Flags are annoying

[airwaves]

21 hours ago, Slugworth said:

Use the screens. Thats what they're there for.

If I wanted to watch Glasto on 'a screen' I'd not buy a ticket and stay at home and watch on the tele.

 

I'm there for the live show not a screen.

 

Flags? - Hate the buggers. They block the view even when you're in the inner barrier.

 

[morph100]

Flags are annoying to hold but serve as a good meeting point so I stand next to someone else with a frog flag and shout down my phone I'm next to the frog flag! To meet lost mates.

never taken one myself looks like a right arse to handle.

otherwise we just meet at food stalls between acts. Added bonus of being able to eat while you wait :-)

[stuartbert two hats]

22 hours ago, GETOFFAMYLAWN said:

Could just be the density of the crowds, Blur pull more folk than Gorillaz.

True, certainly by the end of Gorillaz set, the crowd had thinned out significantly. On the other hand I do distinctly remember thinking things had improved in 2010.

Anyone else who went to those two festivals in particular care to comment? I genuinely think 2009 was 'peak flag' so far. Although to be fair, I've only been once (2014) since 2010.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

23 hours ago, Woffy said:

I'm not defending the indefensible. We take a flag as a 'locator'.

Example - Friend goes for a piss; flag goes up a few minutes after they've gone so they can find us; flag goes down. Friend arriving to site after we've arrived; flag goes up when they call to let us know they're in the vicinity of our camp; they arrive; flag goes down. Friend c**ted and lost on the way back to campfire at night; same principle as above.

Rule: flag during sets banned. You need a piss? Shoulda gone before it started.

Caveats:

1. Duct taping an iphone to a 9m flagpole (minus flag) when gillespied surprisingly yealds results, 360 degree video-wise. Sue me. We were fucko'd.

2. Fuck going to the main stages anyway.

Now that has just got to be an ecceptable use of the flag. I so wished I had one of them to guide me back to my mates after going for a piss during Bjork playing The Other Satge one year. I was like a trapped, severely doped up, rat in that crowd trying to find my mates. I just looked at everybody and had the fear. If I'd had a Woffy flag to home in on  then I wouldn't have frightened the life out of myself like I did, I'm all up for the temporary flag - or boa on the end of a stick, I am in touch with my femenine side afterall.

[wwinstanley]

Not sure if anyone already does this but one idea would be a laser pen (the powerful type where you can see the beam)

That way, there's no flags blocking the view. If someone needs to find you, just shine the laser in the air for a couple of minutes.

This doesn't go without its faults though, there are helicopters on site for which im sure lasers aren't ideal. And the more people who adopt this practice the harder it will become to differentiate.

And there will always be knob heads dicking around with them, last year someone had a green laser shining on kanye at one point.

 

Its a shame because the flags do add to the whole pyramid stage ambience and character, but they also spoil the view for those at the back. Rock and a hard place.

Those who want a good view anyway will endeavour to get as far forward as possible, it takes a bit of effort but not impossible.

[morph100]

Laser pens are on the banned items list and will taken off you if security see it

[bennyhana22]

As has been well-documented (!), this year was my first GF. And whilst I spent precious little time at the main stages - almost none at Pyramid and only a little at Other - the flags did give me a bit of a warm glow, as they are a fundamental part of the iconic images of Glastonbury. By example, if you were quickly shown a picture of a main stage (with no corporate/stage logos) with a crowd in front of it, especially a shot taken in the dark, at pretty much any festival, you'd struggle to identify it within 1 second. Now get a 1 second look at a picture of The Other Stage (removing the clue of the Pyramid's shape...) during a headliner set, flags akimbo, and you instantly know that you're looking at Glastonbury.

Sure, they obscure the view, and yes, I am relatively unaffected as I am far too much of a hipster music snob to be troubled by watching bands on stages bigger than a small rug, but there's something about the flags that add to the intangible of what makes Glastonbury so very different to any other festival...

Ben

[glasto-worker]

3 hours ago, morph100 said:

Laser pens are on the banned items list and will taken off you if security see it

A few years ago { say ten or so }  I spotted a joker who had a massive back pack - it was a unit that the Army used to use { I think it came from a tank } - his mate was carrying a 12 volt car Battery - they would connect the two together and fire a Laser right across the valley - now I have no idea what the wattage was but it fired a bloody strong beam and would not have liked to have been the unlucky bastard it was aimed at - at the time Laser's were not banned but I reckon they were spotted as I only ever saw it on action that one night.

I just wish the jokers who show up with massive flags stay well away from any stage as they should have consideration for others and the same goes for jokers who show up with Laser's. 

[wwinstanley]

7 hours ago, morph100 said:

Laser pens are on the banned items list and will taken off you if security see it

Well that's that idea f*cked then haha

Have seen a lot of flares, Im guessing they are banned too?

 

T in the park I remember seeing people being swarmed by security literally 10 seconds after lighting a flare in the middle of the main stage crowds, but Glastonbury people seem to get away with it! Makes for awesome photos though

[6t6o6m]

We are taking a flag, only to locate our tent in the day.

[Deano77]

Agree they are a pain in the arse. but handy when your lost or lost other people. 

[musky]

On 28/12/2015 at 8:15 PM, whisty said:

The reality of it is, what can you see from that far back anyway, little dots or maybe you have a telescope. For me I just don't bother unless it's daytime, small crowd and I can get relatively close to the stage. Other than that I just sit at the back and listen.

Do you see where it says 'Water' on the banner on the front of the stage - part of the Water Aid logo? That lettering is about 3 feet tall.

 

It is of course just a little row of dots and thus completely illegible. Unless you have a telescope.

[Slugworth]

On 29/12/2015 at 6:49 PM, airwaves said:

If I wanted to watch Glasto on 'a screen' I'd not buy a ticket and stay at home and watch on the tele.

 

I'm there for the live show not a screen.

 

Flags? - Hate the buggers. They block the view even when you're in the inner barrier.

 

I agree to a certain extent. If your not infront of the sound desk you hardly see the show anyway and you don't get the atmosphere at home.

 

 

[guypjfreak]

flags are a pain in the arse ...if you go for a pee then you just hope you find them again if you by the pyramid stage its like half way up the hill in line with that speaker ect or if your at the other stage its line up with that flag in as far asthat part of the stage its not rocket science and if you lose each other well you call one of your mates tell him/her your going to the bar and have one of your mates come out A to help carry the beer back and B hell know where everyone is ...simples

ban flags end ov

[donthaveacoolname]

13 hours ago, bennyhana22 said:

As has been well-documented (!), this year was my first GF. And whilst I spent precious little time at the main stages - almost none at Pyramid and only a little at Other - the flags did give me a bit of a warm glow, as they are a fundamental part of the iconic images of Glastonbury. By example, if you were quickly shown a picture of a main stage (with no corporate/stage logos) with a crowd in front of it, especially a shot taken in the dark, at pretty much any festival, you'd struggle to identify it within 1 second. Now get a 1 second look at a picture of The Other Stage (removing the clue of the Pyramid's shape...) during a headliner set, flags akimbo, and you instantly know that you're looking at Glastonbury.

Sure, they obscure the view, and yes, I am relatively unaffected as I am far too much of a hipster music snob to be troubled by watching bands on stages bigger than a small rug, but there's something about the flags that add to the intangible of what makes Glastonbury so very different to any other festival...

Ben

This......

Yes they can obscure the view but IMHO they add to the atmosphere and are very much part of what makes GF so different to all the other offerings out there.

[LondonTom]

17 minutes ago, donthaveacoolname said:

This......

Yes they can obscure the view but IMHO they add to the atmosphere and are very much part of what makes GF so different to all the other offerings out there.

How? People make the atmosphere not bits of material flapping around in the air.

About 4 Flags in total here; 

 

 

[dentalplan]

Did anyone decide they wanted to go to Glastonbury because of the flags?

[wwinstanley]

The simple method I use to find my mates again is to look straight ahead at the stage, see what you line up with (solid things not artists, they move) then do the same 90 degrees to the right, (ie 12 and 3 o clock)

Then most importantly tell everyone not to move! This method has never failed me.

[Woffy]

1 hour ago, wwinstanley said:

The simple method I use to find my mates again is to look straight ahead at the stage, see what you line up with (solid things not artists, they move) then do the same 90 degrees to the right, (ie 12 and 3 o clock)

Then most importantly tell everyone not to move! This method has never failed me.

Even when Gillespied?

[cammie81]

2 hours ago, wwinstanley said:

The simple method I use to find my mates again is to look straight ahead at the stage, see what you line up with (solid things not artists, they move) then do the same 90 degrees to the right, (ie 12 and 3 o clock)

Then most importantly tell everyone not to move! This method has never failed me.

Yeah I do similar. It's not pin-point accurate but gives you a general area and you'll find them fairly easily.

[stuartbert two hats]

When they're not directly blocking my view and there are so many that moving just means another one is blocking me, then they're cool and add to the atmosphere. Unfortunately they frequently block my view.

[Andeeroo]

I totally lost the Glastonbury feeling during this festival and apart from ticket day, I've had very little Glastonbury excitement since.

That picture however has given me a warm fuzzy feeling in my stomach that I haven't had in sometime.

In the field however, they're just an irritant.

 

 

[Mich1268]

Not quite sure how this flag adds anything to the atmosphere. Just a rubbish three letters on a long pole blocking view. The thing is whilst the performers may be small, the overall view of stage screens and video footage on the back wall would be spectacular without bits of cloth in the way. 

[whisty]

22 hours ago, musky said:

Do you see where it says 'Water' on the banner on the front of the stage - part of the Water Aid logo? That lettering is about 3 feet tall.

 

It is of course just a little row of dots and thus completely illegible. Unless you have a telescope.

Too literal against what I was aiming at I'm afraid. You can't see facial expression including when singing, you can't see an instrument being played & what I mean there is strings being plucked, strummed, bass being hammered, drums being hit, cheeks puffing to blow horns etc & matching that to the music you hear. That's what floats my boat when viewing live, the rest is just show boating and noise. Noise you can hear from anywhere, I'm there for the music, not a showboat. 

Edited December 31, 2015 by whisty

[grumpyhack]

Where to stick flags in front of stage