Well, just over a week to go. Whatever you think about Glastonbury (overhyped sell out or the greatest music festival in the world?) one thing's for certain...it's gonna rain. The only year that I've been when it didn't rain was, strangely, my first year. It was as hot as hell, we were totally unprepared and had very little money. Hayfever kicked in, which, combined with chronic sunstroke and a mild case of dehydration, made the whole experience a bit of an ordeal. Over the last 8 Glasto's we've kind of honed our craft, although this year we've been thrown a bit of a curveball by being forced to travel by coach (these were the only tickets available). We set off from Brum at 4.30 pm on Wednesday...and arrive some time after that. We depart at 3.00 am on Monday morning. At first I thought this was a typo. Surely they meant 8.00am or 13.00 hours...or even 3.00pm? But no. It's 3.00am. On the plus side this should get up home by 7.00ish so we can delouse ourselves, flop in front of daytime telly and try to recover what's left of our braincells. On the minus side this means trying to take down our tent and find the coach after 6 gallons of scrumpy and some 'erb (sage obviously). Should be fun. Talking of which, Mr Eavis has outdone himself this year and put on even more stages than ever. This will make the 'what do we see now?' game even more amusing. There's always a great moment when you sit down with your handy timetable amd optimistically plan your days knowing full well that, once the skies open and the entire site turns into a curious mix of mud, cow shit and human waste (of all varieties) trying to get from A to B will become pretty impossible. There are plenty of other great moments too...like the first visit to the toilets...although they are a lot better than 'back in the day'. At our first Glasto the 'deposits' in some of the loos rose above the seats like that mountain in Close Encounters. You had to kind of wedge yourself above the steaming mass in order to do 'your business' and hope you didn't slip. Now they're much cleaner...well, a bit. What else do I look forward too? Ahhhh the Cider Bus. That's normally my first stop. Grab a pint of trad. scrumpy, sit on the grass and have a chat to some bloke called Dave who's come from Milton Keynes. Heaven (not Dave, the Cider). The Hare Krishna free food tent is a pretty cool too. That's 'free' and 'food'...two of my favourite words. Although this will be our tenth Glasto I always leave feeling that I've not 'done it right'. You hear tales of people who've been up for 96 hours (sadly I need some sleep godammit) partying with the Scissor Sisters and 'that bloke from Big Brother'...or 'happenings' that you've missed where 15 student nurses got naked and handed out bags of drugs that they'd nicked from A & E. Whether any of this is true or not I'll never know...then again...maybe this could be the year to find out?
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Glastonbury...the countdown begins.
Well, just over a week to go. Whatever you think about Glastonbury (overhyped sell out or the greatest music festival in the world?) one thing's for certain...it's gonna rain. The only year that I've been when it didn't rain was, strangely, my first year. It was as hot as hell, we were totally unprepared and had very little money. Hayfever kicked in, which, combined with chronic sunstroke and a mild case of dehydration, made the whole experience a bit of an ordeal. Over the last 8 Glasto's we've kind of honed our craft, although this year we've been thrown a bit of a curveball by being forced to travel by coach (these were the only tickets available). We set off from Brum at 4.30 pm on Wednesday...and arrive some time after that. We depart at 3.00 am on Monday morning. At first I thought this was a typo. Surely they meant 8.00am or 13.00 hours...or even 3.00pm? But no. It's 3.00am. On the plus side this should get up home by 7.00ish so we can delouse ourselves, flop in front of daytime telly and try to recover what's left of our braincells. On the minus side this means trying to take down our tent and find the coach after 6 gallons of scrumpy and some 'erb (sage obviously). Should be fun. Talking of which, Mr Eavis has outdone himself this year and put on even more stages than ever. This will make the 'what do we see now?' game even more amusing. There's always a great moment when you sit down with your handy timetable amd optimistically plan your days knowing full well that, once the skies open and the entire site turns into a curious mix of mud, cow shit and human waste (of all varieties) trying to get from A to B will become pretty impossible. There are plenty of other great moments too...like the first visit to the toilets...although they are a lot better than 'back in the day'. At our first Glasto the 'deposits' in some of the loos rose above the seats like that mountain in Close Encounters. You had to kind of wedge yourself above the steaming mass in order to do 'your business' and hope you didn't slip. Now they're much cleaner...well, a bit. What else do I look forward too? Ahhhh the Cider Bus. That's normally my first stop. Grab a pint of trad. scrumpy, sit on the grass and have a chat to some bloke called Dave who's come from Milton Keynes. Heaven (not Dave, the Cider). The Hare Krishna free food tent is a pretty cool too. That's 'free' and 'food'...two of my favourite words. Although this will be our tenth Glasto I always leave feeling that I've not 'done it right'. You hear tales of people who've been up for 96 hours (sadly I need some sleep godammit) partying with the Scissor Sisters and 'that bloke from Big Brother'...or 'happenings' that you've missed where 15 student nurses got naked and handed out bags of drugs that they'd nicked from A & E. Whether any of this is true or not I'll never know...then again...maybe this could be the year to find out?
The only thing I can say is "prepare for the worst and hope for thee best!"
ReplyDeleteHAVE A GREAT TIME!
Thanks Roo! I'm sure I'll have a great time (as ever!). I'm mentally and physically prepared for the very worst weather ever (even worse than the great flood of 05)...bring it on! I'll have to pop and see you...you've got a book stall over by the Cider Bus haven't you? Anyway, hope you have a good one too!
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