ICGenie

If you think that was bad, don't watch Blondie. Poor Debbie Harry has had so much plastic surgery she can barely move her mouth any more...

I had watched an interesting conversation with an eminent professor of Hindu studies and a military crowd. He spoke of the dichotomy of non-violence within the military, and he explained how, sometimes you have to choose the path of least violence in order to gain peace. The most obviously non-violent action can lead to greater violence in the long run. It’s like confronting someone who is being racist. Yes, it creates more conflict in the short term, but in the long term it will hopefully lead to greater tolerance. I like to think that, in our modern day, our armed forces fight for peace, not war. Read the Bhagavad Gita for more insight. Peace is not simple and never has been.

I remember that - I seemed to be the only person who noticed it. It was almost like there is such a sensory overload at Glastonbury, the Red Arrows was just a bit dull 😂

I’ve just watched this set on iPlayer - never heard of him before but OMG it was incredible! I was at Lottery Winners which was fun, but now having my only Glasto 2013 regret 😖

Honestly, I really enjoyed spending all weekend last year in front of the telly, watching all the footage. Sometimes it's better to give in and enjoy other people's joy rather than just bitterly avoid it.

Something I've noticed from being there and also catching up on iPlayer. Despite all the controversy around the lack of female headliners, there are LOADS of female musicians now. Drummers, guitarists, keyboardists. No longer are women relegated to BVs and swaying their arms about looking pretty. It's actually quite difficult to find an all male band nowadays and I am all for that.

An absolute must-watch on catch up. I knew it would be amazing but (a) I had other commitments, (b) I saw him at the 6 Music festival and (c) I had a sneaking suspicion it might be less easy to get into in a festival crowd. He's one of the most incredible performers around at the moment.

And can I point out what a bloody great pianist Elton John is.

I felt the same about Are You Ready For Love. There was so much love in my bit of the crowd for that one, it spanned generations. Just getting a chance to watch it now. The singalong to the piano riff at the beginning of Bennie And The Jets is astonishing. So happy I was there.

I gave up on O2 (via Virgin) halfway through Thursday. It was consistently telling me I had 4G but doing nothing. Got a free Vodafone SIM. Was impressed I didn't have to sign up to anything at all for it. Yes, meant I lost my number for the weekend but that was no great hardship.

I forgot about Lightening Seeds. Had a lump in my throat during Sense. I adore that song and the mention of Terry Hall had me 😢

Jake Shears was my surprise of 2023. I knew he would be good and was in Avalon pre - Mel C, but I didn’t expect him to be THAT good. Really impressed.

Maybe there needs to be more security throughout the site, random wristband checking?

There is a slew of 80s acts who haven't been legends yet. Duran Duran and Simple Minds already mentioned, perhaps Tony Hadley, Jimmy Somerville, Marc Almond, Erasure, Squeeze, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Eurythmics, Madness, The Specials, OMD, Human League, I mean, I'm a 90s teen so all for it, but please don't nostalgia me too soon!

Watching it now. Gutted, it's the second time they have clashed with someone else, they put on a terrific show though.

RAYE Elton John Melanie C

I agree with this. I’m sure there’s a wonderful cachet that comes with the tickets being in huge demand, but I agree Glastonbury should be pushing the boundaries more, especially on headliners. Let’s face it, they could probably lose the interest of 80% of people who are registered and still sell out in a couple of hours.

Problem is, all the places that play something non-dance are small, few and far between, and consequently packed. When you have such huge areas as Arcadia and Iicon given over to the “umcha-umcha”, it does seem unreasonable that there’s nothing of a similar size for rock / indie.

And for Elton John I often couldn’t see the screens for flags either…

100% this. My concern if the price went up would not be the impact on me, but on others who live the place who would be priced out.

Rick Astley - Cry For Help Melanie C - Northern Star Elton John - Don’t Let The Sun and Rocketman

Yeah it was brilliant. I think I did similar, was in there beforehand, nipped out for a wee but I did get back in. Joys of being on my own means I'm always squeezing into gaps 😁 He seemed like a nice chap too, very talented, deserves the recognition he's getting.

In answer to the question, I would have to think twice / make some sacrifices if it went north of £500. It would basically come down to me making less of an effort on T-day and letting the ticket gods decide for me.

Of course they do. As I said in another thread, if there were fewer hospitality tickets you wouldn't have more "normal" tickets because you wouldn't be able to afford them. That extra income would have to come from somewhere, whether it's increasing ticket prices, reducing charity donations, reducing the content or not investing in infrastructure. Which is exactly what hospitality is. There is no way that hospitality costs the festival as much as it brings in.

Three best: 1. Rick Astley drumming and singing Highway To Hell. 2. Avalon absolutely jumping to Melanie C performing Spice Up Your Life. 3. Are You Ready For Love by Elton. Although Rocketman was so so special and I cried all the way through, the unbridled joy of the whole crowd, young and old, singing AYRFL was a beautiful thing. Worst moment was the blood curdling scream in the Campervan field E20 early Sunday morning (I think, might have been Saturday). Turns out it was just some girl having a bad trip, but I honestly thought someone was being murdered for a moment.