Glastonbury 1990

[Adam L.]

Hey guys,

 

For research purposes for a fiction book I am currently writing, I am trying, but failing to get some specific info/answers about Glasto 1990 - even though I was lucky enough to be there myself that year, there are some things I can't remember, or wouldn't possibly know. I have tried the official Glastonbury website, but they can't help me...

 

What date exactly (within a week, or as near as possible) did tickets go on public sale and where for the 1990 festival? Has anyone get any old NMEs/diaries that might have this info?

 

What date exactly (within a week, or as near as possible) were The Cure announced/confirmed as a headline act for the 1990 festival?

 

Would it have been feasible for a person to use a converted VW camper van as a stall/outlet for selling ice creams with permission in the trade areas on site in 1990?

 

When would the said trade permission have to be applied for and granted timescale-wise for the 1990 festival? And would the seller (who is also a normal punter/ticket holder) have been sent/given a special pass or ticket in advance to show on the day and to access the trade areas/spots? Also, would they have to get set up on the Thursday before the weekend?

 

What was the general day by day weather that weekend of 1990 from Thursday through to Sunday?

 

Would really appreciate any help at all with any of these questions. Thank you so much in advance.

 

Adam.

[Sawdusty surfer]

You would have been able to sell pretty much anything without a permit from a VW camper in 1990.

In those days the festival was like a cross between The Wild West and Mad Max on acid.

[Homer]

34 minutes ago, Sawdusty Surfer said:

You would have been able to sell pretty much anything without a permit from a VW camper in 1990.

In those days the festival was like a cross between The Wild West and Mad Max on acid.

My first was 94 - but I have to say that's a hell of a description!

[Kizzie]

The weather was pretty mixed I think.  I'm pretty sure Wednesday to probably Saturday were mostly warm and sunny, though we did get the car stuck in mud on the Wednesday at the bottom of the Dragon Field, roughly where the 'Deluxe Diner' is nowadays.

The weekend part was quite wet, cool and breezy, there was definitely mud.

[Adam L.]

Thanks to everyone that is replying to this post. Really useful. Keep them coming! 😊

[parsonjack]

Wasn't there but there is some good detail on here...especially around the Battle of Yeomans Bridge.

http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/glastonbury-festival-1990.html

[Adam L.]

Thank you, parsonjack. I had already come across that article. Some great pics showing the weather, and all the stuff about 'The Battle' on the Monday.

[ChemicalBrother]

I remember a friend calling me up on the Thursday of the festival & suggesting we go. 18 years old & never been before. I think we rang a number, booked 3 tickets at £30 odd each, then drove down on the Friday to pick the tickets up from Glastonbury town centre.

We got on site around 5pm Friday, and managed to pitch a huge scout tent we’d blagged, with a view of the pyramid stage - these days we’re talking a 7pm Tuesday arrival to get that sort of space. & I just remember putting up this tent with the huge booming bass line of Gary Clail making every organ in my body pulsate to the beat, and all these weird & wonderful smells & people all around. As a wide eyed 18 year old country boy, it was just the most incredible thing I’d ever witnessed & I was part of it.

We wandered down to see the headliners Happy Mondays, & got within 6 deep of the front with plenty of room. The Cure on the Saturday was busier as the helicopter landed in the middle of the crowd halfway through, & we weren’t stage side of that. 
Apart from De La Soul, who we could watch from our tent, I can’t remember another band - I was just walking around open mouthed at this whole new world, with shouts of ‘hash for cash’ & a constant thumping bassline being the soundtrack of the whole weekend.

Oh & a spaced out hippie telling me that the fence was down & it was basically now a free festival - and I’m sure in 1992 the exact same guy told me the exact same thing, which always struck me as the weirdest coincidence - although I think in 1992 he may have inadvertently been right? 

[ChemicalBrother]

Actually that had nothing to do with the OP - any mention of Glastonbury 1990 just seems to send me spiralling into a self indulgent nostalgia trip

[Adam L.]

Hey ChemicalBrother,

Wow! What a truly amazing post! Your recollections of the event are so useful (especially how late you got your tickets), and were so detailed and eloquently put. Fantastic descriptions of the 1990 festival that really brought it to life, and also brought back so many memories for me – ‘Hash for cash!’ How could I forget that? That one is definitely going in the book!

I, myself, was a wide-eyed country boy (at the mere age of 15) and Glasto ’90 was my first experience of a festival, too. I couldn’t believe the size of the whole thing, the sea of tents, the noise – especially at night when you were trying to settle down – and the mayhem. I went with my brother (two years older than me) on a bus. I think the travel was a supplement to the tickets, but I can’t for the life of me remember where we purchased them from – or when. But I do remember the journey down there from Nottingham taking FOREVER – about 5 or 6 hours of increasingly narrower, windy roads.

My overriding memory of the festival was my beloved The Cure’s performance, as the sun went down behind the stage. As you mentioned, there was all that confusion about a helicopter landing and Rob Smith asking the crowd to take steps back because some people were unfortunately being crushed at the front.

Oh, and I’m sure I can remember people successfully scaling the huge fence around the site to get in for free…

Thank you so much for your reply!!

[Neil]

On 6/3/2020 at 2:06 PM, ChemicalBrother said:

headliners Happy Mondays

don't think they headlined, did they? 

Perhaps it was a different year, but I definitely remember it being daylight as everyone fled the field from the gawd-awful noise.

[ChemicalBrother]

12 minutes ago, Neil said:

don't think they headlined, did they? 

Perhaps it was a different year, but I definitely remember it being daylight as everyone fled the field from the gawd-awful noise.

Yes they definitely headlined in 90, you’re referring to the car crash of 2000.

[Neil]

10 minutes ago, ChemicalBrother said:

Yes they definitely headlined in 90, you’re referring to the car crash of 2000.

no, I'm referring a year around 1990, with them clearing the field of almost everyone within a couple of songs, with massive crushes at the gates to get out of the field.

And that happened in daylight. Daylight, not dusk.

Edited June 5, 2020 by Neil

[incident]

According to this thread:

Personally I'd call that headlining - they actually started later than The Cure did the following night.

A couple other notes - Archaos were also on the Saturday night after The Cure, and Sinead O'Connor (who's often listed as having headlined that year) was actually at 6:30pm on the Saturday afternoon.

[ChemicalBrother]

6 hours ago, incident said:

According to this thread:

Personally I'd call that headlining - they actually started later than The Cure did the following night.

A couple other notes - Archaos were also on the Saturday night after The Cure, and Sinead O'Connor (who's often listed as having headlined that year) was actually at 6:30pm on the Saturday afternoon.

Yes I think they were Circus Archaos ? Not so much a band, but circus performers. Happy Monday’s & The Cure we’re definitely the Headliners. 

[clarkete]

21 minutes ago, ChemicalBrother said:

Yes I think they were Circus Archaos ? Not so much a band, but circus performers. Happy Monday’s & The Cure we’re definitely the Headliners. 

They were absolutely cracking and suitably mental too.

Notice the cars at the top of the pyramid, one either side which at the culmination of the show rolled down the side, followed by some pyrotechnics.

When I searched for a picture of the car on the stage I saw this site about them which mentions a little more detail of their performances. 

http://archaos.info/pages/?id=14     

I saw them in Bristol in a big top on their tour and one bit that sticks in my memory is a woman driving a mini  that was full of water, like a giant goldfish bowl.  
 

[Neil]

21 hours ago, incident said:

Personally I'd call that headlining

it's a way of looking at it but it very definitely wasn't the way it was thought of at the time. Now you've reminded me Archaos played last, the talk was about how they were a weird headliner.

[Adam L.]

Hi guys. Can anyone confirm (ChemicalBrother) that Happy Mondays played on the Friday of 1990. That is what I remember. But there are so many conflicting setlists and innacurate articles online. Cheers.