Williams Green

[Diamond24]

This is a huge shame. One of my most visited stages, they have some great smaller indie/rock bands throughout the weekend.

[gigpusher]

13 minutes ago, Joshuwarr said:

I think it would be a hard sell to cut out the aspect that is actually popular at William's Green in favour of, as you've pointed out, the daytime gigs which clearly don't bring in much of a crowd.

I actually think the Thursday night was fine post Mel C last year, not too busy and we had a good night at Guilty Pleasures with it being quite easy to get in and out of the tent.

Problem with WG is it lacks a coherent identity beyond just being another stage with music. Great for the occasional great act but it could benefit from having some kind of theme and I'd argue its the perfect spot to do something new at the festival without compromising more popular areas.

Probably because they closed off all access to it which stopped people even going to other stages on the way to it like the bandstand. The Thursday hype acts definitely need rethinking. I've enjoyed many an act in there so would be sad to see it go but hopefully it's just a rethink and maybe a stage that can handle better the volumes of people. 

[dotdash79]

I wonder where Guilty Pleasures will end up?

[HamishA.]

10 minutes ago, Callum_96 said:

Saturday 2019 was one of my favorite days at the festival, spent most of the day there seeing Squid, Pip Blom, Fontaines, Sports Team, Snapped Ankles then heading over for Jungle at WH back fir Shame then Hot Chip to end the day! 

Was the hottest I think I've ever been but still a brilliant day and others have said it's a great place for up and coming bands so a shame to see it's going!

same, some of my favourite moments at the festival have been at this stage.

I really hope there's a plan for this area to improve or expand it, rather than just close. Especially after we've now paid £70 more per ticket...

[FrancisH]

Ahh I like Williams Green a lot, had some great memories there, but did fell like it was in need of a big rethink last year.

It had begun to feel like a crossroads between other areas rather than a distinct area of its own, or at certain times just a place where couldn't get near the tent because of crowds.

Edited February 1, 2023 by FrancisH

[Joshuwarr]

1 minute ago, dotdash79 said:

I wonder where Guilty Pleasures will end up?

Could possibly work at Croissant Neuf? Bit packed but a good way to keep things spread out. 

[The Nal]

35 minutes ago, Gnomicide said:

Queen's Head?

Bourbon Street was there wasnt it?

[Ayrshire Chris]

A great stage just to wander by and find an act that grabs your attention. The Thursday was pretty congested and I think that might possibly be the pull factor of WG whilst other areas had less live music than we are used to. With the vast majority of folk arriving on site Wednesday and early Thursday it makes sense to try and spread the crowd throughout the site, such as Avalon, Silver Hayes

Edited February 1, 2023 by Ayrshire Chris

[Hugh Jass II]

Real shame, always liked WG and would usually catch an act or two in there most years.

The Thursday stuff had gotten way out of hand and needed knocking on the head but there’s no real need to do away with the whole thing.

[Hugh Jass II]

11 minutes ago, dotdash79 said:

I wonder where Guilty Pleasures will end up?

It’s this year Legends Slot.

[Skip997]

10 minutes ago, Joshuwarr said:

Could possibly work at Croissant Neuf? Bit packed but a good way to keep things spread out. 

Never been to Williams Green but knowing the location it's more open than Croissant Neuf, moving it there would cause worse congestion.

Somewhere in Silver Hayes may be better.

[marathonsteve]

You right Thursday was manic in Williams green. We shuffled along somewhere else.

[gigpusher]

I liked the early morning talk with self-esteem last year and have enjoyed many an act on there but it's become a place to avoid on Thursday for me however tempting the acts are. It's probably sensible to do something before something terrible happens there on a Thursday. 

[scatteredscreens]

1 minute ago, gigpusher said:

I liked the early morning talk with self-esteem last year and have enjoyed many an act on there but it's become a place to avoid on Thursday for me however tempting the acts are. It's probably sensible to do something before something terrible happens there on a Thursday. 

surely the solution to this is to stop putting big acts on thursday, it never seemed to be an issue until last year I swear

[westholtschic]

Very sad news for me. Watch Deptford Northern Soul club here every year and will be missed. Can also see a problem with where everyone goes if they are not doing a silent disco again on the Thursday night 

Edited February 1, 2023 by westholtschic

[gigpusher]

Just now, scatteredscreens said:

surely the solution to this is to stop putting big acts on thursday, it never seemed to be an issue until last year I swear

Yes but I wonder if now that the expectation is there they just have to find a way to be able to do them more safely. An open air stage in a slightly bigger area. Some of the stages in SEC have bigger capacities. I also think it had started to get really busy even for acts that aren't considered huge like Guilty Pleasures. 

[Hutchmaster]

Would be absolutely gutted if this is true. Had an excellent run one day in 2019 of Sunflower Beam >> Haelos >> Let's Eat Grandma; honestly one of the highlights of my three Glastonburys. Also saw Porridge Radio with a handful of people last year and it was excellent. 

Was a great place to go to get away from the crowds, too (Thursday the exception of course!). Will be a huge miss for me.

[Jose Pose]

The Thursday stuff was idiotic, which is why I never bothered going there on a Thursday, but at the same time a lot of other places were very busy on Thursday as well, so all those people at WG who thought they could rock up and see Bastille were being kept away from other areas. Getting rid of it/the stupid Thursday stuff will only help that immediate area be less busy, but it won’t help the rest of the site.

Edited February 1, 2023 by Jose Pose

[Barneym]

I think the problem is that a Thursday always used to be secret, at least to some extent. I remember Metronomy and (unfortunately the 1975) there in 2014 I think, there was a rumour but most people didn’t know and most people didn’t have smart phones then (obviously they did in the real world but I sued to take a old style phone) whereas now everyone has a phone and Twitter etc so know what bands will be on. Whilst it’s a bit sad I think the whole festival needs to give up on secret acts as it’s just not possible to keep things secret anymore.

Favourite act in there was Frightening Rabbit 2016, they had played other earlier in the day and said they forgot they had another show so we’re absolutely smashed, it was great.

[kingbadger]

They need to find somewhere to house similar late night entertainment somewhere though, Willy G was always a good alternative to the dance music which is everywhere.

[listenstolotsofcrap]

Real shame about William's Green, saw New Dad there last year and thought they were fantastic. Good stage for those bands, hope there's somewhere else for them to perform.

[BambooShanks]

It's a shame that its going. Doubly so if there's not going to be something to replace it as it's just going to put more pressure on other areas that have music on Thursdays.

 

 

[CiaranMc]

This is a shame. What will Bastille do on a Thursday evening now..?

[Gnomicide]

48 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Bourbon Street was there wasnt it?

That was further down the road. Definitely Queens Head in 2010, may have been rebranded between that and WG. 

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

It took me two hours to find it in 2013 (long story) and I can't say I frequented the place that often. I can't say I've ever fancied being shoehorned into the hottest tent in the festival to see the likes of a Mel C DJ set but they do have some decent bands play. Hopefully the recent discussions around crowd levels has necessitated a larger space, and as such, it's needed to move out of that field. 

When the map comes out and it becomes apparent that there's a replacement or not, I'll reserve judgment until then. The festival does have a recent trend of replacing popular venues with lesser versions of itself, though.