sadwitch
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Posts posted by sadwitch
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I think for a festival this size the food variety is really good. We cooked a bit to save money as we were broke but you could get cheap filling foods from the bakery or potato place and £7 isn't too bad for a good curry served in the middle of a field. Of course things cost a bit extra at a festival because of the costs involved. It was much better than at NDH. I think the campsite general store was selling fruit but perhaps a few more salad type offerings would be good. I think the largish portions are a winner as I tend to not eat regular meals at a festival.
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I'm a bit bored of Robin Ince/Sarah's late night shows. Same every time. I did see a great guy on there on Saturday... possibly Tom? anyway BANTER.
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Enough already with Alabama Shakes. Poor poor "secret slot". Did someone pull out?
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I heard a couple of dbt songs I knew (dustbowl set) but I only have one album though have seen him a few times. He has increased the performance aspect quite a lot I would say. I like Unmarked Grave a lot and also "I wouldn't take her to an execution..."
I noticed them doing some very subtle vocals but nothing very vital.
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So, early bird tomorrow? I don't think so, I had a great/lovely time, but whilst the more relaxed, not-so-much-going-on-right-now-so-why-not-chill-out-and-read-a-book-or-two vibe was great with just my girlfriend and I, I can't imagine enjoying it with a group of mates so much (although paradoxically, it seemed a bit livelier through the night than EotR ... or did it just seem that way because the late DJs were nearer the campsite than at EotR?) ... so I'm definitely going to keep an eye on it for next year, and will consider going again if we are both free (and still together!), I'm not going to risk buying a ticket at this stage.
/ramble off
In conclusion, great festival, not bad for a "first attempt" (even if they've had a bit of practice!), glad I went, would consider going again. Is it for me? Yes. Is it for my festival buddies? Possibly not (sadly).
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Thought the vegetarian options were canny, to be honest, plenty of options on the Moorish/LGB and Pizza stalls and at least one stall that was exclusively vegetarian. I confess to having no idea how much of it was vegan-friendly though.
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I really liked the site, it came into it's own in the sun! lots of shade and space but didn't feel too empty.
Really good things were:
The farm shop which was a great idea really well executed, lovely staff who could be persuaded into making you a sandwich, decent coffee with no queue and the covered haybales next to it. #
The two main stages sound didn't overlap too much and the staggered start times worked well as did the positioning of them.
The logs and fires at the bars were a nice touch
The ground held up to the rain except in the obvious bottleneck and woodchippings were put down swiftly.
Reasonable food selection though a bit slack for vegan/vegetarians in comparison to other festivals;too many primarily meaty stalls for me.
Crafting workshops were a lot of fun and we had a good time at the comedy on friday. Bit of a shame there was no Sunday evening slot of any kind.
All the people working on site were very friendly and helpful despite the cold and wet.
Everyone seemed to clear up after themselves and look after the site
Great to see the swifts, housemartins and skylarks. Went looking for owls in vain.
The creepy/sad guard owl.
Great location for the cider bus and fires.
Musical highlights: the Wave Pictures, David Thomas Broughton of course (boyfriend was utterly dumbfounded that anyone would enjoy this!) Sunday evening at the Boat House Stage, Rachel Dadd, Martin Carthy and Diagrams were my favourites. Andrew Bird and The Low Anthem made pleasant headliners.
Room to improve:
The Boat House Stage was a bit of a let down on friday, you had to queue to get into it, one in one out, which is crazy when one of the two bars is situated down there, the hill entrance was really slippy (though this was sorted out by the end of the weekend), it looked very unfinished taped off with construction tape and at various times we weren't allowed to use the toilets without any explanation. It would be nice if the smallest stage was somewhere you could drop by to see if you liked an act that's new to you a bit more easily.
The "secret" stage isn't very secret it's right there, lit up and catches the sound from the main stage which is presumably why the sound was uncomfortably loud there for an intimate gig, the campfire there was a good idea though.
Most kids on site were well behaved the exception being the gang of them running around screaming at the aforementioned secret stage, hurling torches at each other. Bit inappropriate there but hey.
I think a lot more people would have liked to get into the comedy yurt at various times but couldn't as it was pretty small. I liked the bookshop on the side though.
No hoquets?
Personal musical lows:
I don't like the Unthanks. There I said it. I've tried and I can't enjoy them and I spend a stupid amount of time at the English Folk Dance and Song Society so it should be right up my street but no. Turns out I only like Slow Club's first album. Was hoping Woodpigeon would be better than just alright. Moon Duo not my thing. Not a single banjo did I see.
Interesting how it's like a tiny EOTR in a good way but the very different site gives it such a different feel.
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I'm going to NDH! I met some of you accidentally at EOTR in oooh 2007 probably.I made everyone go and see Darren Hayman with me and then everyone stole cereal bars from the free giveaway for me because I'd run out of money. Good times. We will say hello if we see you. The FB group is closed btw...
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In terms of music I saw far fewer banjos this year.
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No-one's saying it's not a good festival anymore just that it used to be unbelievable and while things have changed each year this is the first year where the changes haven't felt like a huge improvement.
They ask for feedback so the feedback is: still great, lots of things improved (again), a few things not as good any more.
Don't feel like if this was your first year, and you loved it, that people are spoiling it for you. You'd have liked it even more before.
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I saw this too.
A great line in patter - better than many professional artistes [don't mention the Fleet Foxes]
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Chairman speaking.
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Back to chat!
I do not think it was crowded. I think it was less crowded than 2009 (2010 was the one year I haven't been) around the stages.
I didn't queue for anything for any length of time apart from coffee in the morning for 20 minutes which made me desperate for caffeine but the coffee was wonderful. I'm sure I could've got some shitty instant somewhere else quicker.
I've seen cleaner toilets at little festivals such as Endorse It but they weren't bad and they were on top of the situation.
I don't have a problem with the Woods stage I think it's a good idea.
The point someone made about the big top is true, what he was saying was not that the big top shouldn't be there but that it's just a tent with a stage in it just like you get at Glastonbury and Reading and so on and so on and no one minds it, so why the hate for another non unique (woods) stage.
What I would really like to see is the much improved Local staying as it is now with late night sets and the Tipi or something similar moved away and used as an impromptu/secret acoustic stage like an indoor/alternative to the piano stage. Or something.
Do you think the new festival will really be alt folk and americana? *rubs thighs*
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The festival was great but...
+ More portaloos needed, mostly for the ladies, the urinal queues were fine.
+ Better recycling, the paper plates etc could have been recycled or composted, I hated putting most of my waste in the landfill bin all weekend.
+ £3.80 is not around £3 in my book and it's a lot for ale. There was a good selection though and I'll just take more of my own next year.
+ Paper instead of plastic cups at the bar? If they're going to be recycled that is. The plastic ones being collected weren't being reused were they?
+ More coffee sellers, the queues in the morning were epic, apparently. I'm a tea man myself.
reckon that's about it, nothing serious, thanks to everyone involved.
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I have to say that the criticism coming for the Woods stage (ie it's a generic festival stage) doesn't seem to apply to the Big Top tent. That's exactly the same as countless festivals but no one seems to mind that.
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However, as has been mentioned by others in this thread, with increased numbers, comes an increase in "wacky twats". And I'm not a fan of "wacky twats". Leave your Clanger outfit for the bedroom, eh?
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Also I was really looking forward to Beirut but got extremely drunk and lost my friends and spent the whole set being miserable and drinking heavily because I'd decided "the beer will be my friend".
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To be honest i dont want to say who was'nt very good, As It's each to their own with music:
Actualy because Laura Marling had no presence and seemed totaly overated, very dull, and because she's involved with the mainstream music destroying machine that is Radio 1. Sorry John Peel, things aint what they used to be.
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Herman Dune got me going on Thursday
Beirut.........genius
Leisure Society.........love the clapping !!!
Megafaun......they enjoyed themselves and so did I
Josh T Pearson......way above expectations (couldn't stop thinking of Johnny Cash !!!!)
Other Lives.......Impressive in a Fleet Fox sorta way
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah..........My "must see" act didn't let me down
Micah P Hinson & Phosphorescent........bit off the cuff but enjoyable
John Grant.....Beautiful,voice of the festival,and i like the electronics (check out The Czars,thats what he does)
Only negatives.........Joilie Holland and Wasps
fantastic 4 days with my grown up kids and friends who have never been to a festival who loved every minute.
PS Liked the new set up,didn't seem as full as previous years,especially at the top of the Garden Stage.
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I really enjoyed Chris T-T and Jim Bob et al with Robin Ince. Though even more than that I enjoyed the man poking another man incessantly with a tree branch for 20 minutes during this. I also enjoyed people getting splattered with bubbles by some woman wandering the crowd during leisure society. You just can't buy moments like that.
Other than that I only heard a bit of someone in the Local on Saturday night and their Harmonica-ing was so loud and abrasive I went to bed
Didn't catch anyone at the piano, not even punters playing. Disco's too bloody loud there anyway now.
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Nailed:
Allo Darlin'. See them quite a lot but they were on form and happy to be there. We danced.
M Ward. Brilliant.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. It was what I wanted their set to be like.
Leisure Society. Good festival set.
Bob Log III of course.
Josh T Pearson. Had completely forgotten I'd seen him before! Good times in the drizzle.
Futur Primatif. Nice though not really my thing.
Joanna Newsom. I listen to her records a lot so I enjoyed. It was nice to be in an enthusiastic crowd too. I was SO f**kING COLD though.
Blu-Tacked:
Okkervil River 1st half was a bit uninspiring and it felt like half the crowd was there mostly because they didn't like Mogwai. It picked up though.
Timber Timbre. Wasn't in the mood at lunchtime really. Not their fault.
Darren Hanlon. I should like more than I did. I found his playing didn't hold my attention and I had to leave before the end.
Selfishly glad Micah was apparently crap as we arrived too late to see for ourselves!
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"slightly lost that magical feel"
This would be my only, somewhat selfish, complaint. I love that the festival listens and improves each year.
Good:
The Local is a much nicer, appropriately sized venue than it has been.
The Tipi as a covered sitting area is a good idea.
The fire and stones- nice.
The new Woods stage. Disconcerting! We don't like change! However it meant you could see any band you wanted on the Garden/Woods stage and get a good view and have the experience you felt like at the time (sitting at the back/standing at the front/dancing about etc) without it being too crowded. Well done. I know we all love the magical Garden stage but really you can't have a main stage where a large proportion of the crowd can't get to see a headline act that they've paid to come and see very well.
Bars had good selection of beers and mixers (though the barstaff constantly tried to overcharge me but were perfectly nice about being corrected)
Food and stalls good.
Comedy area so much better now than in it's early days though all the canvas hangings combined with the trees meant you often couldn't see a lot and had to pretend you were listening to Radio 4. Great selection of performers though.
Toilets were clean and kept clean for the main part for the majority of the time- quite impressive for a festival with a larger crowd like this year.
The people, everyone friendly and tolerant and polite. Only had one lady get in a tetch because she dodn't understand the toilet queue system that we had rather Britishly adopted one night
The woods were decorated wonderfully as usual.
Staggered stage timings. Not many other festivals are so considerate.
Ringo Bingo coffee time was ace. The coffee was very good too so it took the edge off the 20 minute wait!
Not so good:
It doesn't feel so special anymore. It's still the best festival out of all that I've attended in the last decade but there's no longer the wonderful feeling that we're all enjoying a brilliant secret. You used to be able to sit quietly and have a drink and suddenly an amazing act would turn up and do an unannounced set in an intimate setting. I know there's still an element of that going on but it used to seem like you were always wandering into somewhere and finding something great you hadn't expected. Now hundreds of people stand to watch these "intimate gigs" which is nice that more people can enjoy it but it's less enjoyable. There's more of a crowd looking for a party at night. At other festivals I am that crowd but not here.
The rocky path of hell. Ouch.
Not enough banjos. I saw 2 the entire weekend and one of those I didn't get to see played. Plenty of harmonicas though, was there a sale on backstage?
The Scandinavian element seems to have been cut right back.
The forest disco is too near the other stuff and was absolutely rammed with people standing still on the dancefloor wearing giant rucksacks looking blank when I visited.
The f**king f**king bus company fiasco. I may rant about this in more detail but in essence leaving at 11am meant we didn't get to see a band until 5pm friday. Not acceptable. I know there was traffic but this is bullshit. The coaches were a shambles on the way back; they left late, all the luggage got randomly shoved onto other coaches so we all had to "meet up" at Fleet services so we'd all arrive in London together despite leaving at different times so we had farcically long rest stops, we were shoved on to a tiny uncomfortable mini coach, our driver used his mobile (not hands free) the entire way back to direct other coaches "did you see which way I went at the roundabout?" etc. Then we had to stop for petrol. All the delaying and then looking for luggage meant people were in danger of missing coaches and trains booked for late afternoon despite being ready to leave at 9.30am. £42? Nice.
I really miss the tiny bimble inn stage. Perhaps it could be brought back just for totally secret sets/scrabble etc.
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Update: Me and Zooey are engaged!
Engaged coitally and you continuing to use the internet? That I might believe.
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Went out last night. Had a meal at Nandos with the girls for my housemate's 21st, then went to Wetherspoons for drinks with some guy the aforementioned housemate was seeing and his mate, who was rather attractive, funny and sweet. We all went to one of my favourite clubs after. Spent most of the night dancing with him, just in a friendly way, of course.
Had one of the barmen come up to be after we'd been at this club for about an hour (he wasn't working that night, just happened to be out with his friends) and held out a drink which just happened to be the same thing I'd been drinking all night, and said he'd bought it for me. I thanked him, he looked at his shoes uncomfortably, smiled and tottered off. Didn't see him again until just before the club closed, when he drunkenly stumbled over and said "I think you're really fit", before asking for my number. His phone was out of battery, so I texted him from my phone so he has my number. He is yet to text back. He wasn't particularly attractive, and definitely not my type, buuuut he seems decent enough...
You probably shouldn't drink things handed to you in clubs by strangers btw. Just saying. Mind you if I went to Nandos and Wetherspoons I might be up for wiping that memory out.
EotR food
in End of the Road
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My sister LOVES the grande bouffe but said it was much worse than previously and the service was crap. They were also rude at ndh.