologies to anyone who was disappointed with Arcadia being where it was. I was also really surprised how much space there was around the camp sites. Where did all the displaced tents from the Arcadia area go?!

I also thought the site held up remarkably well to the weather. Yes there was mud, of course there was, but given the amount of rain that fell at times I thought it was going to be far worse. The wood chippings worked so well in places too I wonder why there aren't more of them deployed when it does get muddy.

Anyway, all in all a great weekend in the biggest party on the planet. Thank you once again Michael and Emily Eavis

[rachmac]

Thought the new Arcadia location worked if only to break up the late night crowds. Not really my scene so apologies to anyone who was disappointed with Arcadia being where it was. I was also really surprised how much space there was around the camp sites. Where did all the displaced tents from the Arcadia area go?!

[Morse Code]

We were told by campsite crew that there was no additional camping and this is why they/security had been tasked with going around and asking people not to put up gazebos until at least Friday when they knew if there was space because they needed the room for tents. Our campsite crew were enforcing this on Wednesday and going round telling people to take them down - think it depending on crew where you were. They were also using the additional capacity at Worthy View to cover the loss of camping and other off site places. They did however seem to have an extra field or two that they held onto until Thursday morning and opened then for people arriving late and were also being quite strict with people about which campsite you had to go to depending on which gate you arrived at if you arrived on Thursday (although how practically you enforce that I don't know!)

Someone I met from hospitality said that there was an extra 30,000 or 40,000 people turn up on Wed morning (I can't remember which number was correct, may have consumed much wine!) but basically - lots more people turned up Wednesday!

[Stu H]

Had a great time. Weather was poor during those thunderstorms, but the site wasn't too bad, considering.

But, it was as exhausting a Glastonbury as I have been to, and for some reason, it felt much busier than the year before??!!!

We were in Big Ground, never heard of trouble there, and the poor sods next to us were attacked by two guys with tent poles, one smacked a girl, one bloke lost a tooth, the other a split lip. That was 1am on Sat morning. Who goes to Glastonbury to do that?! Really annoys me that a few idiots try and spoil the ethos of the festival.

Also, what's the deal with all the Ket at the festival? Seriously lads, sort your shit out, there were some right states.

Highlights - many, but Paul Heaton and the mass sing-a-long of Caravan Of Love probably topped it for me.

[kalifire]

My first year. I arrived, in retrospect, unecessarrily early, about 5:15am outside Gate A. The queue shortly got a lot longer but I was about twenty yards from the front and had a lengthy wait surrounded by absolute tossers who were pissed as a newt already.

I ended up collapsing in Pennards after being unable to walk to Dairy from Gate A - so! much! walking! Although initially concerned about Pennards, I had no trouble there. It was loud because of its proximity to Arcadia and The Park, but the campers themselves weren't that bad. I had good neighbours and didn't see any thieving or anti-social behaviour there whatsoever.

A no-sleep night before on the Tuesday (I caught about 60 minutes) meant I was off my A-Game on Wednesday and unable to fully take it in and appreciate it all, and I ended up having a nap in a hammock on the hill, temporarily forgetting where I was when I woke and being reminded by the huge Glasto sign. That special moment made up for the sunburn.

Wednesday and Thursday, and actually Friday, were a drunken blur for me. I managed to miss both eFests meet ups and crashed out rather unceremonoiously both nights. I'll not drink so much last year - it spoilt my experience to an extent, but I still had an amazing time.

The night life was incredible, especially Shangri La. Block 9 was amazing to look at but very disappointing once inside, I felt. £2 to enter what was essentially a big room. The 'bathroom stage' outside was far more entertaining. I quickly gave up bothering to queue to get in anywhere - what's the point when there are so many other amazing places to visit? I spent just short of too-long in the nudie portrait place so I think I got away with that, enjoyed the Rumshack and the various art installations. Everything seemed to pack up much earlier on Thursday than Wednesday though, or was that just me?

Band-wise, I loved Metallica, Rodrigo y Gabriella (for which I managed to be in the front row!), Bonobo, The Radiophonic Workshop, Pretty Lights and Dolly among others. I discovered The War On Drugs who I really enjoyed, and Toumani & Sidiki were a perfect lazy Sunday afternoon act to read the Press paper and sip on a Thatchers to. I saw Metallica about half way back so I could enjoy the lasers, and that allowed a quick exit. I soon found myself stumbling into some random hip hop tent and dancing with Bez! (I think it was Bez).

The dickhead level was tolerable, I felt. Stone Circle was spoilt a bit by them but what are you going to do? Maybe I just coincidentally managed to avoid them all. Far too many hipster beards, though.

I saw a lot of drugs being taken quite openly, and came back after 5 days of no news to the report that somebody had died of a Ket overdose this year. I'm sure that will be leapt upon by The News, ignoring the many thousands of enjoyable experiences people also had. I'm not one for drugs aside from alcohol but could have taken a load thanks to the very friendly festival goers, who I prefer to think are not pushers.

Sunday was insane. I definitely felt the impact of a swollen crowd, and noticed far more miserable faces from the locals than I saw elsewhere.

As far as the weather goes, I think we did really well. Yes, the farm was a muddy goo from Friday onwards, but I never once stood in a crowd while it rained. The closest it ever got for me was pre-Metallica, and I watched their set in my poncho but never needed it. I saw countless rain clouds drifting over Worthy Farm without spilling a drop, and when the showers did arrive, I was either asleep (see: Friday morning) or in a tent somewhere. It could have been so much worse.

Ok, those are enough random thoughts. Overall? I loved it. I fucking loved it, but I took on too much. I walked for miles upon miles trying to see it all, but Glasto isn't something you can do in its entirety.

Next year will be even better.

Edited June 30, 2014 by kalifire

[Random Circle]

2 fucking quid for Block 9?! What the actual fuck...

[Matt - Ed Banger Records]

_{Its a donation to charity to buy a tache isn't it?}