My Glastonbury Adventure 2025: Part 6, 'Glasto Sunday & Manic Monday'

Odele & Me behind the Pyramid.

It is Sunday now and I am writing about the events of only seven days ago, but it is already beginning to seem like a distant memory, so I’m glad I took Jack Kerouac’s advice and always carry a notebook to remind me of what happened. I had a lie-in on Sunday morning after my epic 20-hour Saturday and didn’t emerge until about 10.00. Because of work Heidi and Julie were going home straight after our last shift tonight from 10pm to 2.00 to avoid the traffic chaos on Monday morning. Kate and Kellie decided to do the same thing. I didn’t blame them because we knew Sunday and Monday would remain scorching hot. So, they were all busy on Sunday taking down tents and ferrying their stuff to the car park in order to make a sharp exit after work. Russell kindly said he would give me a lift home on Monday afternoon. 

A shady corner.

In past years I have wandered down to the front of the Pyramid Stage on Sunday for the early acts because it is easy to get to the front before the crowds get too big. I was spotted on the telly a few years ago watching Mavis Staples, and my eagle-eyed niece Lee spotted me another year watching Vieux Farka Toure. This year though when I could hear The Selector playing at 11.15, I wasn’t all that bothered about walking down to see them. I chilled out back at camp until after lunch. Because I had work that night, I didn’t have a single alcoholic drink all day and felt better for it because mixing hot sun and alcohol makes you ill. Eventually, I took a slow walk down Muddy Lane which should be re-named Shady Lane, back to my beloved Acoustic Stage.

Michele Stodart.

When I arrived, I was disappointed to find that I had just missed The Henry Girls from Donegal who I had been looking forward to seeing. However, the next act Michele Stodart made up for that. She and her band were brilliant. Not only has Michele made several solo albums, but she is also a member of The Magic Numbers who I saw at Glastonbury two years ago after my niece Katherine told me not to miss them. I also had the pleasure of meeting her and her brother Romeo backstage after the gig. They are lovely people. Don’t ask what songs she sang because I don’t know, but she was great. I was also very impressed with the next act The Riptide Movement. 

The Riptide Movement

The programme said they are ‘Genre-blurring Dubliners playing a blend of indie, folk, rock and blues’. They only played a 40-minute set but certainly made the most of it. I filmed one song The Old Stomping Ground which you can see below. I think they are the best new Irish band I have heard in quite a while and look forward to hearing more from them in the future. The next act is a soul legend P.P. Arnold. I loved her singles in the late 1960s such as The First Cut Is The Deepest and Angel Of The Morning. A few years ago, I bought her ‘lost’ album The Turning Tide recorded in 1969-71 but not released because her Immediate record label went bankrupt. It was finally released in 2017 to critical acclaim. Van Morrison fans might like to know it contains an excellent version of Brand New Day. 

P.P. Arnold

P.P. Arnold began her career in The Ikettes who were Ike & Tina Turner’s backing group. You can see the influence of Tina with the hairstyle and the moves. P.P had an excellent funky band with her, and played a wonderful set of soulful classics and even had time for tribute songs to Sly Stone and Brian Wilson. I say brilliant too often, but she certainly was. Because of watching P.P. Arnold right to the end, Rod Stewart was well into his ‘Legend’ performance when I arrived. The last time I saw Rod on stage with Ronnie Wood  was 1972 when Rod Stewart & The Faces were at their peak. Rod made some fabulous albums back in the day such as Every Picture Tells A Story and Gasoline Alley, but I don’t think he wears it well these days because his voice isn’t what it was. 

Rod & Ronnie.

When I arrived, he was singing probably my least favourite Rod song Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?. Then he left the stage to change his shirt leaving the backing singers to sing Lady Marmalade. I quite enjoyed the Crazy Horse song I Don’t Want To Talk About It because it was quite emotional when the crowd joined in. This was followed by If You Don’t Know Me By Now featuring Mick Hucknell. I know Rod has had some health issues recently and had postponed some dates which made me think he was winging it by getting others to do some of the singing. I heard later that Lulu joined him to sing another song, but I had left by then. I would have loved to have seen Rhiannon Giddens at 6.30 but couldn’t face another walk in the heat. I wasn’t interested in Nile Rodgers or Noah Kahan either, so just rested before meeting the gang at 9.30 for work.

I forgot to tell you something. The backstage area which the Pyramid Stage and The Other Stage both back onto is called The Interstage. On Saturday when I was litter-picking the hospitality area. This lady came up to me and introduced herself. I can’t remember her name now, but she was the Interstage manager. She said, “I’ve been watching you”. “Oh no,” I thought, what have I done wrong?”. “You have even been picking up the really small stuff, well done, I must say all you recyclers have done a wonderful job”. So that was a feather in our cap!, what a nice lady. Anyway, we all got to the backstage entrance with time to spare on Sunday evening, so watched the first 15 minutes of Olivia Rodrigo’s performance. I didn’t know anything about her, but she looked and sounded sensational. I heard great reports of her show later, and she brought on Robert Smith of The Cure for a couple of duets. 

Olivia Rodrigo.

Work was relatively easy backstage because most people were out front watching Olivia. However, when a firework display heralded the end of her show, I knew it would get busy. Sure enough, minutes later the bars were packed with late night revellers. It did calm down again later, and we had the place spotless again by the end of the four hours. I just had one minor incident when I accidentally threw away somebody’s drink. He shouldn’t have left it unattended on a table full of empties. Luckily the bar staff gave him a free pint, so he was happy. 

The real Jo Whiley, & Robert & Olivia.

After work we said a fond farewell to Heidi, Julie, Kate and Kellie who were homeward bound. Odele headed to the Stone Circle to listen to drumming and watch the sun come up. I headed for my tent where I had a half  bottle of brandy. Tom’s Bar had been closed for two hours, but I sat outside drinking brandy and orange squash and had a great chat with these two guys. One was called Sean, and I can’t remember the other one’s name, but he was a Brian Wilson fan. We were trying to decide who were the greatest singers and albums of all time. I finally crawled into my sleeping bag just before sunrise. 

On Monday morning there was no point rushing because there would be traffic chaos with about 100,000 people trying to leave. Mid-morning I slowly packed my rucksack and left it inside my tent, then went looking for some shade. I chatted with Paula, Bob & Stella and bumped into Jed who I have known for a few years now. He loves Monday’s at Glasto because he goes ‘tatting’. Lots of people do it. It means going around the campsites looking to see what people have left, such as booze. People can’t drink it because they are driving, they don’t want to carry it because it’s heavy, so they leave it for others to enjoy. As with last year, Jed had found a posh campsite where lots of exotic drinks had been left and gave me a big bag of them. I took what I could squeeze into my rucksack, Donna took a couple, and I left the rest at my mate Carpy’s tent. 

Paula, Bob, Stella & friends.

After one last enjoyable lunch I took down my tent and at 3.00 me and Russell who had already made one trip to the carpark loaded up his trolley with my stuff and the rest of his belongings. We said goodbye to Donna and started the long journey to the car. Russell pulled the trolley, and I pushed and tried to hold it all together. I must say that walk in the blazing heat was tortuous, we had overloaded it, and stuff kept falling off. Finally, about halfway we took half of it off and I waited with it while Russell carried on. I sat by the fence to await his return. This lady stopped and asked if I was ok and gave me a bottle of water. Russell soon returned and we got to the car with no more problems. I was surprised how easy it was to get out on the road, and 40 minutes later Russell was helping me carry my stuff to the front door of my house, Thanks mate!. Glastonbury was over for another year. I don’t think I saw as much music as I used to years ago, but Glastonbury isn’t just about music, primarily it is about friendship and people, and I have certainly made a lot of wonderful friends at Glasto. I won’t name them all because I’ll forget someone, but it's the fun and friendship I'll remember.  Lots of my friends live quite locally to me. There isn’t another festival until 2027, so I hope we don’t wait two years before meeting up again.

Happy Daze, Hope we meet again soon. x

THE END