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2019 - A vintage year


bombfrog
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I think it was my favourite because I approached it differently. I didn't drink to get drunk, I merely had a drink when I fancied one and on the whole it was sober, clear headed, and I spent lots of time at places I don't usually bother with like the green fields, strummerville etc. Huge props to Greenpeace, I loved their stage, their DJs, their bar, and my fave set by Mattiel was there. 

I do just wish it was a tad cooler so I could get stuck into some good crowds for a couple of sets. 

Few photos for yaz: 

 

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Yeah, have to say it seemed like there were a lot less people peeing on the land this year. I saw nobody doing it until I actually ventured to the pyramid yesterday, and it nearly kicked off when someone started shaking a fence in the urinals when someone was just pissing against the fence rather than queuing. 

 

Not the best best lineup for me, and slightly marred by having to work some days, but would still do horrible things to guarantee a ticket for next year. I’ve racked up well over 130,000 steps since Tuesday and ruined my body so I’m going to hibernate until October.

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This was my third and my other half’s first. Both had a great time - only us two of our original got tickets in the coach resale, and we didn’t end the festival wanting to kill each other, which must be a good thing for our relationship! 

That being said, I’m physically exhausted and partied way less than either of my other visits. I’m putting it down to the heat, which I never deal well with. 

The line up wasn’t a classic for my tastes, but gave me an opportunity to seek out other artists. Thought The Killers nailed their slot and really enjoyed Sheryl Crow’s set on the Friday. Elvana were hilarious too. 

Like a few others have mentioned, there seemed to be a lot of Instagram folk there, who had no idea what stage was which, but were able to have perfect hair all the time. Did anyone else see that hair salon!? They were very keen on making sure they posted regular updates on #festivallife at the expense of actually watching bands. I was near the mixing desks for the Cure and everyone around me was talking through their set, some were even sat down on their phones. 

Probably just rambling now. It’s definitely attracting a more commercial-type of person now, who don’t necessarily seem engaged with what the festival stands for. It’s a shame. Really excited for what they have planned for the 50th!

Edit: saw tons of people peeing against the fences by Pangea. But elsewhere people seemed to be using the loos. 

Edited by Matt87
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11th Glastonbury for me. I think my favourite since 2010.

Found a really good balance this year between accepting I am getting older and the festival is changing, and picking and choosing what I want to go to /enjoy. Rather than trying to recreate versions of the festival I had when was younger. The heat helped hold off drinking during the day, meaning I think I appreciated some of the music a lot more.

Musical highs - CATQ, just stunning! Lizzo - banging. Vampire Weekend - sublime, perfect for that slot. 

Musical lows - Lauryn Hill. Felt like we were supposed to be grateful she was there, when all the artists that work tend to be grateful that they are there.

Could see why Kylie and Sheryl Crow have both kept up their success, absolute pros. Killers good fun. Liam, so so. 

Spent decent chunk of time in the theatre fields / cabaret etc, all of which was amazing. Weather, although testing, I would take that over the rain/mud any day.

Wouldn't be up there with my best (00,03,09) but enjoyed it more than the others I've had since kids/tiredness arrived. Cannot wait to be back, but not sure if it will be next year or not. Other priorities in life at the moment (£). I really hope so though, will see how it pans out. 

I did think how amazing the production was on all the stages - things have moved on so much in the last 10 years even.

General observation - I'm starting to sound like a real Dad. A fair few 'they all ll sounds the same to me' artists, but I suppose every generation says that at some point. 

As thought before, it missed a real classic evening headliner for me, maybe we have been too spoilt with the Stevie Wonder/Macca type slots.  But I enjoyed every headliner I saw loads (Frank Turner, Killers, CATQ). 

 

 

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3 hours ago, Ddiamondd said:

One thing I do think the Eavises will take away from 2019 is what kind of big league popstar they want in the future.

Lauryn cratered and Janet was fun but flat, because there was very obvious distance between them (the stars) and us (the plebs). Miley and Lizzo were the opposite because they got the vibe, big time.

Does give me pause about wishing for Fleetwood because I can only assume they’ll be closer to the former...

I think there is a clear distinction between artists who are in love with what they do and those that are clearly just going through the motions for the money. 

You just can’t fake the passion Lizzo, Miley et al have. They poured their heart and soul into it and the energy rubs off on the crowd 

I was gutted that Lauryn Hill was a flop, but in hindsight somebody who is touring to pay a massive tax bill was a huge red flag!

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When Friday kicked off I thought I was in trouble. Wiped out after Queuing all night on Tuesday and having loads of cool box beers over Weds/Thurs. Gave my self a bit of a kick up the arse and got on with it; things were perfect from there on in. My body is completely battered from full-on sessions at Snapped Ankles (double), Fontaines (hatrick), Idles and Fat Whites. Chems were everything I’d hoped they would but didn’t really get Tame Impala. How lovely is Little Simz;  Ed to catch her again. Janelle Monae turned out to be a great choice with a perfect set although I thought we lost the vocal badly at the start of Tight Rope (was at the front). LIINES in the Rose and Bread were a great find; all two minute songs but tons of energy. 

Fontaines  gave me the most fun all weekend though, proper filled my boots with them. JP tent looked like it was overflowing. 

Perfect weekend for me; bit warm in the tent early morning but loved everything else, even the massive crowds everywhere. 

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17 minutes ago, nikkic said:

I think there is a clear distinction between artists who are in love with what they do and those that are clearly just going through the motions for the money. 

You just can’t fake the passion Lizzo, Miley et al have. They poured their heart and soul into it and the energy rubs off on the crowd 

I was gutted that Lauryn Hill was a flop, but in hindsight somebody who is touring to pay a massive tax bill was a huge red flag!

I think they should book Jennifer Lopez as the next American act, think she'd go down a storm

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This year was always going to be different, as we took our 4yo for the first time and I knew it would change the festival experience.

As it was so hot, much of the festival was spent making sure he was kept as cool and hydrated, big crowds from Thursday meant getting anywhere took an age with a trolley and so I really saw very few of the bands I would have in different circumstances. In fact I saw very few acts full stop, probably 6 in total. Failed to get to a number of places I would have normally (Strummerville, Pangea, a chunk of the green fields). Had the new experience of visiting the Kidz field which our 4yo loved (though I didn't).

Did also think the dickhead quotient was down, I didn't see any peeing on the land, though it sounds like it still happened. 

CV East felt very different to CV West, possibly because E19 is like a corridor and didn't particularly have a community vibe I tend to find in CV West. 

Definitely a  good Glastonbury, enjoyed it and left wanting more but I didn't get the almost bereavement type feelings I had leaving the 2017 festival.

Bloody knackered now. I will be trying for tickets in October.

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One of the best for me (if not the best).  Shades of '99 and '10 with the weather conditions, the site was cleaner than it has been in years, all the aggy cokeheads who've come and lived in silver hayes the last 2 festivals didn't return this year, the diverse lineup (back to how it should be thank you very much, glastonbury was NEVER about the big name lineup, but very much about providing a diverse range of entertainment).

 

I could go on and on, basically, about the various ways they got it right this year, but I've got not a single gripe about them doing anything wrong.  The absolute army of people that worked to make this week a reality, from the Eavii to the litterpickers, loo squads and infrastructure teams have just pulled off one hell of a job.  My thanks go out to each and every person who put effort into making that happen for us, you beautiful bastards brought tears to my eyes.

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Loved it. The weather made it brutal at times and I did wonder if if I am now a bit past my Glastonbury sell by date. But then I look back on experiences like being right up front for Jeff Goldblums sublime set, being there for Stormzy and The Killers (in my view) superb headlining sets or witnessing Nick Cave and Kylie doing Wild ? and I realise that maybe I have another couple left in me.

I noticed a lack of idiots as well (apart from middle aged men and women getting huffy when people would accidentally bump into them as they walked past them in the crowd). Noticed a lot less smoking too (and not many vaping either).

I miss the old Shangri-La with its creativity and quirky little features. It's just a big rave now (which is great if you like that) but it doesn't feel worth visiting to me anymore.

Sunday was my favourite day. I'm not one who usually parks up at the Pyramid but after Mr Goldblum in West Holts I spent the rest of the day at the Pyramid. For me Kylie, Miley, Vampire Weekend and The Cure were a perfect a line up. 

I'm not sure if this was a vintage year but for me it did end up having a very special feel to it.

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My 19th festival - loved it! In fact I’ve got one of those run away to the circus type feelings - can’t I just live there for a bit longer! 

I usually rarely venture any further north than West Holts from the railway line. Though this year made it over to John Peel, acoustic & pyramid stage. 

I also rarely see any headliners (plus volunteering for a proportion of the festival). But where else could I see Lizzo > Ibibio Sound Machine > Sleaford Mods within a few hours of each other! 

Love that people have such diverse experiences - I actually though there was a reasonable amount of young people and really diverse age profile for most of the acts that I saw.

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I loved the festival as always. I loved the new elements and I think the team at Glastonbury do an amazing job creating a magical world but I did have a few gripes this year. Unlike others I seemed to come across more dickheads than normal and actually felt people were less chatty and a bit more selfish than normal (don't know if this was a self-preservation thing because of the weather) 

It seemed that from about 3rd act down the bill the crowds got quite rude. One guy stood on my foot and when I said ow he told me to chill because I had big boots on which means he had looked at my feet knew there wasn't enough room to get through and decided it was ok to step on my foot. The boots were just canvas so actually didn't have a lot of protection and it did hurt and I really don't know in what world anyone thinks it's acceptable to stand on someone's foot and not apologise profusely. Most of the dickheads I came across seemed to be snorting coke frequently. I'm not a drug taker of any description but with the recent Gove revelations and the people I came across I can only conclude that it seems to turn people into twats. 

Also, there seem to be a lot of people during Idles that I think Idles themselves would be hugely unimpressed with you know the kind of neanderthal man attitude that most of their songs rally about. There was a young couple in front of us who were having a whale of time until 3 blokes came along and created their own space impinging on theirs and it was sad to see the couple who had been enjoying themselves so much suddenly looking so uncomfortable. A huge number of talkers as well even quite close to the front of stages. I asked one person if they could be quiet and they completely ignored me and it was too busy to move away. I got to the second row of the Pyramid for Mavis Staples who was my one must see of the weekend and asked 2 people in front who were clearly there for someone much later in the day if they wouldn't mind me getting to the front just to take a photo as she was my only must see of the weekend only to be told they had gotten there early and earned it. They then proceeded to talk through one whole song even though they clearly knew how important seeing her was to me. Maybe I was just unlucky but didn't witness tons of Glasto spirit. 

Have to say though we got on the barrier for Cut Capers and had a lovely couple next to us and we chatted before and after and Cut Capers were fantastic. What a great highlight. Maybe I'm just getting old and better off not heading to any of the main stages at that time anymore. 

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3 hours ago, Keithy said:

Not sure if was just me this year but the crowd seemed to have more people in the sort of late 30's to late 40's age range than ever before. Remember noticing it first in 2017. It certainly didn't feel a young crowd....

Presumably Boomtown has dented the number of late teens/early 20's crowd at Glastonbury.

Yeah I noticed several times over the weekend that it seemed to be an older crowd this year.

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1 hour ago, Madyaker said:

I definitely enjoyed 17 more. Lineup and weather were more in line with what I’m after

Yeah I can't disagree, while I've had some acts this year that I won't again, working does take the glass off it all even if you get meal/shower tokens....you have to use them tbf too given you have to work. 17 was up there with my best 

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Well this festival didn't go to plan at all for us but it was superb regardless. Went to the qrong parking to start with which meant a very long walk with a heavy as hell tent with the knock on effect of camping at the top of the pyramid which wasn't the plan. Plus side is allnout camping neighbors were great and made weekend mates to have a laugh with tbough walking that bank had my feet blistered by Thur night.

Much of the band plans went to wack due to large crowds and mooching in excessive heat so ended up seeing bands with no plans to and spending time in a lot of the small stages and that ended up being sweet.

I mea. Friday night we done Morcheeba into Billy Bragg then both Fatboy slim and Frank turner were too packed so ended up doing a Slade tribute band in Avalon cafe instead, was tremendous, singing Christmas songs on June. 

Enjoyed the SE corner, were there three nights, mostly in unfair ground which was great just watching bands on Rocket Lounge and craicing on with mad people.

Did green futures field a lot though the app was wrong and that messed us up a bit but had some good times in there. Hawkwind at acoustic was absolutely mental but was fourth mins behind schedule so we missed Chemical brothers and saw Hot chip instead which was tremendous.

Stuff like that happened all weekend so plans went wayward but because it's Glasto we just found alternatives and had an absolute blast anyway.

 

Rollin Glasto 50 (hopefully).

 

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My first ever Glasto, so I was probably excited and a little nervous in equal measure. 

I thought it was good. Maybe not quite as amazing as the reputation that precedes it, but similarly I can also understand why it is a bit of a big deal. It really is incredible just how big it is and how there’s something for all tastes. I also loved to finally be at a festival where you don’t feel you have to survive on chips all weekend. Think I only had one meal all weekend that was disappointing, which has got to be an all time low. 

However, I’m one of the naysayers that personally couldn’t help but shake the feeling the lineup was a little weak for my tastes and there wasn’t really anyone there I was dying to see, but similarly that allowed for a few surprises along the way. Though I did think Sunday night was really crying out for someone with a little more oomph to close things off - even if that literally just meant swapping round The Cure and The Killers. 

I might be alone in this, but as a newcomer it also felt as though they’d maybe sold 10-20k more tickets than they should. Lots of things worth doing/seeing were just way too busy to bother with - though I suppose that could just be the heat making lots of crowds look worse. I wasn’t a fan of the Pyramid stage area in general for this reason, it doesn’t feel the right shape to deal with the rare occasions when everyone wants to see a certain act - like Kylie yesterday, where I noticed a couple of girls around me crying from fear of being crushed. Conversely however this is exactly why I loved the Other stage. Just feels like a wider space where you can rock up at any time and have an equally fantastic view from anywhere in front of the flags without having to barge past anyone. 

Enjoyable overall though for sure, I think the key is to go along with the flow and just find your own festival, rather than try too hard to stick to any kind of strict routine or schedule. 

Can’t see myself immediately becoming a yearly attendee, but yeah there’s not a doubt I will go again. 

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11 minutes ago, Bixer said:

My first ever Glasto, so I was probably excited and a little nervous in equal measure. 

I thought it was good. Maybe not quite as amazing as the reputation that precedes it, but similarly I can also understand why it is a bit of a big deal. It really is incredible just how big it is and how there’s something for all tastes. I also loved to finally be at a festival where you don’t feel you have to survive on chips all weekend. Think I only had one meal all weekend that was disappointing, which has got to be an all time low. 

However, I’m one of the naysayers that personally couldn’t help but shake the feeling the lineup was a little weak for my tastes and there wasn’t really anyone there I was dying to see, but similarly that allowed for a few surprises along the way. Though I did think Sunday night was really crying out for someone with a little more oomph to close things off - even if that literally just meant swapping round The Cure and The Killers. 

I might be alone in this, but as a newcomer it also felt as though they’d maybe sold 10-20k more tickets than they should. Lots of things worth doing/seeing were just way too busy to bother with - though I suppose that could just be the heat making lots of crowds look worse. I wasn’t a fan of the Pyramid stage area in general for this reason, it doesn’t feel the right shape to deal with the rare occasions when everyone wants to see a certain act - like Kylie yesterday, where I noticed a couple of girls around me crying from fear of being crushed. 

Enjoyable overall though for sure, I think the key is to go along with the flow and just find your own festival, rather than try too hard to stick to any kind of strict routine or schedule. 

Can’t see myself immediately becoming a yearly attendee, but yeah there’s not a doubt I will go again. 

The reality is dude it is over sold and I've been saying there needs to be possibly 30k less tickets....Can't be having a bottleneck getting out the left side of the Pyramid for every big act....it's off putting I agree.

As someone who has been going 9 years now, it has got more commercial and it's not quite the same as it was. I admit I was less bothered last year due to me having a lot to see and not working but the jams still pissed me off. I think if I'd have started going recently the jams would stop me.

It contributes to why after next year if I'm successful I'm going to call it a day, people say it's all still an absolute bargain but one year you get 3 £70 headliners...this year you've got one that sold tickets for £35/40 on his last tour probably. Prices keep cranking up a bit too much and I consider is it worth it and the ticket day stress for something I've done as much as I have.

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I think I had a better time than I currently think I did. Good but not vintage for me, but that's down to my own approach.

Because there were so few must sees but plenty of like to sees, I'd been struggling to map out my clashfinder, so I went in without a plan and decided to play it by ear. 

That's all well and good, but 30+ degrees isn't the right weather for me to bimble around. Just ended up quite listless and Thursday was pretty much written off, as I hadn't even taken my pocket guide out. Got back on track Friday.

Combined with trying to bounce between two groups of friends also meant a lot of trying to figure out who was doing what and where, rather than just enjoying it.

Will re-think strategy for next time.

Having said all that, Saturday from Lizzo all the way through to silent disco until 5.30am is probably the best single night I've ever had there.

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Arrived just before 5am and the queue at PGA was halfway inside the zig zag pen which was perfect. Easiest entry I've had. I heard there was some major problems there in the afternoon though, whilst people just strolled through PGD? Must have just missed it and was very lucky.

Whilst not the strongest line-up's for my tastes there was still plenty on. You could literally not see a single band or DJ all weekend and still have an enjoyable time. I didn't really notice any more crowd issues than normal, except maybe when trying to walk past The Other Stage when Lewis Capaldi was on, but that was a big crowd so was expected. Some of the bottle necks when leaving the Pyramid are pretty bad though. Is there no way they could expand the site - not to make it bigger per-se but just move some of the traders in that area backwards? Also how about implementing a one way system on the right hand side entry, it sort of splits around the tree there so left in and right out like they do in some Primavera stages with red crosses above the pathway.

Excellent camping neighbours this year. Was the perfect location in Paines Ground. Some really good nights out too.

Now, not to take it away from the festival at all but some of the toilets seemed rather neglected. Oxylers was rank all weekend. Visited a number of times and shit was piled up to the top in all of them, were they ever emptied? Hand sanitizers run out most of the weekend around site too, they seemed to just remove them leaving empty spaces and not replace them.

Also appreciate the many free water points around site and will probably get disagreed with here, but some of those queues were insane - the heat meant it unbearable on times to go in search of a quieter one, so for them to be charging £1.80 (£2+ from some traders) for a tiny can of water seemed a bit extortionate.

Also speaking of queues, some of the bars were pretty mad, even though they looked relatively quiet inside - hiked up the park to see Pearson Sound Sunday night and the queue was insane at Stonebridge but hardly anyone inside so just left back to Arcadia. Same in SE Corner. Just about got in to see SPY.

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