grumpyhack

I did the IoW once and never again. The week after I was running a course on event planning and I used thew IoW as an example of how not to plan an event. The line up was good but, as is often said about Glastonbury, it's not just about the music. IoW was Incredibly corporate, searches on the gate and police sniffer dogs. Not allowed to take in your own food and drink but have to purchase the corporate crap at silly prices.

ENTERTAINER

Glastonbury has always featured some strong women. Bonnie Raitt (still touring) was one of the most commanding presences I've ever seen on stage. I think it was Glasto 2004. Still touring and an activist today.

Glasto joins the nobs

If you're playing the oldie card I went to these two in 69 and 70. And there's a few bands on the line ups that I'd still be pleased to see this year.

STING

Nothing to write home about yet but I'm committed anyway under their Ticket for Life scheme. I still find it a good opener for the festival season and a chance to check out the caravan. I generally spend the night before at the Caravan Club site next door at Cheltenham Racecourse as the electric hook up helps charge the leisure battery and you can do a water/aquaroll fill and empty any waste. Then the next morning it's a leisurely trundle round to the festival site.

A few thoughts (as an oldie) as to why Glastonbury appeals to oldies. There's comfort in the familiar. Once you've been a few times and got the lie of the land it feels like 'home.' There's so much more to do than music and drinking that appeals to old farts like me who fancy doing a wicker basket or pottery making course or similar.. The food is so good. You can enjoy eating around the world or eating really good veggie alternatives. It's a beautiful place to walk, sit and chill and watch the world go by. There's lot of music that appeals to oldies. Once you've been and 'got' what Glasto can be about it's hard to give up. Getting Glasto tickets requires being organised, something that old farts with time on their hands, tend to be good at. Campervan fields are expensive, appeal to us oldies who like a few creature comforts, and can afford campers or caravans. It's well run and feels pretty safe. All the things that make it the best fest in the world should appeal to youngsters as well but oldies just can give it up.

We camped in Big Ground for quite a few years. Excellent location - especially towards the top.

BUMBLE Originally a hit for B Bumble and the Stingers this version of Nutrocker became a staple tour de force for Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

That would make my Glastonbury, Al with a full band and the great soaring saxophone and guitar arrangements in Year of the Cat.

HUMBLE One of the great voices of rock - and another Grumpy Gonner

PIE

Hobo Jones and 3 Daft Monkeys are both excellent and good fun. Bearded Theory has a very strong line up which on paper floats my boat more than Green Man but it's a distance issue for me. GM is on my doorstep, relatively speaking. Also I have always been pleasantly surprised by GM acts that I've not really been familiar with. The bookers do tend to know their bands well.

It is difficult, but not impossible to get out. The problem is that a one-way system down narrow lanes operates to get people in. I had to leave the site a couple of years ago because of a family emergency at home and, after a lot of discussion, they were able to shut the one way system to allow me out. But it won't be popular. Why not collect your Mrs at the airport and then travel on to the festival together? If you arrive at Tuesday midnight you'd still be able to get in and find a decent pitch for your camper. We arrived one year at 4am after an accident blocked roads a few miles from Glastonbury and led to huge tailbacks. We ended up setting up the caravan as dawn was breaking.