Glastonbury 2015

Lionel Richie, wow, what the hell is going on?

total legend.

Yeah Lionel Richie...makes you feal that there is hope for the World!

Richard

If Kanye West is the greatest rock star on the planet, what does that make Lionel?

Galactic!

The Who

Now that's more like it

Your never to old to rock n roll

Yeh but he didn't say which planet.  

Good piece on Facebook by a certain Jon Honeyball WRT Mr West.

Perhaps he would reprise it here?

Googled a combination of facebook Jon Honeyball West, result, nothing.

Pity that. I was looking forward to reading the views of somebody approaching dotage, on a musical genre extremely popular with teenagers.

I watched Mr West on catchup, just to see what all the fuss is about.

The first four songs where enjoyable IMO, the lighting was superb, with plenty of audience participation, who seemed to be enjoying it. I didn’t enjoy the fifth, sixth and seventh, so switched to a different artist after that.

Not their finest hour but one hell of a way to finish a music festival.

Still plenty of time for forum members to get grumpy over Mr West.

I'm surprised one of the forums recently unveiled fashionistas hasn't commented on his costume.

Camouflage jacket without elbow pads, WHAT WAS HE THINKING.

Just been watching Patti Smith on iPlayer.... what a gig!

With an f'ing version of My Generation.

Richard

And now catching up on The Who and yes it’s my generation….makes you, or at least me, proud of being part of something…

We won’t get fooled again,

Richard

Just back from the real event - Patti Smith was my highlight though there were many more. I can see why you stay at homes aren't overwhelmed as the BBC seems to choose the most anodyne tosh to show. There were over 100 stages, only a handful of which are covered by them. There is much more on the BBC web site than on iPlayer but still a lot of the best stuff is missing - e.g. Sinkane, Zombies, Moody Blues. 

Try going next time and find out what it is really about.

Glad that you enjoyed the real event - but what is it really about these days ?  

The Moody Blues were better than I dared hope given some recent reviews of their gigs - as I said the BBC ignores many of the interesting stages; the MBs were on in the "Acoustic Tent" - one of many electric acts who were scheduled there. They would have been great on a larger stage but Glasto does give you the chance to see big acts in small venues.

As to "what is it about?", a very fair question to which the short answer is "whatever you want it to be about". You can have an extremely political festival, as Leftfield is devoted to that, or a totally surreal and hedonistic time in the "naughty corner" where anything goes. There really are over 100 stages and some of the best stuff is on at the smaller venues so you can always find something. The hardest bit is deciding what you can bear to miss!

The best thing is how friendly everyone is, for example a young lady and her mohicaned beau politely asked to share my brolly when it rained during Alabama Shakes (awesome performance!). This resulted in an invite to the anarcho punk bar they were running in Shangri La with the slogan "unf*ck the system". They did say that many people there would be in their thirties, to which I responded that I would be more reassured by that if it wasn't my 64th birthday the next day! Random stuff like that happens all the time, maybe next year I'll check that bar out!

Pev

Getting a ticket is easier said than done these days!

For those who can't be there, generally the BBC's coverage is very good - although some of the presenters (yes, Jo Whiley and Gemma Cairney, I mean you) are teeth-grindingly, spirit-sappingly awful.

Many acts aren't featured simply because there is too much going on on too many stages and only a limited amount of channels - imagine the rage if BBCs 1, 2, 3 and 4 were completely taken up with Glasto coverage! And to be fair, Auntie has a duty to also cater for those not interested in music. Additionally, many acts ask to to be filmed, or do not allow their sets to be put on the net or on iPlayer - in the past there have been examples of bands who are playing Glasto in the middle of a tour and not not want setlists revealed, or who are afraid appearing on TV may act as a disincentive to fans buying tickets. Others demand huge amounts of money, or there may be rights/IP/licensing issues with record companies.

I seem to recall that only a few years ago, a certain Mr N. Young allowed the Beeb to show just two songs from his headline set.

All that said, on iPlayer Glastonbury is not very well organised, with certain sets not appearing where you would expect them to be.

Pev,

For me as a home TV viewer the best acts to me were:

- Patti Smith

- Steel Pulse

- The Who

and suprisngly two artisits that I have non of their music at home:

- Paloma Faith

- Lionel Richie (he really did it and the crowd loved it)

Disapointed with two acts I have seen a few time and really rate:

- Paul Weller

- Motorhead

And the worst for me was:

- The Libertines (just shambolic)

- Kanye West (not my scene)

Maybe I will get a ticket for next year but it is no longer like the early festivals with no facilities but with the likes of Beefheart, Hawkwind, Edgar Brougton etc. etc.

Richard

Thought  is just me but paul weller set seemed to be lacking a bit of fire,maybe his band are lacking, time to reform the jam now that could be good, asmost of the highlights  of the set we're jam songs.

For me as a TV viewer, the best acts I have seen thus far were: Patti Smith, Goat, George Clinton, Chemical Bros and The 'Orriible 'Oo.

I didn't think I'd enjoy Lionel Richie's cheesy soul-pop, but my word, that man is a pro, and he was genuinely choked by the reception he got. Perhaps the star of the weekend?

By far the worst was Kanye West (although I managed just 10 minutes, it was more than enough), but I suspect everyone knows that already.

I just looked on BBC iPlayer and have to admit not knowing about 99% of the selection. YouTube wasn't much better.

There is a highlight programme on Friday , we'll see if that is any good.

Unfortunately  the moody blues we're on the acoustic  stage and i don't  think  the beeb covered  that stage but i could be wrong, bit of a waste  not to have them on the pyramid stage.

Pev

Getting a ticket is easier said than done these days!

Very true - that's why I volunteer as an Oxfam steward. If you do 2 festivals this year you get priority for next year so Glasto is guaranteed. Google Oxfam stewarding for details, they still have vacancies for other festivals. Apart from getting your money back if you do your shifts, Glastonbury Festival makes a donation of £500k+ to Oxfam for the work we do; stewarding festivals is one of their biggest sources of income.