Your most controversial Glastonbury opinions

[One Tonne Baby]

On the topic of shangri-la. It’s almost certain that it’s my age talking but it’s not particularly immersive or interesting anymore. 
I remember in 2011 it literally blew my mind. Little alleyways, random tiny places to go in, interactions with people playing characters, little clubs where you could dance next to the Dj. Now it all seems straight forward bars and stages.

[sedra]

1 hour ago, FloorFiller said:

It’s not like those people who have gone every year have an advantage though, is it? They’ve just been incredibly lucky time and time again. Everybody has just as much chance of getting tickets and eventually your luck will probably run out (except us scousers, who seem to have somehow figured out the formula on getting our entire city tickets year in year out… or are just more willing to pay £500 to get snuck in in the back of a van). 

😂 we couldn’t believe the number of scousers we heard everywhere and we were surrounded by them in Sticklinch- the man of the  couple next door didn’t even have a festival wristband 🙄

[gigpusher]

9 hours ago, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

No, like I said before to another poster, that's not really my point. I saw a lot of female acts and they all were amazing. Really deserved it. But then if they're so amazing, why the patronising leg up from Emily Eavis? Can these stellar female artists not make it on their own? Diana certainly did.

Why not say, "we're just booking the best acts for the best slots?" Why even mention gender? It's divisive. I think it ends up dividing people along their bodies, which is counterproductive to a society that gets along.

Also, if Emily Eavis is openly saying they're going to book it 50-50 and right some wrongs, then surely at some point she's made decisions to take gender into account and said, "This woman is more deserving of this slot, than this man, by virtue of being a woman".

Generally, if you switch the roles/races around in examples like this, it would be considered incredibly sexist and racist.

But that doesn't mean I'm against women on the bill, or headlining, or any of that nonsense. Other posters have created that narrative. I'm purely against making decisions based on gender (or race).

 

For me the only problem is keeping it 50/50. I suspect she’s doing that to appease a lot of men at the moment. The women ruled at Glastonbury this year. Most of the boring vanilla acts were men. Book more women would be my answer. 

[autoinflate]

51 minutes ago, smogo said:

 Those areas need to be moved and integrated into the main part of the festival grounds somehow, maybe in the dead centre, but with more space between them. I don't have any big idea how, but the entire layout needs to be scrapped and rethought.

That's what it used to be like...various sound systems and parties around the main market area, and going further back even in the camping areas and car parks, but they had to stuff it all up SE corner early noughties to satisfy licensing/noise restrictions.

[northernringo]

Not sure how unpopular this opinion is, but there shouldn't be a stage named after someone who married a 15 year old (John Peel).

[One Tonne Baby]

13 minutes ago, sedra said:

😂 we couldn’t believe the number of scousers we heard everywhere and we were surrounded by them in Sticklinch- the man of the  couple next door didn’t even have a festival wristband 🙄

Worthy View was like merseyside

[Earth_pig]

The naughty corner looked a lot less intricate and exciting than it has. I guess to fit more people in. But the genosys tower gone and london underground, now a just a bus! (I didn't go since 2017)

[clarkete]

1 hour ago, Barry Fish said:

I think we can sleep comfortably when Greta speaks out about climate change and american women speak out over the rights to their own bodies that it comes from the heart.

I think the originally poster basically has his head up his arse on this one.

Who are you and what have you done with Barry? This interloper keeps talking sense.

Anyone who thinks that those who protested this decision over the festival were virtue signalling, ie making a statement because they reckon it will garner approval, rather than because they actually believe it, is clearly a fool who should be dismissed out of hand. 

[LinvoyPrimus]

2 hours ago, K2SO said:

There is too much focus on the dance/electronic music areas.

They dominate the nightlife; Pretty much everything on after headliners is some sort of DJ playing drum and bass, house, rave, etc... But comparitively very little of live music. I'd love to see more focus on different sorts of live music post-headliners. Whether it's local bands, tribute acts, open mic, etc. I just find next to no appeal to the nightlife due to the type of music that is played, as well as the sort of characters it seems to bring out.

I find that the dance music is what brings the utter tossers to the festival. The sort that piss up the side of a wall, push through crowds with no regards for others, etc. I don't like to stereotype it, but you know the type of person I mean. People in their early 20s, lads with a bucket hat, sunglasses and an open shirt, or girls wearing what is essentially a bikini with the same headgear... often with some sort of neon paint on their body.

I'm not saying to completely get rid of these areas, but I do feel like there needs to be less focus on it.

Hear hear. It feels like there is SO little variety.

Having walked through it every day and night, Silver Hayes just felt like a constant stream of techno/drum and bass. And it felt pretty quiet a lot of the time, probably because there are other areas treading that same ground very effectively.

Carl Cox on the Glade on Saturday was banging and yet it felt like something of an outlier because there wasn't a tonne of that stuff going on late at night.

Also... look at how packed out Williams Green gets on a Thursday. Or Baggy Mondays. Or Deptford Northern Soul club. Look at how rammed stuff like Ultimate Power is on Sunday night. I think Glasto could benefit from more along those lines.

Similarly, Glasto likes to bang the drum for Block 9 as a queer space. It's fantastic. But does it need to be the *only* queer space? Outside of NYC Downlow - which feels increasingly more exclusive given how long it takes to get in there - where are the drag acts?

[K2SO]

14 minutes ago, LinvoyPrimus said:

Hear hear. It feels like there is SO little variety.

Having walked through it every day and night, Silver Hayes just felt like a constant stream of techno/drum and bass. And it felt pretty quiet a lot of the time, probably because there are other areas treading that same ground very effectively.

Carl Cox on the Glade on Saturday was banging and yet it felt like something of an outlier because there wasn't a tonne of that stuff going on late at night.

Also... look at how packed out Williams Green gets on a Thursday. Or Baggy Mondays. Or Deptford Northern Soul club. Look at how rammed stuff like Ultimate Power is on Sunday night. I think Glasto could benefit from more along those lines.

Similarly, Glasto likes to bang the drum for Block 9 as a queer space. It's fantastic. But does it need to be the *only* queer space? Outside of NYC Downlow - which feels increasingly more exclusive given how long it takes to get in there - where are the drag acts?

Massively agree on this. My girlfriend and her mate LOVE drag acts and they were disappointed to find there was nowhere to go and watch a drag show!

[blutarsky]

2 hours ago, K2SO said:

There is too much focus on the dance/electronic music areas.

They dominate the nightlife; Pretty much everything on after headliners is some sort of DJ playing drum and bass, house, rave, etc... But comparitively very little of live music. I'd love to see more focus on different sorts of live music post-headliners. Whether it's local bands, tribute acts, open mic, etc. I just find next to no appeal to the nightlife due to the type of music that is played, as well as the sort of characters it seems to bring out.

I find that the dance music is what brings the utter tossers to the festival. The sort that piss up the side of a wall, push through crowds with no regards for others, etc. I don't like to stereotype it, but you know the type of person I mean. People in their early 20s, lads with a bucket hat, sunglasses and an open shirt, or girls wearing what is essentially a bikini with the same headgear... often with some sort of neon paint on their body.

I'm not saying to completely get rid of these areas, but I do feel like there needs to be less focus on it.

This year I found the SE corner crowd much friendlier than at several main stage gigs. Saturday night when we ran out of water and needed some so many people helped us out in the SEC. People were passing stuff round and sharing - it was what the festival should be. At Macca, Wet Leg and particularly Sam Fender people were getting really annoyed at us passing through, even in areas where there was plenty of room to do so, and we were being very friendly about it. 

TBH your post comes across like you’re (and I’m sure you’re not) a judgemental prick who doesn’t get the “don’t be a dick” ethos. It’s ok to be annoyed about people who are being dicks, but don’t be a dick about it, yeah? 

There are also plenty of non electronic late night options. Three of my best gigs of the festival were guitar bands in the Rocket Lounge, on Truth and at Small World - post-midnight. 

Edited June 28, 2022 by blutarsky
Added missing word

[Beet]

55 minutes ago, northernringo said:

Not sure how unpopular this opinion is, but there shouldn't be a stage named after someone who married a 15 year old (John Peel).

I was never a massive fan, but thought he came across as a great guy.  But even having got impression of him, I think this has got to be the right decision.   The one he married was not a one-off either, according to Wikipedia quotes from the man himself.  This stuff matters.      

[blutarsky]

2 hours ago, Barry Fish said:

I think we can sleep comfortably when Greta speaks out about climate change and american women speak out over the rights to their own bodies that it comes from the heart.

I think the originally poster basically has his head up his arse on this one.

Fuck me, I agree with Barry 😂 

1 hour ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

We saw an absolutely shit-hot, Stonesy teenage R'n'B band tear the roof of the Rocket Lounge on the Wednesday night.

 

Los Dedos took it off again on Thursday, and they had Ska on afterwards. 

Edited June 28, 2022 by blutarsky

[LinvoyPrimus]

12 minutes ago, blutarsky said:

There are also plenty of non electronic late night options. Three of my best gigs of the festival were guitar bands in the Rocket Lounge, on Truth and at Small World - post-midnight. 

There's most definitely good live stuff out there - I think what K2SO is saying is that needs to be more of a dedicated space. The late night stuff feels dominated by DJs of a certain persuasion, whether that's in the SE Corner, or The Park, or The Glade, or Greenpeace.

I love a lot of that stuff. I also love live music. I think more of a balance would be cool - it feels like there used to be more of that, but less so now.

Edited June 28, 2022 by LinvoyPrimus

[K2SO]

1 hour ago, blutarsky said:

This year I found the SE corner crowd much friendlier than at several main stage gigs. Saturday night when we ran out of water and needed some so many people helped us out in the SEC. People were passing stuff round and sharing - it was what the festival should be. At Macca, Wet Leg and particularly Sam Fender people were getting really annoyed at us passing through, even in areas where there was plenty of room to do so, and we were being very friendly about it. 

TBH your post comes across like you’re (and I’m sure you’re not) a judgemental prick who doesn’t get the “don’t be a dick” ethos. It’s ok to be annoyed about people who are being dicks, but don’t be a dick about it, yeah? 

There are also plenty of non electronic late night options. Three of my best gigs of the festival were guitar bands in the Rocket Lounge, on Truth and at Small World - post-midnight. 

Suppose we all have different experiences mate. Just to me any time I've ever been near Silver Hayes, it's full of the sort of people that you'd rather avoid. I think the SE corner and Arcadia are a bit different because pretty much everyone heads to those areas post-headliners because that's where things are on so you get more of a spread.

As I said, I feel like the focus on dance/electronic music just needs to be toned down a little, not completely annihilated. For me, I'd solve the issue of late-night entetainment by spreading some things throughout the site. I feel like maybe keeping John Peel open (if that's even possible?) after hours for like indie discos, tribute bands, etc could help out. Not only would it give more variation of things to do, but it would also spread the crowds out more than they currently are.

There's another little potentially controversial opinion though... I think there should be more tribute bands playing. We already have The Bootleg Beatles and Elvana... why not get some more in for Wednesday/Thursday/After-hours entertainment? Get some tributes for the likes of The Stones, Queen, Oasis, Madness, etc. I think it would go down well

[Space Shanty]

3 hours ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

We saw an absolutely shit-hot, Stonesy teenage R'n'B band tear the roof of the Rocket Lounge on the Wednesday night.

 

Yes! Who were they? We saw about half an hour of them and everyone in our group loved it. 

[joeltg]

I still don't like cider bus cider....

[Joshuwarr]

My controversial opinion is that Emily was right and this was the best yet. Even the bits I've watched back seem to confirm this. Maybe its the way its been filmed but the crowds genuinely just looked so much happier this time too. 

[jimmillen]

2 hours ago, LinvoyPrimus said:

I love a lot of that stuff. I also love live music. I think more of a balance would be cool - it feels like there used to be more of that, but less so now.

One factor might be the strong overlap between electronic/dance fans & people who want to stay up all night partying. 

I suspect it would be a lot more difficult to programme & plan larger capacity venues for other genres late through the night. 

As has been pointed out, the much tinier venues like small world have live non-electronic acts on late. And they’re never especially crowded - doesn’t really indicate massive demand…? 

[Spindles]

I had gone in with the kind of expectation that this would be the big reimagining of the 50th birthday celebration and all be a bit special because it was the first glastonbury after 2 cancellations, but it was just a run of the mill year and didn't feel special particularly.  A decent year but not one of the greats.

The replacement of the big ass food and coffee tents with smaller individual vendors, combined with the poor campsite toilet provision made it less of a proposition to hang around camp as it was either a queue for a coffee, a queue for a breakfast item or a queue for the loos.  May as well be out and about where the scenery is a bit more attractive and you can grab a drink, a bite or a wee with less queuing and better variety.

[Billy Corgans hair]

Indie Disco at the JP is such a good idea!

Our group spoke about how wandering around after the headliners every single stage, area, event sounded exactly the same and that we couldn't differentiate between what was being played at each one.

 

[Tranquility of Solitude]

Gonna add this in here, because it’s the best place for it..... loads of people in the top 3 sets putting Kendrick in there. I wasn’t there so have just watched it on iPlayer. God it was terrible.

[Beerqueen]

I agree somewhat about the late night stuff.  I tend to be on my own, looking for live music to see after the headliners but never know where to head.  I could try a number of places including Bimble Inn and William's Green,  but as I'm never really sure what to expect, I often just choose not to bother as the thought of trecking somewhere to find it's full or not really enjoyable on your own isn't worth the walk there and back.  If there was a dedicated live music area, at least I could explore the different options all in one place. It really does feel that after headliners is really mainly dance etc.

[FLB]

Re more non electronic music at night - why not make the BBC Introducing stage a night venue instead of daytime?

[blutarsky]

7 hours ago, Tranquility of Solitude said:

Gonna add this in here, because it’s the best place for it..... loads of people in the top 3 sets putting Kendrick in there. I wasn’t there so have just watched it on iPlayer. God it was terrible.

I was there and can confirm I didn’t rate it.