Was the atmosphere at Glastonbury 2000 that bad?

[gooner1990]

Been looking at the BBC highlights package and the comments on there about 2000 all seem pretty negative about the fence jumpers and what sort of people were indeed jumping the fence.

I only know a handful of people who were there for that year, and even they only jumped the fence for Bowie on the last night....anyone with first hand experience of that year?

I remember being at work on the friday (Tesco when I was a young student) and we heard on the canteen radio that the fence had come down, about 10 people rang in sick the next day ( ) who all drove down on the friday night, and then another load of people I sort of knew from college popped in on the Saturday morning just before they raced down too.

Kinda wish I had been there to see just about as close to the biggest free party the UK has ever had would have been like, but then I wonder if it was mostly people coming to rob, mug and sell drugs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/glastonbury/archive/2000/#p0085xfy

[Mackem]

Been looking at the BBC highlights package and the comments on there about 2000 all seem pretty negative about the fence jumpers and what sort of people were indeed jumping the fence.

I only know a handful of people who were there for that year, and even they only jumped the fence for Bowie on the last night....anyone with first hand experience of that year?

I remember being at work on the friday (Tesco when I was a young student) and we heard on the canteen radio that the fence had come down, about 10 people rang in sick the next day ( ) who all drove down on the friday night, and then another load of people I sort of knew from college popped in on the Saturday morning just before they raced down too.

Kinda wish I had been there to see just about as close to the biggest free party the UK has ever had would have been like, but then I wonder if it was mostly people coming to rob, mug and sell drugs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/glastonbury/archive/2000/#p0085xfy

[glasto-worker]

I was there working and ' at times ' it was packed but how many got in I don't have a clue { I have seen claims as high as 150,000 extra but no one knows the truth }

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1251089.stm

it was clear the situation could not continue as the facilities were only designed for x amount of people and there was a real risk that the Council would pull the plug so I was glad they made the fence stronger with the now famous superfence.

I do recall seeing Bowie { well on a view screen } but as for anyone else I cant recall .

By Sunday night I was tucked up in the crew camping area but I did hear there was problems that night though various Security supervisors who I know but I did not spot anything myself as our campsite has its own security and is fenced off from the rest of the site.

[Spindles]

We got attacked on the Saturday night and packed up and cleared out Sunday morning. We were camped in Oxlyers and everyone around us also had no ticket (we didn't meet many people who had actually paid all weekend), for the most part the atmosphere was about the same as previous years (there were a hell of a lot of fence jumpers in '99 as well, but not on the same level) but after dark it was 'edgy' in alot of the site, we messed up by going to the cinema field saturday night, where a wandering gang of nasty ass skinheaded scousers were kicking the crap out of people and robbing them, my mate's brother was asleep when it all kicked off, he got burned, his ear ended up looking like some ragged bacon hanging off the side of his head and one side of his face was unrecognisable.

During the day and round the stages, however, no different to any other year, we spent all saturday afternoon and evening at the front of the pyramid stage, befriended many punters in the crowd as you do and left after the headliner feeling great. Within 3 hours it had all gone to crap. The single most frightening experience of my adult life, I couldn't sleep back at my tent and at about 5am a crapload of police arrived around our tents to bust a group nearby who were selling some pills, I was so shook up from the night before I didn't dare look out of my tent to see what the noise was, but it sounded like a riot was going on. Only found out what it was all about from a neighbour when I eventually left my tent later in the morning, by which point it stunk as a whole batch of portaloos nearby had been tipped over and were now lying in a small pond of excrement.

Our lift home had phoned the day before and announced his car had died, so we had to find a lift, which was with the aforementioned brother who had no intention of staying a second longer than he had to after the night before's experience.

It was 2009 before I returned. It's not like that anymore and I'm glad.

[karlpowell]

I all so jumped the fence that year but i didnt see any trouble, i did not take a tent I slept in my van that was parked on 1 of the farms on the way in , the sunday i didnt have to jump the fence as it was pushed over , it was very cramped in some places and you could tell that there where more people in than 99 or 98 .

The friday i was looking for a place to jump over and found a nice chap with a rope ladder , at first the Mrs would not do it but i climbed up and a word with the chap who wanted money for the use of rope ladder we had a little chat and he agreeed i could use it for free , the Mrs got a little more bottle and all so jumped in .

all in all I know what i did was wrong and when it was anounced the festival would not happen in 2001 i was more than a little gutted , when we loook back on 2000 we both agree it was 1 of the best years we went down to glasto , the whole weekend cost me less than £70 thats include fuel/food/beer and the odd narcotic or 2

Edited April 26, 2011 by karlpowell

[fraz]

2000 was my first and yes I also jumped in. The atmosphere was chilled but you just had to have a not of common sense on your shoulders.

The fence has taken away from the festival but it has also added to it massively.

[Pinhead]

Remember it being rammed, but don't remember too much trouble - though camped in relatively 'safer' Dragon's Field for first time that year and hung around LV alot. Remember people just camped on pathes in the end and it took ages to navigate through tents to find yours with few or no bearings.

[Homer]

I blagged my way in ticketless somehow and didn't notice anything untoward (I camped in the dance field). Was busy but doesn't stick out as being any worse than '99 for crowds (the programming in 99 of Underworld subbing the Pyramid followed by Orbital headlining the Jazz/World was a tad dangerous!).

Didn't see any trouble at all as I remember...

[Scotdy]

I had a ticket and can remember more people going over the fence than through the gates!! It was packed but I didn't see any trouble

[russycarps]

I bought a ticket and spoke to quite a few people who bunked in but saw no trouble, in fact I dont think I ever have at glastonbury. I dont remember thinking it being frighteningly busy either, just the usual crowds in the usual places. In fact, it is only the last couple of years I have ever thought it is ridiculously crowded and that is only around shangri-la/trash city/lost vagueness or whatever the late night's been called over the last few years.

2000 was the last year you could buy reliably good drugs on site though!

[G1T]

2000 was easily one of my favourite years, had an awesome time. Don't remember any trouble, it seemed a bit mad max at night i suppose, but then glasto always had really, so didn't seem any different. Maybe being camped up in williams field helped, I dunno.

The onyl thing i noticed was how rammed it was at times. At one point, the path coming down from the stone circle, around about where the thali cafe is now, was completely gridlocked with people squeezed in like sardines, to the point where the stalls themselves were starting to get pushed backwards and people were screaming. A bit mad tbf.

Otherwise, 2000 was an epicly awesome glastonbury, really.

[mozzy]

Never really saw any trouble in any of the "wild" pre-superfence years but I suspect that's just down to the luck of the draw. Well, that & being absolutely trollied practically every single minute of being there. Plenty of dodgy characters around though & the amount of theft from tents in '00 was ridiculous, we kept absolutely everything in the lock-ups & signed bags in & out to get changed or stock up on pills. I remember watching a comedian on one of the outdoor theatre stages ask for people in the audience who'd paid for a ticket to hold their hands up & out of maybe a hundred about ten of us did so. One of my favourite festivals from start to finish, the Chemical Brothers on Friday & Leftfield on Saturday are two of the best shows I've ever seen & then to top everything there was Bowie on the Sunday.

[Cooter]

I loved it, didn't see any trouble but I didn't get mugged, attacked, run over etc etc etc! And to be honest there's always cases of that every year anyway, just not as much as 2000.

2000 for me was my Woodstock, it's up there as the best festival I've ever experienced. Plus the chaotic freedom of the whole thing just added to its brilliance.

[old fence jumper]

We got attacked on the Saturday night and packed up and cleared out Sunday morning. We were camped in Oxlyers and everyone around us also had no ticket (we didn't meet many people who had actually paid all weekend), for the most part the atmosphere was about the same as previous years (there were a hell of a lot of fence jumpers in '99 as well, but not on the same level) but after dark it was 'edgy' in alot of the site, we messed up by going to the cinema field saturday night, where a wandering gang of nasty ass skinheaded scousers were kicking the crap out of people and robbing them, my mate's brother was asleep when it all kicked off, he got burned, his ear ended up looking like some ragged bacon hanging off the side of his head and one side of his face was unrecognisable.

During the day and round the stages, however, no different to any other year, we spent all saturday afternoon and evening at the front of the pyramid stage, befriended many punters in the crowd as you do and left after the headliner feeling great. Within 3 hours it had all gone to crap. The single most frightening experience of my adult life, I couldn't sleep back at my tent and at about 5am a crapload of police arrived around our tents to bust a group nearby who were selling some pills, I was so shook up from the night before I didn't dare look out of my tent to see what the noise was, but it sounded like a riot was going on. Only found out what it was all about from a neighbour when I eventually left my tent later in the morning, by which point it stunk as a whole batch of portaloos nearby had been tipped over and were now lying in a small pond of excrement.

Our lift home had phoned the day before and announced his car had died, so we had to find a lift, which was with the aforementioned brother who had no intention of staying a second longer than he had to after the night before's experience.

It was 2009 before I returned. It's not like that anymore and I'm glad.

Edited April 26, 2011 by old fence jumper

[amfy]

I didn't have any trouble, just a real sense that it had changed and was only going to get worse. To be honest one of the things I always loved was the post acpocalyptic Mad Max vibe of after hours but somehow it just felt like the vibe had got a bit skewed.

It felt too busy during the day, instead of chilled out sunny fields it felt like Birmingham city centre on a Saturday afternoon, impossible to either bimble or get anywhere fast.

Instead of cries of hash cakes & trips, it suddenly seemed to be smack & crack.

Glstonbury is the place where everyone is supposed to be friendly, and there is always plenty of that but I've come across unfriendly people who can't be bothered to socialise outside their group many times. However 2000 was the only time I met people who actively sneered at me and made me feel rubbish. I think it was that above everything else that just left me thinking Glastonbury had gone.

It hasn't really ever got back to how it was, but the big fence has kept it a little nearer than the way it was going.

[russycarps]

Ive been going since 95 and yes it was a bit lawless at times but im sick to f**king death of everyone thats had trouble its allways the scousers,im from north wales and get mistaken for a scouser and sometimes you just open your mouth and people think your going to rob them.before the superfence there was gangs of chavs off every estate in britain causing shit for everyone.

rant over.On the plus side 2000 was my best glastonbury ,the chemical brothers on the friday and leftfield saturday and shaun rider that wasted he forgot the words for step on ,priceless

[old fence jumper]

WOOL

[tilt]

Personally saw quite a bit of trouble, endless attempts at robbing our tents (mine was slashed twice by the end of the Thursday), caught a couple of scallies trying to get in to my mates tent in the middle of the night etc.

There were a fair few gangs out on the rob where we were (one of the fields above the Pyramid IIRC), gave the impression they'd be quite happy to get a bit voilent if needs be. We had nothing worth taking anyway so didn't have too much to worry about, and we were only at our tents during the day when it wasn't so bad.

There were a lot of people (none of my group paid to get in).

Definitely had an edge that year, I thought the atmosphere was pretty dark and I'm very glad it's not like that anymore tbh.

[airwaves]

I liked the busy atmosphere except for 1 incident:-

I headed over the bridge North of the Dance Tent (bad decision)(there was, I think, just a 'dance tent' in those days rather than the multi tented area now) heading towards the said Dance Tent just as Fat Boy slim had finished his set. To say I was somewhat frightned for my well-being whilst on the bridge in the breath sapping crush that there was would be an understatement. I don't know to this day how we were lucky to get away with no-one slipping and the most horrendous accident then happening.

[ninja-style]

Ive been going since 95 and yes it was a bit lawless at times but im sick to f**king death of everyone thats had trouble its allways the scousers,im from north wales and get mistaken for a scouser and sometimes you just open your mouth and people think your going to rob them.before the superfence there was gangs of chavs off every estate in britain causing shit for everyone.

rant over.On the plus side 2000 was my best glastonbury ,the chemical brothers on the friday and leftfield saturday and shaun rider that wasted he forgot the words for step on ,priceless

[Derby_Dave]

I personally think it was the most unpleasant year of all I have been. It was frighteningly overcrowded at times and it did have an uneasy atmosphere for me. I for one am glad of the new fence.

[Spindles]

Ive been going since 95 and yes it was a bit lawless at times but im sick to f**king death of everyone thats had trouble its allways the scousers,im from north wales and get mistaken for a scouser and sometimes you just open your mouth and people think your going to rob them.before the superfence there was gangs of chavs off every estate in britain causing shit for everyone.

rant over.On the plus side 2000 was my best glastonbury ,the chemical brothers on the friday and leftfield saturday and shaun rider that wasted he forgot the words for step on ,priceless

[Guest Flip]

2000 felt like the watershed it turned out to be even while we were there.

Musically fantastic year, Leftfield, Death in Vegas, Horace Andy, Banco De Gaia and the Glade stage was ace!!

Lots of scroats of all shapes and sizes and lots of beered up thugs wandering around..also the year of the defective flares, saw several come down and one tent burst into flames..

Didn't get any hassle personally but could see them wandering around..

Didn't go back for 5 years after 2000

[ukslim]

I remember it being rammed; I don't remember any serious trouble.

In the 90s, Glastonbury had been pretty anarchic, but in 2000 as it had got more popular, it had just that slightly more menacing edge. It was pretty exhilarating actually. If you've ever been to a Latin American city, you'll know the feeling.

The scariest thing was the crushes, when two large crowds were trying to go in opposite directions through a choke point such as a bridge or a gate.

I was never a victim of any tent crime etc., but I gather it was happening.

As much as we bemoan Mean Fiddler and the superfence etc., after 2000 it needed to happen. I remember after the superfence went up, we were celebrating the fact that we could stretch our arms out and do a pirouette on site.

[jimmyt]

Obviously everything is coloured by your own experiences. I hadn't really had any problems until the Saturday night when a group of about 6 scousers (I hate to pander to stereotypes but they were from Liverpool and spoke with scouse accents - I've got nothing else to go on) decided to go through our mate's tent which was set behind our main circle. We were all there so we had a go back and they got threatening. Fortunately we hada group of about 30 there that year (all working) and made it clear that we were not going to lose the fight and they backed off and disappeared.

On the Sunday we had all gone to watch Jools Holland and were sitting in the Pyramid field well-back from the sound tower enjoying ourselves. We then saw a group of at least 20 scousers (I'm using the phrase for the same reason as above) literally go from one side of the field to the other mugging people about 100 yards in front of us. They literally tore through the field grabbing people's stuff and hitting people.

2000 had an ugly atmosphere because the fence-jumpers weren't predominantly Glasto-goers that couldn't / couldn't afford a ticket but were, in fact, mainly petty criminals on the make. It was a good festival musically but I've not even felt that uncomfortable around the site on a "metal Sunday" at Reading.

Edited April 26, 2011 by jimmyt