Have been a very lazy blogger since Glastonbury

Well with all the build-up to Glastonbury and then the exhaustion of coming back, cleaning everything up and coming to work – there hasn’t been much time to update the blog – or at least I haven’t felt motivated to do it – but since I’ve been catching-up on a few of the new Web2.0 things like RSS feeds, I thought it’s time to start writing again.

A quick recap of Glastonbury:

Wednesday: arrived around 4 in the afternoon to find that the Parent field close to our exit was already full and so we had to trek across from the east side of the farm to the west. It was hot, we had two babies who needed feeding and as we were determined to only make one trip from the cars – it was slow going – if there’s a way to get around this in future Glastonbury expeditions – I think we’ll look into it. But… and this is a big but, the atmosphere was electric. It really is like entering a sity with different areas, everyone doing their own thing and this was before anything had even started. Once we arrived at our site and the babies were fed – they were very happy.  Crawling around over all the equipment and helping us unpack things in their own way. One of the reasons our load was so heavy was because I had packed an esky (cooler-box to non-Aussies) with beers and barbeque stuff and I have to say that first cold lager after we sat down was bliss! So the first night ended fairly early after a tiring day and several glasses of red wine. Slept like the dead – until 6.15am the next morning… (I lie, I was woken by a Welsh couple who arrived with their little boy at 3.30 am and had to put their tent up. It was a surprise to open our tent flap in the morning and see a mosntrous tent on our doorstep, but literally every free piece of land was used).

Thursday: Up early thanks to Else – which is actually a blessing in disguise because it means direct access to the toilets and water areas which get absolutely swamped with people by 8 in the morning.  Breakfast and coffee set us up for a morning in the green fieldz which are host by Greenpeace and have a kids area. It was great because it actually started raining quite heavily in the morning and we just played in a geo-dome for the kids – we had left the tent with no waterproofs or wellies.  Lunch at the departure lounge (a protest area against further airport expansion and the airline industry in general). The afternoon was spent exploring different areas and then getting back to the Queen’s Head Stage for Maximo Park (whom we managed to miss because we were back at the tent getting waterproofs) and We Have Band. Fantastic band who just very catchy beats and make you want to move – Else even had a dance on my shoulders with her little pink ear defenders on. As the main acts were all starting properly on Friday and we had mates arriving on Thursday night whom we had to pick up from the bus drop-off we hung around the tent.

Friday: Up early, coffee and a hot shower in the green fieldz because no-one else is up. Brilliant! Then breakfast and back to the tent to give Else her early morning nap. I escaped to catch Mr. Hudson and the Library who were playing at the Other Stage and that was a great way to kick start the day – although they played a lot from their new album which I had not heard. Then off to the Avalon field where I caught up with some mates and watched and 11 piece band called Savannah playing a mixture of African fused with Western music. Then left mates to head to the Kidz Fieldz which are quite amazing. The stewards ask you to turn around and walk through the entrance backwards and upon leaving ask you to leave your smile at the door so that they can be re-used for other visitors. Every conceivable climbing equipment, performance tents, Mamas and Papas restaurant for the parents to have a breather – but due to Else and her mate Grace’s ages – we spent most of the timeinthe storytelling tents where they were absolutely mesmerised by the story tellers (and so was I actually). I was sorry we had to go at one point as I wanted to find out what had happened to the boy who had his belly button stolen by the belly button monster because he didn’t sleep under his covers – thrilling stuff! Now that the kids had had their fun we headed of to see a few bands with them. First up was The View, whom I was really looking forward to seeing, rocky, catchy and with a great Scottish accent that make lyrics sound really cool – but I was thoroughly disappointed. The sound wasn’t great, you couldn’t really hear the lyrics and the music didn’t sound great either. Oh well, next we were moving away from the noise and people with Else up to the park to see Emiliana Torrini. Our mates went to go and see Fleet Foxes – whom I would have liked to see, but I have no regrets. The Park area is amazing and relaxed, Else was instantly more happy with less people. I have this hypothesis that she likes focussing on people’s faces and making them smile rather than dealing with a sea of humanity (much like her Dad really).  Granted we also fed her up there, but she enjoyed making faces at people and dancing to Emiliana Torrini – who was amazing. Great backing band – good music to sit on the grass and chill out to, but also a few rockier no’s that got the crowd moving – and lot’s of little stories between songs. I can’t recommend her highly enough – fabulous!

Then back down to join the others who were now at the Pyramid stage. We got to see about 4/5 songs of Friendly Fires set at the Other Stage and I can highly recommend seeing them live too. Same stage as The View only a few hours later – but a completely different quality of performance. You can’t help but tap your feet and nod your head.

We caught the last couple of songs of Lily Allen – which were catchy and she’s a fun entertainer, but I opted to go and get dinner for the group with Annette – so that I could go to the Queen’s Head Stage and see The Virgins. In the words of my wife, Annette,  who hadn’t heard much of them before “I predict these guys are going to be big”! But get ready to commit to having their songs in your head for days! Smart, funny guys from NYC and great songs. Listen to their album on Spotify. The Specials were brilliant because they have such a long career and so many hits that everyone knew them and could sing along and dance. It was also relaxed enough for us to sit down and have some dinner (Mexican from the Flaming Cactus – hmmmm) and then get up and boogie to the music. We headed back to the tent to hang out and put the girls to sleep and then our mate Sarah (Grace’s mum) volunteered to babysit the girls whilst we went to see Bloc Party – I am so glad she did! They are one of my favourite bands and they didn’t disappoint with song after song to get the crowd jumping and singing along. The lights, the tens of thousands of people, the flags that were being waved around like the start of a battle or a scene from Braveheart – it’s really difficult to describe – you had to be there. But the next best thing is to check them out on BBC Glastonbury website. Utterly brilliant and the highlight of my weekend!

Advertisement