My Glastonbury 2024: Part 4. Whoosh!

Red Arrows Over Glasto.

I have been home for a week now, and still haven’t finished my Glastonbury tale, so I’m going to combine the events of Saturday and Sunday into one story before my memories of Glasto 24 fade away into the mists of Avalon. Saturday morning at 6.00 found us back at the Greenpeace field to start the day. We followed much the same route as before but finished the shift in the Glade area which turned out to be the hardest work we had done so far because it had been packed with ravers the night before watching Faithless and other dance acts until almost dawn. It was tough, but we are a great team, got stuck in and by 11.30 it was soon looking brand new once again. My feet were beginning to ache though with all the walking, and I was glad of a sit down when we got back to base. 

Femi Kuti.

I had arranged to meet Odele, but first I made my way to the Pyramid Stage to see Femi Kuti. He is a singer-songwriter and political activist from Nigeria. I wanted to see him because in 1989 I saw his father the legendary Fela Kuti also play on the Pyramid Stage. Femi and his band played a joyous set of uplifting music. He had a great brass section and girl dancers and singers and delivered a powerful message about corrupt governments. Then I made my way to the Leftfield Stage to meet Odele. When I arrived, there was an interesting talk taking place about the Post Office scandal and other injustices in Britain today. Me and Odele were here to listen to the next talk ‘Election 24, A Change Is Gonna Come’. We wanted to hear Angela Rayner from Labour, and Caroline Lucas from the Green Party speak. However, Angela and Caroline both sent their apologies. They were both too busy with the election only days away. When they agreed to speak at Glastonbury, they didn’t realise Sunak was going to call an election on July 4^th. 

Discussion Leftfield.

We were disappointed, but still stayed for the debate. Angela’s place was taken by the Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Lynn Brabin who spoke very well. The talk was chaired by John Harris from The Guardian. He asked for a show of hands of who the audience were going to vote for, and it was about 90% Labour with a few Greens and Lib Dems. Nobody admitted to being a Conservative, but I suppose no Conservative would go to the Leftfield Stage would they? I think the consensus among the audience was that the unelected House Of Lords should be abolished and replaced with a second chamber that reflected the popular vote, so that everyone’s vote was rewarded, which doesn’t happen with the first past the post system we have now. Anyway, I don’t want to get too political.

Kellie & Donna.

After that we had some food and a chat and Odele wandered off to see something else. I didn’t want to walk much further so made my way back to the Pyramid where I thought Cindi Lauper might be good fun. Sadly, when I arrived, I found she had just finished her performance. I stayed and listened to Keane, mainly because I was too tired to go anywhere else. They are celebrating the 20^th anniversary of their Hopes & Fears album. I’m not that familiar with their music but recognised Somewhere Only We Know and Everybody's Changing. I walked back to Tom’s Field because I thought an hour’s nap might liven me up for the evening, but it was too hot in my tent and impossible to sleep. So, I sat around chatting to the gang. Russell came back saying that Russell Crowe’s Indoor Garden Party was the best act he had seen in years. Then, Whoosh ! The Red Arrows aerial display team hurtled across the sky which was spectacular. That evening, I thought I should make the supreme effort and watch Coldplay because although I’m not a fan I knew it would be visually awesome because everyone was wearing wristbands which lit up. When I arrived at the back of the field, I asked someone how long it was before Coldplay, and he said 25 minutes. I just couldn’t be bothered waiting and it was getting cold. I went back to me tent and fell fast asleep.

Pillow Queens.

Sunday morning was our last shift at work, and we tore into it with gusto. Everyone was in a good mood, and we had our areas finished by 11.00. We had to pick up hundreds of those Coldplay wristbands. Bronwen sent word that we were to help out on the Pyramid field. When we arrived, the work had already been done, So it was an early finish for us. We went back to the office where Millie handed out more meal tickets and that was work done for 2024. We had been a great team. Millie was a brilliant leader, so I hope we are all in Millie’s team again next year. I was looking forward to my first cold cider for days, but Tom’s Bar wasn’t open until 12.00, so I had to wait, never mind. After lunch I enjoyed a couple of cans while Seasick Steve and then Paloma Faith played across the fields. I love Sundays at Glastonbury, it isn’t hectic, everyone is tired, but in a good mood, relaxed, and just want to chill out for the last day. 

Will Varley

I made my way to the Acoustic Stage for a couple of hours. I wanted to see Michele Stodart from The Magic Numbers because I had met them last year. She had pulled out due to illness and had been replaced by a singer called Katya. After her was Bernard Butler who is a great guitarist who first found fame with Suede. More recently he received great critical acclaim with Irish actress and Singer Jessie Buckley, releasing the album For All Our Days That Tear the Heart. I enjoyed his set, but mainly I was just passing time because I was really looking forward to seeing someone on the Leftfield Stage at 5.30, so I set off in that direction with plenty of time to spare. When I arrived, there was an excellent Irish female rock band playing called The Pillow Queens. I’d never heard of them before, but thought they were great, and will follow their career with interest in the future. After their set I thought I ought to go to the loo before the next act came on, which was Will Varley who was the reason I was here. I had great trouble getting there though because thousands of people were heading to the Other Stage to see Avril Lavigne. Fearing a crush the security had put up a barrier to stop people from entering the field from the front and were herding them towards the back of the field. I think what had happened was that people were disappointed with Shania Twain on the Pyramid and had decided to see Avril Lavigne instead, resulting in Avril getting twice the audience they were expecting. Anyway, finally I explained that I wasn’t interested in Avril Lavigne, I was here at the Leftfield for Will Varley, and they let me through the barrier to go to the loo. Just in time I might add!

Will & Band.

I have two albums by Will and saw him at the Tree House in Frome a while ago. I think he is just as good as Ed Sheeran or George Ezra and deserves to be better known. At Glastonbury he had assembled a great little band and went down a storm with the Leftfield audience. I filmed one of his songs We Don’t Believe You which you can find below. After Will’s great set I watched some of England’s game against Slovakia with some lads who were following it on their phones. Then I made my way back to the Acoustic Stage where I met up with Peter, Helen, Paul, Gretta, and Berna. The London Community Gospel Choir were performing when I arrived. I didn’t like them all that much. I was expecting a Mahalia Jackson/ Edwin Hawkins type experience, but they mixed up the gospel songs with pop, R&B and tried to make it funky and commercial. That didn’t matter because it was the next act I had come to see Judy Collins.

Judy Collins.

Judy is a legend who I have followed since the 1960s and have several of her albums but had never seen her before. She came out of the Folk scene of Greenwich Village in the early 60s along with Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. She is 85 now, so I wasn’t expecting a great vocal performance, but was thrilled just to see her. Judy knows the limits of her voice these days, so didn’t attempt songs like Amazing Grace for instance, but she can still display a lot of emotion in her voice. Between the songs she told lots of jokes and stories about her life. It was Judy who made Leonard Cohen famous as a songwriter when she recorded songs like Suzanne which she performed at Glastonbury. It is nine days ago since I saw Judy and I should have written down a setlist but didn’t, so I can’t remember all the songs, but I recall a fabulous version of Mr Tambourine Man and a stunning emotional delivery of Send In The Clowns. It had been a privilege to be in her company.

My Favourite Stage, The Acoustic.

After Judy the Acoustic Stage field got busier and busier until it was jam packed. Some of the people were here to see The Gypsy Kings, but I suspect most of the crowd had voted with their feet and didn’t want to see SZA on the Pyramid Stage who is almost unknown in Britain, so what was she doing as a headliner? It was so crowded I couldn’t actually see the Gypsy Kings, but the music was wonderful, romantic, and danceable. Peter even invented a dance which he called ‘The Crab’ which we all joined in with. It involved moving sideways. Helen & Gretta in particular were dancing the night away. I left before the end to avoid the crowds and get some food. I had a drink in Tom’s Bar before it closed. Peter returned and we met up with Pete from our team. I sat up talking and drinking until 1.30 aided by a bottle of brandy from my tent. I slept well that night!

Mani's Picture of me.

On Monday morning tens of thousands of bleary-eyed revellers began to leave the site, but we decided to wait until Tuesday to avoid the traffic chaos. I went for one last long walk across the site ending with a leisurely cup of tea at the Tiny Tea Tent. Walking back across the campsites I was pleased to see how tidy it looked. There were huge heaps of rubbish bags left by the bins, but hardly any garbage blowing around in the wind like previous years. On Monday evening we just sat around in Tom’s Field chatting and chilling out. Unknown to me a guy called Mani was drawing my picture which he showed to me afterwards. He also did the same for Odele. On Tuesday morning I had a shower and put on the cleanest clothes I could find, used up my last meal ticket for breakfast, said cheerio to Odele who was just starting work on the post-festival clean up, gave my litter-picking stick to another worker, and we began to pack up our stuff and take down the tents. 

Peter, Paul, Helen, Me.

Carpy from the next tent played me some Van Morrison as we packed. When we had the trolleys loaded, he took our photo one last time. I travelled home with Kate and as we drove through Pilton we passed the social housing which Michael Eavis built to provide affordable housing for local people, and I thought what a great man he is. Soon we were back in Westbury and Kate dropped me on the square. Nine days had gone by in the twinkling of an eye, like Whoosh! and Glastonbury was over for another year. I don't think it was a vintage year musically, but Glastonbury is mainly about people, friendship, love & peace. 200,000 people living together in a spirit of tolerance and harmony. Let's hope it continues and the Glastonbury spirit spreads throughout the world.

Time to go home, with Kellie, Kate, & Donna.

THE END.