Memories from my first Glastonbury

[westholtschic]

For me from 2009 it was either 

 

or 

 

[Franky]

8 hours ago, Wherethewildthingsare said:

My first was 2013 - went with one of my sons who had just turned 17. Had other friends there with their young children we met up with but didn’t camp with. Stayed in tangerine fields which gave me a very one sided (north!) view of the festival. Didn’t make it to the SE corner or the park until the following year. Despite being a festival veteran found the size quite overwhelming the on the Thursday after arriving in the dark rain the night before. Thursday was very wet and wasting loads of time walking around the muddy site. Worn out before Friday! Fairly sober one for me until I drank a ton of pimms on the hot Saturday and danced on my own to Primal Scream ‘My son very quickly found his bearings and recorded 65 acts! We experienced cold rain to hot sun over the weekend. Highlights were Portishead, Seasick Steve and the Rolling Stones. Have been every year since, once with husband and eight year old, once in a big group and generally with the same 2-3 friends. Ten years on, 2023 will be my eighth Glastonbury.
 

 

Hahaha Portishead. I was in a fairly dark place in 2013 for reasons that only life can explain, the bitch that it is. I spent most of that set extremely paranoid and convinced we were surrounded by undercover police 😂😂 

[Essex_George]

2009 first one for me, remember seeing Neil Young headline on the Friday which blew me away. Blur on Sunday not bad either, but what else I saw I'm struggling with. Even looking back at the lineup isn't helping much, haven't a clue how anyone who went in the 80's or 90s remember anything.

Wish I had gone to earlier ones though, the 90's Glastonbury's sound like a lot of fun. 

[mazola]

2008, rocked up Wednesday lunchtime and the place was half empty, got a prime spot in Kidney Mead, unthinkable now.

Hit it far too hard on Friday, lost my mate (no phones) and didn't see him until the next day. 

Always remember the buzz going round the place Saturday in the build up to Jay Z, then he made one of the greatest entrances I've ever seen.

I miss the flare sticks, fires and lanterns you used to get in the crowds, but understand why the lanterns had to stop.

[BambooShanks]

6 minutes ago, mazola said:

I miss the flare sticks, fires and lanterns you used to get in the crowds, but understand why the lanterns had to stop.

I miss how prevalent fires were. They gave so much of the site a magical smell and ambience.  

The Lanterns looked amazing when everyone set them off at the stone circle but yeah, they must have caused so much havoc for the local cow population

[Metal Monkey]

15 hours ago, Franky said:

Hahaha Portishead. I was in a fairly dark place in 2013 for reasons that only life can explain, the bitch that it is. I spent most of that set extremely paranoid and convinced we were surrounded by undercover police 😂😂 

The massive David Cameron with lasers for eyes backdrop must have helped with that!

[joe_bee]

1997.  Me and my then girlfriend arrived by bus from the station late on Thursday night in the pouring rain.  My mate had arrived on Wednesday to pitch our tent and, as neither of us had a mobile phone at that point (those were the days!!!!), we had arranged to meet him in front of the main stage between 9 and 10pm.  In our haste to find our way we ended up walking through all the tents from the farm house down to the top of the Pyramid field so by the time we got to the front of the main stage, my mate had moved on leaving us in the rain and mud with all our stuff, nowhere to go and no way of contacting him.

After 45 mins of a 1.5hr queue for the phone box in a knee deep muddy lake (those weren't the days!!!) I saw a bloke on a mobile phone passing by so offered him a couple of quid to use it.  We met my mate, who had been busy imbibing every possible substance all day, and he was just about able to march us across to Joe Bananas blankets and on to our tent in Pennards to sit around a warm fire and get settled in for the night.

We were woken by the Other stage sound testing and my girlfriend getting her period which was the only thing she had said would make her go home.  Like veterans of the trenches we were able to get through the blood, mud and tears, and recover our determination to have a good time.  What helped greatly was the music.  We started with the Levellers followed by Beck and after a full day of fun our Friday night ended with the Prodigy playing one of the best gigs I have ever seen.  The following night was the legendary 1997 gig by Radiohead and despite the mud being worse than any other year (and I've been to all of them since), I can honestly say it was the most incredible experience I ever had.  There is nothing quite like your first time.  Thanks for the thread!

Incidentally, if like me you wanted to see what it was like or relive any of it (including the BBC's first coverage) you can check it out here... 

 

[Metal Monkey]

On 3/13/2023 at 1:03 PM, Pipine said:

1997 was my first Glastonbury.. epic mud, tent leaked, pretty sure I had plastic bags inside my DMs to keep my feet dry, nearly went home but some friends jumped the fence on Saturday to join us and together we had a brilliant time.  
I remember watching Smashing Pumpkins completely trashed, thinking I was in a field of corn wearing moon boots which glued me to the ground 😂 (that’ll be the mud then).

 

I was a massive fan of the Pumpkins at that point and I was definitely there, but I don't remember this set at all!

[Franky]

3 hours ago, joe_bee said:

1997.  Me and my then girlfriend arrived by bus from the station late on Thursday night in the pouring rain.  My mate had arrived on Wednesday to pitch our tent and, as neither of us had a mobile phone at that point (those were the days!!!!), we had arranged to meet him in front of the main stage between 9 and 10pm.  In our haste to find our way we ended up walking through all the tents from the farm house down to the top of the Pyramid field so by the time we got to the front of the main stage, my mate had moved on leaving us in the rain and mud with all our stuff, nowhere to go and no way of contacting him.

After 45 mins of a 1.5hr queue for the phone box in a knee deep muddy lake (those weren't the days!!!) I saw a bloke on a mobile phone passing by so offered him a couple of quid to use it.  We met my mate, who had been busy imbibing every possible substance all day, and he was just about able to march us across to Joe Bananas blankets and on to our tent in Pennards to sit around a warm fire and get settled in for the night.

We were woken by the Other stage sound testing and my girlfriend getting her period which was the only thing she had said would make her go home.  Like veterans of the trenches we were able to get through the blood, mud and tears, and recover our determination to have a good time.  What helped greatly was the music.  We started with the Levellers followed by Beck and after a full day of fun our Friday night ended with the Prodigy playing one of the best gigs I have ever seen.  The following night was the legendary 1997 gig by Radiohead and despite the mud being worse than any other year (and I've been to all of them since), I can honestly say it was the most incredible experience I ever had.  There is nothing quite like your first time.  Thanks for the thread!

Incidentally, if like me you wanted to see what it was like or relive any of it (including the BBC's first coverage) you can check it out here... 

 

Love that!

[Watergirl]

Dancing at Joe Banana's blanket stall.  It was the only place with music late at night.  This may not have been my very first Glastonbury, but one of the first anyway (mid 90's).

[4AssedMonkey]

Some great stories gang. Loving reading these.

I’d been trying to talk friends into it since the mid-90’s, but was too nervous to go solo and it never happened.

1997, came close. 2003, almost convinced myself to do it. 2008, FINALLY a couple of mates agreed we needed to at least tick it off the bucket list, so got tickets for 2009 about Christmas time in 08.

Even though we were in our 30’s and I’d been to other fests (ish) we were so naive. Blew my tiny mind. I wasn’t mad on the headliners any night (other than Doves in JP) so spent lots of time in Shangri-La, which I realise now was at peak strangeness. Playing the devil at ping pong for shots, oxygen bars, hidden venues. It was mental and brilliant and above all inclusive and fun. I made some friends for life. My jaw dropped constantly. I left a changed man. A better man.

[Franky]

14 hours ago, 4AssedMonkey said:

Some great stories gang. Loving reading these.

I’d been trying to talk friends into it since the mid-90’s, but was too nervous to go solo and it never happened.

1997, came close. 2003, almost convinced myself to do it. 2008, FINALLY a couple of mates agreed we needed to at least tick it off the bucket list, so got tickets for 2009 about Christmas time in 08.

Even though we were in our 30’s and I’d been to other fests (ish) we were so naive. Blew my tiny mind. I wasn’t mad on the headliners any night (other than Doves in JP) so spent lots of time in Shangri-La, which I realise now was at peak strangeness. Playing the devil at ping pong for shots, oxygen bars, hidden venues. It was mental and brilliant and above all inclusive and fun. I made some friends for life. My jaw dropped constantly. I left a changed man. A better man.

It's a rare person that has been once and never wishes to go again! I endured 2005 and 2007 and still went back in 2008, sadly that's when it started to become harder to get tickets. So many years I have missed recently due to not being able to get tickets 😞

[Avalon_Fields]

2003. I mainly remember:

1. The first sight of the huge festival site. I still remember the sense of wow.

2. Parking up at the most distant point possible, not realising how long a walk it was to get in.

3. Stupidly screwing up the system for reentry (I can't recall why I didn't have my ticket or pass-out) and having a huge stress trying to convince them to let me back in. They did. Doubt I could do that now.

4. First band The Darkness. Loving all 3 headliners - Radiohead, REM, Moby.

5. Returning in 2004 and making a complete hash of it. Camped right by the entrance to the Glade and close to the old BBC stage that played till late. So: No sleep. Mud. Vomit. Hell. Tents wrecked. Desperate to leave on the Saturday. Glad I was talked out of it...

 

[-TLR-]

On 3/14/2023 at 2:10 PM, joe_bee said:

We started with the Levellers

 

if memory serves, they were all wearing hawaiian shirts trying to avoid the mud being sent their way!

i have very bitter sweet feelings about that gig - we camp in Big Ground... i left the camp, down the hill to see the Levs, came back up the hill back to the camp straight after to find pretty much everything bar the tents (thankful for small mercies i guess*) had been nicked... so within the space of a couple hours i'd seen my favourite band and had my first negative Glastonbury experience.

on the plus side it taught me a valuable lesson (as stated in the fine guide) only take what you are prepared to lose - i lost a bagful of what would now be highly sought after Levellers shirts that day!

 

 

*i remember being at the info point and some poor guy was trying to get assistance because his whole tent HAD been stolen.

[stuie]

4 hours ago, Franky said:

It's a rare person that has been once and never wishes to go again! I endured 2005 and 2007 and still went back in 2008, sadly that's when it started to become harder to get tickets. So many years I have missed recently due to not being able to get tickets 😞

Someone I used to know didn't even make it through the whole festival in 2016 (left on Saturday afternoon) and vowed never to come back.  Complete dickhead. 

[sfroml]

12 minutes ago, stuie said:

Someone I used to know didn't even make it through the whole festival in 2016 (left on Saturday afternoon) and vowed never to come back.  Complete dickhead. 

Wow! Did they say what is was in particular that made them leave???

[med]

My first was 1998, and I remember human waste accidentally being pumped into the dance tent!  They were supposed to be sucking out all of the mud but someone must of pressed the wrong button!  

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

11 minutes ago, med said:

My first was 1998, and I remember human waste accidentally being pumped into the dance tent!  They were supposed to be sucking out all of the mud but someone must of pressed the wrong button!  

I too recall that incident. Evidently the shit operative was a shit operative, indeed. Well, that or they had a pathological hatred for dance music / aficionados of such. 

[Giraffe Man]

Cant say I remember much about the weekend but there was a Thursday night set from Roger Chapman (ex Family) & the lasers, oh those lasers!

[4AssedMonkey]

49 minutes ago, stuie said:

Someone I used to know didn't even make it through the whole festival in 2016 (left on Saturday afternoon) and vowed never to come back.  Complete dickhead. 

I left early in 2016.  I took my (now ex) partner for her first G that year.  Not only was the mud horrendous, but the tent got slashed and was leaking, then our airbed went down and I couldn't get a replacement.  Went to watch Adele and left after 3 songs.  Packed up and went.

[StoneCircle]

On 3/13/2023 at 1:57 PM, balti-pie said:

2005 was my first one, i'd wanted to go since about 97ish but none of my mates wanted to go, and i wasnt yet of the mindset that would go and do things on my own. I was with a woman who had already been a few times in 2004, and we got tickets - we drove down on the thursday (cos hardly anyone went wednesday back then) and it was absolutely bloody boiling - she threw something of a wobbler just inside gate C cos it was so hot and we were carrying everything from the furthest car park, so i parked her in the shade with a nice cold drink and headed off with the tent to bung it up. within the hour i'd walked through all sorts of greenfields sites and fallen hopelessly in love with the place, bunged the tent up opposite the Other stage in oxlyers, and went back to pick up Herself, who was much more amenable now she was in the shade 😄

 

and that night, a colossal thunderstorm stuck three inches of rain onto the site in a couple of hours 👍 bit of a baptism of fire/water, b ut i always look at that little spot where i left her to sit in the shade, and chuckle to myself. Its to the right just after Bella's bridge, by the fence. thats nearly eighteen years ago! 

My first year too and we also camped in Oxlyers, we arrived on Wednesday afternoon and almost had the place to ourselves. I recall a river coming through my other halfs ancient 2 berth scout tent on Friday morning, soaking all our clothes. Luckily we had left the majority of  our stuff in the car and unlike some the car wasn't under water! The electric supply was down for a while and we had a wander in search of a coffee. Saw the poor buggers in Pennards whose tents were completely under water. Had an amazing time, the sun came out and I have never missed one since, I cried when we had to go home on the  Monday.

We bought a bigger tent and relocated to Williams in 2007 as it was on a slope! Then in 2009 we bought a caravan and have never regretted it! 

[Crazyfool01]

1 hour ago, 4AssedMonkey said:

I left early in 2016.  I took my (now ex) partner for her first G that year.  Not only was the mud horrendous, but the tent got slashed and was leaking, then our airbed went down and I couldn't get a replacement.  Went to watch Adele and left after 3 songs.  Packed up and went.

I avoided Adele for that very reason 🤣

[Bike_Like_A_Mum]

Love all these stories, my mum always always talks about watching The Cure in 86 during the Thunderstorm. Barefoot, toes in the mud. She used to be fun once upon a time, if you met her now you'd wonder how on earth she was ever a glasto go-er! 🤣

I'm yet to experience a muddy glasto. Dare I say it but...it kind of appeals to me for some weird reason...just for the experience and to have my own story of perseverance afterwards! 🤣 

[stuie]

8 minutes ago, Bike_Like_A_Mum said:

I'm yet to experience a muddy glasto. Dare I say it but...it kind of appeals to me for some weird reason...just for the experience and to have my own story of perseverance afterwards! 🤣 

I've been at a few, none of the mega bad ones.  They are different... places to sit down are limited etc but there's a good atmosphere of 'we're here so we might as well just have it up anyway!' 🙂 

[stuie]

3 hours ago, sfroml said:

Wow! Did they say what is was in particular that made them leave???

bad weather year combined with doing all his stash on the first night and being a grumpy twat from there on in! 🙂