balti-pie

I was looking at volunteering at this, cos at the end of your shift you can head into the golden circle nonsense and get a decent view for essentially a free gig. But the only one i'd even think about seeing would be Stevie Nicks, its significantly slim pickings otherwise (Stevie Wonder apart obvs, who i've already seen a couple of times)

I tweeted this a little while back. I think a few people have made the same (correct, and cutting) observation. I was at Download and saw absolutely shitloads of people wearing Sleep Token tshirts, probably the most popular tshirt on show there ffs! - so on the drive back i bunged them on shuffle to check em out. Almost had to stop at leicester sevices to change it 😄 They're just not for me. R and B elements with a bit of metal isnt a bad idea, Turnstile have swathes of it and they're great (especially live) but Sleep Token i dont get. But the kids love em! The second most popular t-shirt i saw at Download was probably Five finger death punch and they're absolutely bollocks too, so maybe we should be ignoring the kids 👍

Isnt James Bay the c**t in the Hat? He is for me. oh god, we have an epidemic of earnest, millinered young men with guitars

I work on a psych ward, i have more than enough contact with drug-induced psychosis to even consider spending my time off looking after people with it - that's why i don't volunteer for FMS and i wouldnt steward Boomtown to be honest.

Same, but miserable looking 😄 resting grump face, i think they call it. Acoustic dont want a ream of a thousand Oxfam types turning up in one go, but will be fine with dribs and drabs in my experience. Lovely sofas too! I seem to recall Tom's bar (the recycling crew bar) also saying No Mas to the big bar crawl, but thats just logistics and i agree with em, it must be a right pain in the arse to be nice and quiet/hideously rammed/nice and quiet again within an hour or so

I had a 2-10 on the friday of 2019, which worked out beautifully - i was on a gate in the SE corner and as soon as my shift ended i was off with a couple of cans of 10% imperial stouts and straight to the Truth stage to see Gojira, followed by IDLES and then the rest of the SE corner fun and games. It depends on who to see and where you want to be, it was perfect for me but if you fancied the Other headliner you'd have a right hike ahead of you and catch probs the last hour of the set

you'll get, in about 90% of the time, a mix of one early (6am to 2pm) a late (2pm to 10pm) and an overnight (10pm to 6am). the other 10% will be without a night shift, and will be two early/one late or vice versa. Theyre spread over the five days of the festival so you will almost certainly get at least one shift over before the music starts, and with the late finishing at 10pm you can still head out straight after and go see some bands, the night is the only one that chops off any possibility of a headliner. Dont obsess over the lineup til you know your shifts - and you wont get them until you get there on mon or tues (i really recommend a monday arrival btw, its lovely wandering around when its all clean and untouched)

I completely agree, it was amazing, and i know this is going to sound stupid but i'm thinking of swerving him this year in case it isnt up to the same stellar perfect evening it was in 2010 - i kind of want that preserved perfectly in my memory. But its very dumb, why wouldnt i want to see more Stevie Wonder!

Hover around for a while and keep trying, any double deposits/immediate cancellations may yet appear. 14 days time is also likely to be a good time to try again as that'll be the first deadline for cancelling without losing any ££. Good luck

I love it when first time volunteers get aboard, it reminds me of my own thrilled excitement at getting in 😄 its notably less exciting when you have priority and just slide straight in with no stress (but i'll not moan about that for a single second!)

Jeez, you cant go dropping rumours like Bodycount Truth stage at 3am without me starting to get significantly excited

Goth confessions (or goth adjacent confessions, i suppose) i had a lovely chat with Gary Numan outside a Rammstein gig in 2005, i think. We both enthused about our favourite teutonic industrial bands and i think everyone in a half-mile radius was wearing black. Good times were had!

Yeah, im not watching Phil Anselmo. Didnt know anything specific about Slaughter To Prevail, but i've read a couple of pieces now about him rowing back on his right wing/nazi past - Russia has a weird underbelly of racism and nazism, a pal of mine lived over there for a couple of years and had some terrifying tales to tell of the football scene and attendant massive pricks.

The deposit for old timey Oxfam types is half the usual amount - you have to have volunteered at five festivals to qualify for it, but £180 on the credit card is a lot easier than £360. They must think im at least sort of alright . . .

Hmmmph, i want Tom Waits now

If you cancel it within 14 days, you'll get it all back - and if you cancel before early may i think you'll get everything but £15 back. That might be adjusted to £20 or £25 this year perhaps, but think of it as a charitable donation to Oxfam for being insurance 👍

Nightshifts arent so bad, its quite cool seeing the site gently vibrating in the darkness, and then the first strands of light and hour or two of peace before people start being up and about again. I kind of love getting into my tent for a bit of kip while everyone else is getting up. (nb - a blackout tent makes this about a billion times easier) Expect it to be colder than you think it will - wear a layer more than you reckon you should. And snacks, pile them in, you need em

He’s Rob Halford, he can do what he bloody well wants at any age. 72 is nowt really

The Kreator gig was announced quite late doors for Brighton, cos of a london cancellation - maybe Brixton Academy related? Lamb of God i dont mind, but they're not an exciting booking tbf. Obituary were great when i saw them, a lot more groovy than on record i thought - and they were bang into it, seemed to be having a great old time up there on stage

TIL NOW I ALWAYS GOT BY ON MAH OWWWN I NEVER CARED UNTIL I METCHOOO

Ha, weird, they're on the radio right now, going Crazy On You. Tune tbf, and i'd head along to an afternoon on the pyramid for a bit of Heart for sure 👍 sunday before the legend thingo perhaps?

I saw Obituary last year in Brighton, it was about £28 and it was bloody good. They're always touring and playing so i'd reckon you can find them fairly soon at their own shows - smaller venues too, so better fun. Its very strongly rumoured that this Sepultura tour with the current lineup is a Goodbye to the current iteration, ahead of a Max/Igor era reunion and subsequent tour as New/Old Sepultura, so if you're not fussed by this one then i reckon the next one will be more to your taste! Its only rumours, but we'll see i guess. I'd love to see Kreator too, and despite a great lineup with Testament i'm not willing to shell out all that dollar with Anthrax up the top of the bill. They played Brighton last year with Municipal Waste and i think it was £35 - much more like it

😄 sorry

there were about six different flavours. Chili was at least two in varying hotnesses, there was a balsamic vinegar, a peppercorn, a marmite, and i'm forgetting the other - i want to say beetroot. They were magnificent with an ale!

I was looking at doing that this coming saturday in Brighton - again, just over twenty quid, it seems like a good ol laugh