mouserat

Got there on Wednesday last year and camped in Dairy Ground. By Thursday it felt like there was very little space anywhere near us or in Paines where some friends were, fuller than I remember it being when I'd arrived on Thursday in previous years. I think there were still probably isolated spaces but the closer you got to the centre of the site, the less likely you were to find space. So don't think the stewards were lying - they were probably doing their best to save people walking for ages with loads of bags and not finding anywhere to camp.

Yeah as someone who still mostly buys and listens to albums, this part of the lineup is always a wild west of unknown quantities for me. And really hard not to judge some acts by name alone - DJ f**koff is hardly encouraging me to give them a chance. People who are excited about names on this lineup, please drop links to stuff the rest of us should be listening to so we can see what the fuss is about as I'm guessing the usual reliance on Spotify won't always work.

Think first three are a given again this year. I'd add a Leftfield appearance (maybe as part of one of Billy Bragg's Radical Round-Ups rather than an outright slot) and still feel like there should be a full band slot somewhere on one of the main five stages (maybe early on Other) - the man's an endless promoter and not sure acoustic is the best way to plug his new album. Not sure he'll beat 5 shows in total but if he's got the whole weekend free I could also see him popping up at points with acts he's mates with (Beans on Toast, Grace Petrie, Lottery Winners if they're there) and joining for a song or two.

Would love to see Waxahatchee on the farm, feels tailor made for a late afternoon Park slot but doesn't look like it's happening even though she's free the whole weekend. Slightly different sound but I'd also happily accept her sister's band Swearin' on the lineup somewhere as well.

Yeah potentially - just seems odd given there's a new album coming and how aggressively he tends to promote these things. That said, seems a fair few of his summer festival shows are solo gigs so maybe the band are taking some time off.

Trying to figure out where/when a full band show might fit in elsewhere on the lineup (if anywhere), as feels odd for him to be there solely for a relatively low-key solo slot.

Saw family this weekend and one of the older generation said they'd heard Glastonbury was full of people lobbing piss in the air. I'd rather people pissed themselves than do that but can't say I've found either behaviour to be that common in the last 10 years I've been going.

If we're doing a Churnups style slot again I'd like whoever it is to be bold enough to not post obvious clues online in advance. Put some fake band name on the Pyramid and leave us guessing until the day of with some well-placed clues on site/in the Glasto paper.

Lots of stuff which I've been meaning to check out for ages and this lineup will finally nudge me to do so (Soccer Mommy, Mannequin Pussy, Sofia Kourtesis, Noname, Alvvays). So far the big new ones for me have been Lankum and Blondshell.

Every year I would have several acts playing Williams Green highlighted on my clashfinder but they were never my first choice so almost always ended up elsewhere - think only exception was seeing Sports Team and that was mostly because I was desperate for some time out of the sun that day. That and standing outside the tent trying to hear Guilty Pleasures on a Thursday night are the only two visits I can think of.

Personally I don't care what colour William is.

Me being grumpy again, but I think if I did hyopthetically live somewhere where I could only afford one gig all year I'd probably be even less likely to spend the entire show watching it through my phone screen.

Agree that Pyramid is where the lineup feels most weak. What I find really interesting is that it had felt (for better or worse) that the Pyramid was trending in the direction of being a 'Radio 2 at Hyde Park' stage full of pop nostalgia aimed at an older generation (Rick Astley, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Texas). Now this year it's suddenly full of critically acclaimed acts with few if any well-known radio hits (LCD Soundsystem, PJ Harvey).

I know it sounds all 'grumpy old man' but the sea of mobile phone screens is so dispiriting.

I think any excitement this year was going to feel more muted just because of how all-encompassing the hype for Elton John was. There aren't many acts that could have come close to replicating that excitement. There isn't an obvious discussion point with this year's lineup in the same way, but I don't think that means the festival is going stale.

I find the hype for Justice really intriguing because I've seen them once live in Bristol and me and a friend came away really disappointed as it really felt like there was zero actual 'live' element - you could have pressed play on their album and the gig would have almost been the same. They'd attracted a weirdly twattish crowd too. I'm assuming that's not always the case given the breathless reports of their last Glastonbury appearance - and I'd be excited to see what an actual live Justice show can be.

Yeah this is where my wife is at the moment - as others have suggested, she's getting a ticket and hoping for enough other announcements by May 3rd to justify the cost.

More importantly, who sits at the one desk chair and what do they do while sitting there? 😂

Waxahatchee please! (No idea if she's free)

Feel like at least one Pyramid headliner has to bring out a surprise guest and Coldplay have got form - the only question is who?

Question: how many Spice Girls does it take for it to become a 'big deal' and worthy of a more prominent slot than the equivalent of Mel C's Avalon booking last year? If, for instance, you had just Mel B and Mel C do a set together performing some Spice Girls songs, does that make it a bigger deal or would that still be something for the smaller stages? Do we think you need four/five of them for it to become Pyramid-worthy? Is it Posh or nothing?

There's a music journalist I quite like - Steven Hyden - who put 'Frankenstein Laughs' on his album of the year list, which was his own personalised combo of the two albums. I kind of agree that they are two 7/10 records which can be combined to create one 9/10 without any filler.

Songwriters - just like authors, filmmakers etc - are capable of creating characters and embodying their perspective. Obviously there are plenty of examples of singers taking real-life heartbreak and singing about it but just because a song contains a lyric doesn't mean that the singer actually thinks that. I would argue that the best songwriters are those who are capable of writing from a perspective other than their own. Really feel like the culture today has a huge problem with understanding that portrayal does not equal endorsement.

Yeah I've already mentally written off the idea of seeing Faithless unless there's an indication they've figured out how to avoid another Example-type situation.

Eh, I don't hate it. Probably at least one headliner I'd see each night and plenty of smaller stuff below the line that's good.