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Glastonbury 2014

We went in 2011. Best fun I've had with my clothes on. Errr actually...

Definitely going again either next year or 2016. Relating it to what you see on the Beeb is not even close to the reality. In 2011 there were over 40 stages, think there were more this year. You could quite happily ignore everything on the biggest 6 stages (we did, mostly) and catch some great new live music.
 
Haha awesome...

Would loved to have seen arcade fire I just love them. Saw them a few times before and they are amazing. I could go into battle listening to their music!
 
someone did mention that because of all the people ...its practically impossble to move between stages in time to catch the start of the next act??

...never been myself ...don't know if I could hack a whole weekend these days!


inspired....I've just been learning to play dollys 'jolene' on the old guitar !
 
WAD62 said:
The 'full sets' on the BBC website are excellent, if you can hook up a laptop to your TV/AV setup...no yoof bollox and pretty much the whole set, Jack White did about 90 mins including an encore! Not something the normal coverage gives...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/events/errnc8/performances/lg49mb

Goldfrapp, Bonobo, and Massive Attack are lined up for tonight...

P.S. Thought the 'Fat White Family' were quite refreshingly different...
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Was looking forward to seeing MA on the BBC iPlayer but it wasn't filmed: http://www.efestivals.co.uk/forums/topic/186967-massive-attack-set-not-being-shown/
 
I went this year, I think my ninth visit since 1979.

Some reflections:

It has become vaster since I was last there in 2009 which itself was bigger than a few years earlier
There is still no obvious commercial sponsorship or corporate advertising
It takes ages to get about, especially when the mud starts sloshing
Toilet facilities have regressed (yes that is possible)
Audience looked younger than usual
Great food options at reasonable prices
Fabulous Greenpeace area goes from strength to strength
Still has a political/alt presence but much lower in the mix nowadays
Great live sound on most stages
Some unexceptional acts: e.g. Metallica & Jake Budd were given headline status
Saw some great acts: Warpaint; M.I.A.; Smoke Fairies; Toy; Rodrigo y Gabrielle; System 7/part of Gong.
Dolly was fun and seemed to draw the biggest crowd of the weekend
The great circus, theatre, films, sculptures etc etc are still there

Met some lovely people, there's still a kind of special vibe but it is very diluted

Overall IMO the festival has simply grown too big and too conservative in its programming of the headline acts. This trend set in some years ago.

Yet for every ticket available there are many people trying to buy it. Surely a dilemma for Worthy Farm.

I hope to be able to go again sometime and to be able to afford to glamp in hot sunny weather. Meanwhile I can catch up with BBC I Player!
 
Robn said:
I went this year, I think my ninth visit since 1979.

Some reflections:

It has become vaster since I was last there in 2009 which itself was bigger than a few years earlier
There is still no obvious commercial sponsorship or corporate advertising
It takes ages to get about, especially when the mud starts sloshing
Toilet facilities have regressed (yes that is possible)
Audience looked younger than usual
Great food options at reasonable prices
Fabulous Greenpeace area goes from strength to strength
Still has a political/alt presence but much lower in the mix nowadays
Great live sound on most stages
Some unexceptional acts: e.g. Metallica & Jake Budd were given headline status
Saw some great acts: Warpaint; M.I.A.; Smoke Fairies; Toy; Rodrigo y Gabrielle; System 7/part of Gong.
Dolly was fun and seemed to draw the biggest crowd of the weekend
The great circus, theatre, films, sculptures etc etc are still there

Met some lovely people, there's still a kind of special vibe but it is very diluted

Overall IMO the festival has simply grown too big and too conservative in its programming of the headline acts. This trend set in some years ago.

Yet for every ticket available there are many people trying to buy it. Surely a dilemma for Worthy Farm.

I hope to be able to go again sometime and to be able to afford to glamp in hot sunny weather. Meanwhile I can catch up with BBC I Player!
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Thanks for that. Always good to hear from someone who went. Next time am sure we will just mooch around the smaller stages and avoid the big stuff, probably more than last time as we had young people who wanted to see Beyoncé etc.
 
Rack Kit said:
Was looking forward to seeing MA on the BBC iPlayer but it wasn't filmed: http://www.efestivals.co.uk/forums/topic/186967-massive-attack-set-not-being-shown/
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I was there on Sunday - my first time, but Robn seems to have summed it up pretty well.

Massive Attack were awesome - the highlight of what we saw for me. Apparently they didn't want to be on the BBC, but it wouldn't have been anything like being there anyway.

It's really difficult to move between stages, the mud, rubbish and all the people see to that. There is no way I would camp there.
 
Patrick Dixon said:
I was there on Sunday - my first time, but Robn seems to have summed it up pretty well.

Massive Attack were awesome - the highlight of what we saw for me. Apparently they didn't want to be on the BBC, but it wouldn't have been anything like being there anyway.

It's really difficult to move between stages, the mud, rubbish and all the people see to that. There is no way I would camp there.
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Seen them live twice now but i was really looking forward to seeing them on tv from this Glastonbury. Had a paint brush & roller welded to my hands all last week so wouldn't have had chance to go even if could a ticket.

Oh well...
 
I can see your point about Glastonbury and most festivals. They have become overcrowded, litter strewn and with the advent of precipitation muddy fields making "pleasurable" camping nigh on impossible.

BBC does a fair enough job broadcasting acts and Glastonbury and I dare say that audio probably far better than being there.

I was young once and spent countless days and hours attending festivals and outdoor concerts.

The aforementioned issues have spurred other smaller festivals to crop up and that's a good things. So, there is a silver lining amongst the clouds.
 
davidavdavid said:
BBC does a fair enough job broadcasting acts and Glastonbury and I dare say that audio probably far better than being there.
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You'd be surprised. Yes, the BBC coverage gets better every year - Good to see them televising the Park Stage this year. In terms of the sound at Glastonbury though, I think given the sheer size of the stages and the amount of people they are projecting sound out to, they do a fantastic job. The Pyramid stage sounds great - the amount of work that must go into time aligning such a huge line array is staggering. I thought the sound from the Other Stage was very good too. The majority of the smaller stages I visited sounded very good too, particularly The Blues Stage which had me bouncing up and down like a grinning schoolkid. I can't think of a single example where I thought sound quality was lacking - that's more than I can say for some other festivals like End of the Road for example - Great festival, appalling sound from every stage.
 
While she's still on the iplayer, I'd strongly suggest you all check out Juana Molina. Whilst it's not quite as seat of the pants as when she plays solo (and builds all the tracks up from looping her playing live), it's still a great set.
 
You might be surprised at the number of people who have an opinion about Glastonbury who never have...
 
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