Pyramid Crush during Gorrilaz

[saxybird]

My mates and I couldn't really get into the Gorrilaz so decided to make our way from the Pyramid (left of stage as you look at it, near cider bus) over to the Dance Village to get ready for Fat Boy's (awesome) set. I led my mates up the path to the top of the Pyramid field (which has always been the best way to bypass it rather than try and squeeze through the crowds at the bottom or middle) over to stage right and toward the John Peel tent. The crowds along the top path were the worst I've ever seen and it soon became apparent that this wasn't going to be an easy trot! When we eventually got to near the 'end' of the path, where you exit the Pyramid field it just turned into what I can only describe as human gridlock. No-one was moving, all the air seemed to disappear and then we began to feel the squeeze and it was f***ing scary.....you simply could not move. Some people started to freak e.g. one woman screaming "help me, please get me out of here" and I remember a guy getting really panicky and shouting as he put his little son on his shoulders "get the f*** away from me, I've got a kid and he can't breathe.." another parent was also begging other to give him some space and you could see the panic forming on people's faces. When the crowd did eventually move (and only because they were being pushed harder from one direction than another) you just got swept along and God help you if you fell down. People were trying to help each other out and re-assure each other in the true Glasto spirit but when you are being pushed by thousands of bodies you have no choice - it was sink or swim. In 20 years of Glasto I have never experienced anything like it, not even in the ye olde pre-fence days. I think it's nothing short of a miracle that no-one was crushed, badly injured or even killed. There were NO stewards in the area and this situation could have been sorted out quickly (or even prevented) if there had been staff in that area to control the crowd and the people traffic. I think that the Pyramid stage seemed much more packed than usual and next year I hope the organisers get some stewards up that way, especially during the headline slots to control the crowd and stop this happening again. I was so shaken up I couldn't face the crowded tent for Fat Boy and just sat outside in the fresh air.

[The Nal]

It was the same on the other side too. I left after 3 songs to the right of the Pyramid and there was a scrum trying to get out/in. 5 mins of a squash. Very dangerous.

[Sabcully]

I got caught in this from the other side, after Mumford and Sons. Even though everybody seemed to be in an OK mood it was very crowded and we ended up walking all the way back towards JP and to the Pyramid via the Other Stage. I do think that there were too many people there and it could have been dangerous if people had panicked but I also thought that it was quite extreme and probably a one off.

[jimbo68]

We were standing by the path in front of the Mandela Bar & there was one almighty crush from people trying to get out , a couple of people were having major panic attacks, left after 5th song as the O/H was getting a bit panicky.

[sven mk 2]

Yeah I tried getting along the top path during faithless total nightmare just went up into the tents and cut through that way.

[coolethan]

A really horribly uncomfortable experience for me and my friends! We just wanted to get back to our tents, didn't want to hear the horrible droning. Angry, defensive, packed out crowd during which we were pushed and pulled and completely stuck. Someone started tunneling through and a woman went spitting mental at us because her kids were there... I can understand that she may have been panicking in the crush (I was close and I didn't have kids down there) but people really really need to stop bringing their kids near the front for headliners. The darkness only adds to confusion and disorientation and it becomes a bit of a horrible experience sometimes. We eventually made it to the far right and someone had pulled apart the fence so we could squeeze through, jump a ditch (strapped up ankle et al) and walk around back of the bar. Was the least pleasant atmosphere I've ever experienced at Glastonbury and on top of it all was this burgeoning confusion which ended up dominating our thought process for the rest of the night, nay the weekend... why the Gorillaz? Proper shite. Albarns voice holds about as much charm and conviction as a vuvuzela and despite some pretty decent special guests it was pretty shoddy and painfully dull. For the rest of the weekend the stage was fine, Muse was sitting room till quite far forward and while it was mega busy for the wonderful Stevie Wonder it was a far less intimidating feel.

[crimsonking]

I'm beginning to not enjoy the whole Pyramid stage experience, getting in and out of it is becoming a nightmare, so much so that this year it stopped my going to see Faithless as I could not face the crush again. Trouble is it stands a bit isolated from the rest of the site and needs a special trip to get there, whereas all the other venues are within pretty easy reach of each other

[abu hamster]

I hate the isolated John Peel stage having to trapse through the Dance area with all its distractions!

[Pinhead]

Yeah, I certainly noticed the heavy crowding each side of Pyramid this year for the first time in years. Uncertain why it was so prominent this year over others - perhaps was just down to more people focussing on Pyramid headline acts. Was certainly not helped by traffic coming in from the right at the same time people were leaving the field (counted 3 bin lorries trying to get through the crowd at one point when it was already essentially a crush).

[godders1966]

A really horribly uncomfortable experience for me and my friends! We just wanted to get back to our tents, didn't want to hear the horrible droning. Angry, defensive, packed out crowd during which we were pushed and pulled and completely stuck. Someone started tunneling through and a woman went spitting mental at us because her kids were there... I can understand that she may have been panicking in the crush (I was close and I didn't have kids down there) but people really really need to stop bringing their kids near the front for headliners. The darkness only adds to confusion and disorientation and it becomes a bit of a horrible experience sometimes. We eventually made it to the far right and someone had pulled apart the fence so we could squeeze through, jump a ditch (strapped up ankle et al) and walk around back of the bar. Was the least pleasant atmosphere I've ever experienced at Glastonbury and on top of it all was this burgeoning confusion which ended up dominating our thought process for the rest of the night, nay the weekend... why the Gorillaz? Proper shite. Albarns voice holds about as much charm and conviction as a vuvuzela and despite some pretty decent special guests it was pretty shoddy and painfully dull. For the rest of the weekend the stage was fine, Muse was sitting room till quite far forward and while it was mega busy for the wonderful Stevie Wonder it was a far less intimidating feel.

[Adster]

I had a similar problem during Stevie. Decided after a song or two that it wasnt for me and I'd rather go see ash. We were right at the back so should have been a stroll along the path. And it was till we got near the end where it just stopped dead. There were two police officers standing there watching as the gridlock got worse and worse but did nothing (to be fair I have no idea what they could do). In the end it got so bad dozens of people started cutting back through the tents, I'd hazard a guess that if your tent was near that exit it was trashed. I gave up and went back to the rest of our group to watch Stevie.

Even at the end of his set it was at a standstill and easier to stroll down to the exits nearer the stage which were relatively clear.

It didn't massively bother me, it was just weird that its so busy at the back and not further forward

Edited July 5, 2010 by Adster

[Mrs*E*]

we also got caught up in that crush, trying to get out before Gorillaz started, horrible, two pc's trying to get through, lost each other and were on their radio's , looked like 'where are you', lol. as someone said there was a tent in that entrance, looked very trashed, shame for the persons tent and belongings

Edited July 5, 2010 by Mrs*E*

[philly_eds]

A crush during Gorillaz??? Really? I thought this was going to be a joke when i came on to this thread... I was at the very front of the crowd, and had plenty of space to move around in. Left the gig without even a single bit of sweating.. Possibly the least "crush" i've ever experienced at the front of a crowd..

[niceandfriendly]

after being in this crowd in pamplona,

i will never complain about crushing anywhere ever again. the crushing at glasto is nothing compared to how packed this square gets when the festival is about the start. it was quite an incredible experience, having absolutely no control over where you were taken by the waves of movement in the crowd. it was impossible to fall over here, you didn't have anywhere near enough room!

i can understand peoples concerns with this at glastonbury though, as you have all ages there who won't be able to cope with the pressure so well as us youngun's.

even though it would be harder for us to buy tickets, i'd rather glasto sold about 20,000 less each year. it'd make it a more enjoyable experience for everyone i think.

Edited July 5, 2010 by niceandfriendly

[r0cky]

It was the same on the other side too. I left after 3 songs to the right of the Pyramid and there was a scrum trying to get out/in. 5 mins of a squash. Very dangerous.

[Wanderlei]

It was really spacey towards the front during The Gorillaz cos everyone was leaving! lol

If this sort of thing was happening during the Gorillaz set imagine how it would have been if U2 had been there! Maybe this is a sign that if there's going to be a big act on the Pyramid Stage the organisers have got to get another suitably commercial act on The Other Stage to spread people out a bit

[Lil' Nick]

There was a similar situation between Faithless and Stevie. After Faithless we left that front section by heading to the right of the stage towards the John Peel. We were stood still for about 5 minutes and then clearly the people at the back got bored and we found ourselves being shoved out in one giant maul. It wasn't the worst crush I'd ever been in but a lot of the people trying to come in were panicking and becoming aggressive; saw one man get a drink thrown in his face and a lot of people shouting at each other...

Seemed ironic that it was all a result of that second barrier...

[Josepipe]

Crowds seemed much heavier at the pyramid this year full stop. We always stand at the back in front of the disabled viewing platform and the crowds for Snoop/Faithless and Stevie Wonder were the biggest i've known. Having said that, i dont know if there was more room down the front and more and more people just decided to watch it from the back.

I really dont know what to make of the over-crowding issues this year. Were they caused by more people on site (one of my friends was working this year and had been told there were 90k staff/workers!), or was everyone just trying to be in one place at the same time? Some places seemed busier than normal (pyramid, park, greenfields) but i never had to queue for a bar or a toilet. Strange.

And yes, i dread to think what it would have been like had U2 played!

[Pot]

There was a crush after Scisscor sisters going towards JP, my friends where pretty shook up after it

[Adster]

There was a crush after Scisscor sisters going towards JP, my friends where pretty shook up after it

[coolethan]

So if you hate the Gorillaz and Damon Albarn so much what the f**k were you doing watching them? There is so much to see and do at Glasto why go see something you don't like? I can only think that you're one of those miserable bastards who just like complaining.

[Spuddy]

My mates and I couldn't really get into the Gorrilaz so decided to make our way from the Pyramid (left of stage as you look at it, near cider bus) over to the Dance Village to get ready for Fat Boy's (awesome) set. I led my mates up the path to the top of the Pyramid field (which has always been the best way to bypass it rather than try and squeeze through the crowds at the bottom or middle) over to stage right and toward the John Peel tent. The crowds along the top path were the worst I've ever seen and it soon became apparent that this wasn't going to be an easy trot! When we eventually got to near the 'end' of the path, where you exit the Pyramid field it just turned into what I can only describe as human gridlock. No-one was moving, all the air seemed to disappear and then we began to feel the squeeze and it was f***ing scary.....you simply could not move. Some people started to freak e.g. one woman screaming "help me, please get me out of here" and I remember a guy getting really panicky and shouting as he put his little son on his shoulders "get the f*** away from me, I've got a kid and he can't breathe.." another parent was also begging other to give him some space and you could see the panic forming on people's faces. When the crowd did eventually move (and only because they were being pushed harder from one direction than another) you just got swept along and God help you if you fell down. People were trying to help each other out and re-assure each other in the true Glasto spirit but when you are being pushed by thousands of bodies you have no choice - it was sink or swim. In 20 years of Glasto I have never experienced anything like it, not even in the ye olde pre-fence days. I think it's nothing short of a miracle that no-one was crushed, badly injured or even killed. There were NO stewards in the area and this situation could have been sorted out quickly (or even prevented) if there had been staff in that area to control the crowd and the people traffic. I think that the Pyramid stage seemed much more packed than usual and next year I hope the organisers get some stewards up that way, especially during the headline slots to control the crowd and stop this happening again. I was so shaken up I couldn't face the crowded tent for Fat Boy and just sat outside in the fresh air.

[jimbo68]

I'm not sure where exactly you're referring to but I had a similar experience 2 years ago between the Amy Winehouse and Jay-Z sets - I'm still very wary of crushes as a result of that experience.

We were in the dip by the fence and the concrete benches between the pyramid stage and the Mandela bar - and in our case, a section of the crowd actually fell over and my girlfriend got injured (only bruises though thank goodness). There's a thread about it at /index.php?showtopic=104290">link.

Taking advice from others on this forum, I raised this with GFL via email, office@glastonburyfestivals.co.uk and cc'ed to worthy@glastonburyfestivals.co.uk and they replied to say they'd include the report in the end-of-season debrief.

So my advice is to raise it with GFL - they do take these incidents seriously.

[Peetle]

We got stuck in gridlock trying to get into the Gorillaz from the Mandela bar area. The problem seemed to be that people found they couldn't get any further so they just stopped where they were and watched from there, meaning the crowd just got denser and denser.

We managed to push up the side of the field by the hedge and some way back (just past the speaker pylons) got into the field quite easily and had plenty of space.

Of course we could see heck all from here because of the idiots with flags but that's another story.

There were 25000 more people this year and only one Pyramid stage, despite all the extra camping (?) and the Park, etc. During the football on the Sunday, which removed about 50k people from the site, the rest of the site was quite relaxed. So I think I know what the problem is.

[FunkyDenz]

That was bad 2 years ago between Amy Winehouse & Jay-Z i was coming from the other side & people were trying to climb up on the food stalls to escape the crush.