Nduja

If Sofia Kourtesis, Barry Can't Swim and Confidence Man all clash at 2pm on the Friday afternoon, then that is quite mad.

We managed to find a small, slopey space for a 2 person tent at around 11.30am on Friday in Lime Kiln. We probably could have found some space in a 'full' campsite if we'd have been arsed but we just wanted a quick turnaround really.

Mate I'd kill for some mainstream US rap, especially if it's from the south. Grime is very much for me! But yeah, consistently awful for US stuff. Denzel Curry at Shangri and Vince Staples on West Holts are probably my highlights over the years. Obviously the one year they book K-Dot is the one year I can't go due to recent parenthood. They did have Earl Sweatshirt on Lonely Hearts last year but he was absolutely terrible from what I saw.

Mate, you should try being a rap fan who likes festivals.

Arrivals looks like a stage entirely dedicated to Desi acts which is pretty cool and forward thinking. Pretty excited about Blanco on Platform 23 (rapper from Kennington, Angolan heritage, draws a lot of his sounds from Brazillian music).

Not great on Glasto bar names but it was basically where the Spaceport used to be. On the Estrella, Poretti shouts; forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't Poretti actually imported rather than brewed here under licence? Which must rule it out of contention. Would 100% take Estrella.

There were a couple of (not sit down) bars last year, one between the Glade and Other, where you could get a 440ml can of Shipyard for £5, poss £5.50 which helped the situation a lot because they were quick to serve, easy to transport and tasted *okay*. It's a shame that the frozen margarita machine at the same bar was broken half of the time though 😞 Overall best pint was a craft IPA we got at Trickett's just as Elton was kicking off. Hopefully they still have it this year, defo worth the upward hike.

Would be great, but even a Neck Oil type offering would be a significant improvement on the current state.

Churnups was good. Would have never seen them in a 'native' slot for them but was a no-brainer against not very much else. My personal perspective is I'd rather the slot remained a scheduler's tool in their toolkit to surprise and enthral rather than something that was a priced in aspect of the festival along with the Legend and Headliner. It's already a wonderful and varied programme and I'm not sure another appointment slot is really needed. From the festival's perspective, it's probably the other way around if they want to continue to book the biggest acts and create the most hype and anticipation around the event. In addition to that, it provides them an additional lever to book acts that they couldn't otherwise and circumvent commercial constraints that they may be subject to. For that reason, I'd bet on it to remain, if there is an act out there willing to do the slot. The other reason I'd bet on it is that the purported Friday acts for positions 2 and 3 look on the weak side from a popularity perspective even if they are highly critically acclaimed acts with a cult following. So here's my plucked out of nowhere shout. Beyonce doing a Cowboy Carter set.

I think the popularity of heritage acts really varies over time due to a whole load of variables. Pop culture trends - a nostalgia inducing TV show for example, people's perceptions of whether they will get another chance, whether that act has been sampled in another song. So I don't think it's that mad that acts might oscillate wildly between stages over time.

Checked if advance train tickets are available yet. Nope. Had already bought tickets this time last year.

I was reacquainting myself with Conflict of Interest (2021) by Ghetts (Park Sunday Sub by the looks of it) yesterday and it's an absolute masterpiece. Need to give the new one a spin. Just given Masego a go. Seems to straddle funk, jazz and rap and generally hits the spot. LIYL A Tribe Called Quest, Blood Orange, Badbadnotgood, Kaytranada

Does explain why Lime Kiln is a bit light on infrastructure.

Pyramid has nowhere near enough edge. Should be a Rhombicosidodecahedron instead

I'd argue it's an edgy booking for Glasto because there's very little concession to crossover appeal. It's probably as street as has ever been given a prominent slot on the farm. Subject matter wise, doesn't stray too far from the standard rap topics and they're not particularly sharp lyrically, but generally quite a raw and unfiltered take on it. In terms of style they are the leading act making UK trap which is a distinct sound from more dominant styles such as grime and drill and more comparable to the Atlanta scene.