Alright, said I'd do it, and I did. About 1500 words here.... tl;dr version: Glastonbury is an amazing, emotional experience. It's also the physical equivalent of WW1 trench warfare. Some images are mine, some are from the net. I haven't uploaded any videos cause that takes effort, so those are third party as well. Spoiler So, what's Glastonbury? Well, it’s a big-ass festival in southwest England, about 150 miles due west of London. The closest major city is Bristol. It’s been going on since 1970 and is generally considered the biggest music festival on the planet. Of course, that's all opinion. Regardless, it’s arguably the UK’s biggest cultural…celebrations I guess? The closest current U.S. analogy is Bonnaroo, although the better option is old-school Woodstock (without the rampant rape and far better organization). It’s big….I mean huge. I probably only saw 60-percent of the site, at roughly 1,100 acres in size when stages and camping are included. Someone did a Google Maps overlay, and I threw it down over downtown Austin: Fookin' hell, amirite? You're too old for this shit! Kinda, yeah. But I love 1) music, 2) travel and 3) challenges. I've dropped 20 pounds, got some injuries fixed up. Fuck it, let's do this. Getting there: notbad.jpg Flew into London on the Tuesday before, got a good night sleep and got on a bus at Wembley Stadium. There were already reports that the waits to get into parking were at nine hours. That’s disconcerting. But, it was actually shockingly easy to get in. Like, we just slipped right in after about three-and-a-half hours. After that, I had to take a shuttle to my camping site, which was another 45 minutes. Not five star accommodations, but still better than La Quinta tbh I “glamped” as much as one can at this thing with a pre-erected tent in a part of the site that was kind of removed from the commoners. There were hot showers every morning (worth the price by itself), fresh water, clean toilets, a 24-hour bar and late-night food options. I couldn’t recommend it more. The only downside was it was located on the top of Mt. Everest, or something approaching it. It was on top of a STEEP hill, which on one hand made sure rain went downhill so we had fewer issues than most with the mud, but fuck that walk coming back every night. Right in the ass, seriously. About an hour from the center of the site. Still, worth it. I'm here! OH SHIT GOD NO WHAT IS THIS!?!?! So, get to the site and….oh. Oh dear. The weather was primarily beautiful (high in the 70s, low in the 50s, didn’t rain more than, maybe, two hours), but heavy rains in the days leading up to the festival left the whole site a muddy mess, and it stayed that way for the next five days. Mobility was a massive pain in the ass (every step was a challenge) and getting from point A to point B was just a total challenge and made getting from the western-most stage to the eastern-most about an hour trek through, just, crap. So, yeah, musical selections were definitely affected. Well, you can either fight it and lose or embrace it and win Anyway, the festival doesn’t formally start until Friday, so the first days are a little more limited in their options. So, Wednesday during the day (the sun doesn’t go down till like 10 p.m.) was more exploring the site. That night, I went down to the Southeast corner, which is this collection of bars/stages that go on till 6 a.m. Think your late-night rave of every kind. It wasn’t completed yet due to the weather, but several main parts were: Shangri-La - Including the Heaven and Hell stage Block 9 - Kinda of a NYC sorta thing The Temple - Where I hung out much of the night. Cool people, sorta island vibe. It was cool. Pedialyte man Thursday morning. You can bring in almost as much alcohol into the site (campsites and the stages) as you want, so…..yeah. Also, thank Christ for that shower. I bounce around a bit before running into Paul and Haley, a particularly nice couple from Manchester. Paul took one in the arm in Afghanistan, so I picked up his drinks for the rest of the night. The UK military doesn’t give out Purple Hearts, so I figured it was the least I could do. Lord, I look like a mess. Whatevs. Saw a long set from Annie Mac then a couple of hours from Seth Troxler at the Beat Hotel, which is designed to resemble an old diner. The bloody mary’s were particularly good. Officially Day One (but not really) Friday! Opening Day! A little bit of a late start because of reasons, but started with Skepta at the Pyramid (Main) stage, then Two Door Cinema Club. Check out the ode to Bowie at the top of the stage. Then it was on to The Lumineers at the Other (#2) Stage. Check out the Ode to Lemmy at the top of the stage. Back to Pyramid for ZZ Top cause TEXAS FOREVER. Then to a tent (less muddy) for Explosions in the Sky cause TEXAS FOREVER. They were awesome. “You Hand in Mine” still hits me right in the feels. I was feeling tired and beat up so I just stayed there for Alunageorge (she’s fine, but not really my style) and then Sigur Ros, cause I need more made-up languages in my life. They were amazing. Now, off to Arcadia, aka the Rave Spider. Carl Cox led off and Eats Everything finished it out. Let’s fucking laser stick you idiots. Saturday morning... Fuck, everything hurts. There’s his weird pain on the outside of my right knee and both hip flexors hurt like a sumbitch. I know I’m getting old….but fuck, I feel it today. I actually have to do like 15 minutes of yoga to make it go away, but what are you gonna do? Just suck it up buttercup. First up was Wolf Alice, who I saw at SXSW a bit back. I quite like them, girl has an interesting voice. Then caught half of Mo and then…. What the fuck is this? The goddamn Shibusashirazu Orchestra, aka “the weirdest band in the world”. Obviously they’re from Japan, cause centuries of isolationism has made the entire country batshit crazy. It starts with a lady? man? I’m kinda confused tbh. Anyway, he/she had a decent voice, but then the shit starts. The music is kind of an up-tempo jazz with maybe a little ska, I guess? The lead singer is a guy in a sarong, and there are backup dancers. One pair is in sarongs (of course) and painted all in white. Then, the second pair are geisha-types with plastic bananas doing choreographed, ummm, movements? It’s all very odd. Then The 1975 and CHVRCHES, both great. I will wife Lauren Mayberry one day, she just needs to hop on the fun train. Ding! Ding! Ding! The Main Event And now the most talked about part of the whole weekend: Adele. It’s the country’s biggest (current) star playing the main event of the country’s biggest cultural event, broadcast nationwide on BBC 1. Because I can only view the world through a pro wrestling prism, brother, this is Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania 30. This is THEIR girl playing the same spot that the Stones, Bowie, U2 and, well, Kanye (which included the totem someone brought of Kim blowing Ray J). She even dropped 37 curse words on national TV, just to provide the tabloids some fodder. It was very much the spectacle that was expected. It made for quite the environment, and the US really needs to get on board with flares at sporting events and concerts. After the whole Brexit thing (rough estimate was 80-percent of Glastonbury goers wanted to stay), it was all very cathartic for the Brits. Sunday morning: I'm not dead yet It’s basically the Walking Dead. I’d kill for some bangers and brains. If there is a God, He is not here. I’m to the part where Leo eats a raw fish he scooped out of the river while the pack of Indians search for him. But fuck it, I may never be back here, oh ley do it. First up: Kamasi Washington. Ahhhh, better. Then, Nathaniel Rateliff. I actually pay for a foot massage, 20 pounds! I didn’t care, it was the greatest moment of Treat Yo’Self I will every experience. I came dangerously close to falling asleep in the chair. Get some Band of Horses and Of Monsters and Men in, cause fuck you if you’re not into Icelandic indie pop. Would have liked to have seen Gary Clark Jr. next, but the stage is, realistically, a 45 minute walk through HELLFIRE AND BRIMSTONE KING!!! That, and the legs are giving me the “c’mon son” look, so Grimes will have to do. She was perfectly fun and weird and Canadian. Next comes the last big choice. I want to see Earth, Wind and Fire, or even Cyndi Lauper. But, I MIGHT be able to see 20 minutes of their set and then it’d be a 90 minute walk, at best, back to my tent. So... Fuck you, I like Coldplay It was fine, fun even. At least made for a good environment. It's the end, my friend Trip back was hellish. Woke up at 5:30 to get in the shuttle line by 6:30. Left at 8:30, arrived at 9:30, bus didn’t leave till 1:15, got to my hotel at 7. Spent a couple of extra days in London, saw some sights, did Wimbledon, and now I’m at work with 712 e-mails in my inbox. End result is an amazing experience. I recommend it to anyone as a bucket list experience, cause there's nothing quite like it in the world. Feel free to PM me if you ever want to go, I can at least give some insight.
Great write-up, sounds like a pretty amazing experience. I'd love to try Glastonbury some year but the combination of the elements + living in a hotbed of festivals in SoCal + probably not being able to justify the costs and time to my gf/friends make it seem pretty unlikely, so liked hearing about your experiences.
This thing doesn't make sense to me. They're not selling tickets to it - just 4 night hotel packages that start at around $2,000 per person for 3 nights of shows and 4 nights for all-inclusive hotels. I get that its all inclusive and its a unique opportunity to see cool bands on the beach in Mexico, but after flights and transportation that's probably around $6,000 for two people to make this work. I could maybe see this working if this was LCD's first comeback show and a ton of diehards flew down there. But just off the top of my head they're headlining Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lolla, ACL, OSL, FYF, Panorama, LouFest, WayHome and probably a few others. I'm seeing them three times this fest season. Its either going to sell very poorly or be a super douchey place with a bunch of scene people who can afford it. My gf was interested until we found out it was at least double what we were expecting it to cost.
If you need a new tent for cheap, hit up Walmart.com Front Page of Slickdeals Tents: 4-Person Instant Ozark Trail $30, 2-Person Coleman Sundome $29
http://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2016/07/14/bonnaroos-ticket-sales-plummet-28000/87003736/ Don't put out a lineup with a shit second line...
Gonna be an interesting decision for Live Nation to see where they take it from here. I can see them saying "we can essentially put out any shitty, awful lineup and still get 35-45k on the grounds because its Bonnaroo, let's keep this cheap next year" or I can see them trying to go over the top in investing in a killer lineup next year to get it packed again. We'll see.
Only the best. Car camping passes this year, hammock space is abundant if you're into that sorta thing
....which was in response to how easily threads get derailed and how the topics are all over the place like a music festival lineup.
If you don't mind me asking, how much money are you planning on spending on the trip (flight, hotel, etc)?
The room is about $1,500/person. That's all-inclusive, including the shows. I haven't looked into flights yet. As I understand it, you can get by with never leaving the resort and not really spending any more money. I'll probably take a day to go to Tulum or something though. It will probably be between $2,000-2,500 all in.
It sneakily became summer camp light with three sets of cheese and umphreys when you factor in Thursday.
Couple of my good friends have gone and said hulaween is a damn good time.... Hard to mess up 3 nights of cheese/umph. Going to lollapalooza Saturday only hope I can find a dose or two but not getting my hopes up excited regardless never been to Chicago and Saturday looks like a decent line up
Watching the Tomorrowland stream, I'm having withdrawals from a year ago I'm still having Glastonbury withdrawals Someone help me :(
every once in a while a song and/or a beat will send a wave over me. i almost don't like it, but then i smile.
I did Phish Mexico last year and like he mentioned, you don't have to leave the resort and everything is included. Even during the shows they walk around with trays full of drinks and have buffet stations and bars set up. It's unbelievable. Phish was at the Barcelo Riviera Maya which was a little antiquated so you had to pay for WIFI (for each device) and the food was some of the worst I've ever had. Either way it was an unforgettable experience and I wish I could do it again.
Sounds awesome. Seeing LCD multiple times this year though, and don't love them enough to shell out that kind of cash for the experience. I can probably count the acts I would do this for on one hand.
One of my favorite shows of the weekend. In no particular order: Melanie Martinez, J Cole, Rufus Du Sol, Alessia Cara, Miike Snow, X Ambassadors, Nathaniel Rateliff, Houndmouth, RHCP, Flume, Vince Staples, and LCD were all great. Bolded were my faves. Rufus, Miike Snow, X Ambassadors (seriously see them) and LCD were incredible.
On a flight back from Lolla to the west coast now then going straight into the office - which seemed like a better idea at the time. Enjoyed the Lolla experience, very easily accessible - from the train station by my buddy's place it was one quick connection and about 30 minutes total to get to the festival and never had any issues waiting for more than one train leaving the park. Crowd didn't suck as much as I expected - still trended fairly young and a fair share of douchebags but people were fairly respectful at the shows I attended. Being able to pound beers at the stages was a nice positive over being contained in a "beer garden" like I'm used to. The music was good, but not fantastic. I felt there were big portions of days where I didn't care for anything and didn't feel like there were very many really unique options that aren't constantly touring. I think, unfortunately, Pitchfork and Riot Fest cannibalize a decent amount of top talent from Lolla in the Chicago festival scene and get a lot more of the rarer acts who like playing to a more devoted rock audience (Thursday, Brand New, and The Hold Steady are my favorite bands at either Lolla or Riot Fest this year, and they are all at Riot Fest). That being said, still had a great time and enjoyed seeing good music. I missed Thursday (couldn't take Thurs/Fri off work) and got in at 4:30 PM Sunday because we were insanely hungover, but for the acts I saw, here's my rough top 10 list: 1. Radiohead 2. LCD Soundsystem 3. Local Natives 4. Haim 5. Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls 6. Grimes 7. M83 8. Foals 9. Leon Bridges 10. Nathaniel Rateliff
If you want to watch the best live band in the world from Lockn Intro Victory Dance Compound Fracture Off the Record Circuital Steam Engine What the World Needs Now Is Love (Burt Bacharach cover) (live debut by MMJ) (>) Lay Low I'm Amazed Spring (Among the Living) State of the Art (A.E.I.O.U.) (Jim James song) Phone Went West Could You Be Loved (Bob Marley & The Wailers cover) Mahgeetah Purple Rain (Prince cover) Wordless Chorus Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Pt. 2 Rebel Rebel (David Bowie cover) (live debut by MMJ) (>) One Big Holiday
Telluride Blues & Brews HYPE in full effect today. Leaving tomorrow afternoon to get down there. Friday and Saturday lineups should be legit: FRIDAY Con Brio Israel Nash Shakey Graves Jason Isbell Joe Walsh SATURDAY California Honeydrops North Mississippi All-Stars Anders Osborne Gary Clark Jr