Glasto, the Summer Wine(house)
Ahh, Glastonbury number 6. After enjoying the heat of 1995, then four other randomly soaked years in between, I’d promised the rest of Team Glasto that 2008 would be dry and I was right! Yay! I RULE! (aside from a lot of rain at the start..) *cough*
Despite lugging my poncho and boots from the car, it was bliss to again savour the feeling of being able to sit down at will without searching for one of the highly-prized benches. As last year was the year of Editors on every stage and sound system, the band of the festival for me was Elbow. With a huge uplifting show in front of tens of thousands of people as the sun set on the Other Stage, the crowds were left chanting “Throw those curtains wiiiiide, one day like this a year will see me riiiight” as they wandered off to other stages. After their big stage appearance, it was a pleasure to get to see them playing again in a much more intimate environment on the Queens Head stage. Playing acoustic versions of fan favourites, the dedicated few who battled through the crowds to get into the small tent before they had to introduce the one in/one out policy were rewarded to a warm set from the band. If it wasn’t for finding out that my girlfriend has a crush on Guy Garvey, I’d think they were a pretty good band.. 
Having only made it to a few stages to see actual bands, we spent most of our time in the Dance tents and Glade area. After last years fantastic DJs and bands, it was a huge shame to find that this year found us wandering from area to area, looking for ANY decent dance music. As we entered each arena, the music was either shite or just finishing the final track. Considering it’s such a huge festival, I was really surprised. Thankfully, the Igloo area in the Dance field provided some decent tunes and as soon as we found it was on until 7am, we could take to the podium and make proper gimps of ourselves. There’s nothing like a pineapple and cheese crepe at 5.30am as you walk back to your tent in the new day’s sun..
Glastonbury is one of the few things that I actually really do my best to avoid shooting as I love having those few days a year to just bimble about, chill, dance all night, have a drink, doze and just recharge without the panic of rushing back to the press area to wire. I think my luck may have run out for next year though as I’ve been told I WILL be shooting it. Booo…
Monday came around and as we made our way back across the site to our car-park, it was SO much better than recent years to be able to stop and have ice-creams rather than fight through the mud in silence. Bravo, Glastonbury 2008!
hehe, that last picture… she really did look like a broken doll.
This year was fucking ace! I was shooting this year for Greenpeace, they let me syndicate elsewhere, so I can work as hard as I want and yip…you guessed – is never that hard. It’s always a whitey having to go backstage and see the regular grumpy press faces scrambling about for celebrity backstage pics. FUCK THAT! (In big capitals) is what I say.
I really got into the Glade this year man! Squarepusher – Saturday night!
Crackin’ pics, even though you weren’t supposed to be working!
Next year I might go early to get some more before and after type shots, would love to see what it looks like on tuesday after.
Nice report, it’s a decade since I was there, always accompanied by sundry Australians and South Africans, with a few Spaniards mixed in… ahh, good times.
Will; Saturday in the Glade was the first time I’d heard Squarepusher. Interesting stuff but not quite what we were looking for. Having said that, I went and bought his latest album yesterday!
thanks for the weather leon – glasto is a different world when there’s no mud
Funny how your memories play tricks on you. Until I read this again, I was convinced last year was a mud bath but of course it wasn’t, was it?