Glasto without the music

[Supermerv]

I've just come back from Deershed festival in north Yorkshire with my 6 year old boys and, despite a quality lineup with plenty of a acts that I was very keen to see I spent very little of the weekend actually watching any music, mostly just chasing kids around and trying not to lose them.

 

This got me thinking...

 

It used to be a regular occurrence on the Glastonbury TV coverage that someone would be interviewed in the Greenpeace field or the Healing field or somewhere and they'd say something like:

 

"You can come to the festival and not see any music at all if you want to"

 

But has anyone every actually done it?

 

I know you cant avoid seeing a bit of live music, even just strolling around and having a glance over at a stage or into a tent, but has anyone ever been to Glasto and not made a conscious effort to stand in the crowd and watch a band/act/DJ?

[Skip997]

1 minute ago, Supermerv said:

 but has anyone ever been to Glasto and not made a conscious effort to stand in the crowd and watch a band/act/DJ?

No, but I have seen people watching acts on I player from their caravan/motor home.

[gooner1990]

paging @Yoghurt on a Stick

[DeanoL]

I've had years where I've watched very few musical acts (3 or fewer) but that's mostly been matched with a lot of time at Cabaret / Circus (when I was a huge comedy geek and the Cabaret tent was a perfect match for my tastes). Thinking about it, it was probably 2007 where "comedy I liked + staying dry" mostly won over "music I liked but getting soaked"

[gigpusher]

I've always wondered this as well. I have on a few occasions deliberately gone to the circus tents and cabaret tents at headline time. I spend a fair amount of time in the theatre and circus fields but I have always wondered if it is just a dramatic way of telling people just how much there actually is to do rather than something anyone ever does. 

[BumJuice]

I knew a few people pre 2008 who didn't see a thing and stayed hazy around the camp fire and catch up with friends who regularly went (under a gazebo when there was room for one). Remember one guy who used to pause chatting every so often to lovingly gaze at pics of his boxer dogs through puffy eyes

[DareToDibble]

42 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

No, but I have seen people watching acts on I player from their caravan/motor home.

This does blow my mind a little bit. I guess they would only do this with acts they're not overly fussed by seeing but still.

Each to their own I guess!

[balti-pie]

the lineups are getting increasingly distant from the kind of thing i like (and doubly more so when they sacked off the earache stage this year) so i can quite easily imagine going and just doing t+c things all weekend - but there's small sets from the likes of Lekiddo that are live music, albeit lobster and disco themed singalongs, so its whether they count. Can't have a Glastonbury without Lekiddo! 

[Skip997]

There was a time when "hard core, old school" crew wouldn't bother with the music.

[DeanoL]

I wonder if more people at Latitude don't ever see any music. It's never mentioned the same way but it seems like something that'd be easier to do, as the balance is much more non-music to music.

[fred quimby]

I have done it, if my memory is not playing me up,  I wonder if I did see anybody. I would have seen people in SEC but didn't go to see them, just there for the pretty lights and interaction with people. Would have been the 1 year though, as it was a conscious decision. 

Not sure I would do it again, as far to many band/DJs I want to see now.

[eiepete]

Not that easy anymore at latitude since they have got rid of the cinema tent and the cabaret tent and poetry and literature are combined I believe

[gooner1990]

2 hours ago, Skip997 said:

No, but I have seen people watching acts on I player from their caravan/motor home.

I'm fairly certain that there was a news piece at the time when the BBC first started showing the festival in 1997 that either that year or 1998, people who were in the 'backstage' area were watching headliners on portable TVs there to keep dry and warm rather than going out front (might have been for Radiohead in 1997 but I may have that wrong)

[incident]

4 minutes ago, gooner1990 said:

I'm fairly certain that there was a news piece at the time when the BBC first started showing the festival in 1997 that either that year or 1998, people who were in the 'backstage' area were watching headliners on portable TVs there to keep dry and warm rather than going out front (might have been for Radiohead in 1997 but I may have that wrong)

I'll never understand it, but that's been a thing even in years where the weather is fine.

I don't know whether it's still the case or not, but a few years ago the bar in Interstage had plenty of screens which showed footage* of the festival. You'd get large numbers of numpties sat there watching it talking about how great it was to be at Glastonbury, whilst remaining completely oblivious to the Festival actually happening outside their bubble.

*not sure whether it was the Pyramid live, or whatever BBC were showing at the time, or something else - to be honest it doesn't really matter.

[DeanoL]

2 hours ago, eiepete said:

Not that easy anymore at latitude since they have got rid of the cinema tent and the cabaret tent and poetry and literature are combined I believe

Wow, looking at the line-up for this year they've totally gutted it.

[gooner1990]

1 hour ago, incident said:

I'll never understand it, but that's been a thing even in years where the weather is fine.

I don't know whether it's still the case or not, but a few years ago the bar in Interstage had plenty of screens which showed footage* of the festival. You'd get large numbers of numpties sat there watching it talking about how great it was to be at Glastonbury, whilst remaining completely oblivious to the Festival actually happening outside their bubble.

*not sure whether it was the Pyramid live, or whatever BBC were showing at the time, or something else - to be honest it doesn't really matter.

I don't get it either.

I suppose its similar to when I go to football and people stand in the concourse area watching the game with a pint in their hand....although I suppose the draw there is that they get to have a pint in their hand something you cant' do at football in view of the pitch.

There was a clip doing the rounds a few weeks ago (which I now can't find) full of one of the bars behind the Pyramid absolutely packed with people dancing to Paul McCartney whilst he was on stage.  Odd.

 

[Skip997]

3 minutes ago, gooner1990 said:

There was a clip doing the rounds a few weeks ago (which I now can't find) full of one of the bars behind the Pyramid absolutely packed with people dancing to Paul McCartney whilst he was on stage.  Odd.

 

Now that is odd, he's never made a track in his life that you can dance to.

[Rufus Gwertigan]

4 hours ago, Supermerv said:

I've just come back from Deershed festival in north Yorkshire with my 6 year old boys and, despite a quality lineup with plenty of a acts that I was very keen to see I spent very little of the weekend actually watching any music, mostly just chasing kids around and trying not to lose them.

 

This got me thinking...

 

It used to be a regular occurrence on the Glastonbury TV coverage that someone would be interviewed in the Greenpeace field or the Healing field or somewhere and they'd say something like:

 

"You can come to the festival and not see any music at all if you want to"

 

But has anyone every actually done it?

 

I know you cant avoid seeing a bit of live music, even just strolling around and having a glance over at a stage or into a tent, but has anyone ever been to Glasto and not made a conscious effort to stand in the crowd and watch a band/act/DJ?

Yep 

[Rufus Gwertigan]

4 hours ago, Supermerv said:

I've just come back from Deershed festival in north Yorkshire with my 6 year old boys and, despite a quality lineup with plenty of a acts that I was very keen to see I spent very little of the weekend actually watching any music, mostly just chasing kids around and trying not to lose them.

 

This got me thinking...

 

It used to be a regular occurrence on the Glastonbury TV coverage that someone would be interviewed in the Greenpeace field or the Healing field or somewhere and they'd say something like:

 

"You can come to the festival and not see any music at all if you want to"

 

But has anyone every actually done it?

 

I know you cant avoid seeing a bit of live music, even just strolling around and having a glance over at a stage or into a tent, but has anyone ever been to Glasto and not made a conscious effort to stand in the crowd and watch a band/act/DJ?

Yep 

[stuie]

23 minutes ago, gooner1990 said:

There was a clip doing the rounds a few weeks ago (which I now can't find) full of one of the bars behind the Pyramid absolutely packed with people dancing to Paul McCartney whilst he was on stage.  Odd.

 

You get good mobile phone signal back there so people are just chilling out and trying to avoid eye contact.  

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

On 8/2/2022 at 10:06 AM, gooner1990 said:

paging @Yoghurt on a Stick

Received. 🙂

I have gone to Glastonbury and paid very little attention to the music and performances in front of me. I'm afraid that I 'was' very much the person who used to talk constantly throughout performances with a mate (Shaun) who, thgen, didn't give a fuck about whop was playing where they were playing etc. I have looked at the booklet type thing they used (and probably still do) to give out to tell you when and where everything was on etc music wisee , but only just looked at it ie. not read through it. there was no point as I really didn't know who the bands etc were, even though I had heard most of their names.

My music knowledge increased dramatically when I met my now wife. It still is woefully inadequate though. I say that as if it'as a problem for me -it isn't.

All that said, if I could go back in time (Glastonbury wise) then I now realise that I should have listened and indeed marvelled at REM's performance. I did my usual performance of talking to Shaun throughout that. My Retrospect - O - Meter now informs me that that was an insanely bad decision to have made. 

I can only think of one performance that I was at that I really wanted to see, and that was Bjork. However, after my mates said that they wanted to go after a few tracks that I had an option - carry on seeing bjork for the rest of her set,. or potentially lose my mates for the rest of the day / night. So, I decided to leave with them. Not sure when that was, but don't remember that we all had mobile phones etc. maybe we did. really not sure.

Oh, and I did miss David Bowie playing in 2000 (I think it was). However, that was because my brain had been fried and that I knew that if I didn't leave Glastonbury then and there (ie not long before his performance) that there was a very real chance that I may not get back to normality (Yes, yes, I do know irony!). 

[nikkic]

Never get the whole thing of going and not seeing any music. 

Yes there’s shit loads to do outside of the music, but for me it supplements the experience. 

Seems a lot of money to pay to attend something and not see essentially what the festival is about. 

[DeanoL]

3 minutes ago, nikkic said:

Never get the whole thing of going and not seeing any music. 

Yes there’s shit loads to do outside of the music, but for me it supplements the experience. 

Seems a lot of money to pay to attend something and not see essentially what the festival is about. 

If you are heavily into comedy or circus, you can easily get your ticket price worth. Honestly some of the bigger mainstream circus acts they have on will charge £80-120 for ringside seats at a London residency. 

But yeah, Glastonbury has always had a weird relationship with it's "festival of performing arts" label. A lot is made of the other stuff but not much invested in it. 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

2 hours ago, nikkic said:

Seems a lot of money to pay to attend something and not see essentially what the festival is about. 

It is a lot of money if you look at it that way. 

It is not a lot of money if you get to see, and briefly live, with your mates - both those you see frequently enough, and also those who you rarely see anymore in person because of their different geographical location to that of your own, and visa verse. In that instance it is heavenly and well worth the money. 

Not that I do go anymore / see my long term friends anymore, with regularity. That seems to be a 'thing' as I get older. Not sure why. Probably self preservation! 

 

[SouthbanKen]

1999 and 2000 I went. Most of our group of 17/18 yr olds stayed pretty much at our campsite up near the pylon at the back of the main stage. Could see and hear the main stage but certainly wasn’t sat there watching the acts. From memory, I actually went and watched Ash and REM. Spent the rest of the weekend working my way through a massive block of soap bar. Great weekends both.