Ahhhh the salient transcendental atmosphere that we (as in me and friends) call Eavis’ back garden, home to close to 180,000 people over 5 days of treacherous debauchery (I lie that’s only to a certain demographic), yes that term Glastonbury has symbolised for so many years the ultimate holy grail of festivals not least as it’s the last festival in the UK it seems that isn’t being talked about in a board room by INDIE ROCK men in suits counting cheques as they order brunch in a high street coffee shop, NO, its run by a father and daughter, an ultimate combo that strike an accord with so many people not least because of the diversity of this truly special festival.
Anyway, a bit about the personal then we can get onto 5 of my top acts at the festival (as this is a music blog after all, but screw it, I have a life too god dam nit!), we arrive in the blazing Somerset heat, to a barrage of happy campers filling up space like a an aeroplane with a disproportionate customer, and much to our dismay we start to camp right (and I mean RIGHT) at the top of the pyramid stage, so close in fact we would get a close up view of the toilet merchants delivering the days pastures via their tractors, at a point our small group (more to join later) were so tired, hot, hungry, dying for a drink we nearly banged on the door of Eavis demanding a Brothers, some milk and a traditional Taunton dish, but we were saved by fellow friends and camped near the Other stage.
So Other stage, beer, views, sun, friends, lotions and many an assortment of party prescriptions later, I will not give a detail by detail account of each day as that’s beyond boring but I will say that this festival is so special, being able to watch fantastic bands (not just your headliners but lets choose from the 44 other stages!) and to cap it off the Arcadia, Shangri-La, London Underground and NYC Block 9 are simply what a party is meant to be like, hitting that every night on a different planet with friends has to be the best feeling in the world. Glastonbury seems to be its own utopia of unbridled joy and to top it off for 3 days straight, talking to hippies about anything and at 5:45am the sun just casually rising (I must admit in my altered state, I felt I was watching some warped version of Teletubbies, waiting for the baby to laugh, that’s how surreal Glastonbury can be!), and a new days begins, totally spectacular, I defy anybody to tell me differently, many people ask what is Glastonbury like, but its one of the only questions I can give a this answer to……EXPERIENCE IT is all I can say and report back to me.
ENOUGH, enough of me tickling Eavis’ beard, what about the bands, well below are my top 5 bands/artists of the festival (from what I saw!)
5. Giggs – Peckham rapper, SN1 chief and all round bad boy with the press for his stark reality that some parts of inner city London are riddled with various crimes (NOOOOO! NEVER!), even Trident couldn’t stop this ACTUAL rapper (sorry Tinchy, Chipmunk and co, kings of POP rap), he tore it up along with guests including Shola Ama and Skepta with Mistajam lacing the decks, although I did feel sorry for him as he was performing as the stage crew took upon themselves to set up for Mr.Tempah whilst Giggs was performing, but for a man that has been through so much, it was quite a moment to see that look on his face that spelled ‘Is this for real?( Smiles), great short set and after a slow start eventually the crowd surfaced and felt why XL took him on despite opposition. Song choice – ‘Don’t Go There.
4. Fatboy Slim – Back at 2008’s Glastonbury, after I watched Kings of Leon, I came back to the tents and met up with friends who were astounded by Fatboy Slim, and after watching a lifeless Gorillaz on the Pyramid, myself and a few others thought we’d go and see the Brighton (onian) DJ legend smash it, and that he did! The beginning of my disco biscuit adventure started here, the atmosphere, the poppers, the scouser girl going crazy, the lights, the tent, everything was just spectacular, and my Fatboy Slim cherry was well and truly broken, a-m-a-z-i-n-g, his mash ups of hip-hop, dance, electronica and indie were just flawless, truly a legend.
3. (Bit of cheating here), Sub Focus, Kissy Sell Out and Pet Shop Boys - I say this is cheating because, I could here all three while I was comatosed in my tent for over indulgence, and even though I eventually got up to party at Shangri-Li, when I was in the tent I could hear all three acts a mixture of KISSY DROP THAT BASSLINE, WESTEND GIRLS! And some thumping bass WOM WOM dropping from the Glade, I would have liked to have thought I could be some kind of hermaphrodite 800m runner and see all 3, but I’m not! But with ear gendering comes response, and these 3 even in my state garnered a response, my misty hat off to you 4 gentlemen, I salute and honour. Songs that I could muster -
Doctor P – Sweet Shop (Kissy Klub version)
Sub Focus – Rock It (serious arm waving in my tent)
Pet Shop Boys – WEST END GIRLS.
2. Foals – I’m not going to lie, since the uni days, my love for all things Indie have died out, with saturation levels as high as Rik Wallers, the amount of bands that bring anything to the table is severely limited (please be pardoned most of NYC), but on the Friday Foals gave a show stopping performance, filled with passion (one thing you always get at Glastonbury from even the most pretentious bands) and dance like a fool laced tracks, Yannis and co are definitely on the up, the tracks from Total Life Forever were amazing and sprinkled with Balloons, Two Steps Twice and Cassius, it gave fans a Bassett affair laced with assortment (sorry).
Song – Spanish Sahara (Tooooo good)
1. SNOOP DOGG! – OK, a person like me comes with many stereotypes and one of them to people I don’t know, is you MUST like hip-hop, and I say, course I fucking do, even though my style is not geared towards such pastures, I am a massive hip-hop fan so when the Doggfather graced the stage (I stood through Willie Nelson, that’s how desperate I was to get a good spot), I was in my own hip-hop world, and at the same time scaring a pair of 15 year olds to death as I sang the classics Snoop Dogg gave Glastonbury most notably 187 (his first song with Dr.Dre as his protégé), absolutely amazing and by far the best act I saw all weekend.
Song – 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted (ode to the late 2pac)
Glastonbury 2010, one of the highlights of my existence…..EXPERIENCE IT!
Anyway, a bit about the personal then we can get onto 5 of my top acts at the festival (as this is a music blog after all, but screw it, I have a life too god dam nit!), we arrive in the blazing Somerset heat, to a barrage of happy campers filling up space like a an aeroplane with a disproportionate customer, and much to our dismay we start to camp right (and I mean RIGHT) at the top of the pyramid stage, so close in fact we would get a close up view of the toilet merchants delivering the days pastures via their tractors, at a point our small group (more to join later) were so tired, hot, hungry, dying for a drink we nearly banged on the door of Eavis demanding a Brothers, some milk and a traditional Taunton dish, but we were saved by fellow friends and camped near the Other stage.
So Other stage, beer, views, sun, friends, lotions and many an assortment of party prescriptions later, I will not give a detail by detail account of each day as that’s beyond boring but I will say that this festival is so special, being able to watch fantastic bands (not just your headliners but lets choose from the 44 other stages!) and to cap it off the Arcadia, Shangri-La, London Underground and NYC Block 9 are simply what a party is meant to be like, hitting that every night on a different planet with friends has to be the best feeling in the world. Glastonbury seems to be its own utopia of unbridled joy and to top it off for 3 days straight, talking to hippies about anything and at 5:45am the sun just casually rising (I must admit in my altered state, I felt I was watching some warped version of Teletubbies, waiting for the baby to laugh, that’s how surreal Glastonbury can be!), and a new days begins, totally spectacular, I defy anybody to tell me differently, many people ask what is Glastonbury like, but its one of the only questions I can give a this answer to……EXPERIENCE IT is all I can say and report back to me.
ENOUGH, enough of me tickling Eavis’ beard, what about the bands, well below are my top 5 bands/artists of the festival (from what I saw!)
5. Giggs – Peckham rapper, SN1 chief and all round bad boy with the press for his stark reality that some parts of inner city London are riddled with various crimes (NOOOOO! NEVER!), even Trident couldn’t stop this ACTUAL rapper (sorry Tinchy, Chipmunk and co, kings of POP rap), he tore it up along with guests including Shola Ama and Skepta with Mistajam lacing the decks, although I did feel sorry for him as he was performing as the stage crew took upon themselves to set up for Mr.Tempah whilst Giggs was performing, but for a man that has been through so much, it was quite a moment to see that look on his face that spelled ‘Is this for real?( Smiles), great short set and after a slow start eventually the crowd surfaced and felt why XL took him on despite opposition. Song choice – ‘Don’t Go There.
4. Fatboy Slim – Back at 2008’s Glastonbury, after I watched Kings of Leon, I came back to the tents and met up with friends who were astounded by Fatboy Slim, and after watching a lifeless Gorillaz on the Pyramid, myself and a few others thought we’d go and see the Brighton (onian) DJ legend smash it, and that he did! The beginning of my disco biscuit adventure started here, the atmosphere, the poppers, the scouser girl going crazy, the lights, the tent, everything was just spectacular, and my Fatboy Slim cherry was well and truly broken, a-m-a-z-i-n-g, his mash ups of hip-hop, dance, electronica and indie were just flawless, truly a legend.
3. (Bit of cheating here), Sub Focus, Kissy Sell Out and Pet Shop Boys - I say this is cheating because, I could here all three while I was comatosed in my tent for over indulgence, and even though I eventually got up to party at Shangri-Li, when I was in the tent I could hear all three acts a mixture of KISSY DROP THAT BASSLINE, WESTEND GIRLS! And some thumping bass WOM WOM dropping from the Glade, I would have liked to have thought I could be some kind of hermaphrodite 800m runner and see all 3, but I’m not! But with ear gendering comes response, and these 3 even in my state garnered a response, my misty hat off to you 4 gentlemen, I salute and honour. Songs that I could muster -
Doctor P – Sweet Shop (Kissy Klub version)
Sub Focus – Rock It (serious arm waving in my tent)
Pet Shop Boys – WEST END GIRLS.
2. Foals – I’m not going to lie, since the uni days, my love for all things Indie have died out, with saturation levels as high as Rik Wallers, the amount of bands that bring anything to the table is severely limited (please be pardoned most of NYC), but on the Friday Foals gave a show stopping performance, filled with passion (one thing you always get at Glastonbury from even the most pretentious bands) and dance like a fool laced tracks, Yannis and co are definitely on the up, the tracks from Total Life Forever were amazing and sprinkled with Balloons, Two Steps Twice and Cassius, it gave fans a Bassett affair laced with assortment (sorry).
Song – Spanish Sahara (Tooooo good)
1. SNOOP DOGG! – OK, a person like me comes with many stereotypes and one of them to people I don’t know, is you MUST like hip-hop, and I say, course I fucking do, even though my style is not geared towards such pastures, I am a massive hip-hop fan so when the Doggfather graced the stage (I stood through Willie Nelson, that’s how desperate I was to get a good spot), I was in my own hip-hop world, and at the same time scaring a pair of 15 year olds to death as I sang the classics Snoop Dogg gave Glastonbury most notably 187 (his first song with Dr.Dre as his protégé), absolutely amazing and by far the best act I saw all weekend.
Song – 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted (ode to the late 2pac)
Glastonbury 2010, one of the highlights of my existence…..EXPERIENCE IT!
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