Who would you recommend I see at Glastonbury? (other than the Wombles, obv)

A few friends are going to rockness. Supposed to be very midgey.

A friend asked for some Glastonbury tips the other day, obliging me to actually look at the lineup and now I'm really regretting not trying to buy a ticket or some form of work to get in. Said friend lives in Pilton so it's possible he might be able to get me in but it's getting harder every year, even for the locals.

Supposed to be very midgey.

Oh god I hadn't thought of that.

Going by the poster I'd stick to the West Holts stage for most of it; take an extended trip to the bar for Chase and Status.

I do like how Nicolas Jaar has been promoted to the "black stage". Izzit cause he is Chilean?

And once again I am reminded that Scroobius Pip & Dan Le Sac have possibly the most unappealing name in the history of popular music.

You do know that there are black people right across the bill including one of them headlining the main stage, right?

Er, yes? That doesn't change the fact that if Tinie Tempah had sold fewer records there's no doubt about which stage he'd be playing at...

Yes, he'd be in the dance tent.

Hah.

I'm not suggesting there's anything sinister about it, but it did jump out at me.

Also you have to remember that until last year that stage was the Jazz World stage (except there was never any jazz on it). Most of those acts would've been on there anyway except possibly Big Boi and Janelle Monae (who should really be on one of the two big stages but I'm guessing they get a bigger fee and want to be further up the bill).

I'd personally be curious to check out the About Group (Charles Hayward/John Coxon/Pat Thomas/Alexis Taylor) but I've heard mixed things about the album and they're probably not exactly party music.

Actually I have just skimmed the record on Spotify and would like to state categorically that there is now no fucking way would I go and see the About Group. Arggh that voice.

Robyn is pretty fun live. Bit weird that's she's sandwiched between Battles and The Coral tho

The About Group album sucks

are the wombles really embarrassing in the context of the average Glastonbury lineup

I'm a big fan of bonkers Glastonbury scheduling (all time favourite = Robbie Williams followed by Tricky) but the John Peel Stage has kind of a transitory crowd. People will sit in front of the Pyramid or Jazz World stage all day but if you do that at John Peel you're clearly some sort of weirdo. Unless it's raining.

vs kooks or athlete or jools holland or some pseudo ethnic kitsch

Omar Souleyman is literally the only act from this whole thing I'd definitely go and see.

Also, I find the amount of mediocre dirge on at the John Peel stage intensely depressing

Pyramid Stage is like the Q Readers Poll Winners awards or some shit... Really, this lineup looks really old fashioned and bland as fuck.

Definitely go and see Big Boi - he was a riot at Primavera. Janelle Monae might be worth a look. Primal Scream, maybe, so long as they aren't in Riot City/Give Out mode. Nicolas Jaar is awesome live. DJ Shadow puts on a good live show, although Ken C disagrees. Battles are bound to be ace. Caribou's always worth seeing. Katy B. Is it really necessary to have Carl Cox headline EVERY FUCKING DANCE TENT AT EVERY FUCKING FESTIVAL EVERY FUCKING YEAR?

Other than that, this is a very mainstream and pretty boring lineup imo.

Can anyone imagine John Peel rooting for Example and the Streets?

I'm sure he rooted for The Streets, back in the day.

Janelle Monae live is absolutely brilliant and I imagine her cheesy, pantomine brand of performance being very fun in a festival situation.

I'm just kind of in awe of Carl Cox at this point. The guy was doing 10-hour tribal house sets in massive clubs in like what... 1992? And he's still doing it. I'd rather see Tenaglia of course...

Primal Scream are doing Screamadelica. It might be a laugh, and my friends are going, but it clashes with my favourite disabled girlfriend Alice Glass.

Yeah, the Pyramid lineups really do look v.staid. As Matt says, it can be nice to have things during the day that you can just lie around and nurse your hangover to. Laura Marling might be good for that, not sure what else.

A rough idea of a schedule. Some of the clashes may not actually be clashes. Can't find much to see early Saturday. Perhaps I'll go to the circus tent.

Fri

Primal Scream (Other) or Crystal Castles (The Park)
Morrrissey (Pyramid)
James Holden (Oxylers)
Tensnake (Wow)
Katy B (East Dance)
Metronomy (Pyramid)
Narasirato (West Holts)

Sat

Chemical Brothers (Other)
Janelle Monaé (West Holts)
Toddla T (Wow)
Neneh Cherry (Wow) or Omar Souleyman (West Holts)

Sun

Beyoncé (Pyramid)
Hercules and Love Affair (West Holts) or Lykke Li (The Park)
John Cooper Clarke (Acoustic)
Paul Simon (Pyramid)
Azari & III (East Dance) or Laura Marling (Pyramid)

Matt - the last time I went was 2007. The Park area existed but not Shangri-La, I don't think.

Also, there must be more guitar band music than this worth seeing, surely?

where's the chillwave & related?

and where are the wombles?

Updated Clashfinder here. Yay @ the Wu-Tang and Katy B no longer clashing.

Also, there must be more guitar band music than this worth seeing, surely?

I think your tastes are a bit different to mind in this regard BUT - Friendly Fires are very good live in an indie-dance manner, the Joy Formidable are pretty good if you like massive walls of noisy guitars... it's vaguely possible that the Vaccines and the Horrors won't be awful. So, erm, no, not really.

I like that Cubehenge has something called Jah Shacka Soundsystem playing live, apparently, for twelve hours.

DJ Shadow puts on a good live show

i wonder if he will be bringing his sphere !?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0fjUgopSdw&feature=player_embedded

if so, then it could be a killer set as this looks insane (6 mins 42 seconds of the clip = whoaaaa)

^^ Saw this at Primavera. Thought it was awesome, but Ken C thought it was naff.

I saw the Vaccines earlier this year on the NME winners tour. They were quite ridiculous.

Might see Friendly Fires, yeah.

Will check out Joy Formidable - thanks.

^^ Saw this at Primavera. Thought it was awesome, but Ken C thought it was naff.

I'm with Ken.

Saw H&LA in the Dance Village one year and thought it was really dull whereas Lykke Li in the Park was really good fun. H&LA might be a bit better suited to West Holts though. Also close enough that you could probably catch both, no?

Wu, depending on lineup
Primals if they're doing Screamdelica, avoid if it's recent stuff (oh I see this has been answered. it is GREAT.)
Chems current light show is p spesh
Twilight Singers
Big Boi
Janelle Monae
Aloe Blacc
The Go! Team put their all into making a show pop, if there's nothing else on against them you could do worse
Hercules & LA were super-muscular touring the first album, if it's the same live band I'd try again
Nicolaas Jaar
Omar Souleyman (more for the kbd dude than him. He might have a full band here tho? was a duo here a few months back)
Robyn kills it live
Gruff Rhys was 100x better than I expected in a pub here last month, if it's a tiny crowd/small tent give it a go
BIG AUDIO DYNAMITE!!!
Lykke's good live.
Katy B <3
is Ms Dynamite MCing or singing? avoid the latter, run to the former
can't imagine Suzanne Vega or Thea Gilmore being a letdown in the acoustic tent
if you like Azari & III's records, you'll like them live. the two singers cleared a passageway through the crowd to have a vogue-off at each other in the second half.

friendly fires strike me as a band who won't really be able to recreate the best things about their album(s) on stage (this is more based on watching their glasto 08 set on tv rather than actually seeing them live tho)

Thought I were pretty great at Glastonbury last time I thought, although the proper gig I went to was better. Almost everyone sounds like shit on the Other Stage so they must have done pretty well almost by default.

BIG AUDIO DYNAMITE!!!

indeed.

missed em on the recent tour proper, much to my regret.
reports were that they were on good form.

I'm going to pretend they played none of the first album singles, most of Tighten Up and NOTHING off Megatop Phoenix, and sucked to boot.

I've remembered who Janelle Monae is, and that I love her. Good.

Friendly Fires were v good when I saw them @Digital in Brighton. Not sure how it transfers to Glasto.

I imagine Digital would be a great place to see them, assuming it's the same sound system as last time I went.

I now have a ticket for this and am very excited. Not sure how work will feel about this but I've already handed in my notice so I guess they can just deal with it.

How did you get a ticket at such short notice?

Fire stewarding. Some friends of a friend dropped out so I signed up on the spot, with no consideration as to whether or not it was practical to go. Which it definitely isn't.

Upt0eleven - what was it you didn't like about DJ Shadow?

Mostly that my feet hurt like fuck tbh. I didn't not enjoy it, just thought it was a bit over the top and not in an in ironic, self-aware way. The music was great but I think I might have enjoyed the spectacle of it more from further away.

Here are some rankings for acts I've seen live in the last few years.

*****
Beyonce, Elbow, Crystal Castles

****1/2
Fleet Foxes, Noisettes (MUCH more fun live than on record), Bellowhead, Katy B

****
Morrissey, Plan B, Tinie Tempah, Laura Marling, Twilight Singers, Big Audio Dynamite, Lau

***1/2
Rumer, The Low Anthem, The Vaccines, Bombay Bicycle Club, Glasvegas, The Joy Formidable, The Walkmen, The Pierces, Melanie, System 7, Show Of Hands, Fujiya & Miyaji

***
White Lies

**1/2
Friendly Fires (maybe I caught them on a bad night), Noah & the Whale, Hurts, Gruff Rhys, Guillemots

**
Kaiser Chiefs, Everything Everything

xp I did thanks. Friday was hard work - both literally (because I had to file reviews) and weather-wise - and I had to leave on Sunday but Saturday was brilliant. Considering I've got a two-week-old daughter I was extremely grateful to be there at all.

the missus said this year was more crowded than ever before. my aversion to rain is stronger than most, i don't mind camping too much but prefer to have a shower in the morning etc. all this i can handle however, but i think the thing that puts me off glasto the most are the crowds - the bottlenecks, the crushes, the craning. This was what stuck in my mind from last time I went in 2008 and what made me think twice before putting money down this year.

Lex you at least have the virtue of consistency in that regard.

I had a great time, feel absolutely destroyed now. Best bits:

- Beyonce, obv. Kind of amazed how she managed to frontload her set with Crazy In Love, Single Ladies and Naughty Girl and manage not to sag after that. Also the enormous fireworks going off during every fanfare in Crazy In Love had the crowd 100% onside immediately - crowd reception was absolutely rapturous.

- Optimo on Thursday and the 2hrs or so after that in the Stonebridge Bar were brilliant fun. After Optimo it went all Chicago house, then Scandinavian Balearic, then Yacht Rock, 200 odd people all going mental to Fleetwood Mac. Nick you should have come over and said hello.

- Orbital at 2am on Saturday, supposedly DJing but doing what turned out to be a live set of (mostly) new material (all really good, classic Orbital sound) and then Chime, Halcyon and Dr Who. On a stage built like a giant spider shooting lasers and 10ft flames up into the air.

- Laura Marling really stunningly good on Sunday, just totally in control of her voice and the music.

- Katy B, in the dance tent, with a full live band, doing pretty much the whole album + Louder. Perfect Stranger and Katy On A Mission pretty much took the roof off.

- Wu-Tang were great, especially the crowd reaction + Method Man crowdsurfing. And the toddler next to me on his dad's shoulders putting his hands in the air on cue.

- Chemical Brothers were great in a sort of predictable way, but very spectacular with all the anthems in place.

- Azari & III in the dance tent, totally relentless, they encored with one song that's just a ridiculous banger, even better than Reckless With Your Love.

- John Cooper Clarke just rambling and reciting in the Acoustic Tent

- Quite enjoyed Paul Simon despite myself.

- A load of people shouting "bollocks" at Mumford & Sons

- Loads of great late-night stuff, right across the site. Didn't go to bed before 6 any time during the festival proper. Danced a lot in a lot of very strange environments (including with mermaids and drag queens on one night), although slightly annoyed that I couldn't find Wolf + Lamb and Soul Clap on Sunday night.

- Mostly avoiding the rain. It must have shat it down before the festival because it was really muddy when we arrived but otherwise we only got lightly rained-on on Friday. Thursday, Saturday and Sunday lovely.

- Meatwagon burgers on site, with cocktails.

Less good bits:

- Pretty stodgy mud, although that was gone by Sunday. It's rain rather than mud that kills the vibe for me though.

- The queueing system from the Shangri-La area, which is a great area in it's own right but the queuing system created a surge of demand at once so everyone had to get in there early. Killed the 'bowl around looking for adventures' aspect of Glastonbury nights a bit, everything felt a lot more purposeful and direct.

- Radiohead "secret" gig, at which about 9million people turned up, totally packing the field out, and The Park stage is too quiet to be heard over that big a crowd. Couldn't see or hear anything and left after two songs. Didn't even bother with Pulp the next day, apparently they were great, but will see them this weekend anyway.

- Security seemingly a lot more visible and much cuntier than previous years.

It wasn't more crowded than usual but the very stodgy mud concentrated people onto the walkways in some areas, notably between the Dance Field and Other Stage on Thursday and Friday.

xpost to DL

Very glad to hear that (and also aww). I did come to your talk briefly and really enjoyed it (such that I've just bought the book) but, having overdone it somewhat on Friday, felt you were better off if I didn't introduce myself on this occasion. I was not either of the weird guys who approached you mid-way through and whom, I thought, you handled very well.

Lex, there's nothing wrong with having no interest in going to Glastonbury, it's the wanting those that do to have a shit time that grates somewhat.

Also I actually watched the sun rise in the Stone Circle for the first time every, it's great.

:-) Glad you all had a good time. There's no denying, despite any misgivings, that I'd have loved to have been there all the same.

watching the sun rise in the stone circle is one of the best parts imo. you often meet people around there and have a chat for a bit...occasionally they are fools but not always!

Ah cheers Upt0eleven - much appreciated.

Matt DC's Glastonbury sounds great. Had no idea Orbital were playing - gutted to miss that.

They were listed in the programme as a DJ set - but everything they played for the first 3/4s of the set was unfamiliar and sounded very like Orbital. It was only when they did Chime and Halcyon (the latter with the usual bells and whistles) that it became obvious they were playing live. Also, one hell of a spectacular stage.

Haha, that's what Radiohead should've said they were doing.

So, let's see: There's no glast next year...

I last went in 19umhumhum, it was lovely weather all the weekend..

Then I met the girl I went on to marry and have 2 kids with. She would 'like' to have gone, but amongst the things she HATES are
1) Pushy people pushing past you
2) Being soggy, or near sogginess
3) Being stuck someplace
4) not being able to sleep because of noisy people
5) Rain, expected or otherwise

So, I decided it's best we didn't. We have done Reading fest a number of times, the last time we got vip tickets (Not VIP, vip.) which meant we had easy access to beer tent/loos/exit-entrances/nonsoggy land. So, we took the kids and were able to take them home and return for the evening while my mum babysat. (oh, as far as celeb spotting went, Devandra Benhat, the end)

My wife was saying I could take the kids to Glasto one year while she goes on a spa weekend with pals.

How much are 'kids' tickets? Last time Reading (as above), the kids were free...

I should have said hi Matt. If I see you at Wireless (assuming that's where you're seeing Pulp), I certainly shall. Sounds like you probably survived Glastonbury better than I did - I feel destroyed despite a couple of early nights - and saw quite a few more acts.

This year was probably the most tiring Glastonbury I can remember, mainly due to trying to walk around too far through the aforementioned sticky mud that would not accommodate.

Highlights were:

Primal Scream - the other stage was pretty empty so able to get really close. I can forgive them for playing Country Girl as the rest of the set was so much fun.

Friendly Fires - Gloriously sunshiney experience. Singing along to Paris while sipping gingerly at a slightly better than shit coke bottle of box wine was just the tonic to clear the head from Friday.

Guillemots - Not sure why there were in Dance West but as it was raining the sound was great. Great mix of songs fromt he whole catalogue as well. Bumped into Fyfe Dangerfield the next day backstage at Avalon and he was so friendly but I wasn't coherent enough to engage with him (see above) in as much of a conversation as he seemed to want.

RSVP - "Bhangra with a twist". Only saw them because I was working at the G Stage but so glad I did. The stage was empty when they started and rammed at the end as everyone walking past stopped to join in the fun and try out the dance moves they were showcasing.

Robyn - Empty tent (everyone had gone to Beyonce early I guess) so again was right at the front. She danced so energetically and kicked up a massive strop when her radio wasn't working but really got the crowd going. <3

The Low Anthem - Gorgeous Americana for a blistering Sunday afternoon in the Pyramid field.

Stereo MCs - Again, only saw them because I was working. Fun way to end the festival.

Shit:

Coldplay - Yeah, you pays your money you takes your choice but I only went to see them because others were and I was bored stiff up until they played Clocks in the encore.

White Lies - most pointless band I've ever heard. Opting for black and white for the screens doesn't make you look like Joy Division and doesn't create atmosphere when your music is that awful.

Wish I'd seen more tbh (the Friday night probably saw to it that I didn't) like Orbital but and maybe more in general in the Dance Village. Didn't do the Stone Circle this year which was also a bit of a shame as two years ago it was how I ended the festival and it was glorious.

i think the thing that puts me off glasto the most are the crowds - the bottlenecks, the crushes, the craning.

This is the first year I was genuinely scared of experiencing a Roskilde-like crushing but mainly, as Matt says, due to the sticky mud than necessarily the volume of people. I'm sure it won't happen but there were moments where I thought the crowd was going to topple.

Yeah Friendly Fires were fun - I watched them in almost exactly the same spot as two years ago except the crowd was twice the size.

The appeal of White Lies is baffling. We were standing at the side of that field having some food and a pint during the second half of their set and it was just nothingy.

Apparently Elbow's crowd interaction was so great I almost wish I was there, except I don't like any of their music.

Other great thing I forgot to mention = Tinie Tempah's set. I'd been wondering where all the kids were at until I got there, and they were going mental. He made the entire crowd go as low as possible and then jump up when the beat kicked in, and it worked. Also Pass Out was one of the moments of the weekend, made it worth standing through some of his ropier material.

- Orbital at 2am on Saturday, supposedly DJing but doing what turned out to be a live set of (mostly) new material (all really good, classic Orbital sound) and then Chime, Halcyon and Dr Who. On a stage built like a giant spider shooting lasers and 10ft flames up into the air.

holy

It was also shooting lightning rods of electricity up into the sky at the end of the set. Entire stage genuinely looked like it might kill someone.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5234/5878162749_e0cd5d80d1.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4141/4774469312_60fdeeb830.jpg
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6013/5877845219_3a1038d7dc.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5270/5880802406_284f9f6fb7.jpg

wow.

For some unknown reason I left Orbital's set halfway through to go and find Bez's Acid House.

I also missed Janelle Monáe because I ran out of tome before meeting people for Chemical Brothers. But Katy B, Hercules and Love Affair, Atomic Drop (on the mental flame throwing stage before Orbital) and Beyoncé were all spectacular.

They were listed in the programme as a DJ set - but everything they played for the first 3/4s of the set was unfamiliar and sounded very like Orbital.

Didn't they do Satan early on?

Stone Circle was so lovely and green and dry when we lay out there on Saturday afternoon.

Wish I'd git there early enough to do Optimo on Thursday afternoon. Caught up with Matt for Katy B but generally failed to do much catching up with anyone. Had a great time though (except when losing my friends two nights running at Shangri-La).

Didn't they do Satan early on?

I heard bits of Satan in one of the tracks but it wasn't the whole thing.

Was Bez's Acid House any good?

I thought the rave bullring was the best thing in that part of the site fwiw.

bez's acid house is the hansel and gretl story i want to read.

don't nibble them biscuits tho.

I found Bez's Acid House mildly depressing, despite the presence of Bez dancing on stage. The other tent nearby, Reverend Sharky’s Church of the Holyroller, had better DJs and a vibe I much preferred.

despite the presence of Bez dancing on stage

plz say that he was the only one on the stage, dancing, and that this was his 'solo' career after the HapMons...

i see orbital have been to burning man and were suitably impressed