Chapter 19. 2003, Wonderful World, Beautiful People.
From the organisers point of view the 2003 festival was
probably the most successful so far. The gate-crashers were kept out, crime had
dropped dramatically, the weather was nice, and they managed to give over
£1,000,000 to charity. We really enjoyed it as well. We were back in Pennard
Hill Ground and had a big gang in our encampment. This was the last time we had a large
gathering. Margaret & Wayne had an inflatable globe hanging in their gazebo
to show we represented one world as opposed to all the national flags all over
the site. Katherine had a group with her from Ireland & Bournemouth & my
other niece Lee was there with some friends. Lee was looking forward to seeing
the Electric Six singing Gay Bar which was a big hit at the time. It was the
last time I can remember Dave from Nottingham going to Glasto. My brother Paul
brought along this girl called Liz. It was so hot I had a bandana on my head to
keep the sun off. Liz said I looked ‘slightly pirate’ so that stuck for the
rest of the festival.
One memory of that year is that one night this man who was
camped near us went bonkers. He must have had too much acid and couldn’t handle
it. He was ranting and raving about there being dragons in the woods. Security
were called, and the medical services and they roped off the area around him
and eventually took him away. That shows how organised everything had become.
In the old days at festivals it would have been down to his mates to talk him
down off a bad trip. He came back the next morning as right as rain but looking
a bit sheepish. We all thought it was hilarious. The thing is that he was right
all along. He must have gone for a walk out of his head and stumbled across the
stone dragon in the stream near Kings Meadow and thought it was real.
2003 was the last year that I had my little bookstall which
I had done most years since 87. It was getting to be too much hassle
transporting the books and carrying them in. Also, the festival goers had
changed a lot since the 80’s. There wasn’t really the same demand for my hippy
type books anymore. The other thing was now that the gate crashers and thieves
had been sorted out the security had time to close down any unofficial traders,
so I was constantly on the lookout for security. It wasn’t as much fun anymore.
Never mind, all things must pass as George Harrison once said.
Musically I don’t think it was a vintage year, but it did
have its moments. On the Friday evening there was an amazing set by David Gray
just as the sun was beginning to set over Avalon. He sang Please Forgive Me, Sail
Away, Babylon, This Year’s Love and his own version of Whiskey In The Jar. Lots
of others as well that I can’t remember now.
On the Saturday afternoon I was
right at the front of the stage with my sister Margaret to witness a splendid
performance by legendary reggae artist Jimmy Cliff. It was just perfect for the
sunshine. Classic songs by Jimmy included Many Rivers To Cross, You
Can Get It If You Really Want It, Wild World and Wonderful World Beautiful
People. I wish I could remember more of his set because I think Jimmy Cliff
2003 is one of my top five performances that I have witnessed at Glastonbury.
The Sunday night ended for us at the Jazz World stage with another great
performance by members of the Buena Vista Social Club. I think they must have
had an average age of about 80 but this was the perfect romantic Cuban music
for a warm summers evening. We did have one mishap during their set though. Kim
didn’t like drinking wine out of cardboard cups so for years she had brought
along a pair of pewter goblets. One person said we were stylists for using
them. That evening I managed to lose one of them. Somewhere out there somebody
has a nice goblet which they found at Glastonbury.
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