I remember vividly watching Glastonbury Festival coverage on the tv in the nineties/in my teens and being completely in awe of the performances, the crowds and the general atmosphere. At this time I was buying up cds but wasnt really a gig-goer.
One particular year is engrained on my mind and that was 1995. The head-liner was
Pulp and they were playing off the back of the success of two fine albums; Different Class and then Common People. At that time Brit-Pop was in full swing and the British music was really vibrant. Seeing Jarvis Cocker doing his thing under any circumstance is always refreshing and entertaining but in his element on the Pyramid stage, was superb, pulling his stances and dances and his witty banter and rhetoric between songs.
Some years later I was discussing with some work colleges my pleasure at watching the tv coverage again that particular year. By this time Id been chalking up around twenty gigs a year. We just decided, there and then, that we would go the following year.
I dont mind camping at all and had all the essentials; tent, wallet and an open mind. The whole experience is quite an exciting one, especially the first time. Buying the ticket is the first major hurdle and over the past few years the cultural change in festival goers has made it very accessible and friendly and, well, commercial and popular, very popular.
Once you have the ticket then you need to plan. You see all sorts of tactics being employed; from just taking a toothbrush through to hiring a camper van. I use a sack trolley for my tackle which helps massively for carting the 12-man festival tent along with the cool-boxes packed with beer and first-night bbq.
When you are there you can let your hair down. No festival is outside of the law and there is always a police presence and stewards who look out to make sure things run as you would expect. One thing that has always impressed me about Glastonbury is the diversity of attendees. Everyone has a shared goal and that is to enjoy themselves, it rarely has any impact on others and so, your concerns about drug takers and drunkards is unfounded and really not an issue, its no more in-your-face at a festival than at home.
All you have to do is enjoy yourself! Its a great experience and different for everyone. Seeing your
favourite band or even a band youve never heard of before can be an exhilarating experience. Making friends on the campsite is also fun and before the weekend is out youll probably have decided to go again the next year.
Ive been to five Glastos now; my biggest festival moment was seeing
Paul McCartney. To see a legend is really something but to hear over 100,000 people singing his songs makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
