Your first Glastonbury

[Fred Zepplin]

14 hours ago, Smeble said:

All I can think is the daughter is 3 months now and the son will be 7 months old then??????? Maybe?

We are taking my 2 and a half old daughter and 8 month old son. It sort of feels like the first time for me again this time since it’s going to be completely different to what I’ve done before and will be spending my time in different areas of the festival 

[eFestivals]

2 hours ago, Wooderson said:

Never noticed the "Classical" part of the bill that year before. Fascinating.

it was Michael's pet thing that he wanted at the festival. It didn't last.

[Crazyfool01]

2003 was my first .... year of the superfence arrival....  vague memories of REM .... better memories of camping between dance village and other and running around in my boxers late at night covered in glow stick liquid ... nothing changes ... apart from the use of leds instead of glow sticks  

[eFestivals]

36 minutes ago, parsonjack said:

Which year did the Cider Bus appear?

i'm quite possibly wrong, but as far as I can remember it was there in 1986.

[TheBoz]

2013 with my best mate. Thought we'd have no chance of getting tickets but that was the year of the 2nd seetickets back server redirection so no trouble there.

I'd been to reading a couple of years previously but you can't compare them.

First act was Beady Eye but less said about then the better. However, the Hives that followed is still a highlight 7 years on. 

Been back every year since, only missing 2015 due to work and got my ticket for 2020 

[Divein]

Another one of the 2009 crew.

 

14 hours to get on site.

The buzz.

Watching East 17 when we found out Jacko died.

Spending a lot of my time with a girl from back home, who I'm now married to and have two wonderful twin girls.

Golden Silvers 3 times.

Yeah Yeah Yeah's

Brand New ?

Lady Gaga

Lily Allen

Bloc Party

Kasabian

The Boss

And

Blur - the greatest gig of all time.

10 hours to get home.

 

What a gaff!

 

[fred quimby]

30 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

i'm quite possibly wrong, but as far as I can remember it was there in 1986.

I also remember it from the 80's I'm sure

 

Oh and my first year was 1982. slept in a car as the tent was flooded. Think Randy California was the  first act I saw. All jumped in a mates car after work. have some hazy memories from then, some good acts. Sat in the Pyramid field with everyone with the sun out thinking this is what it is all about. Dub Tent - oh man what a tent. Me and the girl I was with thought every drop of rain on one of the nights were all tiny rainbows falling from the sky

Edited November 29, 2019 by fred quimby

[Quark]

One of the other memories of 09 was walking past one of the shops on the main market drag on Thursday night and their stereo was playing some really loud bhangra music, and a small group was dancing around in front.  Walked back pas tit about 20 minutes later and the guys had shut up shop and were just running an impromptu bhangra dance class / disco instead, and the crowd was MUCH bigger. 

I remember thinking it was one of the greatest things I'd seen. In the context of the festival it might still be

[Wooderson]

Walked back having been kicked out of the Bread & Roses at 3/4am passing by tshirts stands selling "I Was At Glasto When Jacko Died" shirts. They turned these around in 7 hours max.

[Quark]

21 minutes ago, Wooderson said:

Walked back having been kicked out of the Bread & Roses at 3/4am passing by tshirts stands selling "I Was At Glasto When Jacko Died" shirts. They turned these around in 7 hours max.

Yeah I remember that amazing me at the time. Talk about reacting to the market!

[fred quimby]

1 minute ago, Quark said:

Yeah I remember that amazing me at the time. Talk about reacting to the market!

Or they knew something was going to happen

[parsonjack]

2002...very late Friday night....we see this jumping place down through the undergrowth off the railway line near LV but can't figure out how to get in.  Some scally takes an interest and then says 'Fuck it' and crashes down through the bushes taking a ton of brambles with him.  We on the other hand casually use the stone steps a mere 5m away. 

RIP 'Slippery Dicks Love Shack' ? 

[guypjfreak]

It was muddy we walked in from travellers field and was hit by the fire starter himself... 

At least I think that's how it went..... But RADIOHEAD were fucking amazing.. 

 

[phillyfaddle]

2004 here. Arrived Thursday morning (in the rain). Fell over in the mud. Took ages to find Spring Ground (walked from East car parks), no-one seemed to know where it was. Found it eventually, found our friends, camped up and the rest of the weekend was magic. Sister Sledge, followed by Scissor Sisters in the rain on Saturday morning was a highlight (Filthy & Gorgeous). Actually quite enjoyed the Oasis set on Friday night - sorry! Sacked off McCartney to watch the Chems. Spent too much time around Pyramid stage though. Had to leave after Divine Comedy (Other) on the Sunday, as had work commitments in London early on Monday. Never made that mistake again. Only missed one Glasto since - 2013, epic ticket fail.

[phillyfaddle]

5 hours ago, Quark said:

Yeah I remember that amazing me at the time. Talk about reacting to the market!

Ditto! We were in a tent next to what is now Williams Green, dancing to the Cocknbull Kid electroclash DJ set. Guy came on afterwards and announced Jacko had died. Everyone thought he was joking. But yes, remember staggering back to the tent past stalls selling the t-shirts. Entrepreneurial! Reminds me of my cousin, who bought a load of flowers from a florist in Hammersmith, then went up to Buckingham Palace flogging them at a hefty mark-up on the morning Diana died.....?

[faymondo]

2010

Spoilt by the weather.

Overwhelmed by the place.

Pet Shop Boys Friday finished my festival with The Orbital and "Chime"

The only time in my life something exceeded my expectations was Istanbul thanks to the result until 2010.

Been back every year since.

Its my home and for 5 days I switch off from the world and be my true self.

Booze, music, entertainment, friends and meeting random nice people.

 

[Gnomicide]

I was a late bloomer and didn't go until 2010. 

Absolutely perfect weather, arrived with mates who were camping off site up past where Worthy View is now so could park with them, arrived Wednesday afternoon and then walked down to the site so my first view of the place was this...

Un-fucking-believable. Wandered round various bars and fields, don't think we saw any acts on the Wednesday. 1st band I remember seeing on the Thursday was The Mighty Peas on the Bandstand followed by Punk's Not Dad, later that night we spent a good hour or so in Kamikaze Karaoke and later saw 3 Daft Monkeys in Avalon Cafe.

The next day it was Rolf on the Pyramid to start things off.... Jesus, then my 1st encounter with Hobo Jones.

Over the course of the next few days I saw my 1st Pyramid headliner (Gorillaz, not as bad as people will have you believe), Mariachi El Bronx, Snoop (a bit shit), New Model Army doing a punk covers set, The Lighting Seeds, The Wurzles, Seasick Steve, Dead Weather, Shakira, Jerry Dammers, a shed load of stuff in the Cabaret tent, Frightened Rabbit, The Fucking Hold Steady, Slash, Ray Davies, Toots and Ash.

Basically I fell in love with the place and have been lucky enough to be back to every one since. My obsession led to a website and a Twitter account that takes up far more of my life than is sensible for an old bastard like me.

Thanks to the Eavii, what a fucking thing they've created.

[Wakey321]

Another one for 2011

Me and a few mates bought tickets in the resale

Camped in Darble after arriving on the coach

Wandered round in a daze for most of the wednesday/thursday, never seen a place like it!

First act i watched was Metronomy on the Pyramid

U2 in the pouring rain

Secret Radiohead set from the hill

Was so knackered by the sunday night i feel asleep at the back of the Pyramid watching Beyonce!

 

2020 will be my 7th Glastonbury

Edited November 29, 2019 by Wakey321

[waltere]

A first (I think) mention for 2014.

Had come back in from uni one day that March(?) to discover one of my housemates with a shit-eating grin on his face asking me if I wanted to go to Glastonbury, as he'd just found a sign up for volunteer bar work.

Knew from arrival on the Tuesday that the place was unlike anything you could prepare yourself for. Spent the final night in the Temple drinking loads of free wine we'd been given because it was open when shutting down the bar for the final time earlier that night, followed by watching the sun rise at the stone circle. By that point I knew that this was a special, special place and event, and one that had truly taken a piece of my heart.

I've done the same volunteering every Glasto since, and can't see myself ever not going again.

[Ayrshire Chris]

1993, mainly because Robert Plant and the Kinks were playing though had been desperate to go since buying the Glastonbury Fayre triple album way back in 72 as a young teenager.  Personal circumstances, ie marriage and kids, prevented that. Then 99 and another enforced break until 2010. 2013 next  and extremely luckily every one since then and looking forward to next year, our 10th. 

advice to those who are just  embarking on the glasto experience. Go to as many as possible!  With time running out,  I have regrets when I think back on the ones I missed! 

[upshitcreek]

9 hours ago, Fred Zepplin said:

We are taking my 2 and a half old daughter and 8 month old son. It sort of feels like the first time for me again this time since it’s going to be completely different to what I’ve done before and will be spending my time in different areas of the festival 

That's what I was thinking. Looking forward to really seeing more of the circus fields, green fields - exploring through their eyes. But damn it's going to be so different!!! Are you camping or pre erected? We've booked worthy view but am really wanting to get in the thick of it - trying to convince the Mrs is gonna be difficult 

[Hotchilidog]

1 hour ago, Gnomicide said:

I was a late bloomer and didn't go until 2010. 

Absolutely perfect weather, arrived with mates who were camping off site up past where Worthy View is now so could park with them, arrived Wednesday afternoon and then walked down to the site so my first view of the place was this...

Un-fucking-believable. Wandered round various bars and fields, don't think we saw any acts on the Wednesday. 1st band I remember seeing on the Thursday was The Mighty Peas on the Bandstand followed by Punk's Not Dad, later that night we spent a good hour or so in Kamikaze Karaoke and later saw 3 Daft Monkeys in Avalon Cafe.

The next day it was Rolf on the Pyramid to start things off.... Jesus, then my 1st encounter with Hobo Jones.

Over the course of the next few days I saw my 1st Pyramid headliner (Gorillaz, not as bad as people will have you believe), Mariachi El Bronx, Snoop (a bit shit), New Model Army doing a punk covers set, The Lighting Seeds, The Wurzles, Seasick Steve, Dead Weather, Shakira, Jerry Dammers, a shed load of stuff in the Cabaret tent, Frightened Rabbit, The Fucking Hold Steady, Slash, Ray Davies, Toots and Ash.

Basically I fell in love with the place and have been lucky enough to be back to every one since. My obsession led to a website and a Twitter account that takes up far more of my life than is sensible for an old bastard like me.

Thanks to the Eavii, what a fucking thing they've created.

2010 was a mixed bag for me, got sunstroke on the way in after a massive queue to get in. My very pissed off ex went off with the tent to find a camping spot whilst I lay prone on the railway track. Once recovered from the sun we had a good day and half and then my partner got very ill indeed. The medical tent was required and visits to the pharmacy were required. Friday was a write off. Managed to enjoy Muse on the Saturday. I wasted Sunday afternoon watching the football (always choose the music kids, it will always be better), then caught a joyous Ray Davies set, a euphoric Faithless set and Stevie flipping Wonder closed out the weekend. A lot of lows but a few incredible highs. 2010 was quite the year!

[Fred Zepplin]

3 hours ago, upshitcreek said:

That's what I was thinking. Looking forward to really seeing more of the circus fields, green fields - exploring through their eyes. But damn it's going to be so different!!! Are you camping or pre erected? We've booked worthy view but am really wanting to get in the thick of it - trying to convince the Mrs is gonna be difficult 

We are going in family camping, probably the one further out, not next door to the kids field, that’s fills up really quick and we won’t get there till Wednesday afternoon, don’t want to have to queue to get in so will turn up later than usual and hopefully walk straight in. We are also coming with my wife’s 2 brothers who are first timers, 19 and 23 year olds so I might have 1 night like the old days with them

[Charm]

The most important thing about my first Glastonbury is that I discovered a place where I was most able to be my best self  

Charm x

Edited November 30, 2019 by Charm

[Mark H]

2009 for me. Friends and I caught the National Express from London around 3pm but it all went wrong. Driver ran out of hours and had to stop driving. For some reason they sent another bus, rather than swapping out the driver but the new bus couldn’t fit everyone so my group volunteered to take a taxi from someone near Bristol (I think) at no cost to us. But we didn’t realise that the taxi couldn’t use the bus route so we got stuck in a slow moving craw of traffic and got into the festival around 10pm. We had no bearings as none of us had been before but some stewards pointed us to a field with space left. It turned out to be Hitchen Hill and we loved it and have camped there at a further four festivals since.

As for the rest of the festival I remember our group strolling past a security guard with confidence on the Thursday night thinking we were just entering a venue but we somehow ended up walking onto a live stage with what I would estimate was 1000 people watching. Couldn’t tell you what act we accidentally stage invaded or where we were but if I had to guess it might have been somewhere in Shangri-La. I love being able to tell people I’ve been onstage at Glasto!

The rest of the rest is a blur (no pun intended) and I think with retrospect I didn’t “get it” properly the first time round. But it was enough to encourage me back and 2010 and 2011 were absolutely vintage! Hoping our return next year brings the magic back!