2009-07-09

Glastonbury 2009

It was tremendously fab.

We had a horror journey there (12 hours on the coach) and so had to put the tent up in the dark when there wasn't much room left, but that was soon forgotten.

We ate Fish'n'Chips, Green Chicken Curry, Pommes de Terres d'Or, proper Sausages, bacon roll with rocket, fruit salad, Yeo Ice Cream and Yoghurt, tempura and noodles, organic jacket potatoes, never the same thing twice, and all the food was splendid. We drank beer, strawberry pear cider, lager, freshly squeezed fruits and lots of water - as it was, with the exception of Friday morning, exceptionally hot. The Calais Capes did get an hour's use as capes, and many more as groundsheets!

We watched lightning flash across the valley from the safety of our tent.

Bruce was best. Not only his pyramid stage gig on Saturday (2 1/2 hours), but we also went to see The Gaslight Anthem in the John Peel tent, and he popped in there for a spot of guest guitar playing and chorus singing. The smallish crowd went berserk, and Wen nearly fainted.

We were at the front for Lily Allen, The Specials, The Gaslight Anthem, Kasabian, Bruce and Tom Jones; and near the front for Nick Cave and Blur, and in the arena for Spinal Tap, Tony Christie, Bjorn Again, Fleet Foxes, Madness, The Script, Paolo Nutini, The Maccabees, The Ting Tings and Bloc Party.

Rolf Harris was major and had the biggest crowd that Jazz World has ever seen. We saw and danced to a groovy old band on the Bandstand called Biggles Wartime Band (we only stopped because they had a tuba player in a tiger suit) who covered Bear Necessities and finished with their own composition called "Gluesniffin". We danced some salsa in the Parlure, watched Banjo Circus (the smallest banjo orchestra with circus tricks in the world) in the Circus Outside, heard that Michael Jackson was dead from some kid with a mobile phone in The Glades, grooved to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in a Kidney Donor disco in Shangri-La, watched giant metal heads play music with firejets in Trash City, and walked miles and fucking miles.

That's how fab it was. Next year is the 40th anniversary. It'll be awesome.

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