Avalon is dying

[Pinhead]

I think the nail in the Avalon coffin was the loss of Hobo Jones on a Friday which set the scene in a way and reminded people it was there to come back to later somehow. Yeah the loss of the cafe also helped but the missing Hobo link this year was felt I think.

[kerplunk]

14 hours ago, Pinhead said:

I think the nail in the Avalon coffin was the loss of Hobo Jones on a Friday which set the scene in a way and reminded people it was there to come back to later somehow. Yeah the loss of the cafe also helped but the missing Hobo link this year was felt I think.

That's a bit flattering isn't it?

 

Going by their FB page the Hobos split up last year (or are 'on a break')

[Ayrshire Chris]

On 7/6/2024 at 8:06 PM, Pipine said:

I went there for The Go Team and BabyQueen this year.. both were good fun, didn’t spend as much time in the Avalon inn as I’d like, there was just too much to do this year.. 

Baby Queen we’re really good though Maybe Avalon should return to more folk rock bands such as Skinny  Lister. Bit of high energy punk folk to complement more traditional folk artists. 

[Pinhead]

21 hours ago, kerplunk said:

That's a bit flattering isn't it?

 

Going by their FB page the Hobos split up last year (or are 'on a break')

Maybe a bit I suppose - though they kind of became the house band and hung around to do the introducing too for a while after their initial gig. Became a bit of a tradition, even though their performance was pretty much identical year on year! Was a bit like Mik at the Bandstand then Rocket Lounge later on the Thurs - also gone this year.

[Nobody Interesting]

3 minutes ago, Pinhead said:

Maybe a bit I suppose - though they kind of became the house band and hung around to do the introducing too for a while after their initial gig. Became a bit of a tradition, even though their performance was pretty much identical year on year! Was a bit like Mik at the Bandstand then Rocket Lounge later on the Thurs - also gone this year.

 

Isn't Davey part of the booking team hence also being compare? He was there this year despite the Hobo's being gone

[Pinhead]

Didn't know that but wondered - interesting. Didn't see him myself but only went there twice.

[Avalon_Fields]

I didn’t see him either, and he wasn’t the Compere this year. 

[Nobody Interesting]

17 minutes ago, Avalon_Fields said:

I didn’t see him either, and he wasn’t the Compere this year. 

 

Well he introduced bands while we were there along with one other person so perhaps sharing stuff.

[Crazyfool01]

He introduced bar stewards definately . I couldn’t quite get into it and left before the end … missed the hobos this year as my standard opening act for many years 

[Avalon_Fields]

2 hours ago, Nobody Interesting said:

 

Well he introduced bands while we were there along with one other person so perhaps sharing stuff.

OK, I saw 4 acts at the Avalon and he wasn’t there.

[Gnomicide]

Davey always used to just compare on the Sunday, may have changed this year as he didn't have gigs to play. Someone told me he was there though.

[phillyfaddle]

It is much diminished. Always used to feel like a microcosm of Glastonbury town, its characters and shops. Didn’t see any band at Avalon this year, which is unusual.

[Ayrshire Chris]

One of the stages I always look forward to seeing the line up. The Avalon bar is  one of our favourites and the staff so friendly. (Especially when they ring the bell when tipped!).  Sad to see the cafe gone and the live music moved but I understand that there was audio bleed as it was too close to the Avalon tent.  

[Wooderson]

Might have been Wednesday night last year bout 6pm? Lad working the rigging on a cherrypicker in Avalon let an **enormous** coil of cables fall. Like, the primary cables for the stage back to the sounddesk.

 

Cables swung past a group of young volunteers missing them by metres. Would have probably killed them. All good fun.

[Dark Star]

On 11/5/2024 at 10:06 AM, Ayrshire Chris said:

One of the stages I always look forward to seeing the line up. The Avalon bar is  one of our favourites and the staff so friendly. (Especially when they ring the bell when tipped!).  Sad to see the cafe gone and the live music moved but I understand that there was audio bleed as it was too close to the Avalon tent.  

I'm sure they didn't used to have an issue with audio bleed; the cafe used to programme a little before the main stage started, teh odd act in the gaps between, and then after the tent had finished. I guess they ended up trying to use the cafe stage more causing this issue? 

Avalon has certainly changed over the last few years, and not necessarily for the better IMO. The acts overfilling the field that should've been elsewhere etc. Hopefully it can reinvent itself while retaining what made it special.

[Avalon_Fields]

If it can refresh its lineup and get a buzz going then there’s nothing wrong with what’s left of the area, the tent and the successful Avalon Inn. I did enjoy the last Avalon Cafe tent and saw some good acts there and still feel it’s an unnecessary loss. 

[incident]

15 minutes ago, Dark Star said:

I'm sure they didn't used to have an issue with audio bleed; the cafe used to programme a little before the main stage

 

To be fair, they didn't used to have nearly as big a main stage, with extra speakers outside the tent. I suspect that's what's changed more than the Cafe.

[Pinhead]

2 hours ago, Dark Star said:

Avalon has certainly changed over the last few years, and not necessarily for the better IMO. The acts overfilling the field that should've been elsewhere etc. Hopefully it can reinvent itself while retaining what made it special.

Before the rot this happened. I remember the Wurzels and Steve Harley filling it beyond capacity. It has no identity anymore - gone are the things that defined it - and this has happened because Glastonbury has focussed now upon experience over substance.

[Skip997]

3 minutes ago, Pinhead said:

Glastonbury has focussed now upon experience over substance.

In what way?

 

The music on offer is better than ever (IMO). 

[Pinhead]

1 minute ago, Skip997 said:

In what way?

 

The music on offer is better than ever (IMO). 

Yeah they've kept true enough to that, but it's not a festival that for me at least feels like the community it was previously - it's an old trope I know but the vibe feels tick box and not 'soidarity' so much now and the 'charm' part of it has waned. I expect of course that other experiences are applicable 😉

[Pinhead]

1 minute ago, Pinhead said:

Yeah they've kept true enough to that, but it's not a festival that for me at least feels like the community it was previously - it's an old trope I know but the vibe feels tick box and not 'soidarity' so much now and the 'charm' part of it has waned. I expect of course that other experiences are applicable 😉

More resort and theme park than community is I think what I am alluring to.

[Skip997]

8 minutes ago, Pinhead said:

Yeah they've kept true enough to that, but it's not a festival that for me at least feels like the community it was previously - it's an old trope I know but the vibe feels tick box and not 'soidarity' so much now and the 'charm' part of it has waned. I expect of course that other experiences are applicable 😉

As a generalisation I’d agree, but within the “old school” SE corner and Craft Field crews not much has changed in my experience. I guess the same can be said for T&C

[Pinhead]

Maybe caft field I can't say as I don't know many characters from there, but SE corner honestly, what from when it was LV or before even that!?

[Pinhead]

T&C has been the least to change imho out of the many areas. SE corner massively changed along with what was dance in what is now Hayes.

[Pinhead]

An f**k remember when it was the tipi field now Genosys. When I first ventured up there as a nieve 21 yo into the SE it was a chap with a cocktail bar and loads of crusties and staff. Called the Weird Beard field and sometimes Roy's.