Glastonbury Festival 1990. Some snaps and the programme

[michael eavis' beard]

For comparison, here's a shot I took from this year's festival. Not the same orientation I'm afraid, but you can clearly see the Pyramid arena, and can use 'the tree' and the hedges to relate the 1990 and 2014 festivals:

Note that the 1990 photo was probably taken with some sort of profession equipment and the 2014 shot was taken with a phone!

[stuartbert two hats]

Oh my god, I hadn't seen any aerial views of Worthy View! It looks awful!

[michael eavis' beard]

Huge, isn't it? Few more pics here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/44966079@N00/sets/72157644287676071

[stuartbert two hats]

It looks like a colourful concentration camp!

Nice snaps though. How much was the flight out of interest?

[Ted Dansons Wig]

God that looks a long time back (and it is). Bought my ticket (I think) in Virgin records Oxford Street on the Thursday got in a mates car and came down. Parked in the camping fields and stuck the tent up next to the car. Life was so much simpler then. All those earlier ones all just gel togethernow. If you'd have asked me I'd have said 90 was baking hot and the Pixies were on. Just checked and that one was the year before.

[Sawdusty surfer]

I seem to remember '90 being dry. We didn't buy a ticket, just drove our bus in and parked in Undleground. Ended in a massive fight between travellers and security on the Monday.

[kerplunk]

Here's an aerial photo from 1990. Look how close the tents are to the pyramid!

Also note tents in (what became in '92) the sacred space - that's where we camped, right next to the kings oak.

[kerplunk]

I seem to remember '90 being dry. We didn't buy a ticket, just drove our bus in and parked in Undleground. Ended in a massive fight between travellers and security on the Monday.

I don't think it was completely dry - I definitely remember mud!

[glasto-worker]

I don't think it was completely dry - I definitely remember mud!

[kidpresentable]

Interesting stuff, any idea what the capacity was in 1990?

I'm guessing there will have been more people on site than recommended!

[kerplunk]

for sure it was muddy - from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/glastonbury/10141298/Glastonbury-1990-review-mud-rain-and-near-asphyxiation.html

'Love and peace in a muddy war zone

Thousands of rock fans braved wind and rain at the weekend to hear their heroes perform at the Glastonbury Festival '

now I did not keep a diary but I know it was nothing like 1985 but that stands out as it was horrendous and I know we were telling people ' if you think this is bad you should have been here in 1885 '

Aha! So a helicopter DIDN'T actually land during The Cure's set as oft reported - always wondered why I couldn't remember that happening! All is well

Edited July 11, 2014 by kerplunk

[Ted Dansons Wig]

for sure it was muddy - from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/glastonbury/10141298/Glastonbury-1990-review-mud-rain-and-near-asphyxiation.html

'Love and peace in a muddy war zone

Thousands of rock fans braved wind and rain at the weekend to hear their heroes perform at the Glastonbury Festival '

now I did not keep a diary but I know it was nothing like 1985 but that stands out as it was horrendous and I know we were telling people ' if you think this is bad you should have been here in 1885 '

[scorp]

Nice - 1990 was my first year. I was at a house party in Leicester the weekend before drunkenly singing Waterboys songs. Some randoms at the party, who were waterboys fans, said 'you ought to come to glastonbury festival with us next week' and that was that.

[scorp]

Jesus - I knew you were old Glasto but have you really been going that long?

[Ted Dansons Wig]

maybe younger than me :-) I was at the 2nd ever Reading, in '71, with a friend who was on a bad/bizarre lsd trip [he was trapped in a corridor and couldn't get out; all the doors were locked. After a few hours of lying next to me in silence he managed to poke me with his little finger and tell me what was going on, and could i talk to him and get him out of thecorridor; the talking worked]. also there were some cops very poorly disguised as hippies. everybody laughed at them. after that it was the windsor free fests for me. i've got a friend who went to woodstock as a very young woman, and a friend who went to glasto in '78 and resumed going only last year. sadly, i never made it to the early Isle of Wight fests, or Glasto until 1990.

[glasto-worker]

Jesus - I knew you were old Glasto but have you really been going that long?

[scorp]

You really ARE an old fart Scorp

I started out with the convoy fests first and graduated to Glastonbury in 81. Before that it was Deeply Vale up above Blackburn and Stonehenge. Had a couple of years of going down for a week at Henge before hitching down the A303 to Glastonbury. That was before the police took the action they did of course

Edited July 11, 2014 by scorp

[Sawdusty surfer]

Picture of our Bedford Blim Bus, Undleground 1990. So wish I still had her.

[Pinhead]

Looks so gloriously haphazard! Miss those days, though I began my Glasto career in 1994. Some of the 1990 features were definitely still around by then however (except the MkII stage). Surprised to discover it was a wet(ish) year in 1990 - one of the longest and hottest summers I can remember was that year - I remember as I was out chasing crop circles around Wiltshire at the time....

[glasto-worker]

Interesting stuff, any idea what the capacity was in 1990?

I'm guessing there will have been more people on site than recommended!

[Ted Dansons Wig]

i might be a fossil but i still weigh what I did when I was 20, which isn't much, and have the same spirit 'n outlook 'n all that kinda sh*t :-) Were you part of the battle of the beanfield and, later the Peace Convoy? I hear the younger ones here wondering wtf, what's the Peace Convoy? They can look up the battle of the beanfield. Here is convoy stuff; it was shot i'd say 1993-ish [looking at what ME is wearing, it's 93 or 94], and includes video in the fest:

[kerplunk]

i might be a fossil but i still weigh what I did when I was 20, which isn't much, and have the same spirit 'n outlook 'n all that kinda sh*t :-) Were you part of the battle of the beanfield and, later the Peace Convoy? I hear the younger ones here wondering wtf, what's the Peace Convoy? They can look up the battle of the beanfield. Here is convoy stuff; it was shot i'd say 1993-ish [looking at what ME is wearing, it's 93 or 94], and includes video in the fest:

No the Showdown at Glastonbury documentaries were defo 1992. It's the story of the festivals return after a year off (after the problems in 1990). I keep meaning to dig out my VHS tape of those docs and get it digitized cos there's an episode missing on youtube.

ps. I've got a poster of the artwork on ME's t-shirt on my wall bought at the fest in 1990.

Edited July 11, 2014 by kerplunk

[scorp]

No the Showdown at Glastonbury documentaries were defo 1992. It's the story of the festivals return after a year off (after the problems in 1990). I keep meaning to dig out my VHS tape of those docs and get it digitized cos there's an episode missing on youtube.

ps. I've got a poster of the artwork on ME's t-shirt on my wall bought at the fest in 1990.

Edited July 11, 2014 by scorp

[Sawdusty surfer]

scorp, I knew Bongo, her partner was called Offshore. They ended up starting The Offshore State Circus and mid 90's onwards tended to park up in London in a decca.

[kerplunk]

it talks about the fest starting 22 years ago, i.e. 1970 if it was 1992, but i thought that was a mistake or guesswork. i bought two of our daughters a glasto top in 93 and/or 94 and thought it looked like that. maybe i bought them in '92. i always had respect for the new ager travellers/convoyers, and knew some by 1995; types who camped in benders and horse drawn wooden gypsy wagons. by about 2002 i knew Bongo, a female who had her own bus. She used to mix music 'n stuff [visual effects] for Coldcut. i was on the hippy trail to india in '75, which is another reason why Glasto, and new age travellers, chimed and still chime with me. see my hippy trail pics, for anyone who's interested. a lot of people who went to india even in recent years have had an effect on the culture of the fest...cus they came to it/come to it, and sell stuff [clothes etc from India and Nepal], or used to, and spread the hippy vibe. anyway, trail pics. yep, we went through a very peaceful Afghanistan, by bus. the pics are in random order, but i guess that's appropriate :-) Hover over each pic to see its caption. you got any other pics from your bus says. i would have seen you bus in '90. i loved that part of the fest. still do. https://www.flickr.com/photos/13893444@N03/sets/72157622265297051/

If you squint you can see '90 on ME's t-shirt top right of the artwork - matches my poster exactly.

One of the aformentioned random waterboys fans used to run over-land trips to india in a big converted truck with bunk beds in the back - you can't do that now can you!