Hi Folks, Here is the Review of Glastonbury 2003. Apologies for it being so long, it will take about 5-10 minutes to read. It has been written like a Journalistic Diary, basically me reviewing the bands and acts that I saw over the weekend but at the same time I have also written about the festival in general as to the other things that go on as well, more informative. Pictures Are To Follow In A Week Or So When I Get Them Back !! Glastonbury Friday 27th June To Sunday 29th June 2003 Wednesday 25th June 2003 Although the festival started on Friday 27th June, I travelled down on the Wednesday, this was my 4th year and it is always best to travel down on the Wednesday so as to avoid the traffic chaos and to get a good pitch for your tent or your campervan etc. I set off from home at about 10.20am, my route was the A1, M25, M3, A303, A36, A362 then the A361. The M3 / A303 is the main route to the Somerset area. My first stop was about 2.5 hours into the journey at some services on A303, I had a bite to eat and a drink then set off again. On the A303 is Stonehenge, I’ve never been there or to the Summer Solstice but I know people who have and they say it is worth the visit for the Sun Rise !! Whilst on the A36 / A362 I passed Longleat, the home of Lord Bath which is also known for it’s Safari Park as well. Less than an hour later I had arrived at my final stop before entering the festival, it was about 2.15pm. It’s always been a tradition with my friends to meet up at Tesco’s in Shepton Mallet (5 Mins from Festival) here you can fill up your vehicle ready for the return journey home, buy any last minute essentials, have a meal in the café and of course to use the toilet as this is going to be your last chance before using the smelly portaloo’s at the festival !! My friends, Geoff and Ian, arrived at Shepton Mallet about an hour later, they then filled up their car and had a meal etc. We left Tesco’s at about 4pm and headed down the road to the festival, we took the Blue Route, as this is usually the less congested route in. My mates turned off onto the new route for the Car Parks, basically across the fields, they parked in the East Car Parks, E6 or something like that, I however carried on and followed the route for Campervans, this took me through the village called Pylle and then to the Caravan and Campervan sites. This route in the past was for both cars and campervans but had changed this year so as not to cause congestion, and it worked !! It took me about half an hour to find a pitch for my Van, by this time 4.30pm, these fields were already busy with Vans. More fields were to be opened on the Thursday and Friday for late comer’s. I was parked up in E12 for Campers and Caravans. One pitched up I headed down to the Main gate to get into the festival, the caravan and campervan fields were outside of the Main Perimeter Fence, but had security patrolling them 24 hours a day. Interactive Map http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/2003/mook/ Getting in was quick and easy, you had to show your ticket a couple of times before having it ripped in half and entering, once in you had a wrist band put on your arm, this was crimped on your wrist with a permanent metal crimp. To get in and out of the festival either to your car or your caravan etc, you had to keep your half of the ticket and show your wristband and a pass out ticket which you was given when leaving by the main gate(s). This proved successful over the weekend. Once in I headed towards where my mates were going to be based over the weekend, this was a pasture called Kidney Mead, this was about a 5 minute walk from the Pyramid stage and about a 15 minute walk from my Van. I helped them set up their tents, then we sat down and had a drink whilst looking the guides telling us what bands / DJ’s were playing that weekend. Once settled we went for a wander around the site to get our bearings, all in all, the layout of the Festival hadn’t really changed, everything was pretty much where it had been in the past. We ended up in the area called the Sacred Stones which is also known as the Stone Circle, like a very mini Stonehenge, we sat there drinking and talking for about an hour, by which time it was about 11.30pm. We headed back to the tents, then myself and my mate Geoff headed back to my Van so he could collect his Rucksack. It was about 1am that night that I went to Bed. Thursday 26th June 2003 I had a lyin that morning as the day before was a long and tiring day. I got up at about 10.30am, had a wash and some breakfast then headed off to my mates’ tents, they were already up drinking a cup of tea from the food stall which was near by. Myself and Geoff headed off to the Market Stalls as he was after something in particular, I can’t remember what it was, but he needed as it would make life easier back at the tent, Ian, who drove Geoff down stayed at the tents. When we got back we had another Beer or two and chatted, for the rest of that day we just wandered around the markets and the other areas. This included the Green Fields, the Healing Fields and the Field of Avalon. These are areas where you can see other things going on apart from Music, here you had Greenpeace, which this year had a climbing wall built especially for the festival, a Speakers’ Forum which this year included over the weekend Labour MP Tony Benn, Howard Marks, Shane Collins, CND, Mark Thomas www.mtcp.co.uk Bianca Jagger and Michael Eavis. The Green Crafts Field nearby featured some of the Country’s finest independent crafts people, including Potters, Woodworkers, Metalworkers and Stonemasons. The Holts Field also in this area was more of a chill out area, it included Sculpted Soundscapes, Cinematic Visuals, 3-D Installations, Performance Art, Chilled Grooves and Discussions. For festival goers who take their Children with them there is the Green Kids area within the Greenpeace area, it has activities and entertainment to keep the children amused, plus The Rainbow Warrior which is basically a climbing frame in the shape of Greenpeace’s ship of the same name. Children aged between 5 and 17 can climb on it at specific times when their age group are allowed on it. There is also a Kidz Field near the Acoustic Stage which isn’t too far from the Meeting Point where you can leave your children all day should you want to, that has activities and entertainment as well. The Field of Avalon included it’s own Music stage and various other activities / areas including Aromatherapy Reflexology, a Homoeopath clinic, Astrology, Tarot Reading, Massages, Osteopathy, Shiatsu, Sacral Canial, Spiritual Healing, Counselling an a whole lot more. Close to this was the Tipi Area, this included Tipi’s which over the weekend were lived in by various folk. There were many activities taking place as well ranging from Felt-Making to Shamanic Rituals, Acoustic Music, Food and Drink and activities for Children as well including Painting, Storytelling or just playing in the Big Sandpit Tipi. Thursday evening saw some more friends turn up, I knew a few of them but not all of them as they knew Geoff more so than myself. We both went up to my Van and waited for them, about 30 minutes later we met up and headed off to the camp site, luckily for them Geoff had already pitched one of their tents up and had managed to section off other spaces for tents, if he had not done so then they would not been able to camp there, as pitches go like wild flower !! We helped them set up their tents then showed them round the site as neither of them apart from one person had been to Glastonbury before. We ended up at the Sacred Stones that night just chatting and drinking and taking in the festivities of the festival. We stayed there for quite sometime before heading back via the market and food stalls, by which time I can’t remember what the time was, all I can remember was that it was late !! We then headed back to their tents and I then headed off to my Van. Friday 27th June 2003 I woke up at about 10.00am that morning to the sound of rain falling on my Van !! It was like oh no here comes the rain !! I had a wash and some breakfast then headed off into the festival complete with waterproofs !! However the rain didn’t last long, it stopped about 1pm. Now here comes the Music !! The main reason for the festival !! The first band of the day for me was De La Soul. I didn’t know how they were going to go down as they were on the Pyramid Stage, they came on at about 2.30pm, it took me about 30 minutes to find Geoff and the rest of the gang !! De La were playing out all their hits including Me, Myself and I, 3 That’s The Magic Number and amongst others Saturday !! Once they had finished we pretty much stayed there for the afternoon just chatting and drinking. Whilst there we saw Mogwai and The Music who were last minute replacements for Zwan who had cancelled, I forget the reason, but Zwan was formed out of the ashes of The Smashing Pumpkins lead by front man Billy Corgan. I stayed with the group until about 7pm, I went back to my Van to change and to set up my Bed for later that night, it’s easier having it set up when you come back late at night rather than trying to set it up if you have too much to drink etc !! I headed back to the festival at about 8pm and got something to eat, a Burger I think !! There is umpteen Food Stalls at Glastonbury somewhere in the region of about 300+ stalls catering from all 4 corners of the world in terms of Cuisine being available !! I went back to the tents to find Geoff on his own having a nap !! We had a drink whilst chatting before heading off to see Royksopp on The Other Stage, these were pretty new to me, all I had heard from them was the singles that they had released previously. They are from Tromso in Norway, they are basically a Chill Out Electronica Band and I have to say were better than I expected, their current album, Melody A.M. is now on my shopping list !! After watching Royksopp I headed over to the Dance Tent to see Slim Boy Fat, yes I know I pronounced it wrong, that’s the way I say it, instead of Fat Boy Slim !! Any way when I got there he was tearing it up big style !! The whole crowd were loving it so much, I stayed there pretty much until the end of his set. The UV decorations were some of the best I have ever seen at a Festival / Rave !! I then went for a wonder and found the Energy24 Stage, this was where Ting was going to playing on the Saturday Night / Sunday Morning, 3.00-4.30am but this wasn’t until the next day, I stayed there for a while before heading back to the Van, by which time is was about 1.30am !! Saturday 28th June 2003 I woke up on Saturday at about 11am to Glorious Sun !! I had a wash and some breakfast before heading off, I decided to go for another wander on my own to other areas I had not yet seen or found, as the first band that I wanted to see that day wasn’t on until about 3.20pm, The Thrills. My first port of call was area where the Cabaret Tent and Circus Tent was, here you could see all sorts of entertainment, ranging from Acrobats, Fire Starters, Trapeze Artists, Puppeteers, Actors, Comedians, Clowns, Jugglers and amongst other things Walkabout Performers. Acts in the Cabaret Tent over the weekend included Murray Lachlan Young, John Otway, Stewart Lee, Jeff Green, Ross Noble, Phil Kay, Ed Byrne, Brendan Burns, Bastard Son of Tommy Cooper and Bill Bailey to name a few. In theory you could go to Glastonbury and not really see much if any music and still have a good time simply because of other things going on. Not far from here was supposed to be the Lost Field subtitled Viva Lost Vagueness, I didn’t go last year so this was an area that was new to me, although I have to say I have since found out that this area has been running since 2000, so I have missed it since going, i.e. never found it or ventured out to find it !! It didn’t take long to find, I just basically followed the signs through the Tipi area and it was through a little walk way. The guide book for the festival called this area A lavishly decorated vaudevillian metropolis, with an anarchic population of performers and guests in evening wear which pretty much summed up the area. It had a Ballroom which had Tea Dances and dancing lessons as well as Champagne and Cocktails, each night was themed although I didn’t take part in any of them, on Friday the music was Vegas / Bollywood (21st Century Roots), Saturday was Carnival and Sunday was Gypsy Wedding ?? As well as the Ballroom there was A Casino, but to enter it you had to be wearing the appropriate evening wear, fear not there was a changing room where you could hire a suit or evening dress, again this wasn’t really my thing. The Casino featured Swing Bands, Live Music, Cabaret entertainment, Trapeze Artists and of course gambling. After wondering through the Lost Field I headed over to the Speakers’ Forum because at 2.15pm Mark Thomas was due on, he actually started at about 2pm, I arrived there at about 1.30pm as I knew his discussion would be popular, if you don’t know who he is then check out his web page www.mtcp.co.uk His talk amongst other subjects was about the recent War and the reasons behind it, he was wearing his F**K Bush T-Shirt, the back of which showed US companies that supported Bush in his actions and the fact that they donate money to his Political Party, he was wearing it basically attacking President Bush and his reasons for the recent War in the Middle East. His talk was as predicted very popular, I don’t know if it was recorded for his TV Series on Channel 4, if not still keep an eye out for his show on Channel 4. Whilst giving his talk Labour MP Tony Benn came on as a special guest and spoke for about 10 minutes speaking about the war as well. He was due on later that day for his own talk but I didn’t stay for that. After Mark had finished his talk I headed off to The Other Stage, it was just after 3pm, to watch The Thrills, a relatively new band, I went to see them on the basis of their recent hit Big Sur which incidentally is a place on Highway One in the States between California and San Francisco, a place where you can Surf and get away from the City Life and Relax / Chill Out on the West Coast of America !! They were on stage for about an hour, again like Royksopp I have to say were better than I expected, their Debut album, So Much For The City which came out on Monday 30th June 2003 is now on my shopping list as well !! At about 4.30pm I wandered over to the Glade, this wasn’t very far from The Other Stage. After watching The Thrills I headed over to The Glade, basically an enchanted forest area with a surround sound system, open air stage, lights, lasers, mind blowing visuals and of course DJ’s and live P.A’s in the form of dance music but more on the Chill Out vibe !! A bit like the current free party scene that keeps evolving all of the country. The Glade has its roots in Avalon. It was the free party scene that gave Michael Eavis, Glastonbury Co-Founder, the idea for the Glade, it was thought up by Michael after he was helping dismantle an impromptu Megadog Rave in the early 1990’s. The Glade is now in it’s third year of life. The act that I went over to see perform at the Glade was Nodens Ictus, recommended by Ian. He explained that it was an act formed by a member from Ozric Tentacles and by a member of Eat Static, a collective blend of Prog Rock, Synthesisers, psychedelic trance and ambient sounds to name but a few. This is also the style of music that the Ozric Tentacles (Sunday Evening, Avalon Stage) and Eat Static (Saturday Evening, Lost Stage) are also know for. This went down well at the Glade, it was also a lot cooler, as it was possible to sit under the trees away from the glaring sun. Just before 6pm I headed over to the Pyramid Stage to watch Turin Brakes, a relatively new band to me, I had only heard the singles that they had previously released, the only one that sprang to mind at the time was the recent hit Painkiller. I stayed and watched them until they had finished their set, which was about 7.30pm. I will be looking at buying their two albums in the not too distance future. Although I like dance music more so these days, I have always liked rock and indie bands from when I was in the latter teenager years. I then headed back to my Van to get changed and to set my bed up for later that night. I returned back to the main site and was back at the Pyramid stage just before 9pm, I was here to watch The Flaming Lips, a band surrounded in mystery, simply because of the side show which was expected on stage with them. This stems back to earlier in the year when they performed on Top Of The Pops, what’s strange about that I hear you say, nothing apart from the fact that they performed in and with other giant fluffy animal costumes, one of which at the time was Justin Timberlake dancing about on stage with them. True to form they performed this stage act at Glastonbury as well, a side from this the music was highly enjoyable, they have had a few hits this year already, the only one I can remember was Yoshimi, this went down a storm with the crowd. Going back to the fluffy animal costumes, there must have been 10 or so different animals, apologies if any of these are wrong as I am going on memory rather than notes !!, they included a Panda, a Bear, a Dolphin, and a Parrot to name a few !! The Flaming Lips were for me, the Musical Highlight of the weekend. After The Flaming Lips I headed over to the Dance tent to catch The Chemical Brothers they played out their string of hits as well as other vinyl goodies, the crowd liked what they were doing to say the least, I stayed here for a while before going on a walkabout, to begin with I ended up at the Glade for DJ AFX better known as The Aphex Twin, real name Richard D James, he was playing his usual eclectic mix of music. Thereafter I walked down the Old Railway Track to the Lost Stage to watch Eat Static, I stayed here until the end of their set which was about Midnight. Eat Static and Ozric Tentacles have quite a following, not so much a cult following but perhaps by word of mouth, I think it’s their style of Psychedelic Sounds that make them appealing, if you get the chance, check them out or buy one of their albums, they have both been firm favourites at Glastonbury for a few years now, you could say part of the fixtures and fittings !! I decided not to watch Radiohead that evening as I had watched them a few years ago previously, they last played here in 1997. I’m not denying the fact that they are not good, because they are good and as mentioned earlier I have always liked rock and indie bands from when I was in the latter teenager years of my life. Saturday night I decided to just watch other bands / DJ’s that I liked who were not as popular, in other words give them more support. After this I just stayed around the Fields Of Avalon, The Healing Fields, The Green Fields and the Sacred Stones, basically just chilling out with beers and chatting with whoever I met, I fell asleep for a bit but only for a about 30 minutes !! I was staying up because I wanted to catch, Ting, a regular at Elation, at the Energy24 Stage. This was a small stage within an area called Butts Bridge, where there were several market and food stalls. This was host to several DJ’s over the weekend. Her set was between 3.00-4.30am on Saturday night. I stayed at this stage for about 30 minutes or so before heading back to my Van for such much needed sleep. A big thanks to Mark HB for finding out her set time for me, I was going to try and meet up with Eccles from Ush, who was also at the festival, but I forgot to write down his Mobile number that he had PM’d to me a few nights before going to Glastonbury. So apologies to Eccles about not meeting up, I hope you had a good time like myself that weekend !! Sunday 29th June 2003 The last day of the festival and from looking at the mini guide, quite a few clashes of bands in the evening !! After a long Saturday night I decided to have a lie in, I woke up about 10.30am, not much of a lie in I know, but it was a hot morning and sleeping in the Van because of the heat was becoming unbearable !! As I was not sleeping in a tent pitched up with my mates near the Pyramid stage I missed The Yeovil Town Band, which to some may seem a bit strange, let me explain. It has been a bit of a tradition for a Brass Band to appear on this stage on a Sunday Morning for a number of years, a nice and easy way to wake up some would say, basically the Brass Band, not really dependant as to where they are from plays popular all time greats, both old and new, for example, Oasis, Radiohead, The Rolling Stones and Queen to name but a few but performed with, yes you guessed it Brass instruments, which to the ear sounds different but enjoyable. It’s difficult explaining this to someone, but trust me you would like it !! Once I had eaten Breakfast I headed back into the festival up to where my mates were pitched, by now it was about 11.30am. Not all of them were up, Ian had already dismantled his tent and was on his way back to the car so he wouldn’t have to do it later that day, Geoff however was still fast asleep, he stayed up longer than myself until about 7am, the others however were up chatting about the night before, what they were going to be doing later that day and pondering as to whether or not they should go Sunday night or go sometime on Monday. I have always tended to go home late on a Sunday evening / Monday morning, say 1.00am onwards, as this is always easier to leave the car parks at this time. This year as I was in the Van I had already decided to leave on Monday morning, at day break which at the time was about 4.30am onwards. Geoff woke up at about midday that Sunday, soon afterwards everyone was talking more so and drinking, although I decided not to drink that day as I wanted a clear head for the journey back the next day, I just drank water and Orange Lucozade that day. Throughout the late morning shall we say the group began dwindling in numbers making it’s separate ways as to where people were going. By about 2.30pm it was just myself, Geoff and Ian who remained at the tents. Ian headed off not long after this towards the One World stage to see Yes who were due on stage at 3.30pm. When I saw this in the guide I was a bit bemused because the only Yes I had heard of was the 1970’s Prog Rock band of the same name and sure enough it was the same band !! The only hit I can remember of their’s was Owner Of A Lonely Heart, but I think that was from the 1980’s, I also headed off to the One World stage at about 3pm, just out of curiosity to see what they were like as a live band. Before heading off I said my good byes to Geoff as this would really be the last time we would see each other, he had to pack up his tent and things then head back to Ian’s car before seeing any of the bands. I grabbed a couple of slices of Pizza from one of the food stalls before sitting down at the One World stage to watch Yes, time kept creeping by, they were running late setting up the stage and instruments etc, it was about 4pm by the time they took to the stage. With them running late this changed my planned schedule as I wanted to go and see The Sugababes on the Pyramid stage, I watched Yes for about 25 minutes which wasn’t really enough time to see what they were like. I got over to the Pyramid stage relatively quick as it wasn’t that far and headed towards the back, if you was stood on the stage facing the crowd I was sitting left of the tree which is near the back, a bit more shady there but still warm. I’m not really a big Sugababes fan, I just wanted to see how they handled such a large audience compared to their usual concerts, I think they were taken aback by the vast numbers and didn’t really know what to say in between songs !! They mainly played their hits including Round Round, Freak, and the song that features Sting’s song, Shape Of My Heart to name but a few. Instead of heading off I just sat there taking a well earned rest from the weekend’s festivities whilst waiting to see Macy Gray. I had seen her perform here a few years ago and didn’t think much to her, at the time she seemed to be everywhere in her set and off the plot, so this time I wanted to see if she had improved. Comparing her set to a few years ago it was a lot better and involved the audience more than before, she played her hits including I Try, the rest I can remember I just can’t place the names of what they are called !! I think Macy finished at about 7pm or thereabouts, Feeder was on next but I wanted to eat so I went off in search of some Eastern Cuisine, I found a stall specialising in Chinese Chow Mein, Noodles to you and me. I had Chicken Chow Mein and Vegetables for about £3.00, it certainly made a change to the other meals that I had eaten over the weekend which included, Chips, Burgers, Pasties, Baked Potatoes, Toasted Sandwiches and Steak Sandwiches to name but a few. After eating I had a large cup of Tea for about a £1.00, it was then that it tried raining again, but it turned out to be just light showers, this kept occurring throughout the evening and was refreshing after all the hot sun that we had experienced that weekend !! It was about 8.30pm once I had finished eating and drinking my Tea. As I mentioned earlier, Sunday evening was going to involve a lot bands / acts clashing with each other, here goes. To start with I headed over to the Fields Of Avalon to watch the Ozric Tentacles who were on at 9pm, I stayed their for about 45 minutes before heading off to the Lost stage to catch the Dreadzone Sound System at 10pm, which I think was just Greg Dread DJing. This was only on for 30 minutes, I stayed here for the next act which was Zion Train, a band I had known about because of a mate who likes them, they are best know for the song Burn The Babylon, a song which I’m not that familiar with, they seemed to being doing alright, the crowd was loving it. After about 20 minutes I headed back to the Avalon to watch a bit of System 7, a band fronted by Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy, they are a bit like the Ozrics and Eat Static. Their sound features synthesisers, ambient music, electro effects and the sound of dynamic electric guitars, again if you get the chance, check them out or buy one of their albums, they have been firm favourites at Glastonbury for a few years now, you could say part of the fixtures and fittings like the Ozrics and Eat Static !! After about 15 minutes or so I headed over to the Other stage to watch The Doves, who have only released two albums, yet seem to be making a big impact on the music scene, I can’t remember the names of their recent singles, to me they have a long career ahead of them, a bit like Coldplay but without the extra media frenzy !! Finally I got over to the Pyramid stage to watch Moby, who a few years ago played on the Other stage, something The Doves could end up doing in a few years time. His set was bang on, as the saying goes, he hit the right notes at the right time and the crowd were loving it, my personal favourite of his set was Feeling So Real although he did play all his other much loved hits including Go and the majority of his singles from his album called Play, which is one of my favourite albums from recent years gone by. What a night, what a weekend, what a festival !! I headed back to my Van just after 12 Midnight to catch some sleep before heading off home. I woke up at about 4.30am, had a wash and a drink with a snack before heading off at 4.55am. For the first part of the journey back I listened to a tape that I had put together a couple of nights before the festival, I wanted something mellow but at the same time something that kept me on course whilst driving back. On the one side of a tape I had put on Pink Floyd’s album Wish You Were from 1975 and on the other side of the tape I had put on Pink Floyd’s album Dark Side Of The Moon from 1973, this proved quite a good choice and kept me in good spirits. My first and only stop was at the M3 services at Fleet, I got here at about 7am, I stayed here for about 40 minutes, other festival goers had also decided to stop here as well, I didn’t fancy a cooked breakfast so I just had Cornflakes and Tea. The rest of my journey back was OK, there wasn’t really any traffic delays, just the normal traffic that one would expect on a Monday morning from City Commuters on the M3 and the M25, I arrived home at about 9.45am, soon after it decided to rain all day !! I wasn’t due back to work until Wednesday so I just took things easy in my days off recovering from the festival. My Final Comment I really enjoyed myself at Glastonbury, despite being on my own for most of the time. Being with your friends can be good but it’s always nice just doing your own thing when at Glastonbury. I did feel that since the fence went up, some of the original vibe had been lost, in other words some of the people who used to jump the fence were more lively than say normal festival goers, you could say that some of the wackiness and the slightly daring, dangerous side of the festival had been lost, but on the other hand I think it’s more safer than before with less crimes being committed and being reported. Thanks To Thanks to Geoff, Ian, Gibbon, Matt, Nicola, Josie, Kate, Hudson, Ferdie, Rob, Mason and Danny who were there over the weekend with me. Gibbon (Chris) and Matt who are twins, enjoyed their birthday at Glastonbury on the Friday, I hope they had an enjoyable and rememberable Birthday at Glastonbury !! A big thanks to Mark HB for finding out Ting’s set time at the Energy24 Stage and apologies to Eccles from Ush for not attempting to arrange a meet up, my fault for not writing down his Mobile Number from his PM. Next year I know for a fact, because he told me in a PM to me, Kev Voltage wants to go and wants to arrange an Ush meet up. If you wanna go, tickets usually go on sale at the end of March / beginning of April. With the line up usually being announced at the end of May, tickets are usually posted out at this time as well. If you’re a student or don’t earn much a tip is to save about £3.00 to £4.00 a week for a year, putting it somewhere out of reach, i.e. out of site, out of mind, by which time you would saved plenty of money for a ticket. As the saying goes No Ticket, No Entry !! Signed Over And Out !!! Kevin
