foolsgold1981

That Finsbury Park day out was so much fun!

I didn't mind that line-up at the time, and quite frankly they could have had the Crusty Orchestra of Britain farting through kazoos all weekend and that Leonard Cohen performance would have still made it one of my favourite Glastonburys. But it does bite hard knowing in retrospect that they turned Pink Floyd down wanting to play as Rick Wright's dying wish, because they couldn't move Kings of Leon 😞

Was this the one around 2017? Think it was the first one after it reopened. One of the best things I've ever seen, and I'm not even a Nick Cave superfan

I'm a big Muse fan generally, and I thought they were superb in 2004 and 2010, and pretty good in 2016 (I know most people don't agree) but the last couple of albums have been all over the place and despite them remaining big amongst a particular fanbase, I think booking them again for Glastonbury would be so tiresome and stale. Tend to agree with the general thoughts on Pulp here. If there was a time for them to have done it, it would have been last year. And although I like somewhat in a bubble where they are massive/seminal/widely known/legendary, I do think their cross-over appeal with Gen Z is pretty tenuous. When I saw them at Manchester Castlefield and Finsbury Park last year they were both sell-out crowds and both shows were tremendous, but I didn't see many people under 30 there...

Confusing Dave Grohl with Jon Bon Jovi is a quite spectacular error...

I felt the same thing after falling into a waist-deep puddle on my way out Monday morning by the John Peel tent. It was genuinely a carbon-copy of that Vicar of Dibley scene... It was my first one so I got through it, but me and my girlfriend at the time were in Oxylers and because it got so muddy on the paths, people walked through the campsite after The Other finished or coming from Park/Shangri-La/Track. I had my head stood on twice and the place was a bog. They were even getting flatbed trucks to move tents on the Sunday morning, though they stopped at ours and said we were fine. Putting us right on the edge and making it worse!!! Good memories, in retrospect!

It was also wet, loose and sloshy mud in 2007. The mud in 2016 was thick, claggy and bogged your feet down. I've never felt so exhausted in my life by the Monday morning...

I also think that the weather dampened some of the performances. Beck was on top form, but I think everyone was just too tired/cold/wet to properly feel it - atmosphere was totally flat. The exception was LCD Soundsystem who played the gig of their lives...

Best aspect of the poster for me. She'll smash that sub

Lordy, it was absolutely perfect. The most perfect end to a challenging weekend. Genuinely welling up thinking about that version of All My Friends. May have to go check it out on YouTube now, though I will cry!

I did enjoy that evening so much. That weekend too. Still recall the Saturday in the sun too, with Scissor Sisters and Shakira. That was such a lovely festival 🙂

From my perspective, it isn't about Blur vs SZA, it's about the festival taking a punt on an artist on the rise. Blur would put on a great show but they've done it before, and given how much grief Damon got from the Gorillaz show in 2010, I reckon they'll be wary of tarnishing the legacy of 2009. But they are definitely not washed up - they seem to have a great knack of appearing and disappearing at the right time to keep things fresh. It is more about seeing how the festival positions itself for the future. As I've said before, I don't really get SZA (she's fine) but I think it's exactly the booking the festival needs right now. She might crash and burn, but plenty of people said the same thing about Stormzy in 2019 and he absolutely smashed it out of the farm.

They got the year wrong with Arcade Fire. If they'd booked them for 2011 it would have been monumental - their stock was riding high with The Suburbs and those 2010/2011 shows were absolutely astonishing. Reflektor was a good album still, but it did feel as if the buzz had died down by then. I though the 2014 show was great but it didn't create much buzz, whereas I think if they'd headlined 2-3 years earlier it would have taken them to another level.

I love that first album and I don't give a damn what anyone thinks of that. Saw them in the Acoustic back in 2019 and it was a bloody joy!

Christ, that actually happened, didn't it!?!

That Blur gig remains the single greatest concert I've ever witnessed. There was magic in the air that night. Am I the only one who didn't love that Beyonce gig? It was good, don't get me wrong. But I wouldn't have put it in the same league as the others

That 2011 Janelle Monae show was one of the best things I have ever seen on the farm...

Yeah, 2011. Was a bit slow for the first 20 minutes or so but then Method Man got in a strop and properly took it up a level!

Oh, it was lovely. Some of the spoken-word stuff was a little fluffy at times, but to hear those songs, in such an intimate environment, probably for the final time was just spine-tingling

Yeah, I'm similar. For me, it's been diminishing returns since High Violet, even though I do think Trouble Will Find Me has some astonishing songs on it and I do listen to it frequently. But with the new ones hitting (and the entirely understandable fact that they take up a big portion of their current setlist) I just can't find the time or money to be interested in seeing them on their recent tours. And given that I was so obsessed with them between 2005-2013 that does make me a little sad 😥

Sunday at the Pyramid is always horrible for that. Remember getting yelled at by someone sat down at Paul Simon in 2011 because I was "blocking her view" She was sitting down, with basically a full picnic hamper 😁 Was absolutely shocked at how much space opened up towards the front at Elton when they finally made the announcement over the PA. With that crowd! I know people's feet are sore at that point but I really could not fathom that attitude...

Absolutely. The best trick I've ever learned at Glastonbury is to go to the side of the stage as far as you can get, and then work your way in from the side. Not meaning to push in, or barge, or anything, but it surprises me how close you can get as opposed to heading in from the back. Even for Wet Leg on The Park in 2022 (which I genuinely didn't realise at the time was so rammed) I got there about 20 minutes before and was comfortably by the right side speaker. Has worked many, many times including getting into Pyramid front paddock. Just got to plan, though admittedly it works less well with a group!

It was such a tough weekend with the weather, the referendum and the physical exertion of the mud. I didn't think I could get through it but bloody hell, it was spectacular. So wonderfully emotional. They got every single element completely right. Definitely in my top five Glastonbury sets of all time

It was absolutely miraculous. Still get chills down my spine thinking about All My Friends that night We could even steal Coldplay's fireworks!

I have tried and tried with both CTRL And SOS and I really can't get into her which is a shame, as it's the sort of thing that's normally right up my street but I'm absolutely with you about the "background thing". That said, she's really on fire at the moment and has a big fanbase: whether that crosses over with the Glastonbury demographic is another thing but it would be a bold and forward-looking booking for sure. And the last time they took a punt like this (Stormzy) it was an absolute blinder. So she's not for me, but I thoroughly approve - absolutely what the festival needs!