Martin Ashford

Definitely. He'll be a Glade headliner this year I think. As Steve's backing band is Gong I think they'll get their own slot too

Oxfam have frequently released a small number of places for all of their festivals without notification. Not all of them at the same time but this is a fact. They have also added festivals out of the blue after contracts have been signed off. It can happen!

Thank God for Oxfam. If I didn't have my place I would almost certainly not be going.

That's exactly what happened in 2015. It kind of burnt a hole in my soul.

I completely disagree. Glastonbury can be a very flexible organisation. Roger Waters was allowed to supplement the PA with full quadrophonic towers and he wasn't even on last. I will never forget the impact of that sound. They could set up that catwalk with relative ease I'm sure. As for the set - Taylor did festival sets without the Ginormous Reputation rig, She will do it.

I saw them last year at Bearded and hated their whole "look at us" approach. I left after a few numbers feeling a burning sense of anger.

Perfect for me, Nobody I'd feel sick to my stomach if I had to miss them through being on shift with Oxfam. War on Drugs are just the most amazing festival band. Cat Stevens!! I've never seen Guns N Roses so an ideal headliner for me but if they are up against Lana that will be a very tough call. The one that made me yell out loud though is Carly Rae Jepsen - SUPERB SURPRISE!!!!

My two big things have always been heavy rock and progressive/psychedelic rock. These days I always do Download with Oxfam and Glastonbury. Although Download is a very different set up with an actual Arena, etc, I tend to find I'm having an equally good time as it is such a mega friendly crowd who are there almost exclusively for the actual performers, not because it's the hip thing to be seen at. They book a huge range of up and coming bands (I saw Sleep Token - a complete mystery to most people then - headline the second stage in 2021, Wargasm and Employed To Serve (who I saw supporting Gojira last week) and are generally great in promoting new, young talent. Glastonbury seems to be still meshed in the "has to be hip or at least BBC friendly" school of thought.

I'm pretty sure Neil trusts me. In the same way that I feel a burning resentment that a band I don't care for at all (Arctic Monkeys) are likely to have a Pyramid headline slot for the third time, it must seem quite offensive that a band he clearly doesn't like is having the peak headline slot at the best festival on Earth. A lot of people felt like that about Jay Z in 2008 (turns out he was brilliant). I feel a bit like that about Harry Styles even though I admit I am ideologically opposed to "someone like him" having a Pyramid slot in the first place and the fact that he probably had sex with Taylor Swift countless times (the bastard) but thereby inspiring most of the magnificent 1989 with lines like "he's so tall and handsome as hell". Do I sound jealous? I'm not a big fan of Guns N Roses myself but they are a huge "heritage" rock act with a massive crossover appeal thanks mainly to Sweet Child Of Mine which is so obiquitous that it's almost laughable these days.

Last year there were 2,700 Oxfam volunteers on site - this includes stewards (the vast majority), campaigners and shop workers. Yes, that's enough people to feel like a decent sized festival. Oxfam's main roles are administering the pedestrian gate entrances into the main site but we also have lots of stewards on the vehicle gates too. Sadly, unlike festivals like Download, Womad and Boomtown, we do not work around the stages. The Ped gates are extremely important to GFL for security and Licensing reasons so they stick to the best in the market - Oxfam. Each Ped gate shift will have a HUGE team of stewards and several Supervisors. They check all the wristbands, tickets (and photos), issue passouts and effectively let you in and out through the Superfence. The gates run 24 hours a day. No, we don't normally issue wristbands ( though my tiny team on Sticklynch Gate did this last year). We are HIGHLY TRUSTED. If you are a first time steward there is every chance you will be on a Pedestrian gate.

I've only seen Beyonce once when she was in a band called Destiny's Child. We were right on the barrier at a Radio One Big Weekend in Swansea. Free tickets too.

Yes. Without hesitation. It's a really good experience and you get to meet a LOT of people very quickly. I've made some extremely good friends through being a supervisor. You do get a certain amount of freedom, especially if you are covering several areas at once. This makes the shift go faster.

An important question. Somebody is tasked with arranging the rotas in advance of the festival. Even regular volunteers like myself won't know what shifts I'm getting, which locations, etc until I'm actually registered on site. I'm nearly always a Supervisor but I might also be a steward. It's a bit of a lottery at every festival. Usually I'm pretty happy with what I get but if I want to see a particular artist and I'm on duty there won't be much I can do about it. This, for me, is the big trade off between getting in for almost nowt and paying for a full price ticket If you are a steward, you are allowed to swap shifts with another steward. That can be done on site but it must be done officially using the computer system. It's nigh on impossible, as a Supervisor, to swap shifts as there are obviously far less Supervisors. Also, if your shift times simply don't work for you because of work, childcare, family stuff, etc .just let the Oxbox know straight away so they can rearrange things.

Don't forget, once you successfully log on, it's not just Glastonbury that will come up on the dropdown menu. I booked onto 9 festivals last week for the price of one deposit. You can always drop out later if you can't do them all. Don't forget Oxfam frequently does two or even three festivals the same weekend Boomtown and Boardmasters for example, Reading, Leeds and Shambala being the busiest. I highly recommend Download as every time Ive done it there have been zero night shifts (which is unusual) and most of our work involves stewarding the main arena accessible platforms. Good luck and keep the faith. You WILL go to the ball.

I wasnt being entirely truthful. It was the bar that services cabaret/ outside circus, etc. We tried to get in to use the loos in the Sunday afternoon but were refused entry. Later on in the evening I had a text from the late William Of Walworth saying the bar was selling off it's ale cheap and he could get me in. This worked and I ended up watching Tankus the Henge and drinking myself into a coma. This was the last time I saw William before his passing. Still, it was the only crew area to be unyielding.

I failed to get a ticket again but I'm in with Oxfam Priority as I did 5 festivals including Glastonbury with them last year. One of the best perks last year was realising that our Crew wristbands could get us into ANY crew bar. Normally i have relied on other crew mates getting me a pass. On realising this I managed to get backstage at The Pyramid/Other on Friday afternoon and immediately after Macca's set. So I did, John Peel, West Holts, Arcadia, Acoustic and Outside Circus. Only disappointment is there is a PUB with a proper sign just behind the Pyramid and me and my friend were not allowed access (probably Macca, Grohl and Bruce were having a knees up in there)

I paid about £130 to see Taylor Swift in the Etihad on the Reputation Tour. It seemed a LOT at the time but the show was such a spectacle that it kind of made sense. It was up there with any tour by the Stones, Floyd, etc. This is the view I had

I definitely am

This is nuts. We are living in a world where KISS play the legends slot and Taylor Swift joins them for a solo acoustic version of Forever and a whole band version of Lick It Up.

I must confess that the only album that I've listened to on that list is Midnights. I probably heard some of the Machine Head tracks when I saw them with Amon Amarth in September. Same applies to Wet Leg who I saw at Glastonbury - easily the most disappointing gig of the year. I'm an old fart. My tune of the year - God Only Knows - High Contrast version - the first track played testing the Origin stage PA at Boomtown.

True story you might find amusing. So about a month ago I'm in my local and a woman from my running club walks in with a woman I don't recognise. She's an American. They are both very drunk. I am not. I'm introduced to the American and of course I immediately try to establish if she likes Grateful Dead. She pulls a face and makes disparaging remarks about Deadheads. This disappoints me so I mention that I'm also a Swiftie. Young woman than looks up to the ceiling and starts howling as if she is having an incredible orgasm. The change in her attitude was remarkable. When I tell her that I occasionally perform Swift songs at the pub's Open Mic night she starts to swoon and grabs me by the shoulders. Bloody hell I think - what have I done! Needless to say we are now internet buddies and refers to me as "my Swiftie". Gotta love those Yanks.

SJ Smallpage (an "official" GFLcommentator} is today saying there is a slim chance Taylor could play on the Sunday. Swifty is in Minneapolis on Saturday night. Flight time from there to London is 8 hours. She could sleep on the plane and do the show knowing she doesn't have to do anything for a week. Do I sound desperate?

So a massive US tour starts in the Spring. That makes perfect sense. What you guys have to remember is that Taylor is still well versed in playing festival type sets prior to a big tour and in the middle of one. She did this with Reputation - a 5 song set at the Jingle Bell Ball at the O2 in December (I was there) - a longer set at Radio One Big Weekend in May the following year. When the full stage show arrived from the US shortly after it was on a much bigger scale but the music/dancers/band was exactly the same. The choreography for a song like Gorgeous was EXACTLY the same. So, let's say the stage show is based on a gigantic clock that won't fit on the Pyramid - it doesn't matter to her as long as she's putting on a great performance. If she's got a nice big gap in the schedule she can jet over knowing the full band are fully drilled, plenty of dates completed to fix any issues. Taylor will NOT want to put this off until 2024 especially as Midnights is definitely looking to be a mega career peak. The other thing that nobody has mentioned is the BBC. She clearly has a very good relationship with the Beeb. Several appearances on the Big Weekend including Norwich prior to the 1989 dates. Isle Of Wight line up released tomorrow. Now THEY would sign her in a flash AND they have the cash as we saw with Fleetwood Mac. Taylor clearly loves us Brits - I think she would happily do IOW and Glastonbury in a heartbeat. If she's at IOW she'll be at Glasto. Have faith!!!

My vinyl copy (with lush signed photo) arrived yesterday. Playing it today the production is fantastic - very deep and rich bass. I hadn't realised how good Lavender Haze is. I can see why she chose it as the opener. It's very much like 1989. The tracks grow on you with repeated listening. Once again, when I get the CD it will probably live in my car for months. That hasn't really happened since Reputation. I can see Karma being the big show closer on the tour. Impossible to listen to without shaking your bones.