Glastonbury Festival 2019: Part 3, A Face From The Past.

Friday had arrived at Glastonbury and I was looking forward to a long day of music. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and even early in the morning it was already quite hot. After breakfast Odele was off to do some yoga so I walked with her as far as The Park. We stopped off at the Terence Higgins tent where they were giving away free sunscreen which was essential. After I said cheerio to Odele I had a couple of hours to kill before the music started so I thought I’d go up to the top of the Ribbon Tower. It has been a feature at Glasto for at least ten years, but I’d never been up there before. You get a fabulous view of the whole site from the top and I took a few photos.

View from top of Ribbon Tower.

After that I went for a walk along the pier which is a new feature at Glastonbury. It is built on the side of the hill so you really get the feeling that you are at the seaside. The sounds of sea gulls and waves adds to the effect. The only difference is you look out at a sea of tents and not a real sea. They have all the seaside attractions such as Punch & Judy, fortune tellers and amusement arcades. I wanted to play on the machines but didn’t have the right change on me. It was all good fun. At the entrance to the tipi field there was a café in a yurt so I sat in the shade and had a cup of tea.

Punch & Judy on the pier.

Then I wandered on towards the Stone Circle. As I approached the stones an ambulance drove by me. There was a woman unconscious on the ground, and they couldn’t wake her up. She must have been up there for the party the night before and passed out. Why it took until 10.00 in the morning to notice her I don’t know, and where were her friends? Anyway, they put her in the ambulance and drove away. I expect she was ok because I didn’t hear any stories about fatalities or bad injuries this year. You have to remember that it is a temporary city of nearly 200,000 and any city is going to have incidents over a weekend.

Incident at Stone Circle.

Finally, it was time for some music. Lankum were the first band I wanted to see. They were on the Park Stage at 11.30. They are a young folk band from Dublin who I had heard great reports about and seen on YouTube. They are Ian Lynch (uillean pipes, tin whistle, vocals), Daragh Lynch (vocals, guitar) Cormac Mac Diarmada (fiddle) and Radie Peat (harmonium, accordion, vocals). They didn’t disappoint and played a blistering set of songs and tunes. They aren’t afraid to voice their political views either. You could say they are Irish folk with a punk attitude. After that rousing set, I had my first pint of the day in the shade of one of the beer tents.

Lankum on the Park Stage.

We get these things called lanyards that you hang around your neck. It has all the info about the acts on the various stages. Sheryl Crow was on the Pyramid Stage at 2.00 which I would liked to have seen but the sun was really hot now and I didn’t fancy sitting in it. I decided to head for the bucolic shady area of the Acoustic Stage. It is nice there and if you sit at the edge there is a nice cooling breeze blowing. When I arrived, there was a singer on called Grace Petrie. She is a socialist, activist singer who isn’t afraid to say what she thinks. By the end of her gutsy performance I thought she was great. 

Julie Felix at Isle Of Wight 1969.

I met up with Peter and Helen and Helen’s mum. The next act was called Lucy Rose who I had never heard of although she has made four albums. I thought she was boring because every song sounded the same. She claimed to have technical problems and kept stopping and restarting songs and complained it was difficult to sing when the audience were talking. I suspect they were talking because they lost interest in her. I passed the time telling silly jokes to Peter & Helen.

Julie Felix at Glastonbury 1987.

The next act I was really looking forward to seeing. In the 1980’s at Glastonbury I used to do a little unofficial bookstall. It was quite successful and used to pay for my festival. I had some famous people visit my bookstall. John Martyn was one and actress Margie Clarke, but my favourite was American folk singer Julie Felix. I had a nice little chat with her back in 87 and I thought she was a really nice lady. I have several of her albums although I hadn’t seen her in the 32 years since. I was delighted to hear that she was on the Acoustic Stage this year. “I bet she does Masters Of War”, I said to Helen when Julie appeared, and she did!. She played a wonderful set. I can’t remember every song but one highlight was “Hey,That’s No Way To Say Goodbye”, which I remembered from her TV show in the 60’s. Julie was a good friend of Leonard Cohen before all the fame. You can see a video below if you scroll down. I wish I had written down a setlist, but I didn’t. Another song I remember was Tom Paxton’s Last Thing On My Mind. Julie is 82 now but still as politically active as ever, campaigning for peace, feminist issues and other left-wing causes. I think she is great.

Me & Julie Felix.

After her performance I thought I would check out Bastille on the Pyramid Stage but as I was leaving I noticed some people hanging around the merchandise area. I wondered if Julie might come out, and she did. I bought a programme from her 80^th birthday concert at the Royal Albert Hall and Julie graciously signed it and we took a photo. I tried to tell her about our previous meeting 32 years ago, but she was probably in shock after her triumphant performance and had other people to talk to as well. It was certainly a highlight for me I can tell you.

The Mavericks.

I watched some of Bastille on my way back to base camp. I had a shower and dinner then set out again for the evening. On the way back down I watched about 20 minutes of Ms Lauryn Hill who I have an album by but I couldn’t get into it. I made my way back to the Acoustic where I had a wonderful evening. The Mavericks were fantastic. They deserved to be on the main stage. After that it was Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets who were brilliant. I have seen Nick Lowe many times but this was the best performance ever. You must go and see them if you get the chance. Nick took a break and the band played some amazing guitar music. What’s So Funny About Peace Love And Understanding? And I Knew The Bride When She Used To Rock And Roll were great songs I remember and Nick came back for a solo performance of Alison which was a hit for Elvis Costello.

The great Nick Lowe.

On the way home I listened to a bit of Stormzy on the Pyramid but it’s not my cup of tea I’m afraid. I got back to Tom’s field and sat around drinking with a few people until I finally went to bed at about 2.00. Another exciting day at Glastonbury was only a few hours away and what a day it would turn out to be!

TO BE CONTINUED……………….