It seems that an age has passed since I was at Glastonbury & I’m not entirely sure that I can do the experience justice from this distance (if I ever could), but I’m going to give it a try.
Let me start at the beginning – I’d wanted to go to Glastonbury for a long time, at least since I was in VIth form college (12 yrs +), but the opportunity to go had just never arisen. I had watched the 2005 festival (a bit of a mud-bath too) on TV and for the first time I was determined that I’d make it there. As it turns out, Lucy was actually at that festival (I wonder if I spotted her on TV?) and she was keen to go back, so we arranged our trip home this year to coincide with the Festival.
Flying 14,000km to the UK was not the hard part though, that came in actually getting hold of tickets. The multi-faceted ticket application process made it feel like we were trying to enter Fort Knox & not a music festival! Submitting photos in February & then attempting to get hold of actual tickets closer to the date. Unfortunately, Lucy & I were in Tasmania when the ticket sale happened, so we were very thankful to Helen Auton for sorting out our tickets (and those of 24 others!!)….. she deserved to be named in the Queen’s birthday honours for that one!
Anyway, so we had the tickets, we had the tent (an excellent pop-up number which I would thoroughly recommend) and an airbed & we had our drugs of choice – we were all set to go (although no camera as Lucy had dropped it the night before – sorry I had to mention it!). The only thing we needed was to actually get there. Now, I have to admit that I was not exactly enthralled at the prospect of spending 10 hours (as I thought the journey was) on a bus with people I didn’t know that well (many of them smokers at that). I got a few things wrong - The journey was a superb start to the trip, everyone made me feel welcome (why did I think they wouldn’t?) and there was enough ventilation to clear the smoke (or was that enough alcohol to numb the senses!?!). However, I wasn’t too far off on the estimated journey time…..only 5 hours or so on the motorway, but then it took ages to wind our way through the Somerset countryside for the last few miles to the Festival site.
Getting off the bus we hurried to find a suitable pitch for our tents. I think Ikea must have had a good summer selling ‘granny trollies’ as 90% of the people there seemed to have one to cart around their beer! What a cracking idea. I think the original plan was to pitch up the hill from the Pyramid Stage (the main stage) and arriving on Wednesday (the main festival doesn’t start until the Friday) we thought we’d have a chance. But no, the place was already jam-packed and so we were lucky to find a sufficient space to pitch next to each other – and luckily had a couple of cool Irish ‘neighbours’ who had been in the area since Monday. The ‘pop-up’ technology was a masterstroke & so our tent was up in seconds, although this only meant that we helped others to put up their tent – Gemma seemed to be enjoying her first tent ownership, but struggling to make sense of its construction, with Keith’s help it was up in no-time.
You might think that arriving on a Wednesday for a Friday start is a bit crazy – but despite some areas (Lost Vagueness for instance) still been under construction there was still plenty going on – and of course we also got to pitch our tents up a hill (a great bonus as you will soon see). We wandered around the site for a while (and a massive site it is) taking in the surroundings.
The rest of Wednesday seems to fuse together but I do remember stumbling across the wishing tree (didn’t look anywhere near as good in daylight), a ‘real’ man & lying in a hammock within an outdoor café (thinking it had a roof). As well as walking along planks that I thought were protecting me from falling into a deep ravine & then rolling around in a lush carpet (it was the grass). Definitely an ‘alternative’ time. Thanks to Kim, Hayley & Kirsty for making it such a top evening. The rain also arrived overnight – not good.
On Thursday Lucy & I went exploring (something I like to do in most places, but this place was extraordinary – a City the size of Sunderland appearing & disappearing again in a matter of days) and checked out Trash City & The Park (both new) and then came across the Chai Wallah tent. Initially attracted by the awesome beatbox artist – MC Xander – we found ourselves drawn to this tent on several occasions for the excellent Chai Tea & great soup as well as the wide selection of acts (bands & spoken word as well as a top drum & base dj late on). We also managed to attend the wedding of Kirsty & Hayley in the fields of Avalon – definitely one of the funniest things that I have ever seen (and it drew quite a crowd, although I’m not sure either of them remember it!). And then ended up in the cinema tent (they had a cinema tent & also an outdoor cinema) at 3am to catch a screening of Pulp Fiction. What a great movie & the audience participation (shouting out along with the key lines & getting up to dance with the Jack Rabbit Slims contest) made it all the better. More rain overnight.
On Friday we were up early, eager to see our first bands on the big stages. We met a number of friends at the Pyramid Stage to catch The View (a good, upbeat start) and then went for a bit of a wander around the rest of the site – hoping to take in as much as we could. Getting to the Leftfield Tent we caught some talent called up from the crowd (quite why you would wonder around all day with a guitar in hand I’m not sure) but already the mud was having an effect and it took so long getting around that we soon decided to head back to the Pyramid Stage. Bought a couple of ‘fold-up’ chairs on the way – they were priceless in all that mud. Now more than a few people might say that £150 for a festival ticket is expensive, but where else can you see Amy Winehouse (ok), Magic Numbers (great, ‘happy’ performance), Bloc Party (we missed them by going back to the tent for our chairs), The Fratellis (rocking), Kasabian (awesome – far better than the Monkeys) & the Arctic Monkeys (good but shouldn’t have headlines – Diamonds are Forever their best track!) one after the other?!? Excellent, superb, whatever else you can say it’s fantastic value foe money. Also had a fantastic Glastonbury ‘moment’ as the Monkeys were on stage - The bright crescent moon reaching perfect alignment with the top of the Pyramid Stage – wonderful. Afterwards we had a bit of a party in the Chai Wallah Tent before heading home via the Cinema Tent – there was some strange Irish movie on (can’t remember the name) – but we couldn’t really make out what was supposed to be happening (something about a woman meeting a busker & then recording music?) so we headed to bed (actually I think it was called Once). Yet more rain overnight.
Saturday we got up & were in desperate need of a shower. During a bit of hanky panky the temperature in the tent got up to 40C (for some reason the tent came with a thermometer) and we were almost flooded with sweat! We had planned to not have a shower for the entire time, but we didn’t have much choice – mud doesn’t smell, but sweat does. Heading to the Kidz Field for a shower we arrived to be told they were shut, then headed to the Greenpeace tent for a ‘solar heated’ shower. After queuing for two hours we got to the front of the queue, and the sensation of having a shower and washing off all that mud was electric. Our timing was fortunate, as just after leaving the shower the water ran out – leaving many stood in their towels – imagine queuing 2 hours for a shower to be told they’d run out of water! The cleanliness didn’t last long as 30 seconds after leaving the shower tent we were splashed by mud from passers-by.
We headed to the John Peel stage to find Calvin Harris playing (good from what I remember) and then to the Dance Stage East to catch the end of The Infadels (who we had seen in Sydney just before leaving & are very good), Sugardaddy (ok) and the person we had come to see – DJ Yoda (who was excellent, and would definitely check him out if you get the chance – the visuals just as good as the eclectic music mix). Following on from that we found friends at the Pyramid Stage on watched an electric performance from The Kooks and then my favourite performance of the whole weekend – The Killers (they really set the place alight & that will live long in the memory).
Following the end of the performances on the main stage (about midnight) there was still plenty to do (Dance Village, The Park, Trash City, etc all still going strong) and we decided to head to the end of the disused railway track & Lost Vagueness. Now, in 2005, I saw Lost Vagueness on TV and it looked really cool – a place that I definitely wanted to check out. Lucy was actually there at the time & loved it. However, then one of the reasons for ‘coolness’ was the fact that many people didn’t know it was there – this time around the word was out & the place was packed! Still, there was lots going on – we’d just missed a surprise performance from Madness & Fat Boy Slim was playing an impromptu set (although not exactly gutted I missed that wreck-head). However, we set-up camp for a few hours and all had a superb time taking in the surroundings. Yet more rain arrived but did little to dampen the spirits.
As it was the summer solstice we decided to head to the Stone Circle (a mini Stonehenge) for dawn. We started a bit of a campfire & pretty soon were joined by others hoping to get some heat. It was actually nice finding out what other people were getting up to – some hadn’t been anywhere near the main stages. Had cracking memory of the Druids doing their ritual – with Robin organizing it & Paul close to doing so!, had a bit of an out of body experience myself, saved a couple of people from burning in the fire, helped Gemma (a Japanese cartoon character in her spare time) complete a transaction and then provided entertainment for the whole hill as I got ‘bambi-legs’ and treated the gentle slope as if it was perpendicular! Later saw video footage of Robin egging on Dave the Trumpet player (I wonder if he still needs a manager?!). Plodded back to the tent about 9am and got some much needed kip. Bumped into the National Youth Orchestra on the way (they were first on the Pyramid Stage) and they looked very fresh faced in comparison to us. More rain.
Sunday was the first day on which it rained during the day – previously it had been at night so didn’t have much effect on us (apart from the mud of course). Getting up late – about 2pm – Lucy & I spent much of the day dodging the rain. Having a pot of cider we watched The Bees (v. good) on the Jazz Stage, then headed past Mika (he seems to get everywhere) on the Other Stage to the relative comfort of the John Peel Tent. Whilst sheltering from the rain we took in Mark Ronson (good but nothing to write home about), Just Jack (same) & Jamie T (very good). Then, after convincing myself that The Who were past it (also thought Lucy wouldn’t fancy seeing the Kaiser Chiefs on beforehand) & that we’d be better served listening to the Chemical Brothers we headed to the Other Stage. I’m not sure whether it was the actual performance, or the constant rain that was getting to me (probably a bit of both), but I really didn’t enjoy it. Afterwards, the plan was to meet everyone in Trash City – which we spent over an hour trudging through rain & mud to get to & then decided that we just wanted to go back to the tent. I just couldn’t face standing around in wet clothes any longer. Fortunately, Robin & Gemma had a bit of a fire going by the tents and so we were able to warm up a bit before heading to bed. Definitely had the feeling that the Saturday was the pinnacle & Sunday was just a bit of a come-down from that. More rain.
Monday we woke up to yet more rain – it was really starting to get us down. However, the bus was to come and pick us up at 9am, so not much time to get wet. The plan was to get ready in the tent then about 8.50am get outside of the tent, empty it & pack it (took seconds) before running to the bus where we’d be nice & dry. The first part went perfectly, but the bus was late…. Two hours late. With no shelter, and with plenty of rain we were truly miserable by the time the bus did arrive & to compound matters it was cold on board – didn’t start to feel better until we reached a service station and I spent 30 mins in front of a dryer! The journey home seemed to take a LOT longer than the journey there, and it was such a relief to see the exotic delights of Easington.
Time to dispel a few myths about Glastonbury. First off, and this is one that most people worry about, the toilets are not that bad. Admittedly they smell (no surprise) and if you look down then you will see a vat full of poo…..but providing you take your own loo roll you will never been in any trouble. I did discover a toilet with a poo on the seat at one time, but then again you sometimes find that in a pub in Middlesbrough. Secondly, the food is not limited to burgers & chips – of course you could get that if you wanted, but there was a great selection of various food (including vegetarian) and al reasonably priced. I think Michael Eavis etc had done a good job in preventing profiteers from turning up. Thirdly, you have to queue ages to get a beer – I don’t think I queued longer than 2 minutes to get one. However, it did take an age to walk across the fields to a beer tent & there was a lot of queues for food & the toilets (a particular bug-bear for Lucy). Lastly, TV makes it look as though the whole festival is a drug fueled event and that is just not true….. well actually that might be a bit of a fib, but I’m trying to convince my Mum that is the case so bear with me. However, I would hazard a guess and say that the drug culture that is present makes for much less violence and chaos than if it was an alcohol fueled event.
Watching the event on TV does not do it justice. In particular, the sound system sounded awful on the recordings my Mum made (maybe it was her VCR) but the sound at the Festival was superb – particularly at the Pyramid Stage (we did stand fairly near a speaker)….that is even truer when you compare it to the system we encountered at Twickenham Stadium a week or so afterwards.
A few closing comments: As you might have guessed, I had an absolutely superb time – despite the rain. For £149 not only do you get to see all of the bands, but there is dance music going pretty much all day, then there is poetry & spoken word, 2 cinemas, the variety of food & drink and a whole lot more. Plus, some of the experiences you have there, and the friends you make are just priceless. Also, for me it was an excellent opportunity to meet some of Lucy’s friends properly for the first time. And I think Lucy has a superb group of friends there – hopefully some / all of them will be able to make it over to visit at some point. If any of them happen to read this – a big, massive thank you for making it such a great event!
Would I go again? Yes, in an instant – but it would be nice to stay in a tepee & also to not have rain….but I hope to go back again soon in the not too distant future (maybe take in some other, smaller festivals first?).
You have GOT to try the hot & spicy cider from the cider bus
Oh, almost forgot to tell you about the “Pedro ‘tasche” that I obtained (courtesy of Hayley) on the bus down to Glastonbury. Made me look like a fairground ‘strongman’, all I needed was fake dumbbells with 100kg written on them & a hooped Victorian swimsuit. As we were gaining entry to the site, the steward suggested that I didn’t have a ‘tasche in the photo (on my ticket) and so couldn’t gain entry…. Seemed funny at the time!
Bands I didn’t have time to see that I would have liked to: The Coral, Arcade Fire, Bjork, Klaxons, Maximo Park, The Editors, The Enemy, The Rakes, Kaiser Chiefs, The Bootleg Beatles, The Gossip, Madness & probably countless others – but there just wasn’t time!
Highlights: Killers, Kasabian, Kooks & Ketamine – basically anything starting in K! But also Lucy’s friends, the Stone Circle & MC Xander.
Lowlights: The rain & the mud.
Regrets: I would say none, but I think I would have liked to see Kaiser Chiefs & The Who on the Sunday – or alternatively found somewhere dry & stayed there!
I’ve probably still missed loads out, but I guess you’re bored of reading now – but thanks for the patience!
On the way back from the UK, we took advantage of not having to rush back for work and decided to stop off in Hong Kong for a short break. We took advantage of the Virgin Limo service to get into town (it’s a nice touch, but really not sure it’s worth the extra cash for an upgrade) and were dropped at our hotel on Hong Kong Island – the Marriott. The room had fantastic views over the harbour & I was relieved, very relieved, that not all hotel rooms in Hong Kong stank of cigarette smoke (I had a bad experience on a previous trip).
On the second day we had breakfast on the 33rd floor of the hotel, overlooking the harbour and been very confused by reflections. Again braving the humidity, we headed for the Star Ferry & took a trip over the magnificent harbour to the Kowloon side. Dodging a wide variety of people who were trying to sell suits, watches & perfume we eventually made it to the Hong Kong Museum of History. An interesting set-up, the museum took us on a chronological journey of Hong Kong from pre-historic to modern times. Most fascinating was the modern history section, and the rapid development of one of the world’s great ‘trading cities’. 
On our last day we were up ‘early’ at 9am for our trip to ‘The Peak’. The Peak is Hong Kong’s biggest tourist attraction, and at 550m above sea level it’s highest point. Getting to the tram station to discover a huge queue, we decided to take a break from the heat & head to the top in a taxi (it was cheaper too). I thought Lucy’s hands were going to make an imprint in the seats as she was holding on so tight as we went around some of the bends, but apart from nearly going into the back of two buses it was a good trip. When reaching the top of the Peak, we were treated to some amazing views of the City & the harbour, and managed to escape some of the humidity for a while – you can see why it’s the number 1 tourist attraction. Unfortunately, it’s also about the only piece of green space in the City, even the park is predominately concrete, and I’m sure that would drive me crazy if I lived there. 
How would I sum up Hong Kong? Well, it’s an interesting & amazingly vibrant city with a great mix of east & west and definitely a great place to visit for a long weekend. However, the humidity, the afternoon rain-storms & the lack of green space mean that I wouldn’t want to live there. A magnificent end to our vacation & lovely to be able to share the experience with Lucy.
