williams green ... carhenge

[Pazzler]

I'm perversely enjoying this thread.
Some wonderfully erudite exchanges without reverting to mud-slinging, and all very valid points. 

William's Green Stage was by far my favourite place to be (even named my son after it, as he was conceived a stone's throw away (too much info))

In fairness, we probably spent too much time over the last decade milling about there.
So we've decided to try out alternative venues to meet up and/or to retire to.
And that's a good thing, even if not the intention.
 

[tigger123]

1 minute ago, Pazzler said:

I'm perversely enjoying this thread.
Some wonderfully erudite exchanges without reverting to mud-slinging, and all very valid points. 

William's Green Stage was by far my favourite place to be (even named my son after it, as he was conceived a stone's throw away (too much info))

In fairness, we probably spent too much time over the last decade milling about there.
So we've decided to try out alternative venues to meet up and/or to retire to.
And that's a good thing, even if not the intention.
 

You can call your next kid Carhenge 

[HotChipWillBreakYourLegs]

13 hours ago, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

I mean, people are talking about WG as if it was some kind of breakout tent, where if you made it there, you would go onto do bigger things. DC Fontaines, Amyl and the Sniffers etc, were already decently established or already on the way up when they played WG.

Ed Sheeran played Croissant Neuf before he made it. 

Adele played the Guardian Live Lounge.

There are other routes to making it at Glastonbury. 

I agree somewhat with the cheesy stuff that happened later at night, but I think they must have calculated that before they turned WG into CarHenge.

 

Hot Chip played the Square Pie stall.

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

56 minutes ago, BBC7BBCHEAVEN said:

I'll also go see it, and as said I don't really have anything against carhenge, but I did really like WG. I'd take more WG and less carhenge any day of the week.

In reality, if carhenge had been located at cinearmageddon, do you think many people would venture out to see it?

Anyway we can go round in circles all day. In my opinion losing music for an art installation is bad, that's all.

Yeah, and I totally get that losing one of your personal faves is a shitter. Like I said to someone else, it's like losing all the big international acts at the top of West Holts because the festival deemed the outlay for them wasn't effective for such a limited crowd. So, no more Big Boi, Jonaelle Monae, Cee Lo Green, the Jacksons, Q-Tip on WH.

At least there will be some kind of music on at CarHenge too though. It might not be the kinda music you like, it's not a one to one replacement, but there will still be plenty of indie/rock for you to enjoy I hope dotted around the place 🤞

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

14 minutes ago, tigger123 said:

You can call your next kid Carhenge 

Hahahaha. Take a bow. Out of upvotes unfortunately. 

[mr mister]

1 hour ago, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

As others have said, there's plenty of alternative music stages. Strummerville, BBC Int., Woodsies, Park, Truth... I think you'll be fine if indie/rock is your jam. 

I mean, it's equally generalising to say that people won't like CarHenge just because they have smartphones and TikTok. And tbh, I don't like TikTok. For me it represents a throwaway culture of 20 second entertainment - something Glastonbury is against with all it's anti-commercialist, anti-materialist iconography. 

depends what your idea of 'alternative music' is i guess.

Just saying get yourself over to Woodsies if you;re missing WG doesn't wash imo. 

My mum would probably agree the Courteeners and Editors are alternative music. I probably wouldn't. (first bit of mud slinging?)

I'm not really sure where the push back is coming from to be honest. There's not much to argue. They've got rid of tent that catered for a specific level / brand / style of artist and not replaced it. And that's a bit sh*t for those who liked the tent and kind of artists that played in it.

 

Edited June 9, 2023 by mr mister

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

32 minutes ago, HotChipWillBreakYourLegs said:

Hot Chip played the Square Pie stall.

That's right. I think Jimmy Eat World played in the lockups once.

Edited June 9, 2023 by MEGATRONICMEATWAGON

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

16 minutes ago, mr mister said:

depends what your idea of 'alternative music' is i guess.

Just saying get yourself over to Woodsies if you;re missing WG doesn't wash imo. 

My mum would probably agree the Courteeners and Editors are alternative music. I probably wouldn't. (first bit of mud slinging?)

I'm not really sure where the push back is coming from to be honest. There's not much to argue. They've got rid of tent that catered for a specific level / brand / style of artist and not replaced it. And that's a bit sh*t for those who liked the tent and kind of artists that played in it.

 

Oh, I meant alternative stages as in other/different options, not like "alternative" as in indie/rock music, but reading my comment back it does like I meant that. 

Secondly tho, haven't plenty of bands that have performed on WG gone onto play sets at Other, JPT/Woodsies, Park? Fontaines, Amyl... I'm sure there's a bunch more if I dug about for it.

[AtomsForPizza]

I’m not going to say anything particularly original here, but I’ve been following the news about William’s Green on here and still think it’s a massive shame and poor move by GFL to get rid of it. I’m not going this year so have no particular skin in the game but have enjoyed various sets in WG over the years. I’m basically ambivalent and offer no comment on Carhenge but will be interested to see what people say about it on here.

I would echo the points made by @mr mister and @Memory Man that it’s hard to see where a certain type of alternative act can now play at Glastonbury. I enjoyed seeing WH Lung and Sorry on WG last year but I struggle to see where those types of acts would now play. The following have all played WG since 2013 (not including Thurs night sets) the 1975, Martha and Rufus Wainwright, Swim Deep, Everything Everything, the Vaccines, King Gizz, the Big Moon and loads more.

Ultimately WG perhaps suffered on Fri – Sun as being a bit of a peripheral location. It was also a shame last year that it did not get a dedicated poster release before the whole lineup had already come out. The promotion of WG always felt a bit half-arsed – it was always really far down the list of stages (and below objectively smaller stages) on the full lineup on the website which always struck me as odd. WG also probably suffered from people thinking “I’m at Glastonbury – I ought to go and see [big act on Pyramid/Other] rather than a smaller act I can easily see for £10-20 at a small venue near me” – I’ll admit that has sometimes been my thinking when faced with a clash.

As others have said, of all the areas where budget could be cut it seems perverse to entirely get rid of WG which must be a drop in the ocean of the festival budget as a whole. Ultimately Glastonbury does lose some credibility as being an incubator of new/alternative music as a result.

[mr mister]

28 minutes ago, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

Oh, I meant alternative stages as in other/different options, not like "alternative" as in indie/rock music, but reading my comment back it does like I meant that. 

Secondly tho, haven't plenty of bands that have performed on WG gone onto play sets at Other, JPT/Woodsies, Park? Fontaines, Amyl... I'm sure there's a bunch more if I dug about for it.

 

yeah , for sure , there are loads that have gone on to play the bigger stages.. but that's kinda the point.. WG was about showcasing them at an earlier stage of their career. Before they got to Woodsies level. When they were a bit more of a secret.

There's something special about seeing fresh, exciting up and coming artists like the ones mentioned at the best festival in the world, in an intimate setting. it's part of what makes Glastonbury so diverse and great musically. 

To shift to the philosophy of, just wait two years and you can probably see them at Woodsies, is reductive and the wrong attitude imo

I'm not expert in this stuff . but could of maybe seen bands like...Cola, Caroline, Ulrika Spacek ( there are better examples, I'm sure , I'm not a booker).. playing at Williams green this year... bands that arent big enough for Woodsies, and without WG.. there's no space for them

[stuie]

1 hour ago, tigger123 said:

You can call your next kid Carhenge 

Brilliant!! 😂😂

Dad, why am I called carhenge? 

[Nduja]

I think it's sad to loose a pipeline for artists and if we're talking smallish tents for music, [personal viewpoint disclaimer!!!] I'd much rather see Avalon's novelty stuff cut than stuff than acts on their way up. It needs to be looked at in the wider context though, and the wider context I think is that Glasto offers a pipeline to a wider pool of artists these days, for example the grime and drill acts on Lonely Hearts that would never have been catered for prior to 2017ish.

Hopefully a new space will emerge in years to come, for example if Woodsies develops into a real area, you can see an argument for a second stage in that area, somewhere which is already known as a place to see bands and upcoming talent.

[Skip997]

12 minutes ago, Nduja said:

 I'd much rather see Avalon's novelty stuff cut than stuff than acts on their way up.

Totally agree.

 

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

[clarkete]

1 hour ago, AtomsForPizza said:

I would echo the points made by @mr mister and @Memory Man that it’s hard to see where a certain type of alternative act can now play at Glastonbury. I enjoyed seeing WH Lung and Sorry on WG last year but I struggle to see where those types of acts would now play. The following have all played WG since 2013 (not including Thurs night sets) the 1975, Martha and Rufus Wainwright, Swim Deep, Everything Everything, the Vaccines, King Gizz, the Big Moon and loads more.

 

1975 also played Other, swim deep also JP, Martha acoustic, Rufus Pyramid,  Everything Everything JP, vaccines Pyramid, King Gizzard Park and Crow's Nest, Big Moon Rabbit Hole. 

There certainly are bands that play there who don't play other stages in the same year...but as when Mister mentioned Snapped Ankles - they aren't the examples which you are citing. 

[AtomsForPizza]

29 minutes ago, clarkete said:

1975 also played Other, swim deep also JP, Martha acoustic, Rufus Pyramid,  Everything Everything JP, vaccines Pyramid, King Gizzard Park and Crow's Nest, Big Moon Rabbit Hole.

Fine - I take your point on those acts. That was just to point out that bigger acts (or ones that have gained a bigger profile since) have played WG. 

Looking at 2022, of acts which played on WG on Fri, Sat and Sun,* by my count 23 were exclusive to WG. Only 7 also appeared on other stages

*excluding Club de Fromage, Ultimate Power and 'In conversation with...'

Edited June 9, 2023 by AtomsForPizza

[BBC7BBCHEAVEN]

41 minutes ago, clarkete said:

1975 also played Other, swim deep also JP, Martha acoustic, Rufus Pyramid,  Everything Everything JP, vaccines Pyramid, King Gizzard Park and Crow's Nest, Big Moon Rabbit Hole. 

There certainly are bands that play there who don't play other stages in the same year...but as when Mister mentioned Snapped Ankles - they aren't the examples which you are citing. 

This kind of misses the point though.

King Gizzard for example did a real heavy set in WG, then played totally different stuff on their other sets.

Cramming into a small tent with a crowd that's just there for that band has a much better atmosphere than being at a big stage with noise bleed and people just waiting around for something else.

[clarkete]

23 minutes ago, BBC7BBCHEAVEN said:

This kind of misses the point though.

King Gizzard for example did a real heavy set in WG, then played totally different stuff on their other sets.

Cramming into a small tent with a crowd that's just there for that band has a much better atmosphere than being at a big stage with noise bleed and people just waiting around for something else.

But with respect...there are many different points and perspectives. 

For reference - the first time I went there were two stages and I'm sure there would be other members here from when there was only one. 

They clearly aren't regressing back to that, but have to make changes for a variety of reasons which at this stage we can only speculate on. 

Why not just park this discussion for 3  weeks until we've been to the festival and people have informed opinions? 

 

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

3 hours ago, mr mister said:

 

yeah , for sure , there are loads that have gone on to play the bigger stages.. but that's kinda the point.. WG was about showcasing them at an earlier stage of their career. Before they got to Woodsies level. When they were a bit more of a secret.

There's something special about seeing fresh, exciting up and coming artists like the ones mentioned at the best festival in the world, in an intimate setting. it's part of what makes Glastonbury so diverse and great musically. 

To shift to the philosophy of, just wait two years and you can probably see them at Woodsies, is reductive and the wrong attitude imo

I'm not expert in this stuff . but could of maybe seen bands like...Cola, Caroline, Ulrika Spacek ( there are better examples, I'm sure , I'm not a booker).. playing at Williams green this year... bands that arent big enough for Woodsies, and without WG.. there's no space for them

I would refer you to my previous posts 😅Too tired to write it out all again

[Gnomicide]

[Crazyfool01]

hearing loads of rave reviews for it on the virtual meet this eve 🙂 

[Crazyfool01]

8 minutes ago, Gnomicide said:

spoiler alert ? 

[Gnomicide]

Just now, Crazyfool01 said:

spoiler alert ? 

Surely images of Car Henge can be shown in the Car Henge thread?

It's like going in the Marvel thread and complaining people are talking about what happens in Marvel films.

Anyhoo, nicked from here...

 

[Crazyfool01]

6 minutes ago, Gnomicide said:

Surely images of Car Henge can be shown in the Car Henge thread?

It's like going in the Marvel thread and complaining people are talking about what happens in Marvel films.

Anyhoo, nicked from here...

 

ah guess so 🙂 we had just spent the last half hour talking about spoiers and carhenge on the vm 🙂 

[CaledonianGonzo]

Spoilers 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's some cars up on their ends