Strummerville

[essex_jim]

Didn't get a chance to go last year as no one I went with was a particularly big fan of the Clash, yet I really want to visit it this year to pay homage to the greatest man who ever lived! Does anyone know where it is?

[p.pete]

Last year it was the side of the unfair ground - so as you come off the rail tracks into there cut to your right as soon as possible. Alternatively before you get that far on the rail tracks, take a right up towards the craft field and there'll be a left through some trees and it'll loop you back through the Strummer area, via the stone which will be just as you get into that bit of trees.

[p.pete]

And when I say 'last year' I don't mean it moves - just the unfair ground was Arcadia the year before!

http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/data/image/2011map.jpg

[kingjamma]

Last year it was just by the large downed aircraft in the Unfair Ground. When facing said aircraft, follow the path to the right of it and it's like 50 metres from there.

Also you don't have to be fan of The Clash to enjoy it there as it's a charity in memory of Joe Strummer for new music, so at night they have a load of small bands playing acoustic sets as well as some secret acts (e.g. Frank Turner, Mystery Jets last year) around the campfire. Strummerville isn't just at Glasto either http://www.strummerville.com/

[essex_jim]

Cheers for the heads up!

[BoEsEpH]

Heard alot of good things about this place last year so I'll defenately be there this year

[headshrinker1979]

i just want to find it this year, i just couldn't seem to find it last year :-(

[sjcdf]

:0) definately going to find it this year !

[When Jokers Attack]

I have been twice to Glastonbury and still never found it haha, Defo going to find it this year.

[musky]

It's marked on the most recent map.

[HurrahBrother]

It is "just a small stone", a little over knee high, a small token of remembrance.

Next to it however (usually) is a stonking good tea and cake shop run by the charity

and surrounded by places to sit and chill. There is a small open stage right by where the bands play (small as in not much bigger than the tea shop.)

[James Bolivar]

Didn't get a chance to go last year as no one I went with was a particularly big fan of the Clash, yet I really want to visit it this year to pay homage to the greatest man who ever lived! Does anyone know where it is?

[CATKIN]

Just look for a large campfire x

[nellyt66]

Whilst I personally think The Clash are the single most over-rated band in the history of pop (tough call when you're up against U2, The Doors and The Stones) and that Strummer was a talentless fop, surely even fans couldn't not be so delusional as to think of him as "the greatest man who ever lived"?

[James Bolivar]

Music is all about taste, but the appeal of Strummer goes beyond the music and enters into the politics of the man. Dis the music by all means, but provide a tangible argument if you wish to dis the man.

[nat2006]

i just want to find it this year, i just couldn't seem to find it last year :-(

[Higgy3k]

Do people still say "dis"?

I don't dislike The Clash, but as most of their hits were covers, and they had an unfortunate tendency to dress up in silly costumes, I do put them very much in Boy Band category. Their music was simple and their lyrics simplistic, so much of the acclaim seems to stem from the overtly political nature of their work. Should we allow politics to influence our aesthetic judgements? Can an artwork become great because of its ethical associations? It seems for some people this is so, but not me. My little sister loved the Clash purely for the music, but she also loved REO Speedwagon; so go figure. When I say The Clash are overrated I don't mean they are bad, just not as good as they are made out to be; not that any act could live up to being described as "The only band that really matters". They were an OK pub rock band, with almost 4 chords and a huge amount of attitude. At the time, The Stranglers were better, but they took disinterest to almost nihilist proportions and so did not develop a political following. Roughly contemporary with the Clash were The Jam - they were better musicians and Weller's lyrics were cleverer, both artistically and politically (not good, he was just a baby), but The Clash were rebels and that made them great. Neither The Jam nor The Stranglers were happy to jump on the McLaren/Westwood style bandwagon and so weren't helping to sell bondage trousers to the smart young men in the suburbs and that was punk heresy.

As for Mr Strummer himself, I dislike the way he projected an image of working class hero whilst actually being a public school educated son of a diplomat. He is, famously, associated with the Anti-Nazi League, who I remember as being nothing more than a recruiting organization for the SWP, who were and are w@nkers. Don't get me wrong, I'm as left-wing as the next person, but the SWP are just middle-class kids playing at politics because it is (was) fashionable and rebellious; I guess that explains the JS connection. And OK, he was into nailing the bark back onto trees or somesuch, which is really laudable and it would be lovely if we saved all the rainforests, but so far we haven't and Strummer is a very long way from being the "greatest man who ever lived". But fvck it, if you want to beatify him then fine; he is, at least, less irritating than Bob Geldof.

[bumpy_capers]

Chill out mate. Its Glastonbury tomorrow!

[clarkete]

He's not wrong though, is he ?

[Brave Sir Robin]

I don't dislike The Clash, but as most of their hits were covers

[eFestivals]

Only 2 of The Clash's 14 Top 40 hits were covers - English Civil War and I Fought The Law. Strummer wrote or co-wrote the rest.

As the only fact you state is clearly wrong, it's hard to take the rest of what you say seriously.

I thought that 'Police & Thieves' was a single? Strummer didn't write that.

[Brave Sir Robin]

I thought that 'Police & Thieves' was a single? Strummer didn't write that.