All lined up for Glastonbury

All lined up for Glastonbury

In a little over 4/5 weeks I’ll be getting up on the Saturday morning and emerging from my tent like a mole, blinking in the summer sun, squinting at the burning rays of the sun and wondering what the day will bring. Or possibly not. I may well be rummaging around in the tent, wondering what got soaked and/or ruined with the rain and thinking just how much muddy can it possibly get. Come what may, I’ll have seen the first full day of Glastonbury and there’ll be two days to go.

Along with all the practical planning; getting all the gear together, checking the list and buying a new tent, I’ve been looking at the line-up since it was announced and trying to work out the must-sees. (On a bit of a side issue, there appears to be quite different opinions as to the whole purpose of Glastonbury. At one end of the spectrum there are some that will say that the music is irrelevant; that what happens on the Pyramid Stage is simply major artists flogging the same old tat and that simply being at Glastonbury is the most important thing, soaking in the atmosphere and being a part of the experience. At the opposite end are those, who I’m sure, rush around from stage to stage, trying to see as much music and as many artists as they possibly can. They’ve paid £200 for their tickets and they’re going to get as many bangs for their buck as possible. I do think, however, that most people fall somewhere in the middle. It’s just too big to see every band that you could possibly want to and however hard you try there are always going to be ones that you miss. On the other hand, I can’t personally see the point of going and not seeing and watching any music. You may just as well stand in a field with your mates, getting pissed and stoned for 5 days. But that’s just my position, and I’m fairly relaxed about the whole thing. That is why it is such a fantastic place and without falling into obvious clichés, there really is something for everyone).

But back to getting lined up. Or rather, the line-up. And here is where I go on about the music. For me in 2010 and 2011, there were obvious artists that I wanted to see-Flaming Lips, Coldplay, Dr John and many more. At least  a dozen each year. This time however, it’s a bit slightly thin on the ground. When the line-up was announced it was a case of “here’s the line up !”  followed by a bit of “well, ok but, mmm, I don’t know exactly”. It was all ho hum. There was all the fuss about The Rolling Stones finally playing Glastonbury and then the rest. Just add ons. Now I am in a bit of an odd position about the Stones. Legends of music and all that, but would I just go to watch them out of a sort of sense of duty i.e. because they are legends and because they are clearly on their last legs, I may never get the chance to see them again?  I certainly would never pay just to see them, so in one sense it will be my only opportunity. And they may be really, really good and I therefore would regret missing out. On the other hand, I may end up wasting a Saturday night at Glastonbury watching a bunch of old men drag the tired, bloated corpse of “rock ‘n’ roll” (oh, how I hate that phrase!) round a stage. In the mud and rain, possibly.  A bit of a dilemma therefore. Maybe I’ll just wait to see what happens and go with the flow. Maybe I’ll just stand in a field, getting pissed (wet) and cursing the fact that “Sir” Mick Jagger appears to be bone dry.

(More about the rest of the line-up later today. Or tomorrow. It make take a couple of days as I’ve got a tent that needs to be tested. I’m so cack-handed it will take a couple of days. Actually, thinking about it, I’ll probably miss the Stones as I’ll still be trying to get the damn thing up.)