What if you never come down. Glastonbury 2024

[fraybentos1]

Great read @Skip997 I enjoy the way you tell a story

[Joey Peeps]

Lovely bit of writing, enjoyed that. Fairly captures the vibe.

 

Dexys were great though!

[Alvoram]

3 hours ago, balti-pie said:

😄 finally someone as confused as me by the weird Avril Lavigne love-in - she was absolutely bloody dreadful twenty years ago, how can people be nostalgic for crap! Packaged rebellion in a cellophane wrapper innit, twas always thus 

Sacrilege!!! 😉

She had a lot of bops, don't care how her stylists told her to present herself to be honest, that's just part and parcel of the industry back then and now. Her music was, and still is, good fun, feel good, music. She's from an era of similar pop-rock bands like Blink 182, Sum 41 etc etc, all of which I enjoyed at the time, and would go and see at any festival I attend if they were on the lineup. They were the much needed 'fun' contrast to other music genres I was massively into at the time. 

Each to their own I guess, I never liked Sonic Youth, not my thing at all... (Imagine they're the kind of band that would usually be very popular with most of the glasto crowd though.) 

 

 

2 hours ago, Skip997 said:

Don’t think I made it for Dillinja

 Ah, that's a shame. 

 

[clarkete]

3 hours ago, balti-pie said:

😄 finally someone as confused as me by the weird Avril Lavigne love-in - she was absolutely bloody dreadful twenty years ago, how can people be nostalgic for crap! Packaged rebellion in a cellophane wrapper innit, twas always thus 

 

Same, but clearly it would be a dreadful event with worse crowds if we all liked the same stuff. 

 

I'm sure many of us get that moment the following week where someone who saw some of the coverage will say "oh did you see x?" and they seem to wonder what you were doing with yourself 😊

[gigpusher]

17 minutes ago, clarkete said:

 

Same, but clearly it would be a dreadful event with worse crowds if we all liked the same stuff. 

 

I'm sure many of us get that moment the following week where someone who saw some of the coverage will say "oh did you see x?" and they seem to wonder what you were doing with yourself 😊

Pretty much everyone I speak to in real life thinks that from my niece who tells me I made all the wrong choices to my mother in law who wonders why I didn't split myself in half to see her 2 favourite acts of the weekend that were on at the same time and that I have no interest in anyway.

 

Based on the number of people who don't like big crowds it's a very good thing that we all have varied tastes and that Glastonbury does such a great job of trying to accommodate all our many and varied tastes.

[tarw]

4 hours ago, MilkyJoe said:

It's a weird one. Just as baffling is the hoards of young people chasing these 'nostalgia' acts around the stages that weren't alive when they were first doing the rounds. How did they get so popular?😄

Probably the reverse of me. 
I wanted to see Avril because my daughter had sk8er boy on constant repeat for about a year and it got stuck in my head 

The younger people probably had their parents put it in their heads 

[balti-pie]

57 minutes ago, Alvoram said:

Sacrilege!!! 😉

She had a lot of bops, don't care how her stylists told her to present herself to be honest, that's just part and parcel of the industry back then and now. Her music was, and still is, good fun, feel good, music. She's from an era of similar pop-rock bands like Blink 182, Sum 41 etc etc, all of which I enjoyed at the time, and would go and see at any festival I attend if they were on the lineup. They were the much needed 'fun' contrast to other music genres I was massively into at the time. 



 

 

Oh i hate Sum 41 and Blink 182 as well, i'm not singling her out at all 😄 

 

it does seem a fairly dumb thing to have the Shania crowd, who wouldve mostly been up for Avril as well, all having to traipse from Pyramid to Other instead of just staying put and having an afternoon of canadian delights.

Now i come to think of it, i think Rush would be the only canadian artist i'd want to watch. Oh and Neil Young as well of course! slim pickings in the canadian music world, with many an absolute shocker 

[Helsbels]

A great read of your experiences there!

 

We went to the last 40 minutes of Jessie Ware and she was great but by then it was party time. One of my favourite things I saw.

 

As you say memories are hazy but Justice this time round was loads better even though I'd enjoyed 2017.

 

I chatted to loads of ace people this year all really friendly

 

 

[Skip997]

Bump

[Woody-Club UK]

What a great summery Skip,  we had a very similar time to you mate and as we’re now mid fifties the recovery seems to take longer each year 

We had no dramas and we did have some good random interactions with total strangers but that’s probably because I’ll chat nonsense to anyone who’ll listen. 
Totally get you regarding the lack of “nice one geezer”, we’re quite a smiley bunch in general and especially when we’re dancing but you don’t seem to get many smiles back, probably different drugs ( we stick to weed, mdma, shrooms and cider)

Best interactions with like minded souls was at the Greenpeace tree Saturday night and Genosys on Sunday night, I was dancing on one of the raised platforms until the sun came up. Had a couple of people take photos of us dancing, probably because we’re all in our fifties and I’m wearing a large and quite striking fur coat( faux obvs)

We’ve been attending the festival on and off since the early 90’s and I think that was my 15th?

The missus thinks that was a good one to bow out on but I think by ticket sale day she’ll fancy another hopefully. 
To me, it’s still as enchanting as it was when I first went in my twenties but it’s my joints that are suffering, also, the yomp back to the campervan fields ain’t getting any easier. 
Also mate, completely agree about Dexys, decided to give it a miss after seeing him on a couple of tv shows, he’s gone full pub singer. 
Each to there own as my mate thought they were the best thing he saw all weekend. 
He’s wrong though, it was James and LCD😀

Nice one geezer🤗❤️

Woody

[Skip997]

3 hours ago, Woody-Club UK said:

Totally get you regarding the lack of “nice one geezer”, we’re quite a smiley bunch in general and especially when we’re dancing but you don’t seem to get many smiles back, probably different drugs ( we stick to weed, mdma, shrooms and cider)

Best interactions with like minded souls was at the Greenpeace tree Saturday night and Genosys on Sunday night, I was dancing on one of the raised platforms until the sun came up. Had a couple of people take photos of us dancing, probably because we’re all in our fifties and I’m wearing a large and quite striking fur coat( faux obvs)

It’s a strange one, last year I had loads of smiles and even hugs, very little this year.

 

Anyway large fur coat on one of the raised platforms rings a bell, you were near me at one point 

 

I also stick to those drugs except the cider, I don’t drink 

Edited July 25 by Skip997

[LukeCage]

On 7/10/2024 at 4:05 PM, balti-pie said:

 

Oh i hate Sum 41 and Blink 182 as well, i'm not singling her out at all 😄 

 

it does seem a fairly dumb thing to have the Shania crowd, who wouldve mostly been up for Avril as well, all having to traipse from Pyramid to Other instead of just staying put and having an afternoon of canadian delights.

Now i come to think of it, i think Rush would be the only canadian artist i'd want to watch. Oh and Neil Young as well of course! slim pickings in the canadian music world, with many an absolute shocker 

Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell...

[Skip997]

24 minutes ago, LukeCage said:

Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell...

Ritchie Hawtin is half Canadian 

[GrumpyRaver]

On 7/9/2024 at 11:08 PM, Skip997 said:

 

“What if you never come down?”

 

If I’d have got to the “nice one geezer” stage more than a couple of times I’d have taken it, but more of that later.

 

It’s probably lack of memory and all is as usual, but at the moment it feels like a much worse recovery than normal. The dust surely didn’t help and maybe that’s what gave me cold like symptoms in the days after. Lack of sleep, excess drug use and countless hours on my feet, whether walking or dancing surely contribute to a cloudy mind and a broken body.

 

So here I sit reflecting on Glastonbury 2024, number 26 for me, if I can trust my addled brain.

 

If you can wear trainers and sit down anywhere at any time all is good, anything else is a bonus.

 

I arrived really early this year, earlier than I should have been required, however, as it turned out I was needed (if only briefly). Forecasts of heavy rain produced a site-wide “panic”, vehicles were moved to their final positions early, tons of wood chip was deployed in some arenas and walkways, security guards were allocated to ensure no vehicles disobeyed Michael’s instructions not to drive on the grass. Thankfully, aside from a brief, but heavy downpour in the build up, the weather held in our favour.

 

Some say it’s the best bit, the gradual build up to the show, watching the site develop, hanging out with old friends, able to quickly move anywhere, all is clean and fresh and easy going. I even managed a sneaky few minutes on the Pyramid one evening. But of course the whole point is the five days of music and mayhem.

 

Wednesday has always been a bit of problem re “crowd management” with nothing really going on beyond the opening ceremony in the Stone Circle field. With 10’s of thousands of excited arrivals ready to party it’s lucky we’ve managed to avoid a serious crush in recent years. This years solution was to schedule a “drone show” in the Pyramid arena to split the crowd. It worked, but may not do so next year, the totally average and uninspiring 10 minute, noiseless show (apparently it could be listened to on your phone) is unlikely to attract many repeat viewers. At least the fireworks from the hill were still visible after a short walk.

 

Guerrilla Bar, the no longer very secret, but still relatively hard to access backstage bar opens. It’s probably my favourite day in guerrilla, not too crowded and easy to catch up with old mates.

 

Thursday

 

Thankfully it’s a civilised start time, 2 o’clock, Nextmen followed by The Orb at the lovely little Glade Dome. Where my “I took the red pill” T-shirt caused some amusement. There was another act in between, but I guess I must have nipped off for some refreshments. The weather remains pleasant, not too hot and you can still sit down.

 

It’s a real shame that the so called “naughty corner” has become a victim of it’s own success, while at the same time becoming somewhat stale. Apparently “Shangri-La” is being revamped next year, well overdue in my opinion. However, I can still occasionally be tempted into the bottle neck, slightly improved this year by swapping stages around, and with not much to tempt me elsewhere I enjoy or possibly endure 90 minutes of Ewan McVicar on Nowhere. The vibe just ain’t quite there, not even a “nice one geezer”.

 

Somehow I end up back at The Glade Stage and stumble across Desiree the South African “House” DJ. Now this is proper fun, the start of the four day “danceathon”, but still no significant interaction with anyone, in very marked contrast to last year.

 

Time to check out the Levels, a truly spectacular venue in Silver Hayes, for Shygirl presents Club Shy. Not really sure what to expect, but after seeing her fantastic performance on The Park last year, I think this could be fun.

 

Too many on site, always too many on site. It’s Thursday and with no big stages operating the queue stretches half way to the Other Stage, she’ll have finished before I’m anywhere near. So back over to the SE corner.

 

If there was ever a venue made to dance in…

Now then! Then queue for The Temple is small and moving, this is more like it. It’s hard to emphasise just how close to perfect a dance venue this is. Built like an amphitheatre, with stepped tiers on three sides, the forth side contains the DJ booth and the strange 3d god like head from which lights and lasers shoot forth. The beauty here is that if you stand on one of the tiers you can see nearly every face in the place. They also have a great door policy, it’s never filled to capacity, there’s always room to move about and dance.

 

Things are looking up, 10 years of Jungle Cakes, various DJ’s and my favourite music to dance to - proper “old school” D&B and Jungle. Sadly I only make the last half an hour. But it’s not all over and I find myself enjoying a bit more curtesy of Uncommon Records Takeover.

 

Suddenly it’s 3am and it’s all over for now.

 

Friday

 

Fantastic scheduling or fantastic personal taste means nothing on till 15.30, and I love it. This allows for the gentle morning routine; coffee, breakfast slowly, slowly, but what’s this? An enthusiastic invite from fellow crew members encourages me to amble along to Strummerville for some Reggae. And why not! It’s many years since I’ve visited that venue, back in the days when it was sited in what is now the Unfairground crew bar, where the Strummer stone still sits.

 

Back in the day Joe Strummer used to host an open campfire and a stone was placed there after his death.

 

The “new” Strummervilleis a lovely little venue set in the middle of small copse on the southern edge of the site. It’s a good distance from any other venue and benefits from this; no sound bleed and lovely tranquil atmosphere, at least at this time of the day. There’s only a handful of people there, chilling on the fire side sofas and occasionally dancing to sweet  sounds. A lone litter picker dances through the grass, occasionally deploying her picker, but mostly dancing and chatting.

 

Ain’t nobody, loves me better, makes me happy, makes me feel this way, ain’t nobody, loves me better than you

 

And so I suddenly have my “festival tune”, Ain’t Nobody, Chaka Khan, and what a banger.

 

My buddies drift off, I drift off, bouncy and happy.

 

Noname, which I think is a great name, on West Holts. One of my Glastonbury “fliers” and as I’m feeling like some nostalgic nonsense, Sugababes to follow, then why not? I enjoyed Noname, it was a good performance, but honestly I can’t remember too much.

 

The Sugababes! I’m sure you’re all familiar, it’s silly it’s fun, they’re always tricky to get near at Glastonbury and I’m already in position right near the front, let’s go! I’m told I saw them on The Pyramid in the early 2000’s, I have no memory of this. They put on a show.

 

At some point during the day a meal ticket has found it’s way into my hand (thanks Tony) and with not much to do for a couple of hours I head towards The Park backstage area where our crew meals are served. Unfortunately I have to endure the eternally annoying sounds of Dexy’s as I negotiate the Park Stage arena. Although it is somewhat satisfying to discover that they’re just as dreadful live as they are recorded, a “fact” that I inflict on several unfortunate passers by.

 

I’ve kind of hatched a plan for the next few hours; first up the wonderful LCD sound system on the Pyramid and maybe I’ll hang around for Dua Lipa. It’s a long time since I’ve seen a Pyramid headliner and I’d be in a great position inside the inner barrier AKA “the pit”. I find a comfortable spot against the barrier and enjoy a great “does what it says on the tin” show from a very experienced band. However, I really can’t be bothered to wait an hour between acts, and TBH I’ve not got my “night time drugs” with me, so off I go.

 

I’ve little memory of what I did for the next hour or so, except for hearing “Insomnia” in the background and instantly regretting not going to see Faithless at The Glade.

 

Next up, Jungle on West Holts, while part of me wonders should I have stayed at the Pyramid. I’d no idea they were so popular. I eventually get a reasonable spot, well position wise anyway, but I’m next to a gobby twat, think’s he’s funny, but he’s just annoying. Not even a “nice one geezer”. I’m not getting this, maybe it’s the crowd, then seem more Pyramid than West Holts, maybe it’s the music, maybe it’s me.

 

Ain’t no body….

 

It took a few years to figure out that north of the old railway line is where to be when in the “naughty corner”, Block 9 and The Common as opposed to Shangri-La and Unfairground. Genosys is back in it’s full glory, the wonderful 3d brilliantly lite structure replacing the bus, and the vibes as good as ever. I love the backdrop of NYC Downlow and the lights from IIcon if you find you’ve danced through half a circle and are “facing the wrong way”.

 

Loves me better, makes me happy, makes me feel this way…

 

At this moment in time, that person is Honey Dijon, and for a couple of hours all is wonderful, there may even have been a couple of “nice one geezer” moments and even one that went beyond. I had a moment of frustration as a what I thought was half a pill carelessly kept from my hand and hid itself in the grass. Out comes the phone torch and as is traditional those around me join in the search and then produce a replacement when we’re unsuccessful. Happy days and thanks to whoever you were.

 

Maybe I passed by Bicep on IIcon, maybe I had a look at The Mez Yard, maybe the queue for The Temple was too big, maybe I stayed a bit longer at Genosys, but I definitely ended up back in The Guerrilla bar for a few hours of wonderful disco.

 

Saturday

 

Another late start, fortunately as it’s an early afternoon crawl out of bed day. Coffee, food, cannabis, off to check out Nitin Sawhney on West Holts, a pleasant late afternoon experience, more food and a relatively quick turn around, back to the Glade for Jamz Supernova B2B Yung Singh. This is great dance along fun, but I’m feeling a strange pull to The Other Stage and The Streets, committing to missing Orbital in doing so.

 

Predictably it’s busy, but easy enough to get a decent spot within the “pit”. Mike Skinner somehow manages to not be a twat, while engaging in some potentially twat like behaviour and fair play, it’s high energy, it’s entertaining and it’s fun. After all he is in some ways a “punter” who fully “gets it”. I wonder if he’ll make to The Temple at 5am?

 

I find my self back at camp and allow myself to be persuaded to check out Jessie Ware on West Holts, fun high energy disco on Spotify, West Holts party time? Not too busy, easy to get near the front and a nicer bunch than The Jungle lot. However shortly after I get the text “ we can see you on the screen” I give in. I tried, but it’s boring pop and I can really do without slow sad stuff at the moment.

 

Glade to the rescue, it’s Goldie, it’s Drum and Bass, it’s live, with actual drummers and it’s fun. Although I’ve no idea how those boys kept up the tempo.

 

IICON

 

In my opinion the best looking stage on site, with a good sound system,little sound bleed from other stages, a large arena, great lasers, and a penchant for booking top DJ’s, but I’ve always struggled at this venue. There’s something about the vibe, it can suffer badly from overcrowding and often seems to attract the more aggressive among the post midnight crew. However, I’ll give it another go for Afrodeutsche. Sadly yet again it’s all too dark.

 

After another maybe half hour of confusion and indecision, never quite finding the right sound or vibe, I’d welcome a simple “nice one geezer” at this point, with some trepidation I approach The Temple. No way, not at this time on a Saturday, not a chance. The queue is unsurprisingly big, but it’s just about within the long snaking rails and occasionally moving. I’m gonna go for it! I reckon it probably took about 30 minutes, but felt like 5, until I was in.

 

Maybe it’s about 3am, maybe it’s Simula on decks, but it’s danceable and it’s The Temple and I’m happy and I continue to worship at the alter of fun, admiring the strange and sometimes disturbing giant head above the DJ. It’s 5am, time for the 4am Kru, something not quite right there.

Wow these guys have some energy and thankfully so have the crowd, although still barely more than a “nice one geezer”. Where is the love? And no sign of Mike Skinner.

 

 

Sunday

 

Sometimes it feels like The Daytime line up is made for me, rarely anything of real interest before mid afternoon, although the reality is that I’m willing to miss acts or have become blind to anything that interferes with a good 6 hours sleep. It also feels like mid Sunday afternoon on West Holts is always “heritage Reggae”. As so we have Steel Pulse, hardly a finer roots Reggae act exists, the perfect way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon.

 

A few years back I took a “flier” on a interesting act headlining West Holts, Janelle Monáe was superb that night, so let’s see how she gets on late afternoon on the Pyramid. As I make my way through the main markets I’m increasingly confused as the bulk of the traffic is heading away, maybe towards the Other Stage. For who?

 

A perfect performance from an extremely talented, confident and comfortable artist delivered with supreme confidence. The music, choreography, costumes, presentation and message we’re all spot on, yet the crowd barely reached the mixing desk, why? Who else was on?

 

You’re not going to believe this, well maybe you are, but I ain’t. Avril Lavigne FFS! Alcohol or irony or both, but wow, just wow!

 

Right here we go, the finale, the big one, well kind of two, we got a starter and a main course. It’s West Holts Sunday night party time and no stage does the last night better.

 

“The warm up”, apologies to Nia Archives for using this term, she was great, and I had no idea she sang. What a wonderful set.

 

In some ways I’d been waiting for Justice right from the moment I arrived on site, or even from the moment the line up was released. I was at the 2017 Justice set, same stage, same slot, one of my all time favourites and knew this was worth the wait. I even did something I’ve only done once before, for Beyoncé in 2011(?, feel free to correct me), wait a whole hour between sets. You see I knew the legend of 2017 would fill the field and more and I needed to secure a good spot. Nia finished and I headed straight for the barrier, time passed quickly as I conversed with my neighbours.

 

Was it as good, or was it better than 2017, as I can’t now repeat either and my memory ain’t the best I’ll never know. What I do know is that it was epic, what I learned is that being right at the front isn’t necessarily the best spot, especially for a dance act, you somehow miss a bit of the vibe.

 

Time for another go at IIcon, DnB legend Roni Size. He’s good, the vibe is okay and I can handle at least for an hour or two, until Goldie comes on and suddenly I’m “drum and bassed out”. Never had that before. What now?

 

Yet again rescued by Genosys, a reoccurring theme of the last two years in Bloc 9. This time it’s the wonderful DIY and some proper old school house, a lovely change and straight into Felix Dickinson as the dawn breaks over NYC Downlow, enhanced by the lasers from here and IIcon.

 

 

So why the occasional “nice one geezer”? What’s that all about? Well something was different this year, at least in my little Glastonbury world. Last year one thing was constant, one thing could, at least for myself, but relied on. Everyone I meet was friendly, happy, smiley, fun and many good conversations were had, lovely moments shared on the dance floor and mostly with “strangers”. This year nothing more than the occasional “nice one geezer”, without rhyme or reason it just wasn’t happening. Was I different, were they different, too much coke, too much alcohol, was I “unlucky”?

Hate to break it to you Skip, but that weren’t The Orb… they pulled out, and were replaced by Youth. I made the same mistake, and was so baked that I stood there for the whole set and didn’t realise, especially as I’m pretty sure I remember him playing Little Fluffy Clouds. 

[Skip997]

16 minutes ago, GrumpyRaver said:

Hate to break it to you Skip, but that weren’t The Orb… they pulled out, and were replaced by Youth. I made the same mistake, and was so baked that I stood there for the whole set and didn’t realise, especially as I’m pretty sure I remember him playing Little Fluffy Clouds. 

Amazing 

 

Thanks for letting me know 

[Johndenis]

Great read @Skip997.  Are you a current or past crew member who gets to party all weekend ?  I didn't know that even backstage there are secret bars that not everyone finds !  During my 2 Glastonburys I have mostly done the daytime (e.g. one of my fave things to do is listening to musicians having a chat up at the crows nest) so I don't really understand the SE corner venues (though I have went over there for a look in daytime) or the differences between the venues.  Has anyone drawn a map or a diagram 🙂

[Skip997]

36 minutes ago, Johndenis said:

Great read @Skip997.  Are you a current or past crew member who gets to party all weekend ?  I didn't know that even backstage there are secret bars that not everyone finds !  During my 2 Glastonburys I have mostly done the daytime (e.g. one of my fave things to do is listening to musicians having a chat up at the crows nest) so I don't really understand the SE corner venues (though I have went over there for a look in daytime) or the differences between the venues.  Has anyone drawn a map or a diagram 🙂

I’ve finished my shifts by midnight Wednesday, so get the whole show to Party.