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What's the best festival line up you've ever been to?

Colonel_Mad

pfm Member
The thread on best Festivals to attend this year got me thinking about what the best festival lineup I've ever attended are. I think my favourite would have to be this one. What's yours?

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mmm…

not got access to motorbike weekends with Hawkwind, Dumpy’s Rusty Nuts etc as I cannot remember them. Sure they were ace.

2 posters from festivals I can recall - went to the festival’s on a motorbike as it ‘appens.
(XS1100 - street-fightered sort of…)

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and

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The thread on best Festivals to attend this year got me thinking about what the best festival lineup I've ever attended are. I think my favourite would have to be this one. What's yours?

s-l1600.jpg
I saw John Martyn at a Fleadh where Neil Young headlined. It sheeted down and I had to go home to get changed (I was 20 minutes away) or I was going to get hypothermia. Security would not allow any readmittance and I missed Neil Young.
 
There can only ever be one winner when these things come up. Forget Woodstock....you either were at Bath and West 1970 or
you came second:)

I was there and awake in various states for this lot. Some of it was audible when the rain eased off.

Who Played:
  • Santana
  • The Flock
  • Led Zeppelin
  • Hot Tuna
  • Jefferson Airplane
  • Country Joe McDonald
  • Coloseeum
  • The Byrds
  • The Moody Blues*
  • John
  • Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention
  • Canned Heat
  • It’s a Beautiful Day
  • Steppenwolf
  • Johnny Winter
  • John Mayall with Peter Green
  • Pink Floyd
  • Pentangle
  • Fairport Convention
  • Keef Hartley
  • The Maynard Ferguson Big Band
  • Donovan
 
There can only ever be one winner when these things come up. Forget Woodstock....you either were at Bath and West 1970 or
you came second:)

I was there and awake in various states for this lot. Some of it was audible when the rain eased off.

Who Played:
  • Santana
  • The Flock
  • Led Zeppelin
  • Hot Tuna
  • Jefferson Airplane
  • Country Joe McDonald
  • Colosseum
  • The Byrds
  • The Moody Blues*
  • Dr John
  • Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention
  • Canned Heat
  • It’s a Beautiful Day
  • Steppenwolf
  • Johnny Winter
  • John Mayall with Peter Green
  • Pink Floyd
  • Pentangle
  • Fairport Convention
  • Keef Hartley
  • The Maynard Ferguson Big Band
  • Donovan
My folks went to that and still have the programme. Definitely the best lineup ever.
 
Because I’m now an old fart I was at the 1969 IOW festival:
  • 13-A7-EBB0-9093-432-E-8448-B1394-B25-E679.jpg
Full Line Up:
  • The Band
  • Blodwyn Pig
  • Blonde On Blonde
  • Bonzo Dog Dooh Dah Band
  • Edgar Broughton Band
  • Joe Cocker
  • Aynsley Dunbar
  • Bob Dylan
  • Eclection
  • Family
  • Gary Farr
  • Fat Mattress
  • Julie Felix
  • Free
  • Gypsy
  • Richie Havens
  • Marsha Hunt and White Trash
  • Indo Jazz Fusions
  • Liverpool Scene
  • Mighty Baby
  • The Moody Blues
  • The Nice
  • Tom Paxton
  • Pentangle
  • The Pretty Things
  • Third Ear Band
  • The Who
It was good line lineup, but not a totally great experience overall as far as I remember. Very crowded and cold at night. The band did over 2 hours, but Dylan came on very late and did less than an hour until he finally relented and came back on for a few minutes. He was much better when I saw him at Blackbushe in 1978.

I remember enjoying the 1974 Knebworth Festival where all the bands were very good even if Van Morrison was his usual grumpy self.
Lineup for that was:
 
Very fond/blurred memories of this ATP weekend avant-garde superfest. Tried to see everything on all three stages and managed to see about 2/3.

UK 2006 A Nightmare Before Christmas – curated by Thurston Moore

Iggy & The Stooges, Sonic Youth, Bardo Pond, Six Organs of Admittance, Jackie-O Motherfucker, My Cat Is an Alien, Melvins, Richard Youngs, Charalambides, The Skaters, Magik Markers, Alexander Tucker, Deerhoof, Wooden Wand, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Wolf Eyes, Negative Approach, The Dead C, Monotract, Prurient, Awesome Color, dkt/MC5, Dinosaur Jr., Gang of Four, Be Your Own Pet, Aaron Dilloway, Major Stars, Lambsbread, Hive Mind, Leslie Keffer, The Notekillers, Dead Machines, Family Underground, White Out w/ Nels Cline, Peter Brötzmann and Han Bennink, MV&EE + The Bummer Road, Hair Police, Bark Haze (Thurston Moore, Gown and Pete Nolan), Taurpis Tula, Islaja, The New Blockaders with The Haters, Nurse with Wound, 16 Bitch Pile-Up, Blood Stereo, Flipper, No-Neck Blues Band, Comets on Fire, Fursaxa, Double Leopards, Mouthus, Sun City Girls, Mats Gustafsson + EyE (Boredoms), Ashtray Navigations.
 
This was probably the best line up I went to in '97:
  • The Prodigy
  • Smashing Pumpkins
  • Radiohead
  • Chemical Brothers
  • Van Morrison
  • Massive Attack
  • The Orb
  • Primal Scream
  • Beck
  • Cast
  • Stereophonics
  • Dodgy
  • Ocean Colour Scene
  • David Byrne
  • Youssou N'dour
  • Kula Shaker
  • Stereolab
  • Afro Celt Sound System
  • Nitin Sawhney
  • Porcupine Tree
  • Daft Punk
  • Aphex Twin

and the list goes on...was a great weekend.

jlfF5ou.jpg


But probably enjoyed my first Glasto more - in '86...

  • The Cure (most memorable set ever...!)
  • Psychedelic Furs
  • John Martyn
  • The Waterboys
  • The Pogues
  • Black Uhuru
a very different vibe at that one

CZhAzZM.jpg
 
There are lineups that look more impressive, but in terms of having a blast watching the bands, probably this one (it won’t make much sense to most here, but a couple might get the idea):

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The Who put the boot in Charlton Athletic 1976

https://www.ukrockfestivals.com/who-ptbin-76-vftmud.html

What a great site - I love the photos and memories.

Another memory was Daltrey swinging the microphone around on about 20 feet of cable during an instrumental part of one of the songs and bringing it straight back to his mouth for the next verse and also, as a result of all the swinging around of the mic it came off the heavily gaffer taped cable. His roadie immediately threw another which Roger caught and carried on singing without any loss of tempo or anything, superlative showmanship.

:D
 
What a great site - I love the photos and memories.

Another memory was Daltrey swinging the microphone around on about 20 feet of cable during an instrumental part of one of the songs and bringing it straight back to his mouth for the next verse and also, as a result of all the swinging around of the mic it came off the heavily gaffer taped cable. His roadie immediately threw another which Roger caught and carried on singing without any loss of tempo or anything, superlative showmanship.

:D
It was an amazing day. We had just got back from a week in Greece then went straight there. Unforgettable. Alex Harvey band were a fantastic support.
 
I'm not big on festivals so I haven't been to many. However I do have scattered and vague memories of Movement Festival in Detroit 2006 and 2007 which point towards the possibility that I had fun. The lineup was great but one would have to include all the off-festival pre-parties, after-parties, after-after-parties, and techno brunches.

Edit: I might have gone in 2005 too
 
Because I’m now an old fart I was at the 1969 IOW festival:
  • 13-A7-EBB0-9093-432-E-8448-B1394-B25-E679.jpg
Full Line Up:
  • The Band
  • Blodwyn Pig
  • Blonde On Blonde
  • Bonzo Dog Dooh Dah Band
  • Edgar Broughton Band
  • Joe Cocker
  • Aynsley Dunbar
  • Bob Dylan
  • Eclection
  • Family
  • Gary Farr
  • Fat Mattress
  • Julie Felix
  • Free
  • Gypsy
  • Richie Havens
  • Marsha Hunt and White Trash
  • Indo Jazz Fusions
  • Liverpool Scene
  • Mighty Baby
  • The Moody Blues
  • The Nice
  • Tom Paxton
  • Pentangle
  • The Pretty Things
  • Third Ear Band
  • The Who
It was good line lineup, but not a totally great experience overall as far as I remember. Very crowded and cold at night. The band did over 2 hours, but Dylan came on very late and did less than an hour until he finally relented and came back on for a few minutes. He was much better when I saw him at Blackbushe in 1978.

I remember enjoying the 1974 Knebworth Festival where all the bands were very good even if Van Morrison was his usual grumpy self.
Lineup for that was:
Because I’m a bit younger than you Jim (?),I never made it to the ‘69 IoW festival but i did get to the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. Interesting that some artists who played weren’t on the official poster (Where’s Miles Davis?)


Also fond (read wet) memories of Bickershaw ‘72
 
Because I’m a bit younger than you Jim (?),I never made it to the ‘69 IoW festival but i did get to the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. Interesting that some artists who played weren’t on the official poster (Where’s Miles Davis?)


Also fond (read wet) memories of Bickershaw ‘72
Even more interesting that the headline act at the Canvas City stage ie the whole shebang, Hawkwind, didn't get a mention at all.
 
Because I’m a bit younger than you Jim (?),I never made it to the ‘69 IoW festival but i did get to the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. Interesting that some artists who played weren’t on the official poster (Where’s Miles Davis?)


Also fond (read wet) memories of Bickershaw ‘72
I'm wondering if 1972 was the best musical year in the history of the world? I've been cataloging my records and every time I see 1972, its something amazing
 


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