bennyhana22

That would be excellent. Anyone not extremely old fancy doing that?! Ben

Out of upvotes! Ben

Brilliant. Any E/D-ers with the capacity to help @Fishman and @nikkic, please DM them and let's make sure we get some of the faithful there. Ben x

You going for it again on Sunday, matey? (Please say yes) Ben

👆🏼 Ben

Oh good grief! Ben

Ah, ok yes, gotcha. I was foolishly only thinking about conspicuous on-site commercial tie-ins, but yeah, there is an increasing number of these. As others have said, if they remain as discreet as they are now on the Farm itself, no biggie for me. Last time I was at Latitude, it was ridiculous, and no doubt even worse now for that festival presented by Cinch! Ben

Are there a lot? I know that Glastonbury is not Green Man, but I always enjoy a feeling of there being relatively little corporate involvement, EE/Vodaphone charging uber-tent notwithstanding (don't film your entire festival for Insta and buy a portable charger...what is wrong with you?! 😄). Has this year got a lot of new collaborations? Ben

I spend a lot of time at The Park. As long as you're in front of the sound desk, I've only ever found the sound to be really good, if not excellent (though I do find that it is a little susceptible to wind), and it's steadily improved over the years. Also, given that it's about the only stage that slopes down to the stage, your view is fantastic! And your back doesn't hurt too much, either! Ben

I've done that too as (a) I absolutely detest downvoting and have never done so - if you vehemently disagree, have a conversation about it... - and (b) absolutely non-sensical to consider that someone merely sharing factual information to provide context for an ongoing discussion should receive a downvote! @Neil - did you realise that @Alex DeLarge was simply relaying a previous quotation verbatim? Ben

DM'd Ben 🥰

Oh bravo 👏🏽 Ben

I think since just this year, but others will be more certain. Ben

If it, or a replacement is there, all those on today's poster will be for the main stage, I'm pretty certain. Ben

Received wisdom is that the Avalon Café, and so stage, is no more... Ben

Like you'd know. Pffft. Ben

Possibly the strongest Avalon poster drop for me yet, when seen across the whole weekend. Got 10 on the longest already, many of whom I would be very happy to see. That's started things off nicely! Ben

Birmingham is one of those where you don't get departure times to book. You're at the mercy of the SeeCoaches people, to whom I have sent my customary 'please can we be on the first coach out of Dodge?' begging email! That notwithstanding, you may bet your house on that hug happening, old pal. Ben x

The last two years that strategy has got us to our prime real estate in Paines as the vanguard for our big group and much loveliness ensued! Also, I tend to be reasonably sensible on the Wednesday night sleep-wise, as there's not much going on after midnight and I don't drink. So I can recover nicely for the lunacy of the next four nights! Being on the coach this year means I am in the hands of others in my group to do the land grab! Ben

When I go in a car (coach again, this year) we get up at 3am on Wednesday in Worcestershire, parked by 5-5.30 and in the queue by 6am. Through gates by about 9am. Works fine. Ben

Two more in the pot for Thursday/Sunday! Ben

😄😄😄 Alright, alright! I'll delay a formal entry on the BenFinderTM for now! Ben x

That's my slight concern. 2017 was so good. The crowd were 100% up for it. Trying to recreate that, in exactly the same slot is something I'm not sure about. And I like The National. And I've only ever seen one Other headliner ever (Chems, 2015). So, I think that might be my Sunday night (before heading to the Glade Dome for Psytrance Sunday 😄). Ben

Without any intention to rain on your parade, remember that your arrival time depends on your departure time! I'm not sure what time the latest one leaves Birmingham on the Wednesday, but it's into the afternoon IIRC, and both your and my crew are crossing everything that we'll be put on the earliest ones! Ben

An infrequent visitor to the thread, but philosophically I'm all in! Ben x