Boomtown 2018

[stalemate9]

I got as wet as I have ever been on the Friday afternoon, it sucked.

[mr flow]

Yeah, the weather was ridiculous. Sun, Biblical rain, sun, biblical rain, cloud, wind, oh and more biblical rain! It's just sods law that it seems to be the only weekend all summer that's going to experience that amount of rainfall

[eFestivals]

2 minutes ago, mr flow said:

Yeah, the weather was ridiculous. Sun, Biblical rain, sun, biblical rain, cloud, wind, oh and more biblical rain! It's just sods law that it seems to be the only weekend all summer that's going to experience that amount of rainfall

it definitely seems to get the summer storms each year.

I said that forecast would be right.

[amfy]

58 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

it definitely seems to get the summer storms each year.

I said that forecast would be right.

.......& definitely the answer to all those who insisted for years that we should move Glastonbury to August!

[mr flow]

58 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

it definitely seems to get the summer storms each year.

I said that forecast would be right.

Clearly Boomtown have done something to smite the weather gods! Perhaps God loves his drum and bass and is inflicting the bad weather as Boomtown seems to be more and more,  moving away from that kind of scene 

[mr flow]

3 minutes ago, amfy said:

.......& definitely the answer to all those who insisted for years that we should move Glastonbury to August!

Haha, that's a valid point.

Basically, if its a UK festival, then weather is a complete an utter lottery!

[FuzzyDunlop]

Boomtown, now I've finally woken up......

I didnt think I'd find something almost as good as Glastonbury. In fact there are quite a few things I prefer at Boomtown than Glastonbury. The fact you can move around, the fact the crowd are well into it, the fact when it rains, it doesnt get too muddy. Its easy to walk around.

Loads of effort goes into every stage. Nothing is "just a stage" or area. Its a work of art. Production levels are insane.

Sunday night was absolutely mental. People getting into carts, making a track and flying down hills. Its rougher... but everyone is friendly, just having a laugh.

I prefer the variety at glastonbury, Glastonbury has a much better setting... and it is overall better, but its a close one & that's saying something.

Thursday... we had some problems with the security. Let's just say that. Otherwise, it was a great weekend.

Elvana, Limp Bizkit, The Scrapyard & Enrico Sangiuliano were particular highlights.

Nice to meet @bennyhana22 on thursday & a special thanks to @lucyginger & friends for looking after me on Thursday. I hope you all had a good one!

[amfy]

Well - my first Boomtown, and I did it as an Oxfam volunteer following straight on from Bestival, so starting already pretty tired maybe wasn't the best plan!

We arrived Weddnesday and got sent round in circles in terms of getting our caravan to the volunteer field, then bringing the car back to the car park and getting completely lost before our briefing.

We had bit of a wander on Wednesday night because we needed to find the location of our first shift because we were due on at 7.45am. Immediately we were struck by the amazing structures and sights in every direction, and how easy it was to get lost. Like with Glastonbury, it feels vast (although in reality much smaller but with less easy orientation points). We couldn't wait to finish the following days shift at 4pm and get a proper look around.

Thursday - Boomtown Springs and Paradise Heights camping. We got moved around a lot during this shift and enjoyed interacting with everyone coming in. It was only hard because everyone wanted directions and we didn't know anything yet! We helped a few luggage strugglers, but mostly just interacted with people as they came in and had a laugh. Boomtown Springs itself offered a lot of space, excellent loos and showers. The swimming pool was small but definitely a pool - but there was never really the right weather for that to be a goer! The crowd in the weren't a bit aloof and were really fun.

After this we went for a wander round the site. This was our low point of the weekend. Everywhere we went all we could hear was 'doof doof doof' - there didn't seem to be anything else anywhere! We felt old and out of place which I have never felt at any festival before. When we found the location of our night shift for the following night - The Scrapyard, I just wanted to cry. Mr Amfy just walked off (I knew he hated it too) and I couldn't find him, or my way back. I ended up at the foot of a fire tower in a deserted field miles from anywhere begging security to tell me a way back that didn't involve going back IN THERE! When I eventually found my way back to the caravan, Mike & I agreed that we would rather lose our deposit than spend 8 hours in that place, but agreed to sleep on it and maybe talk to Oxfam about being moved in the morning. We knew there'd be younger stewards who would love that shift!

The next morning we realised we had probably overreacted through tiredness and decided not to be needy and just paint a smile on and go and do it! We promised ourselves there was no way we would do that shift with faces like smacked arses and spoil it for the people who loved it - we were going to fake it til we felt it!

Before my shift I went and found The Lions Den which immediately made me feel better! I wanted to see Cutty Ranx who didn't show, but I enjoyed his replacement, and I loved the overall atmosphere of the field which really reminded me of old time  Glastonburies. This was when I knew thee was a Boomtown out there that was for me.

When we got to The Scrapyard it was 15 minutes from opening but already people were gathering. It was half full within seconds of opening. The visuals were amazing. An afternoon which had moved me through from reggae to d&b seemed to have helped me to recognise more to dance to in the sound. The Oxfam crew immediately began to mess about and try out some moves. Before I knew it, I was strangely into it! Not in a way that would make me seek it out again, but I was having fun! Within 45 minutes our 'entrance' had to become 'exit only' for crowd safety reasons. Even before they stopped letting people in at the other end, this was difficult and people just wanted to be let in. We had to be firm. I don't like ruining people's party but the priority is to ensure safety, and letting people in when we had been told not to was potentially endangering them so we had to be as strict as we could! It was hard - people sneaked in as people got out. As the night wore on, people got more insistent. At one point the barrier was kicked right at me and went right over and I picked it up quickly before we were rushed and held it up with the spokes facing the crowd to make them step back so I could put it back in place.

The best moments were when I had told people to go and queue and be patient. I re-assured them that the venue was turning over quickly and they would get in. Within about 10 minutes they would be back on the other side of me screaming excitedly 'You were right! I'm in! I'm in!' And hugging me before rushing off to party! So many hugs and thank your for keeping them safe as people left the venue. More than made up for the aggro!  The worst, & most entitled were 'Crew' - they would not accept that with the numbers of crew on site there could be no exception for them and they were the most often the ones who got physical with us to try and force their way in.

......but the night I had dreaded enough to throw away my deposit, my Glastonbury priority, the lot, was a our BEST shift! We danced, we hugged, we smiled and smiled, we challenged ourselves physically and emotionally and came out on top - we left that shift hurting all over but buzzing!

[amfy]

Saturday was our day off - but having worked a tough shift til 5am, we just about got ourselves ready to be out and about by about 5.30pm. We had already missed Soul ll Soul, Stereo MCs & Johnny Osborne but off we went to try and catch The Selecter and The Gorillaz!

As it turned out we got to nothing on that list! We wandered round Diss-Order Alley and The Hidden Woods for the whole evening. We saw some great bands - we'll never know who they were - in Hangar 161' The Skankin Tent, . Freak Boutique - we'd found our Boomtown! We couldn't resist the odd sentimental wander past The Scrapyard either!

On Sunday I hoped to get to The Dub Pistols before our final shift, but in the end I knew it was pointless as I couldn't have given Dub Pistols energy levels ahead of 8 hours at the Closing at Banghai! 

It had been raining on and off most of the day, but as we walked across the site it got warmer and warmer. I stripped my layers right down to my vest and looked forward to the night ahead. We arrived at a deserted Banghai at 4.45 - this was our shift start time although the show didn't start til 6. The heavens opened. We raced to get all our layers back on and waited for our supervisor - and waited, and waited. We were all completely soaked. In the end, I went to the Oxfam HQ (known as Oxbox) behind the Main Drag to let them know there were 12 stewards waiting at Banghai but no supervisor! They got on to it straight away to find out what had happened and re-allocate someone if necessary. In the meantime, they handed me a radio and put me in charge! This was something of a shock! Anyway - back up at Banghai I stationed the stewards around the arena, told them what we were looking out for, and waited. So - for about an hour and a half I was in charge of  Bang Hai! That was an unexpected ending to the weekend for me.

I enjoyed the Bang Hai shift but after all my hysterics at the prospect of The Scrapyard, I now felt Bang Hai lacked the incredible energy of The Scrapyard! We hadn't had time to follow the story, and it was amusing meeting so many people who were desperate to know where Amii was! Would she be here or Sector 6? What time would they need to make sure they were in position for?

When Amii finally appeared I had no idea what actually happened! It seemed she turned on those who had made her. I thought she came over to the left. I think the twist was that if you make AI, it doesn't make mistakes and therefore knows capitalism is the wrong way to go. I could have all of that wrong!

Anyway - Boomtown - what an amazing, astounding, sometimes appalling, always exhausting experience! The set up is nothing short of incredible at every turn. There is a Boomtown for everyone, but if you are not a d&b or techno fan you may have to hunt it down. Once you find YOUR Boomtown it is as good and better than anywhere. Of all the festivals I've been to, it's the one that touches old Glastonbury, but with new Glastonbury infrastructure. It manages to be an operation of intricate planning and detail, combined with a feeling of anarchy and edginess.

its too early for me to say whether I would go again, I am still too tired! It's taken this long to even be able to write about it! BUT - I am so glad I experienced it - it was really something very special. At an age when it's easy to feel like you've seen and done it all, I feel like I've been on an amazing journey and learnt stuff about people, life and me that I still didn't know. It's been emotional! ?

 

[eFestivals]

4 minutes ago, amfy said:

It's been emotional! ?

I enjoyed reading those.

Question is: would you go again?  

[mr flow]

Yep, also really enjoyed reading that

 

[Sasperella]

52 minutes ago, amfy said:

When Amii finally appeared I had no idea what actually happened! It seemed she turned on those who had made her. I thought she came over to the left. I think the twist was that if you make AI, it doesn't make mistakes and therefore knows capitalism is the wrong way to go. I could have all of that wrong!

 

Aye, that's sort of what i thought - did it all just get a bit "I Robot"? I was a bit drunk by that stage tbf

[Tommy101]

Nice stuff there @amfy.

Reading the rag from Monday apparently those who completed the mazes worked out that if they asked AMI who the man behind the mask was would bring the corporation down - she had access to all Bang Hai information and databases and 'the machine could not be stopped'. She then identified the Bang Hai Boss chap as Nicolas Boom, and he was fabricating the revolt just so he could suppress it and stay in power looking like he was doing an ace job. That was my take on it anyway, I'd like to watch that Sector 6 closing party again to see if it all adds up.

My friends took a rag home, I'll see if they have access to a scanner because there was some really nice stuff in there that seemed to put  a lid on the current story line.

 

Another thing to add was that I noticed far few people absolutely wrecked this year. I make a habit of making sure those who are on their own who look like they are not enjoying themselves if they are OK and all were fine this time. Last year there were a few people who said they were just over pickled and a couple that asked me to get them medical help. I didn't hear about ket half as much as I did last year so perhaps there is a relationship? I don't mean to drug shame though. I did hear a lot more people asking for/being on/accidentally scoring acid this year mind.

[amfy]

13 minutes ago, Tommy101 said:

Nice stuff there @amfy.

Reading the rag from Monday apparently those who completed the mazes worked out that if they asked AMI who the man behind the mask was would bring the corporation down - she had access to all Bang Hai information and databases and 'the machine could not be stopped'. She then identified the Bang Hai Boss chap as Nicolas Boom, and he was fabricating the revolt just so he could suppress it and stay in power looking like he was doing an ace job. That was my take on it anyway, I'd like to watch that Sector 6 closing party again to see if it all adds up.

My friends took a rag home, I'll see if they have access to a scanner because there was some really nice stuff in there that seemed to put  a lid on the current story line.

 

Another thing to add was that I noticed far few people absolutely wrecked this year. I make a habit of making sure those who are on their own who look like they are not enjoying themselves if they are OK and all were fine this time. Last year there were a few people who said they were just over pickled and a couple that asked me to get them medical help. I didn't hear about ket half as much as I did last year so perhaps there is a relationship? I don't mean to drug shame though. I did hear a lot more people asking for/being on/accidentally scoring acid this year mind.

I love the storyline thing - that makes sense from the little I saw and heard. The whole Nicholas Boom pretending to lead the revelution whilst suppressing the people fits with a weird 6th sense I had as the ceremony started up. I like that because, as a Social Worker, we do 'left leaning' work but I have always said we are instruments of the capitalist system because we throw just enough crumbs from the rich man's table to suppress the revolution! (I am a bit odd and maybe over think things sometimes!)

i think I would go again. The hills are actually then main obstacle now! What I can't decide is whether to work or pay. On one hand the shifts left us with so little time and energy to explore, on the other, the work we did pulled us right in, and made us understand and get into it when maybe we wouldn't have done.

[bluedaisy]

@amfy I've heard people say that Boomtown is one of the hardest festivals to volunteer at so I would just like to thank you and the other volunteers for helping to make the festival special. Next time spoil yourself and get a ticket, then you can do the hills on your own terms. ?

[mr flow]

From what little i have been told, the new story line will be based around core values that the team behind it feel strongly about. I think AMII mentioned something about sustainability, in the closing ceremony, It's also a 10 year storyline, so that should hopefully put to bed all the regular rumour of it closing soon.

[Sasperella]

19 minutes ago, amfy said:

i think I would go again. The hills are actually then main obstacle now! What I can't decide is whether to work or pay. On one hand the shifts left us with so little time and energy to explore, on the other, the work we did pulled us right in, and made us understand and get into it when maybe we wouldn't have done.

Hi @AmyF! This was my first Oxfam volunteer experience and my first Boomtown experience. On Sunday morning at 7am when I was knackered and had torn myself away from Gorillaz early and missed a presumably amazing night, I did say I would never volunteer again. But now, I'm not sure. There are a lot of bonuses, especially like you said about getting more involved in the festival in ways I never really anticipated (making friends with random shop people/security guards on my shifts esp), and the showers, a safe, quiet campsite and getting there a day early were soooo good! Plus how easy it is to meet people! But I didn't particularly like this feeling of "shit, I have to go to work in x hours" when I was having a super fun time. So maybe I'd volunteer at Boomtown again, but definitey not Glastonbury. Not at this age anyway. 

 

40 minutes ago, Tommy101 said:

 I didn't hear about ket half as much as I did last year so perhaps there is a relationship? I don't mean to drug shame though. I did hear a lot more people asking for/being on/accidentally scoring acid this year mind.

No shaming here either, but the three people I did interact with who were fucking up were all doing so because of ket... ?

"Accidentally scoring acid" - HAHA! Maybe it's everywhere because its so seriously crazy cheap on the DW. My friend just bought a pack of ten (ten!!!????) in bulk for shambala claiming its cheaper that way, so by the end of the weekend she'll probably be dishing it out for free to anyone that mistakes her for Lucy too.

[frostypaw]

Something got a bit confused there - it was Nicholas Boom who came back to ask the question - The Masked Man was identified as the head of BangHai Industries, and had been playing people off against each other to take control.

But those were lovely to read and gave me a bit of a lump in the throat - Boomtown blew me away my first time too, and the bastard thing still does it again and again. Five years now, jaw still drops every time not just once but multiple times around site.

While we were enjoying a dance in the Gypsy Disco my mate popped outside for some fresh air and came back in raving about some crazy fish ceremony and procession that had taken over OldTown in the middle of the night full of fire and costume - when we came out it was like nothing had happened and it was all a dream - that this wasn't in any way at all surprising or unusual says a lot.

[mr flow]

21 minutes ago, frostypaw said:

While we were enjoying a dance in the Gypsy Disco my mate popped outside for some fresh air and came back in raving about some crazy fish ceremony and procession that had taken over OldTown in the middle of the night full of fire and costume - when we came out it was like nothing had happened and it was all a dream - that this wasn't in any way at all surprising or unusual says a lot.

Similar thing happened to me at Paradise Heights on Saturday night. I was sat down near the fountain, and on one of the ledges above a guy in a gold body suit started talking into a mic. Before I knew it, there was a full on show going on for about 15 minutes, with acrobats, fireworks, flares and confetti.

And then it was just back to how it was 15 minutes earlier. 

[Miesh]

46 minutes ago, frostypaw said:

Something got a bit confused there - it was Nicholas Boom who came back to ask the question - The Masked Man was identified as the head of BangHai Industries, and had been playing people off against each other to take control.

But those were lovely to read and gave me a bit of a lump in the throat - Boomtown blew me away my first time too, and the bastard thing still does it again and again. Five years now, jaw still drops every time not just once but multiple times around site.

While we were enjoying a dance in the Gypsy Disco my mate popped outside for some fresh air and came back in raving about some crazy fish ceremony and procession that had taken over OldTown in the middle of the night full of fire and costume - when we came out it was like nothing had happened and it was all a dream - that this wasn't in any way at all surprising or unusual says a lot.

We saw the fish! It was bizarre. 

[stutheblue]

My first time at Boomtown and again volunteering for Oxfam for about the 10th time. I had a similar experience to Amfy. After the first day or so I didn't really get it. My favourite areas of Glastonbury are Avalon and Acoustic and Green fields area. I didn't really think there was much for me. However, once I got into it, I found lots of places to go and see and find the music I loved. Especially loved wandering around the Old Town and the attention to detail is unbelievable. Didn't really get all the Ami stuff and not really my bag. I got hundreds of people asking about her though. I was a supervisor in the downtown area Amfy and realise now that it was you requesting stewards for a good few hours. I was a few stewards down through no shows and illness so I can understand the issues you were facing. There was a lot less people out of it than I had expected and overall it was a great experience though not sure I would go again. Being a volunteer didn't leave a great lot of time and I feel totally knackered now and the cost of a ticket is a lot for the bands I tend to go see compared to the cost of Bearded Theory etc and is a long way from Manchester where I am from. Did my most ever steps one day I was working over 42k and 19.8 miles!! My favourite stages were Hanger 161(loved the ethos), Earache factory, Skank inn Old Mine and Old Town. Favourite acts Skatalites, Dubioza Kolectiv, Havana meets Kingston.

[amfy]

@stutheblue - sounds like we should festival together sometime! We're definitely looking for the same thing!

[vintagelaureate]

@mr flow one of the Grandma's told us that the Living Room won't be back next year - did you hear similar?

[Jackmypie]

People complaining about the loos - I thought boomtown had the best toilets out of any other festival I’ve been too, they were always clean and never had to walk more than 2 minutes to find a toilet, rarely had to wait in a que as well unless it was after a headline set

Then only gripes I had about the festival was every fucker shouting ‘alrite BRUVAAA’ all day and night 

The hills - they weren’t too bad the first couple days but after a bit of rain it was carnage, I fell on my ass twice trying to walk down the hill by psych forest towards sector 6 where I was camped. 

Lastly the bars. £4.50 for a CAN of piss stripe or Strongbow. I know they have to make money from the bars but atleast give us something decent to drink. 

 

 

Edited August 15, 2018 by Jackmypie

[FuzzyDunlop]

8 minutes ago, Jackmypie said:

Then only gripes I had about the festival was every fucker shouting ‘alrite BRUVAAA’ all day and night 

Nice one Bruvvaa.... it's from Human Traffic. It was annoying