BambooShanks

It was looking like a complete washout for the festival up until the day before IIRC and we ended up with pretty much perfect weather. All it takes is a surprise Azores finger or an African plume to give us a warm weekend of wonder

100%. Perfect weather across the weekend. As long as I'm able to sit down without getting a soggy arse, I'll be happy really.

Same. Gone are the days where I can party past midnight on the wednesday and not be absolutely shattered on thursday. Unless there's something I desperately want to see or end up walking past somewhere that really takes my fancy, I'll most likely be grabbing an early night on wednesday so I feel fresh and ready for the festival proper.

agreed. At least there isn't too much time to wait to find out one way or another

There's still block9 in the (very unlikely) chance that he's been booked for ICONN., so there's always a glimmer of hope

It's one of those places that I can never walk past without getting drawn in for a song or two

I too am putting all my Aphex eggs in a block9 basket

Nice to see Dreadzone back. Was weird not seeing them last year as they are pretty much a festival staple for me.

What was supposed to be a 5k walk to watch the sunset on the beach last night turned into just short of 12k. Needless to say, I slept well last night, though was not happy that my lower back was starting to ache during the walk. Guess I need to do more stretches and back exercises over the next few weeks!

Agreed, it was such a fun set. The crowd atmosphere was great and it was so nice to watch a headline set, be in the thick of it but still have a bit of space to properly enjoy myself. Zero regrets picking Roisin over Paul.

I'm assuming the Morning Side is his usual slot?

Exactly and this year will be no different

Overall I'm happy with the line up. It's looking like there'll be something I want to watch each day and if there isn't anyone that immediately jumps out at me, that just leaves me free to discover an act that I'll (hopefully) enjoy. That said, it does feel a little weaker than previous years. The Cost of Living has had an effect, last years was pretty damn solid and we are running out of big/massive names who are yet to play so are repeating a few headliners. I think a lot of it (for me anyway), is that I don't consume and keep up with new music with the same level of enthusiasm as I did when I was younger. Whereas before I'd be more familiar with the lesser known / newer artists on the line up so when see their names on the line up, there's even more excitement, while these days I find them through the spotify playlists after the fact. That and I'm getting older, I've had the immense privilege to go to Glastonbury so many times that I've become a little jaded to it. Sometimes a weaker looking line up looks amazing in retrospect, sometimes the opposite is true. Either way, as long as you have a whale of a time, it doesn't matter too much, doesn't it?

Mrs shanks has put the finishing touches to my festival hat and it's not too shabby

Post headliners the queues move relatively quickly, it's more so that it's incredibly busy and can get a little uncomfortable at times but once it settles down, it's absolutely fine. Basically, if there's something you really want to see at the SEC after the headliners, it's better to leave before the end of the set to avoid the rush.

Yup, I'm looking forward to the annual tradition of going there on thursday afternoon when it's completely rammo, try and fail to get close enough to hear the music properly and the inevitable shut down of the music when it gets far too overcrowded. I genuinely can't wait

Definitely. The queue is only going to get bigger from midnight till about 9am. If you're in a position where you aren't too bothered where you camp, in a small group and/or not bothered about camping near each other - it makes sense to set off at a more reasonable time wednesday morning. It's swings and roundabouts but like I said earlier, it all depends on your personal preferences and what you're willing to trade off.

This really is the fundamental point that should be remembered for anybody getting anxious about going. Social anxiety can be a bastard until you realise that all you're doing is gaslighting yourself and has no basis in reality.

It's a personal preference and what you're willing to trade off. Cutting out 15-30 minutes walking from your camp and the festival proper pays dividends over the course of the festival and if you're in a group, it's always nicer being able to camp together rather than spread out across the field. If that means having to queue throughout the night to guarantee that, so be it. Personally, I worked out that all options (leaving at 8pm to arrive for 1am, leaving at 12am to arrive for 5am, or leaving at 5am to arrive for 11am), wouldn't have me sleeping much at all from tuesday to wednesday so it makes more sense to arrive and queue early to guarantee my desired spot. Which is a very privileged position to be in. Must be very nice to know that your space, in a great location is all but guaranteed.

I'll probably get a bit of garden variety anxiety and start worrying about "Will i be awkward? Will it be awkward in general, i hope people like me, i don't know anyone there, everybody probably knows everybody, will they even remember any of my posts? what if they remember my posts and its not good?" etc until I remind myself that chances are, these are thoughts that a lot of people will be having ( or have had in their first meet), if someone is willing to put themselves out there and go to a meet, there's a high chance that they are a decent, friendly person and people are a lot nicer in real life than their portrayal on the internet - not that any of you are twats, you're all grand.

yep! on West Holts. Can't remember if he's been confirmed for a specific day but would imagine he'll be on mid afternoon

It's one of the many things that every year I say "Yeah must definitely do that this year" and utterly fail in doing so. Though it is useful as a beacon to head towards when I'm camped near it and very worse for wear / disorientated.

The great/terrible (delete as appropriate) thing is that price has remained relatively stable but quality has steadily improved in that time as well so not only is it easier to get hold of, it's better quality. It goes some way to explain how there were complaints of crowds not being the most friendly at times as cocaine rarely brings out altruism in people and where there's cocaine use, heavy drinking usually follows. It's a shame that mushrooms hasn't experienced the same renaissance as they are very pleasant, if confused and giggly, crowds to navigate.

Personally, I've noticed that as I've gotten older, there's more people younger than me around, having fun with loads of energy and reminding me of the constant passage of time. Drug trends have changed a bit as well with cocaine use being more prevalent over the last decade so have noticed that crowds have been more bargy and selfish than previous fests. Generally I put this down to just getting older and in the case of last year being the first post covid glasto - people just not being used to being in a massive festival and not dealing with crowds as well as previous years

He's very much a "musician's musician" and does a lot of things that causes chin stroking and appreciation of music theory. Sometimes it can be so dense that it's impenetrable, sometimes (like his crowd interaction work) can result in beautiful moments. I'm probably going to make an effort to go see him as I'm hoping his festival set will be a lot more accessible and enjoyable but if not, I'll end up geeking out over how he goes about reharmonisation much to the displeasure of the people around me