Your Glastonbury Years - Ranked!

[CharlotteB]

2009 was brilliant. Probably the only time I've seen all 3 Pyramid Headliners, and they all delivered.

[Mardy]

2010

1993/1994

2017

1995

2011

2008/2009

2013/2014/2015

2009

2022

2007/2016

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

I would say that the first ever Glastonbury Festival that I attended was the most ranked, but annot. That was a fabulous event, for sure. However, the most glorious, and almost spiritual moment, came in a later year than that initial immersion. I was camped at 'Top Webb's Ash', or some such, and had walked down the hill, to the right of the Pyramid Stage. I can't recall the exact layout, but I bumped into someone I knew who had just turned a corner and seen what was behind me. It was a sea of tents, all in the late evening sunshine. there were open fires. Fires which produced a band of smoke above the tents, but still at low level above the surrounding campsites. It was the look on his face that gave me that, almost spiritual, moment. It was as if he'd died and gone to heaven. And then he saw me and laughed. It was his first Glastonbury.. I could see the marvel within his eyes.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

I hasten to add - had it not been for meeting him, I may never have looked back at that moment, and seen the sight (could say 'site' too there, I reckon). It was truly mesmerizing. Before he focused on me, he was like a Bisto Kid with happy bewilderment - or, that was my conclusion, at least.

[stuie]

2009 - my first and best

2016 - the worst

all the others blending 

[Yokel Again]

Would like to have given this more thought,.... but without overthinking it, here we go!....

 

All of these amazing.....

 

2003 - great weather, REM and Radiohead, great gang of people. Being young(er)

2000 - Bowie and my first, promised myself I'd go every year forever. (Not quite kept that, but pretty close consdering lifes challenges!)

2009 - After missing 08, reminded of how amazing it all is... and Blur! Great music.

2022 - felt like a free hit after covid and only getting ticket in the resale weeks before. Took the kids for the first time and saw it through different eyes, and loved it.

2010 - similar to above, stonking weather, saw some great bands who I now love that I'd not seen before (Phoenix, the National)

2004 - Macca and Oasis

2005 - despite the mega rain and water early doors, Brian Wilson on the sunday in the sun is possibly in my top three Glasto memories.

2013 - apart from the Stones nothing springs to mind, but a great year all the same.

2019 - After 2016 mud fest then missing a couple of years, the G magic was back, boiling hot, don't remember a top top set but loved it all the same. Oh yes, Christine and the Queens on Sunday, amazing!

 

These three still amazing..... but certainly can think of negatives too!....

 

2002 - the more I think about it, the more odd this year was, site was lovely and quiet, but too quiet? Not great line up if I recall. We watched Rod Stewart! Had a really small group of us too.

2016 - crap weather, took hours and hours just to get there, Brexit, was just a slog. Enjoyed Coldplay on the sunday but otherwise struggle to think of anything that was great music wise. Might be wrong.

2007 - crap sound, crap weather, mass landfill indie, bigger capacity, felt I needed a break after this one.

 

[Chip Batch]

On 5/28/2024 at 10:59 AM, Chip Batch said:

2010 - yeah it was too hot, but also my first dry one. Definitely take this and it was perfect after 7pm 😄

2009 - mainly dry(?) great line up. Blur.

2022 - dry again!

2008 - mainly dry except that Thursday. Elbow The Other Stage. I'll ignore KoL

2014 - Arcade Fire, had a good group

2004 - muddy, but first visit. Tiny tent with 2 of us in. Not very waterproof

2013 - Rolling Stones and other good stuff

2015 - SFA, can't remember much else without looking

2005 - Great Wednesday and Thursday. Tent got submerged, actually went home Sunday evening 😐

2011 - Radiohead at the park. Weather a bit crap? These last few are fairly interchangable until 2016. All good.

2016 - didn't really feel it. A bit miserable.

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2007 - The Other Stage, Sunday evening and The View being on. Also waking up Monday morning and it STILL hammering down with rain. Terrible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Update: And new in at number 2 - 2024. Great weather, good group, just did nice stuff and probably almost every act I saw I enjoyed. Particularly Lynks and Idles.

 

 

Also swap 2009 and 2010, and 2022 with 2014 after further reflection. Though as said most are interchangable after the top 5 down to 2011. 

 

Only 2016 I didn't enjoy that much and 2007 my only 'bad' one.

Edited September 11 by Chip Batch

[tomf3]

2010 will always go down as the best year for me.
First totally dry year in what felt like forever, 40th anniversary, an amazing lineup, South East corner was super exciting then, the full moon.... just felt like everything came together perfectly. 
2005/07 were low points and aside from the weather it felt like the festival was in need of some sort of revamp (which thankfully arrived shortly after). 

[upstream]

could have spent hours on this but actually a lot of them start to blur into each other after a while but the ones that stand out are 

1995 the year the fence came down and what a line up – pasis, pulp, cure elastica, pj jarvey Massive attack got in in for free

2019   took on having my own team up at the park as well as being supervisor the cure interpol idles FoalsFat white family

2000   Chemical Bros, Bowie the start of the Glade  got given a locals ticket so got in for free

2007 started volunteering at the park started I was backstage god it was wet but undertood the night before party and discoved the wonder of crew bars

2017 Radiohead slaves Flaming lips

2010  became steward supervisor up at the park Biffy Clyro’s secret gig  muse  faithless Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood

 

2015 Alabama shakes,Motorhead Django Django  Wolf Alice GOAT Fat White Family

2016 Muse mercury Rev

2010 became steward supervisor up at the park Biffy Clyro’s secret gig  muse  faithless Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood

2008, 2009,2011,2013,2014 2023 can't remember anything special really

2024 had all three of my daughters on site working around the festival and loved it just for that  really but Heilung, London Grammer, Lankun. Lambrini girls, Fontains DC

2022  hated it working it was awful so many mistakes made went home had a stroke

 

 

[balti-pie]

26 minutes ago, upstream said:

 

2022  hated it working it was awful so many mistakes made went home had a stroke

 

 

Bloody hell, thats a hell of a line to finish with! Would you want to expand upon that? it sounds crap, and i'm glad you've clearly recovered enough to have gone back to Glasto - what happened? 

[clarkete]

1985  started going

2007 went home on Sunday due to everything about me being wet and the weather being sh*t

2024 still going and had a great time

 

Everything in between is a bit fuzzy

[Skip997]

16 minutes ago, clarkete said:

1985  started going

2007 went home on Sunday due to everything about me being wet and the weather being sh*t

2024 still going and had a great time

 

Everything in between is a bit fuzzy

So we started going in the same year and both still going 

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

I've thought about this topic for a long time over the years and I'd say that my standouts were as follows:

 

2009 - went on my own off the back of going to several Reading fests. The introduction to Glasto just flew by mind. 

 

2014 - Huge group if friends went for the first time. Like 25-30 ppl at the festival all over the site. Great time had at every show.

 

2017 - Introduced my fiancée to Glasto with my best friends in tow. Great lineup, absolutely stacked-stacked. STACKED. Did a trio of WH headliners, Friday Dizzee Rascal to Jacksons on Saturday to Justice on Sunday at West Holts. Absolutely bedlam all the way.

 

2023 - Special because I made a concerted effort to move away from the main stages during the day and saw a shittonne of great stuff I'd never normally have seen. On my own but met up with some stonkingly lovely ppl from eFests.

 

 

[clarkete]

On 9/13/2024 at 6:55 PM, Skip997 said:

So we started going in the same year and both still going 

 

After all your posts I'd never picked up that key detail. 

 

I think you're still often getting right amongst it a good deal more than me, so more power to your elbow 💪

[Skip997]

1 hour ago, clarkete said:

 

After all your posts I'd never picked up that key detail. 

 

I think you're still often getting right amongst it a good deal more than me, so more power to your elbow 💪

 

[upstream]

On 9/13/2024 at 12:20 PM, balti-pie said:

Bloody hell, thats a hell of a line to finish with! Would you want to expand upon that? it sounds crap, and i'm glad you've clearly recovered enough to have gone back to Glasto - what happened? 

well I am one of the 12 supervisors up at the park and we look after 300 volunteer stewards. I have been working up at the park since it started and we think ew do a pretty good job and have got a great working relationship with the other teams up there like the production and stage and artist liaison etc and things seemed to trip along quite neatly. there were losts of changes around the festival that year. I must stress this is only my opinion, in no way reflective of any other steward supervisor or worker. I just felt that there were some decisions that were not thought through properly, and when we offered opinions as to the outcome of those decisions we were told that it was outside our remit and  should just concentrate on the stewards. I believe that those decisions were poor ( they have since been mostly reversed)  I was also having a horrible time with my real job  and that was almost certinly the real cause of the stroke it was just unfortunate that it happened 2 days after the festival ended - correlation does not equal causation

[chew the fat]

1. 2023
2. 2022

Really hoping to get there again next year. Have a feeling that I'll not be in a position to be there in 2027, so if I can get 3 in the bag during my mid 20s I'll be happy.