ian the worm

Funfact: I once served Bodger 3 x quadruple straight vodkas within half an hour of him leaving the Kids Field.

When I went to the show in 2012 I was a guest of a sound engineer and he showed me the set-up. Here is my summary of what I can remember: Each band has their own sound desk situated nearby. They are neally always behind the band and out of site. Often down an alley between audience risers. Their job is to mix for the bands monitors and get each instrument balanced well. They create a mostly finished mix that is then output to two further places (see below). Bigger bands that are currently on tour will often bring their own person to mix the band. But the smaller artists or those that only have a mic and a guitar will use a sound tech provided by the studio. My mate was one of these and each week will travel 3 hours to London (now Maidstone) to mix just one or two songs played on only one or two instruments. Consider also that set up and rehearsals start on Monday morning and continue right up till late on Tuesday, there is an awful lot of hanging around. Each band has a call time for set up and each rehearsal, so at least he knows beforehand which time he has off. One place that takes the mix from the band is "TV land". This is the production control room that takes all the studio sound feeds (Jools mic, guest speakers, studio audience etc) and each of the bands mixes from the above sound desks. They produce the final mix for broadcast. They have the ability to fiddle with the sound from each desk - but this is somewhat limited. Also in this room are the vision mixers and lighting crew. I poked my head in during rehearsal and it all looked very stark and controlled. About 20 people sat at 20 consoles with headsets. The second place that takes the mix from each band is yet another sound desk within the studio. The person here mixes the sound that gets played in the studio that the studio audience get to hear. These speakers are positioned above the audience and due to the circular nature of the studio, the only speakers that are active are the ones pointing away from the current performing band. The sound from these speakers is not too loud and if you happen to be stood behind a performing band, you may actually hear more from the bands monitors than the studio speakers. This is limited to prevent feedback and remember the sound for TV viewers is of higher importance than the sound for the live audience. Here is the set-up on the night I went. Cyan are stage areas, blue are audience.

Very penis heavy.

1) What’s with the name Green Man? 2) Is there group dressing up as a Green Man? 3) Is there a general dressing up day? Not asking for a friend.

They have. Me!!!

After thought...... If your mate is going separately they may be able to save you a space with the door staff.

When I went around 5 years ago I was there all day as a guest of one of the sound techs. They were rehashing cameras, lights, scripts etc right until the very last minute. Then the doors finally opened at 8pm and everyone rushed into place. The hour long show was prerecorded in one take between 8.45and 9.45. Then the live show at 10.00 to 10.30 Retakes for the recorded show followed and they finally quit around 11.45 before stripping the set etc. Dexys played one song 3 times for some reason Bu the way, in those days when recorded in London there the audience looked like 80%public and 20% BBC staff (judging by their media suits and BBC lanyards)! I assume if you’re late you can slip into the back row when the cameras are all pointing the other way It was a pretty relaxed studio. Funfact, I only took one photo whilst there. It was me sitting on the football focus sofa in the next door studio. (I hate football)

Me: middle Her: working

Working as a proper grown up businessman in Japan for 3 weeks in June. Flights, transfers, hotels etc all confirmed, booked and paid for. Customer visits, training, seminars and trade shows currently being set-up. On the festival weekend I'm heading south from Tokyo for a week. It'll be 95% work and 5% play.

Lost Vagueness: the only place I've licked a live electric toaster being held through a window by a stripper. I haven't been to the SE corner at night for 5 years as I've worked most nights since. But not really knowing what to expect there (pre-festival internet spoilers were minimal then) was one of the biggest draws for me. PS I joined in December 2008 - Happy 10th year me!

I don’t recon they’re in the new film. I took the whole family to see the sing-a-long film on mothers day this year. I’d not seen it straight through for years and forgot how clever it is. Isnt it the best selling DVD in uk ever? And I saw the stage show s few years ago which was brilliant too. I'm looking forward to the bed film. Cher plays Meryls Mum!

If they change their mind, I’m the first in line.

If I mow a picture of Kate Bush into my front lawn, will she turn up in June and play a 3 hour set?

I went the the last bit for Corbyn.

An alpaca to carry your wife in. An alpaca to carry your wife back to your tent. An alpaca to chat to your wife. An alpaca to hum and cheer your wife up. An alpaca to keep your wife warm at night.