Glastonbury 2022

bodhrandude

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119263344#Comment_119263344

Taken down already but watched the full thing absolute class and amazing sound, they've come a long way since this from the Little Big Tent at EP in 2014.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lrzsr5Vyn4

ILikeBoats

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119263483#Comment_119263483

What did you do while your kid was in the Kidz Field messing? Are you in there with them? Or standing on the outskirts talking to other parents/having a drink?

robinph

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119266116#Comment_119266116

You'd need to remain present, but can take in a beer from the Acoustic field bar and sit on the ground and just chill. Depends how independent your kid is, but if they are happy running about on their own then once you make sure they know which bit of the field you are sitting in just leave them to roam. It's virtually impossible to keep up with them anyway with all the excitement on offer.

I'm sure that technically you're meant to supervise them at all times, but it's impossible to follow them. There are a couple of activities where they will get told to find you as they need a permission thing signing, but otherwise just leave them to it and find yourself a nice bit of grass to relax on for a bit.

Getting them back out of the field is the really tricky bit, and best to have some plan on which ice-cream van to aim for, or a story about how the only source of chips/burger/face painting is over in X direction and you have to go now before they shut. ;)

Seathrun66

'Getting them back out of the field is the really tricky bit, and best to have some plan on which ice-cream van to aim for.....'

Brilliant. Sounds like the best summer Camp possible.

WM18

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118724392#Comment_118724392

Hi there, so are campervan tickets sent to overseas goers, but you have to collect festival tickets there?

TenPicnics

This was my first Glastonbury, after 4 decades of vaguely wanting to go, and avidly reading about it here on boards and in the Guardian and seeing snippets on BBC. "For some reason" I think I share a birth year with Seathrun66, am female, and not in any sense physically sturdy or strong, and since being lucky in the October 2019 ticket lottery was a bit worried whether I could hack it...

... And I had 5 of the best days & nights of my life. Unlike the big festivals here I never felt "old", most likely due to the wide age range of the punters and seriously positive energy of the place. I know how lucky we were with the weather, but nothing prepared me for just how incredibly cool and friendly EVERYONE was, not just random strangers but all the staff, stewards and vendors as well. The beautiful vastness of the place in daylight & when it's all lit up at night is breathtaking. And of course then there's the music ...

I feel like a burden that was on me for years lifted at Glastonbury the minute I got the wristband on.

A heartfelt THANK YOU to the Glastonbury veterans on this thread whose advice on tickets and related info got me to what was/is among the best experiences of my life.

TheIrishGrover

Macca and Dave.

sporina

@TenPicnics nice one - thanks for sharing.. savour the love - and I hope it rubs off on some of the bitter lemons on here..

I think my festival days are behind me - well, mayb not.. had a ball at ATN 2019.. but we didn't camp.. stayed with mates near by.. I think my camping days are over though.. but loving watching Glasto on the telly.. we still have loads to get thru..

FAEACA

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119267411#Comment_119267411

Hey! Campervan ticket and festivals tickets sent together via international tracked post so no collection required at the festival. See Tickets were a bit awkward this year about sending them overseas but plenty on here got in touch and insisted they be sent. Thankfully, they arrived a couple of days before we set off.

Toast

I burned an hour and 40 in the collection queue even after they said they'd send it. It pushed my setup into Midday and I was knackered from the heat and wasted half of Wednesday as a result. Super annoyed (people I was with came later and got stuck even longer).

FAEACA

Right, so finally back in the land of the living!!!

What a week!!! Amazing from start to finish.

Fourth time at the festival this year (previous years being 2014, 2017 and 2019) and went via campervan and stayed in CV East 19 which was pretty much perfect. All previous festivals we had been in CV West but more than happy with East this year, even with the slightly longer re-entry queues at Gate C, however, never took us longer than 10/15 minutes any morning.

Weather was perfect, ground conditions excellent and the same pair of trainers did me the whole week which was wonderful. Everyone we met was friendly and just wanted to have a great time. Food was top class as usual and entertainment offered across the site continues to be second to none compared to any other festival I've been too.

Site felt really busy this year compared to previous years, additional tickets, people chasing the "big acts", good weather increasing people's movements, some acts being placed on stages which were too small compared to crowd demand were all factors. You expect "pinch" points across the week at certain points of the site and heavy volumes of people so no major effect caused on our week/weekend.

Tuesday:

Travelled over via ferry, collected campervan, couple of stops along route including a drink/snacks stop in Newport, stopped for dinner in a restaurant in Glastonbury and we were set up on site approx 7.30pm. Cracking neighbours in CV East which really added to the Tuesday night drinks.

Wednesday:

Few morning beverages in CV East before heading on site before lunchtime. Grabbed some grub and cold pints and explored for the day. Met some amazing people, chatted, sang, danced etc for the day and into the evening. Headed up the hill at The Park for the opening fireworks and then off into the night for some entertainment in the bars.

Thursday:

Again, some morning beverages and on site again around lunchtime. Headed to The Park for grub and got into the tent for Baggy Mondays which included a guest appearance from Peter Hooton who blasted out "All Together Now". Then across to Williams Green which was very busy but we managed to get a great spot in the tent for Michael Eavis and Band followed by Bastille. Off then to the SEC for probably the best Thursday night we've had on site. Ended up back at Williams Green in the early hours for the Guilty Pleasures Disco. Wall to wall 90s and 00s pop (and some indie aswell).

Friday:

Packed day of music, all excellent performances;

The Libertines

Blossoms

Inhaler

Supergrass

Robert Plant

Sam Fender

Foals

Finished the night in the Avalon Inn.

Saturday:

Another busy day of music and again all excellent:

Skunk Anansie

Metronomy

Glass Animals

Scouting for Girls (first 20 minutes)

Noel Gallagher

Paul McCartney (ft Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen)

Finished in a couple of bars in WG.

Sunday:

Little less music with some extra time spent in the Green Fields, merch etc;

Diana Ross

Lorde

Pet Shop Boys

Grabbed some food and back to CV.

Monday:

Left site at 5.55am, zero traffic delays, couple of stops along the route to grab the early afternoon ferry. Home on the couch catching up on BBC Monday evening.

rubick

FIELD NOTES 2022

Well folks, that was something else. We arrived at Bristol airport on Tuesday, stayed in the hotel just opposite out of necessity rather than desire thanks to EasyJet's price gouging (£808 return for 2 seats for a 50 min flight to Belfast?!) - but at least we had a clear run to the site on the Tuesday. We'd hoped we could get the taxi driver to run us to Worthy View but it soon became clear that he was all about 'short cuts' and a bit of a rocket, so we ended up at the taxi drop-off point next to Pedestrian Gate A - 10 min walk across and we're in the queue for the WV shuttle. Had a bit of a wait of an hour or so but we arrived at our tent at the earliest time ever of 11am.

WEDNESDAY

Just a bit of site reorientation today, with a good wander around the Park, Glade and up to the sign. Made it up to the Glastonbury sign for the first time in 5 visits, and had a look at the Lotus Burn installation. You're never prepared for the view above The Park. The Worthy View steps have gone, now replaced with an undulating path that cuts back and forth a few times, but it's still rightly steep.

THURSDAY

We very suddenly lost my mother last year, so I brought a Mass Card to place into the Burning Lotus. It was very emotional but lovely - I was in a bit of a state in the queue just about holding it together - when something really quite funny happened. I'm not very religious, but my mum sent me a priest - kind of. Joe Rooney AKA Father Damo from Father Ted walked by and we had a chat. That picked me up no end, what are the chances?! After that it was down to see Mixmaster Morris in Glade Dome for some ambient everything - and the festival was under way. Next up after a bite was System 7 in Glade Stage across the road - belter set of crusty techno and psychedelia. Over to West Holts for a feed then back round for Marshall Jefferson throwing out some loved up house, Alison Limerick's 'Where Love Lives' certainly got my fellow Balearic Silverbacks going. Spent a lot of time in Glade on Thursday afternoon meeting the good people and swapping war stories of festivals past. First clash of the week was a toss up between Sasha or Bristol's Giant Swan - so a trek to the Wow stage in Silver Hayes it was. Ballistic stuff from the lads and what a crowd, friendly and frantic. Just glad to be out of the house lads! I didn't want to peak too soon to after their set I made the trek back to Worthy View via Other Stage and Glade, and got a good few hours kip.

FRIDAY

A busy day from Nubiyan Twist opening West Holts until Primal Scream closing the John Peel Tent. Caught a bit of Kae Tempest on Other Stage, powerful as always but Other Stage will never have the same feel as any other stage. I can't place what it is but there's always something missing. We tried to meet up with @Seathrun66 and his group on Friday afternoon but my god the traffic in around Park Stage for Wet Leg was insane, so we headed back down to Greentea Peng at West Holts until the crowds dwindled. Got back up to Park Stage for a Confidence Man into Dry Cleaning double header, which was glorious - Dry Cleaning in seriously great form and a great reception from the crowd. From there it was over to Pyramid for a breather and Robert Plant & Allison Crauss, which was genuinely lovely. Accidentally ended up in the interstage area behind Pyramid after their set en route to John Peel Tent, not sure how but we didn't see anyone famous anyway. Time for another double header in The Jesus and Mary Chain into Primal Scream, both in great voice. JAMT had a guest vocalist in one Phoebe Bridgers for 'Just Like Honey' which went down a storm. Bobby G was in great voice as were the crowd for Primal Scream, few tracks from Screamadelica towards the end but singing 'Come Together' with 10k heads is something I'll not soon forget. Another great turnout for the Balearic Silverbacks! Once again resisted temptation to head into the Naughty Corner, because I'm mature now. And tired.

SATURDAY

We begin once again (after a duck egg omlette at Worthy View) at West Holts, with Brass Against. Some storming covers of 'Sabotage' and 'Killing In The Name Of' later and we're back in the game after a slow start. Headed over to see a bit of Skunk Anansie but we were very far right near the Glade and it's a bit hot so we head back to catch Black Midi on West Holts and finally have a catch up with Seathrunn. Round to William's Green next for WH Lung, who were unreal - hope they are booked for Stradbally - 'Inspiration' their closing track would tear the roof off Rankin's Wood or Cosby. One of the highlights of our festival. Stayed round at William's Green to hear Jane Weaver who was wonderful, then back round to West Holts for Caribou who we saw in the same timeslot and stage in 2017. Solid set but I think there were technical issues, not that anyone minded. Next up was Roisin Murphy, the undisputed best moment of Glastonbury for us. Never seen West Holts fall in love so quickly and so deeply - what a performance. One for the ages. Can't wait to watch it back. Close proximity to SEC so that's us down for the night to IICON, Shangri-la and Unfairground. Stayed up dancing to a 30 year retrospective of drum 'n bass from Uncle Dugs and Friends until 5am, returned to base via Stone Circle as the sun came up. 10/10 Glastonbury Saturday.

SUNDAY

I've no right to be feeling this good. It's 11.30am and we're at West Holts again watching Emma-Jean Thackray (who started her set with the Fast Show 'Jazz Club' sample - Nice!) Quick hop round to Pyramid for Herbie Hancock who was excellent, had a great few chats with fellow punters and decide not to stay for Diana Ross so wandered a bit round to Glade then Nubya Garcia and Snarky Puppy at West Holts. We couldn't decide on Pet Shop Boys or Bicep so we thought WILDCARD and headed back into the SEC for some ALFOS-style acid house with Dave Harvey, bit of euro-trance with Wilson Phoenix (set only rescued by the inclusion of Underworld's 'Dark and Long') then over to IICON for Giant Swan DJ set followed by our final headliner in Floorplan. Caught a little of Steffi on the same stage but conscious of an early start we call it a night. Very happy with all that.

AFTERMATH

Got off-site (opted for our usual walk from Worthy View - Pedestrian Gate A, bus at 9.30am) and in the hotel for 11am. Flight to Belfast at 7am next morning. Not to sound too much like Michael Eavis but that was the best Glastonbury ever. Roll on ATN.

robinph

I saw the lotus thing at the top of the park area, but couldn't work out what was going on. People seemed to be putting stuff down a chute?

Was watching for a good while and still no idea.

Only bit I could figure out up there on the Thursday afternoon was that every 10 minutes a big cheer would go up as another proposal happened somewhere around.

rubick

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119271134#Comment_119271134

People could put anything they want to 'burn' away into the Lotus - it was lit on Sunday night at 12am. In our case it's the red tape surrounding how my mother died - she was too young (65) and we haven't yet had any closure. Can't hurt I guess. 🙂

Stillill42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119271105#Comment_119271105

Quality review as always, Rubick. Sounds like a belter.

bodhrandude

An interesting interview with the lads from Bicep from 2017.

https://mixmag.net/feature/flex-it-bicep-are-the-powerhouse-duo-that-have-had-a-remarkable-ride-to-stardom

Dreamweapon

Nice reviews everyone. @Rubick; System 7, nice one!

Two questions: What size are the Green Fields these days? They got reduced during the 00s much to my disappointment. I wonder has that reduction continued?

Plus, what's the situation with roving chemists? Again, the 00s appeared to curb their numbers and one had to go searching for a longer than reasonable period to find refreshment! Used to be able to just sit at the stones and all your needs were immediately catered to 😉

frosty123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119263214#Comment_119263214

BS !

TheIrishGrover

They make money but not to the amounts of others and the vast majority of it goes to local and international charities. They have been offered in sponsorship deals from diagio and others and have always turned them down.

TheIrishGrover

Anyone camp near Pedestrian Gate A or that general direction? Some MASSIVE increase in audio from stages since they cut down a lot of trees. (You can see The Other Stage now from Gate A). Found it MUCH louder and harder to sleep (Music going until 5AM). Maybe I'm just getting old or I had crap earplugs.

The Nal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119272494#Comment_119272494

Yeah we were up in Lime Kiln above Gate A and could her a lot. Mainly the fire from Arcadia. I found it soothing though. I was out like a light every night though. Always am.

cena

Heard on the radio 200,000 positive COVID test from glasto

The Nal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119272673#Comment_119272673

Nah you didnt

cena

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119272684#Comment_119272684

Your right that was how many people was at it.

I took it up wrong

Seathrun66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119272446#Comment_119272446

Nope, they keep cash reserves for instances like the pandemic but the profits go to Water Aid, Greenpeace, Oxfam and 150 local charities.

They don’t accept corporate sponsorship, beer company money nor the huge media fees available if they moved from the BBC.

Glasto ain’t like other fests.

Seathrun66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119271105#Comment_119271105

Excellent review @rubick and great to keep bumping into you guys.

Condolences again for the loss of your mother and I hope the Lotus ceremony was a little help.

Re the Other Stage, it’s just basically Reading/Leeds/Oxegen/T in the Park,, no soul, poor food and many average indie bands. Always the odd great set there but there’s nothing to it.

MadYaker

Ok here goes.

I flew from Dublin early on Wednesday morning. Went into Bristol to get a few bits and then got a bus to the site and I was through the gates at around 1pm. It was a bit different this year thanks to Seetickets as I had to pick up my ticket from a booth near gate A and then join the queue for the gate. It was the same for most no UK attendees. Between this and actually getting in I queued for about 3.5 hours which was a bit annoying and it's probably the longest it's ever taken me to get in. But the weather was nice and I had beers that were still cold from Tesco in Bristol so it was manageable. Some of my friends drove from London and got there earlier so I made my way towards where they were camped in Paines ground campsite near gate D. Wouldn't recommend camping here. It's close to gate D but too far from the stages and toilets / water.

Wednesday.

The amount of scheduled music on Wednesday this year was a lot less than previous years and some people were speculating that maybe there'd be unannounced stuff happening but as far as I saw that didn't really happen so Wednesday was more a day for wandering, checking out the changes they made to the site, eating food and just chilling out etc. Hopefully next year it's back to normal though. By about 5pm my whole group had arrived so we headed up hill (along with literally everybody else at the festival) and hung out a Tricketts bar waiting for the fireworks. We saw a guy propose to his girlfriend just before the fireworks, for a few seconds it looked like it could go either way but then she did say yes. Thank god or else it was going to be very awkward.

Thursday.

On Thursday all the stages that they show on TV are still closed but a lot of areas do open up like Silver Hayes, The Glade, The Park and most of the late night areas in the south east corner but everything is finished by 3am for licensing reason I think. Despite that Thursday is often one of the best nights for me at the festival and this was no different. The main tent in The Glade was my target because Chicago house music legend Marshall Jefferson was doing a set followed immediately by Sasha. He wrote and released this belter in late 70s early 80s and is a pioneer of modern house music and he absolutely smashed it. When he played that tune at the end the place went completely nuts. You know it's good when all the crew are in the wings dancing on stage. Unfortunately for Sasha who I really like Jefferson's set was an impossible act to follow so he seemed a bit average. After I linked back up with my group and went for a wander towards the south east corner because a few of them hadn't been before and it looks great at night.

Friday.

There are aussies and kiwis in my group and on Friday there wasn't whole lot on during the day that I was bothered about so I went along with them to Crowded House on the pyramid. I don't know them at all and they didn't interest me much to be honest, thought they were dull. However Wolf Alice were on after and they always deliver. Ellie is an incredible vocalist and front woman and their repertoire has expanded so much since the last time I saw them at glasto a few years ago. The quiet songs and the loud punk esque bangers work really well together. I skipped Robert Plant and Allison Kraus and as I'm typing this I can't remember why but I've seen him twice in the last few years. I then came back from wherever I went in time for Sam Fender who had been brought in to replace Doja Cat after she dropped out (no loss imo). Sams gig felt pretty special. The BBC uploaded 17 going under to Youtube if you want to watch it. It must have been the most significant gig of their careers so far and it felt like it. That guy is a real talent and could be a potential headliner in the future. My Friday headliner was Four Tet on The Park. I ditched my friends to get to this because they were being slow and I wanted a good spot, this paid off (it always does) so I had a great spot with a great view and perfect sound. He's one of my favourite artists and this set was classic Four Tet, trippy ambient infused house bangers accompanied by stunning, colourful visuals. He played some unreleased stuff too which we'll hopefully get this year. I rounded off Friday with John Digweed in The Glade until 3am and I can't remember where I went after that. Probably south east corner.

Saturday.

I had a bit of a lie in on Saturday morning I slept until around 1pm having gone to bed at about 6 (good bless quechua blackout tents) sp when I got up I went straight to The Other stage for Metronomy followed by Glass Animals and the Olivia Rodrigo. I know Metronomy and Glass Animals but had never heard of Olivia before even some of the girls in my group were big fans. It wouldn't normally be my thing but I was impressed. Apparently she's only 19 but it was a really professional polished performance and her band are really good. She spoke for about 30 seconds about the Roe vs Wade situation in the US and then brought Lily Allen for a duet which the crowd loved. I think they will put her on the pyramid next year. Once she was finished it was time to grab some food, some night time party supplies and then over to the pyramid for McCartney. I was to fussed about this before the festival as I'm not a huge Beatles fan, just haven't listened to them much but this was probably one of the best live music experiences I've been a part of. Although I may not have listened to them much everybody know songs like Blackbird, Ob La Di and Hey Jude etc and to be in that crowd with 100,000+ people belting it out and knowing that it'll probably be one of the last times he does a full gig 2.5hr gig made it so so special. One I'll never forget for sure. There aren't many festivals where you'll see Diana Ross, Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen all in the one weekend. After that I legged it to Arcadia to try and catch some of Four Tet's set and caught about half an hour but it was super busy. Left there after 1am and back to Silver Hayes for Avalon Emerson who is one of my favourite DJs and she didn't disappoint. An eclectic set that featured lots of pretty heavy techno but also shades of jungle and house. Solomun was supposed to be playing the gas tower in south seast corner at 3am that night but he unfortunately. My mashed brain was very confused when we got there and there was a black dude in the booth, Solomun being white. But black Solomun was actually quite good so we stayed there until pretty much sun rise I think.

Sunday.

Always a slow start to Sunday after 2 days of going kind of hard and then another 2 of going really hard. We were blessed with the weather once again this year and Herbie Hancock on the pyramid in warm sunshine was actually a really nice relaxing start to the day. He's a legend and I've gotten more into jazz in the last year or two so to catch him on the pyramid was a real treat. I think Sunday morning jazz on the pyramid should be a thing every year. Then it was Diana Ross who I felt I couldn't skip and I enjoyed it. Her voice can't hack the classics anymore bit I thought she sounded a lot better on the new songs that she wrote recently. The crowd did most of the singing anyway so it didn't matter. Not the best legends slot ever but not the worst either (Kris Kristofferson I'm looking at you). Bicep were my Sunday headliner, I was tempted by Kendrick and I slightly regret not opting for him now because I'll surely have other opportunities to see Bicep but I doubt I'll ever bother actually going to a Kendrick gig. Despite that Bicep were mega. The set was slightly slower and trancier than I was expecting with a few unreleased tracks but it was still very danceable plus the their AV setup combined with the sound on West Holts made it a great gig. The crowd in particular were super friendly and up for it which was perfect because all my mates were at Kendrick. West Holts headliner makes for an easy entrance to the south east corner and quickly made my way from there to Floorplan on IICON for some detroit techno lashed out by the only father and daughter duo in the business, always wanted to catch them. Steffi was next with more but slightly heavier and faster paced techno that I was feeling quite as much so I made my way towards the gas tower in Shangri La for Partiboi69. This set was one of the most insane things I have ever witnessed. I have never seen so many people take so much drugs and go so completely wild in all my life and I've been to lots of festivals. It's hard to explain what this guy is like, what he's about and what sets he plays, they can be very different. But for the people who knew what it was and made the effort to be there it was absolutely perfect. I finished the night at Genosys with me and one other being the only survivors from our group still going at 4am. Felix Dickinson closes the Genosys stage in Block9 every year from 3am - 6am on monday morning and it's kind of become a personal glasto tradition for me to be there.

So that was pretty much my glasto 2022. As usual I made a few new friends, ate some amazing food (special mention to Taste of Tibet and gluten / lactose free Indonesian place) and had an absolutely wonderful time. There's nothing like it and each visit only strengthens my determination to be there the following year and to keep going for as long as I can. It's not in my best interest to encourage more people to try for tickets but if you enjoy festivals you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't at least try to get tickets for this festival.

robinph

Roving chemist's are basically non existent these days. I'm sure they are around somewhere but nothing like previously. Didn't even see anyone roaming the Pyramid much trying to flog cans or vodka jellys, let alone when they would openly be selling other wares through the Pyramid field and you didn't even need to go and sit down at the Stone Circle looking a bit lost.

The Nal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119274077#Comment_119274077

I had 2 vodka jellies! One before Noel G and one at the Pet Shop Boys. First in years. 4 for a tenner.

RINO87

Great write ups everyone. Thanks for putting these together