4AssedMonkey

Both those interactions sound fine. However, outside my Glasto family, whenever it comes up that I regularly attend I get the usual banal "who's headlining" or "isn't it always muddy" bollocks. The only exception was 2 young guys in the local pub who had never been able to get tickets and it blew their mind I'd been 10 times. I got them into our ticket gang and last year, they went for the first time. I'm now a legend and always get a free pint if they're in.

I’ve never been tempted by Glasto merch. I think it’s poorly designed, but mainly I don’t want to be engaged by muggles in the real world and have to humour them. I prefer the “fight club” approach.

I played in that! 2010 I think? We raised loads of cash for Wateraid and I broke 2 fingers. Still got the red Efests T-shirt with 4Assedmonkey on the back. Good times.

I'm still not 100% on this. I've no real idea why. I think that by keeping it under wraps (more so than usual) this year means there must be a curveball incoming and whilst SZA would be a curveball, I'd expect something that would be more of a "wow" moment than a "who?" moment.

Deffo Friday IMO. Will still be lurking round here though as the fever has gripped me now.

I'm about to go to the village pub and get w*nkered on cider & rum. I guess that counts?

Who the f**k is Morgan Wallen?

The more I think about it the Coldplay/SZA/Dua trio seems the most likely. I'd watch Dua, maybe Colplay depending on clashes, SZA a no from me. Still have a slight spidey-sense tingle in the back of my brain that says there could be a huge curveball coming though, which would explain all the secrecy and delayed announcements.

I'm not sure I'd agree. It's more nuanced than that. Nepotism is using power/money/influence to help the career of fiends/family regardless of merit. I don't think this applies when you have an established family business which the family wants to pass on to a next generation. She was clearly brought into the fold slowly and has increased her involvement over time. As I understand it, the first time she had control over an area of the festival was when the Park was created. That's quite a long time ago and she's been expanding her knowledge and talent ever since. Had she merely taken over or inherited the family farm, you couldn't accuse them of nepotism and in a way, it's the same thing, scaled up.

It’s a great story. I knew quite a bit, but only when I got the book did I realise the proper rollercoaster ride. Quite a yard stick for the cultural and political climate too.

Not sure you can draw that comparison. Both technically Soul/RnB but there’s almost no similarity after that. Stevie is all about hooks, catchy tunes and party vibes. SZA to me is very very generic and - to my ears - boring across most tracks. Nothing I’d feel compelled to dance to.

Completely agree. However Glasto as an entity is an entirely different animal to most festivals. Largely due to heritage, reputation, (in)famy, and the fact that a large part of the raison detre is supporting charities. Most other fests are corporate/profit making and supported by sponsorship from huge companies. No shade either way, but Melvin Benn would kill the vibe/ethos of Glasto as he’s a company man. Emily would probably do a worse job of running V/Reading/Whatever and they’d lose money. Horses for courses.

If Tracy Chapman and Stevie Nicks both play, me & Mrs 4am would be delighted. Headliners wouldn’t matter.

They definitely went on record that Lizzo was co-headlining. Lizzo even referenced it in interviews.

Similar - Frank Turner: Avalon (2), Strummerville, Other and Greenpeace, so 5 in total.

Yeah, get on with it!

You could buy one off Fleabay/Gumtree for that.

Won't sell out for sure, so you'll have options closer to the time. FWIW I mirror other sentiments that they are good musicians, but not exactly charismatic showmen and the production will be basic.

Tracks 11 through 20 - ALL THE FEELS. 👍

Been banging the Lennox drum for years. Great shout on the tracks above but could easily add another 5-6 and it would still be solid gold. One can hope and dream, but I doubt it's every gonna happen. 🥺

I think the problem here is the Pyramid crowd. Unlike any of the other stages on site, it suffers from a huge amount of people who stay there all day, never move and want to see/hear mainstream stuff they've heard on Radio 2. Pluss a high percentage of camp chair Nazis and picnic blanket NIMBY's. The Venn overlap between that crowd and SZA's output is very, very small and I don't see them warming to some of her themes.

First few fests we went down in a Ford Focus. 3 blokes, 1 sack barrow, 3 rucksacks, quite a big tent to carry and about 4/5 trays of booze. The car was packed at that. With a 4th person and more gear it would have been impossible. These days it's just me & Mrs 4AM, however we do still have a big rucksack each and loads of booze, plus a 4 wheel garden trolley, a 4 person tent, cool box, camp chairs and sometimes take bits for others too.

Yes please. Bad Seeds live needs to be in the dark.

I thought similar. Couldn't see it hyping a crowd of potentially 40k+ people.

This is my approach. Smaller venues up to Academy sized and you're usually £50 max incl. fees. Smaller venues have better atmosphere IMO anyway and I've discovered some great bands/artists this way by taking a punt on a £15-£20 ticket for an act I don't know, but in a local venue I like.