Wednesday we (i.e. Olly and I) get our wristbands and wander around the near empty site up to the Glastonbury sign above the Park twice where we get a great view of the site and all the camping areas filling up with tents. We see the rehearsal of high flying acrobats, fire eaters and choirs for the opening show which I miss but apparently not as good as the rehearsal. Catch our first music a folk band who play Ghost Town then we find ourselves in the Block 9 VIP / workers bar where we have a couple of Fist F*cks each. Those are cocktails by the way and very nice too. I’m feeling a little dicky so go back to the tent to see the fireworks from afar.
Thursday starts with the pink vodka party at the main stage tree and I must be the only one there who isn’t drinking. After that we go see the covers band Doreen Doreen who is entertaining enough.
Friday first up is CMAT who plays a great set on the Pyramid Stage. Her and the band play a great mix of traditional Irish twinged country with a punk attitude including getting thousands of us to dance a country 2-step. Perfect for a sunny Main Stage afternoon. We stay for Burning Spear who plays a great set and gets a fair few skanking in a Jamaican style heat. On our way to the Park we catch a bit of the Meffs brand of hard punk at Left Field. Up at the Park we see the Osees play a blindingly energetic raw punk set with the singer guitarist holding his instrument in his mouth. It’s still very hot so we trek to Strummerville to sit on the sofas and catch an interesting sounding Moreish Idols. We’re up and dancing for a great set by Sleaze perfect for Strummerville which is really The Windmill (or any other alt venue) on Glastonbury. The singer seems worse, or better, for wear and the whole band look like they’ve been thoroughly enjoying what Glastonbury has to offer. Similarly the fan base crowd dancing around sometimes on their backs as is the singer. Fantastic. Next up are Alien Chicks who deliver guitar based punk verging on anthemic but in a quirky way. Singer say it’s his birthday so we all sing the usual as he leaves the stage and he seems genuinely chuffed.
Saturday it’s a lazy start for Bob Vylan at West Holts. But beforehand Olly does a bit of Latin dancing and then the carnival float passes by. A big crowd for a typically energetic set of punky rap and a nice touch bringing his daughter on for a song. She doesn’t seem as confident and brash as Bob V singer (as opposed to Bob V drummer). Kudos to Bobby singer for crowd surfing all the way back from the mixing desk to the stage. As for many of the crowds there are a lot of Palestinian flags flying and Bobby gives us his views on the situation there including the now infamous anti Israeli security forces chant that has caused such a fallout. Little were we to know that at the time. I do wonder if it hadn’t been live streamed by the BBC whether anyone would have cared. Disgraceful that the Glastonbury organisers have criticised Bobby for that. Ironically the BBC decided not to live stream the next band due to worrying about what they may say and that one is up on terrorist charges which again is ridiculous. Of course it’s those hard hitting Gaelic singing radical chanting rap merchants Kneecap. Again, ironically they were criticised a year ago at Glastonbury for not pulling out of gigs or festivals put on by companies who are involved in the Israeli arms trade and a year on criticised for being too vocal about the genocide and war crimes in Gaza. Guess they’ve made up for it and West Holts is packed solid me and Olly making our way a bit further back as it’s damn hot in the middle of the crowd. Yes I’m wilting. The link between the Brits in Ireland and Israelis in Palestine has long been made by the Irish freedom movement. The music itself is quite melodic and if they were singing about love and breakups and not wearing an Irish flag balaclava could be taken as a nice boy band. So a couple of great sets at West Holts but it’s sweltering now and we retreat to the Green Fields to chat about coracles, Olly from Shrewsbury knows a thing or two about those ref. the old Gay Meadow, then up to the stone circle to laugh at and with Glasto-tourists taking nitrous oxide in balloons. A short trip to the Park where we give Gary Numan a listen but it’s awful macho anthemic rock so we sit up the hill a bit chilling some more. Revitalised we descend into the mayhem for Lambrini Girls at Left Field. I usually love them and they play a fast punk set but seem a bit too shouty and more interested in their messaging than their music. Their chants would certainly get criticised if streamed on the BBC. As someone with ageing knees it’s not very inclusive to get everyone to crouch down for ages even if you say “do it if you can” as those who can’t stand out like sore thumbs. Too many bands do this these days to my mind for not real good reason. Next is the brilliant Kate Nash who is equally vociferous in her views but delivers in a much more crafted way. Great music, lyrics and chat and she runs around in the crowd a few times trying to say hello to everyone. Not easy as the tent is packed to overflowing. Interesting polemic about the music industry and one individual in particular which Bobby V also did earlier. On recommendation from Debbie and Lily-Rose we go to West Holts to see Doechii as our Saturday night headliner. Not really knowing what to expect we are treated to a spectacular show with big props (old style stereo portable cassette player) and lots of dancers. Not usually my style but the music of which she is the Queen of Swamp Hip Hop apparently (Doechii comes from Louisiana I think) but much much weirder than that sounds. The show follows a storyline sort of school lessons in life and the music is a mix of straight up R&B rap morphing into stranger sounds almost psychedelic at times. A surprise at every turn and to be honest a lot more interesting that I was expecting and a highlight (yes, there were a few) of the festival. That’s one of the great things about festivals in general and this one in particular. You get to see acts that you would never think of going to see and often feel that they are really pushing the boat out for Glastonbury. With that we decide to wander back leaving all night raving to the kids. As we stroll up Muddy Lane (Dusty Lane this year) we look out over the Pyramid where we can hear Neil Young playing Rocking in the Free World. This starts a debate as to whether you can say that you have “seen” an act if you’ve only accidentally seen them from afar and just them on the big screens. Which I guess is true if you are at the back of a big stage audience anyway. So I claim Neil Young and have put him in bold. But what about Amyl and the Sniffers who we could hear the strains of and just about see on the screens on the Other Stage when we were up by the Crows Next? Neil’s last number seems to be a chord and riff rip-off of Hawkwind’s Psi Power and we later find out that he wrote if after Hawkwind released their track. Is that the real reason he didn’t want to play Glastonbury as he knew there would be Hawkwind fans there who would suss out his plagiarism?
Sunday we have decided to leave rather than stay until the madness of Monday’s exodus. So we pack up the tent and the car in a couple of trips in the heat up the hill before going to Woodsies nee the John Peel Tent. I’ve not spent time here this year which is unusual. Come to that I’ve not seen anyone at the Other Stage and only peeped into the Glade in passing. Worth the visit as we are treated to a great early afternoon set by the Gurriers whose punk energy is channelled by an enthusiastic never ending mosh pit. A great start to the last day. We stay for another great energy set by Sprints and keep the mosh pit ticking along nicely. Surprise guest is Kate Nash which goes down very well with the crowd as well she should. After that excitement we seek shade in the woody bit listening to a talented young hesitant pianist and chat to a local. Then down to an extremely packed Pyramid to see the Sunday Legend that is Rod Stewart. I was hoping a gravelly voiced guitar heavy rendition of a few Faces R&B songs but he starts with a few MOR 80s soft rock songs and his voice is shot. Guess he’s not a spring chicken any more. We leave after 3 songs. Catch a bit of Goat at West Holts and take the high route to the Park for our final act of the year. This is a brilliant (as always) set by Kae Tempest difficult to describe with any justice (as ever). Soulful with passionate personal stories bringing tears to eyes including Kae’s at times. Mixed with harder dance tunes to keep us on our toes literally. Kae tells us what Glastonbury means to him and it’s the best summary of the festival I’ve heard in 40 years of coming and I won’t try and paraphrase. Kae in full flow mesmerises the crowd and is an emotional experience and as they finish we’re not sad to be leaving on such a high note. It’s mid evening and we have to get across the site getting stuck in an unholy jam in terrible temperatures. We’re away by about 8.30 and back in Cardiff 2 hours later. Shower, shave and comfy bed.
Monday I train
back to London. Thanks to Olly for his hospitality and driving and to our
fellow campers for the excellent tent based social life. Maybe same again in
2027 as next year is a fallow year. That’s if they keep their licence putting
on so many radical acts. Who’d have thought that of Glastonbury Festival!
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