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| Black Dyke Band. |
It is Sunday afternoon now. I am writing about the events of only seven days ago, but already it seems like longer ago than that. Like a half-remembered incredible dream. I’m glad I kept making notes in my wee notepad to jog my memory of what I did. As I made my way towards the Pyramid Stage on Sunday morning, I could hear a brass band playing across the fields. It has been a tradition at Glastonbury to begin Sundays with a brass band. This was the Black Dyke Mills Band who are Britain’s premier brass band, founded in the mill towns of West Yorkshire in the 19th century. They are top quality, playing several classical pieces, film scores by John Williams and even their version of Hey Jude. The reason for this was that they have a connection to Paul McCartney because on The Beatles Yellow Submarine where they sing ‘And the band begins to play’ that is the Black Dyke band. Also, Paul McCartney produced a single by them in 1968 called Thingumybob which was the 4th single released on the Apple label. It must be quite a collectors item I would imagine.
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| Dakhabrakha |
They were very enjoyable, but I had come to see the next band on stage who were called Dakhabrakha from The Ukraine. While I was waiting for them to appear I got talking to this nice lady from Bristol’s Bangladeshi community. It was her first Glastonbury and she told me that she had come along because her cousin called Mya-Rose Craig (Aka Birdgirl) was speaking on the Park Stage at 3.00. I said I’d try and go along, but I didn’t in the end. I have looked her up since, and she is a top ornithologist, environmentalist, and equal rights campaigner. She has appeared on lots of TV programmes such as Springwatch with Chris Packham who was also at Glasto this year, but I didn’t see him either. You meet some very interesting people at Glastonbury. The performance by Dakhabrakha was very moving, especially because of the war in their country. There were lots of Ukrainian flags being waved in the audience. The band were three women who wore national costumes with tall hats and there was a man who sang and introduced the songs. On the backdrop it said NO WAR, STOP PUTIN. I liked that because it didn’t say STOP RUSSIA. I don’t blame the Russian people for this tragic mess, they probably just want to get on with their lives, like most people. It is the mad megalomaniacs like Putin who have created this war. Nobody should have that much power. Putin isn’t the only one either. There are similar types in other countries as well.
I don’t want this to turn into a political rant, so I won’t say anymore about that. I must say though that Glastonbury with all its diversity is a shining example to the rest of the world where 230,000 people can all live together peacefully with no prejudices for days on end, no violence, no deaths and not a gun to be seen anywhere. Apart from the political aspects of Dakhabrakha’s show I enjoyed the music. They had a guest singer for one song called Jamala. The drum rhythms were very infectious, and they also impersonated birdsong into the music. I used to have an album of Bulgarian music and some of the singing reminded me of that.
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| Errol Linton. |
I needed a sit down after that. My feet were aching from all the walking of the previous six days, so in the market area I stopped at the pharmacy and bought some ibuprofen to ease the pain. When I reached the bucolic surroundings of the Acoustic Stage field I sat at a table and took my shoes and socks off. I found that my feet were blistered. I knew that I shouldn’t do much more walking this afternoon because I had work at 6.00. It felt great to wiggle my toes in the long cool grass under the table. There was a singer on called Chloe Foy, she sounded pleasant, but I didn’t pay much attention. The next act really grabbed my attention, so I went inside to listen. His name is Errol Linton, somebody else who was previously unknown to me. Errol has been playing the blues around London for the last 30 years and is only now getting the recognition he deserves after being championed by the likes of Cerys Matthews. I think his parents came to London from Jamaica in the late 1950s and Errol grew up in Brixton. As well as being a great singer he also plays mean harmonica. Richard Green on Guitar is quite a character as well. I think it might be the best British blues music I have heard in years.
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| Damo. |
I had been hoping to see P.P. Arnold and Kate Rusby on the Avalon Stage but it is impossible to see everything you want. I decided to stay and watch Damien Dempsey. There was a large Irish contingent in the audience for this singer from Dublin, some wearing or waving Irish flags. If you didn’t know otherwise, you would think you were in Ireland. To his fans he is known as ‘Damo’. Before he came on, they were all chanting “Damo, Damo”. I haven’t heard such chanting of someone’s name since Jeremy Corbyn was at Glastonbury in 2017. I wanted to see him because I like two of his songs called Colony and Party On. He played a great set of about 40 minutes which the crowd loved and included Party On, so I was well pleased.
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| Diana Ross. |
The legendary Terry Reid who appeared at Glastonbury in 1971 was due on next, but I thought I better be heading back to base to get ready for work. On the way back I listened to some of Diana Ross’s set from the back of the field. She sang several Supremes songs including Baby Love, Stop! In the Name of Love, and You Can't Hurry Love. I would love to have seen The Supremes in their heyday, but I have never been a huge Diana Ross fan. She didn’t seem to capture the audience’s heart like Dolly Parton did when Dolly played this legends spot a few years ago. There has been a tradition for a few years now that during the legends act the security people in front of the stage do a kind of flash mob type dance routine during one song. Nobody has objected before, but I heard later that the diva Diana Ross didn’t want them to do it, probably because it would detract from her. Eventually she was persuaded to relent. Anyway, I only listened to about twenty minutes, but I could still hear her warbling in the distance when I was back in Tom’s Field.
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| The Park. |
My team still had four hours work to do. When we met up at the office, we were told to make our way to The Park and meet by the Ribbon Tower. Jack White of the White Stripes fame was playing a surprise gig on the Park Stage, so it took us ages to get there. Almost an hour had passed before we even started work. It was mainly levelling off bins that had overflowed and bimbling around the edges of the vast crowd. Just because we were working didn’t mean we couldn’t listen. I don’t know much about Jack White, but he sounded great, especially Seven Nation Army and Ball And Biscuit which I have watched since on youtube. When Jack finished and the crowd dispersed, we bimbled in and picked up as many cans and pint cups as we could before another crowd arrived for Jarvis Cocker. He also sounded great to me and you can find his performance as well on youtube if you want. I especially enjoyed House Music All Night Long. The time raced by and we were finished work for this year. We were given our meal tickets and said cheerio to our leader. Courtney Barnett was the last act at the Park Stage, but I decided to catch Suzanne Vega for my last act of 2022. Kendrick Lamar was on the Pyramid, but his name means nothing to me.
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| Jack White |
I was getting bored with cider, so a large gin and tonic was my first drink of the day. I had missed the start of Suzanne’s show, but I remember she sang a great version of Lou Reed’s Walk On The Wild Side, Tom’s Diner and a song called I Never Wear White. I had taken so many photos this festival I knew my camera was running low, but I used the last bit of memory to film my favourite Suzanne Vega song called Luka. I put it on youtube and I was quite pleased with the result. Afterwards in the Acoustic crew bar there was a party going on. There was to be four bands on, and I expect people were partying until dawn, trying to squeeze the last drop of fun out of the festival. I watched one group who played a lot of Johnny Cash numbers and people were dancing. I tried to join in the merriment, but my feet were killing me. I sat down and watched and eventually made my way back to my tent, tired, but happy.
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| Suzanne Vega |
Next morning after breakfast I said cheerio to Odele who was leaving early because she had work the next day. I was in no hurry because I knew the traffic leaving the site would be horrendous. Eventually about 12.00 I packed my rucksack and took down my tiny tent which had done such a great job all week. All that remained to show I had been there was a small square of flattened faded grass which will soon recover. I couldn’t believe that a whole week had gone by in the twinkling of an eye. Then I bought a packed lunch with my last meal ticket and chilled out with Bob, Paula, Stella, and a few other people until Kate and Donna were ready to go. They had all their stuff piled high on two trolleys. I thought the wheels would collapse, but they didn’t, and we got to the car park with relative ease. We had to be a little bit patient with the traffic, but it wasn’t too bad by the time we got on the road. Finally, Donna dropped me off on the square in Westbury and my Glastonbury adventure was over for another year. Thank you very much Michael & Emily Eavis for organising such an amazing event which is one of the most wonderful things in this country. The music is great, but it is the people who make Glastonbury. See you all next year. THE END
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