My Glastonbury 2023: Part 5, Morning Has Broken.

Roll call with Millie.

Morning had broken at Glastonbury. It was Sunday, the last day of the festival. The sun was shining, and another great day of music lay ahead, but first we had to complete our last shift of litter-picking. The birds were singing in the trees, and everyone in our gang was in a good mood as we marched down Muddy Lane to meet Millie at 6.00. We had a lot of fun on the last shift as we tore into the work. Me, Peter, Helen, Paul, Gretta & Berna formed a group that we called The Poo Fighters and made up a song about Millie based on Molly Malone. During a break another team member Pete (Thanks Pete) filmed us singing it into Millie’s walkie-talkie so they could hear it back at the office. You can see it below if you want. It seemed very funny at the time. 

Top of the Park.

We finished work as usual at the top of the Park. This time we actually cleaned up the backstage area at the Park Stage and even on the stage where some members such as Peter pretended to be playing on the Park Stage which was also very funny. We were all done by 11.30. Millie gave us more meal tickets and our work was over for another year. What a great team we had been. I hope we all meet up in Millie’s crew again next year. After a rest in a shady café in the Park we strolled slowly back to base for lunch.

The Chicks.

I was pleased with myself for not drinking any alcohol for three days, but now the work was over I enjoyed a couple of cold cans of cider in Tom’s Bar before it was time to hear some music. At 1.30 I made my way to the Pyramid Stage to see The Chicks. I didn’t know a lot about them until recently when their Glasto appearance was announced, and I started watching them on youtube. Also, Iris Dement mentioned them on her recent album which aroused my interest. I had a feeling that they would be one of the hits of Glastonbury, and I was right. They were great. They haven’t been all that well known in Britain but have sold millions of albums in America. 

More Chicks.

In case you don’t know about The Chicks they used to be called The Dixie Chicks, but dropped the Dixie part because it had bad connotations to slavery and things like that. They come from Texas, and since 1995 they are Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and Emily Strayer (vocals, guitar, banjo, Dobro). I would say they are essentially a Country and Bluegrass band leaning towards rock and pop. They have been quite controversial in the past and suffered a lot of abuse when they criticised American foreign policy in Iraq. I admire them for sticking to what they believe. This was their setlist at Glastonbury Sin Wagon, Gaslighter, Ready to Run, Landslide, Wide Open Spaces, Cowboy Take Me Away, Tights on My Boat, White Trash Wedding, Long Time Gone/Daddy Lessons, Rainbowland, March March, Not Ready to Make Nice & Goodbye Earl. It was a wonderful show which I’m sure brought them many new fans.

Yusuf Cat Stevens.

After The Chicks show ended, I moved nearer to the front and found a nice shady spot next to the mixing desk towards the right side of the stage. I sat on the ground with my back to the barrier and got chatting to this man who had actually cycled to Glastonbury from Bradford On Avon which had taken him two hours. It passed the time having a chat while waiting patiently for the next act to appear. Someone who I had been a fan of for over 50 years but had never seen live before. It was Yusuf / Cat Stevens. I stood up when he appeared to a huge welcome from the vast crowd. He himself seemed visibly moved and emotional with the welcome he got.

My view of Cat.

He had a first-rate band of musicians and backing singers with him as well. I expect most of you watched his performance on the TV, but in case you didn’t this was the setlist, The Wind, Moonshadow, I Love My Dog / Here Comes My Baby, The First Cut Is the Deepest, Matthew & Son, Where Do the Children Play?, Oh Very Young, Hard Headed Woman, Sitting, Tea for the Tillerman, Remember the Days of the Old Schoolyard, If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out, Morning Has Broken, Take the World Apart, Here Comes the Sun, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, Highness, Peace Train, Pagan Run, Wild World, & Father and Son. I was pleased to see that he can still sing as well as ever, unlike some other singers from a similar era. Nearly every song was a highlight for me, but I particularly liked the songs from Tea For The Tillerman and Teaser & The Firecat which took me right back to my college days in the early 1970s when I first discovered his great music. 

More Yusuf / Cat.

Also, I thought it was very meaningful when he sang Nina Simone’s Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood because no musician has been more misunderstood than Cat Stevens. Another magical moment was when he paid a warm tribute to George Harrison and sang Here Comes The Sun. There had been cloud cover for about half an hour, but just as he started singing that song the sun burst through again. I think his performance will live long in the memory as one of the all-time great Glastonbury shows, and I’m grateful that I was there to witness it.

Blondie were due on stage next, but I gave that a miss. I saw them at Glastonbury about 20 years ago and although they were a great band in their day, I didn’t want to see them again. I wasn’t all that bothered what I saw in the evening because I thought nothing would top Cat Stevens performance. After dinner that evening I thought I would wander down to the Leftfield Stage. This is a stage for left-wing causes curated by Billy Bragg which hosts talks and political discussions and music by left leaning musicians. I have heard some great speeches on this stage in the past by the likes of Tony Benn and Jeremy Corbyn. I wanted to see a singer-songwriter called Will Varley because I saw him a few months ago and have two of his albums. He is also a friend of my brother’s family in Deal, Kent. He wasn’t due on stage until 7.30, so I listened to a bit of Barrington Levy on the West Holts stage.

Leftfield Stage.

All I know about him is that he is a reggae singer from Jamaica. I haven’t a clue what he was singing about. It sounded ok, but I moved on to the Leftfield. When I arrived, there was a band called The Lottery Winners setting up their equipment. I thought I had the time wrong and asked when Will Varley was on. I was told he had problems with his voice and had pulled out. I was disappointed but have found out since that Will’s doctors have found polyps in his throat and he has had to cancel all his summer shows until after surgery, so best wishes to Will for a full recovery.

Theatre/ Cabaret Field.

I didn’t know what to do now, so wandered back through the theatre & cabaret field to The Acoustic where I met up with the gang again who had just seen the Bootleg Beatles. I ordered a large chardonnay because I was tired of cider and watched Gilbert O’Sullivan. He was surprisingly good and sang all of his well-known hits from the 1970’s. There was a time when he was just as famous as Elton John. I wonder what he thought about playing to about 300 people now while Elton was playing to about 150,000. Me, Berna, and her friend Orla were dancing to Get Down and every time Gilbert sang ‘Get Down’ we got right down to the ground. It was hilarious at the time, but I could feel it in my back the next day. 

Gilbert.

After that the others headed off to see Elton John, but I wanted to see a bit of Rickie Lee Jones performance because I had seen her before in 2019 and she was great. I said I’d meet the others by an ice-cream van near the back, but that proved impossible. Like Paul Carrack the previous night Rickie played to a tiny audience, but she thanked everyone for coming to see her and not Elton’s ‘supposedly’ last ever performance. I stayed for a few excellent jazz-based songs, September Song, One For My Baby (And One More For The Road), The Second Time Around, There Will Never Be Another You, and Show Biz Kids.

Rickie Lee Jones.

Just before Rickie came on stage you could clearly hear Elton John belting out Pinball Wizard from the Pyramid Stage several hundred yards away. She shouldn’t have to compete with that. Anyway, after a few songs I thought I ought to go and watch the Rocket Man because although I have never been a great fan of his, everyone knows his songs and it would be the only time in my life that I would see him. I watched for a while, but left before the end because I didn’t want to get caught in the rush. I ordered a large glass of wine in Tom’s Bar and listened to the rest of the show from outside the marquee in Tom’s field. Eventually everyone returned after Elton’s show, and we sat about, talking until the bar closed because it had run out of beer.

Aerial view.

Next morning 200,000 bleary eyed revellers were leaving the site, but we had decided to stay on until Tuesday to avoid the queues and the traffic chaos. There was a nice chilled out atmosphere around the site on Monday, but another scorching hot day. I had run out of clean clothes, so rinsed out a t-shirt at the taps and put it on while still wet. That was really refreshing and it soon dried in the heat. On Monday afternoon I went for one last lazy walk around the whole site ending at the Peace Garden where a few people were sitting quietly enjoying the view. There was a large round wooden table there with benches where I noticed this lady sitting and writing in a journal. “That’s a good idea”, I thought to myself, and joined her at the table. I sat there for a while writing notes about everything I could remember about the past amazing week. Eventually we got talking and I found out that she was American but had recently moved to the Cotswolds and had been working at the festival. I told her about my blog page because she was writing about her experience as well. It was nice talking to her and we exchanged email addresses, so I hope you have enjoyed reading this Lynn.

Me, all ready to go home.

On Tuesday morning I had a shower, put on the cleanest clothes I could find, had breakfast and then packed my rucksack and took down my tent which had done such a great job. Kate took a photo of me on the faded square of grass where my tent had been. Donna fetched the van onto our campsite, and we were ready to go. It always feels like a tent peg through the heart leaving Worthy Farm and returning to the forlorn rags of ordinary life, but we will be back. I have been home for six days now, and already the memories are beginning to fade like the mists of Avalon, so I am glad I wrote it all down. Back at the farm the big clean-up goes on. They go over all the fields with a fine toothcomb and even drag powerful magnets across the ground which can detect lost tent pegs. The fence will come down and peace will return to Worthy Farm for another year. Before long the cows will be released from the Pilton Mootel and will be chewing their way happily across the lush pasture, and you wouldn’t even know we were ever there. Thank you very much to Michael & Emily Eavis for a wonderful time. See you next year.

THE END.

My Glastonbury 2023: Part 4, Minor Mishaps & Chance Encounters.

Before & After.

It was Saturday at Glastonbury, the busiest day of all. I was wide awake by 4.30 and even had time for a shower before work today. We litter-picker volunteers are the unsung heroes of Glastonbury. While 200,000 people were fast asleep in their tents we were already up and about, ready to tidy up the site for another day. When we met up again at the Greenpeace tree I realised I had two minor mishaps. 

Greenpeace Tree.

Firstly, my litter-picking stick was broken, so I had to dump it. I managed ok without it, but my back was a bit creaky for the last two days. Secondly, I had forgotten to put my water bottle in my backpack. It was already hot, even at this early hour and Saturday would be a real scorcher, the hottest day of all. I managed alright though. Every time I saw a tap I stuck my head under it and had a good drink. Also, I forgot to put some sun cream on my arms which was a silly mistake. More about that later. The work went smoothly, and we had our areas spotless again by 10.30. We joined up with two other teams to help out at the area in front of the Pyramid Stage which is always the messiest area of all. I even had time for a little chat with Odele who just happened to be walking by and spotted us. We had it all nice and tidy and ready for Rick Astley by 11.15 and work was done for the day.

The Unthanks

I didn’t go back to base immediately because one of my favourite groups was opening on the Other Stage at 11.45. This is the second biggest stage. In the old days it was called the NME Stage, but over the years has become simply known as the Other Stage, although in fact there are dozens of stages. Anyway, the group I wanted to see were The Unthanks and if you have read my blog page before you will know that I am a huge fan of theirs. They are fronted by Rachel & Becky Unthank and combine Northumbrian folk music with elements of classical and psychedelic music, and even a bit of clog dancing!. They are unique. 

Unthanks.

I didn’t even know they were on at Glasto until a few days before the festival, but I’m very glad they were added to the line-up. They played a short but sweet set of songs including The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry, A Whistling Woman, The Sandgate Dandling Song, The Royal Blackbird, Magpie, Mount the Air, & Sorrows Away (Love Is Kind). My favourite was Magpie which you may know from the TV series The Detectorists. I found some footage of The Unthanks performance and shared it below if you want to see it.

Crowded Acoustic Stage.

After that wonderful start to the day’s music, I wandered back to Tom’s Field for lunch. Then hurried to my beloved Acoustic Stage to catch The Magic Numbers. I especially wanted to see them and take some photos because my niece Katherine met the Magic Numbers in a hotel in Cork, Ireland and told me what nice people they were, and to make sure I saw them. When I arrived there, I was amazed because the Acoustic Stage field was rammed with people. It was impossible to get inside the huge marquee. I knew they were popular, but not this popular. The reason for the overcrowding was because people were seeking out any place that afforded some shade from the hot sun which was beating down. I felt quite disappointed. I could hear the band, but not see them. I listened from a shady café opposite called The Cake Hole. More about the Magic Numbers in a minute.

Richard Thompson.

The next act on was Sharon Shannon who is wonderful and always kicks up a storm at Glastonbury with her lively Irish dance music. I did actually manage to find a shady spot just inside the tent where I met Helen and Scilla. I had a problem though. When I arrived on site six days earlier, they had put my wrist band on too tightly. Because I had stupidly not put sun cream on my arms they had swelled up with sunburn. The wristband was cutting off the circulation to my hand and was getting very painful. I was worried that if I just cut the wristband off, I might not be allowed back into Tom’s Field by security. I had to march all the way back to Tom’s Field office and explain the situation. They cut off the tight wrist band and gave me a new looser one. It was a great relief but meant that I missed nearly all of Sharon’s set. When I returned Badly Drawn Boy was performing, but again I couldn’t see anything, so had to listen from outside. I’m not familiar with his music, so couldn’t possibly tell you what he sang.

Richard & Zara.

Not to worry because the next act was one of my all-time favourite artists Richard Thompson who I have been a fan of since 1969 when I bought What We Did On Our Holidays by Fairport Convention. There was even lots of nice room just inside the tent for Richard. He played a blistering set of classic songs and unbelievable virtuoso guitar playing. I can’t remember all of the songs, but he definitely sang Misunderstood, Genesis Hall, Beeswing, Johnny’s Far Away, Vincent Black Lightning 1952, Wall Of Death, Keep Your Distance, and I Wanna See The Bright Lights Tonight. For two of the songs he was joined by the new lady in his life Zara Phillips. Towards the end of his act there was a huge roar from above, we looked out at the sky and the Red Arrows RAF Aerobatics Display Team did a fly past of Glastonbury. They had thought of everything this year.

Me & Romeo Stodart.

After Richard’s stunning performance, me, Peter, Paul and some others went to the Acoustic Stage crew bar to find some shade and somewhere to sit. Who should we meet, but lo & behold,  The Magic Numbers !!. Brilliant, I could get a photo for Katherine after all. The Magic Numbers are two sets of brothers & sisters. There were about eight people here, so I wasn’t sure exactly who was a Magic Number or not. Luckily, I recognised one of them Romeo Stodart and he was more than happy for a photo. We had a bit of a chat and this lady asked what I did. When I said I was on the litter-picking team they said thanks for the work we do, so Katherine was right, they are nice people. I went back to base for dinner and a little rest after that.

Glen Hansard.

In the evening I saw Glen Hansard. I have seen him previously on the Acoustic Stage, many years ago when he was in a band called The Frames. I’m not an expert on his music by any means, but an American Facebook friend is a huge fan, so I was determined to see him, hopefully take some photos, and write down the set list. The photos are a bit blurry, and I hope this setlist is correct. When Your Mind's Made Up, Down On Our Knees, St John, Bearing Witness, Bird of Sorrow, No Mountain, Winning Streak, High Hope, Her Mercy & Revelate. There might have been more. Glen paid a moving tribute to his late friend Christy Dignam from the band Aslan during the show. He also said that one of his songs was inspired by Leonard Cohen. I also noticed that he occasionally improvised little Van Morrison ‘isms into the lyrics, such as ’turn on your electric light’. I hoped he would sing a Van song, but he didn’t. It was an excellent performance which deserved a much bigger audience. 

Glen Hansard.

The last act on this stage was Paul Carrack. I felt sorry for him because the crowd had thinned out to almost nothing. The reward for headlining the Acoustic Stage seems to be having the smallest audience of the day. I didn’t stay and headed homeward via the Pyramid Stage. I thought I ought to watch a bit of Guns N’ Roses. I like Slash’s guitar playing and Sweet Child Of Mine is a great song, but I don’t think Axl Rose sings very well anymore. Anyway, most of it was just a noise to me. I was in my sleeping bag by 11.30 on Saturday night blissfully unaware of just what an incredible day Sunday would turn out to be.

Guns N' Roses.

To be continued………………………

The Unthanks Live @ Glastonbury 24/6/23.

My Glastonbury 2023: Part 3, Never Mind The Strangers.

The Park, tidied by us!

I usually crawl out of my tent at Glastonbury all bleary-eyed and goopy, but this year on Friday morning I awoke at 5.00 fresh as a daisy, bright eyed and bushy tailed and raring to go. That was because I hadn’t had any alcohol at all on Thursday which might be a first for me in all the years I have gone to Glastonbury. The music would begin on the main stages today, but first there was the small matter of our second shift of litter-picking. I didn’t bother with breakfast, so after a quick wash and a cup of tea I got my gloves and litter-picking stick and set off on a brisk walk down Muddy Lane, across the market area and up to the tree in the Greenpeace field where we met our new team leader Millie. 

A rest near Strummerville.

I have been on the recycling team since 2005 and I think Millie is one of the best team leaders we have ever had. She is a brilliant organiser, and also joins in with the work, not just give orders. We soon had Greenpeace spotless and headed up to the Stone Circle field. Here, Millie got us in a line against the hedge and we set off across the field. It was like the start of the Grand National. There were still hundreds of people around the Stones who had been partying all night long, but we picked our way around them and soon had the Stone Circle looking pristine. After that, we made our way through Strummerville which is an area dedicated to Joe Strummer of The Clash who always went to Glastonbury and had a campsite that was legendary. Then worked our way across the top fields, down past the Tipi village, into the Park and up to the Glastonbury sign at the top of the hill. We were so brilliant; all our area was finished by 11.00. Shortly afterwards the office announced that the early morning litter pick was completed all over the site. Millie gave us more meal tickets and we were signed off for the day.

I'm an angel.

After lunch I was keen to hear some music. In the distance I could hear The Master Musicians of Joujouka who were the opening act on the Pyramid Stage. They are a collective of Jbala Sufi trance musicians from the Rif Mountains of northern Morocco who were brought to widespread international attention by Brian Jones in the 1960s. I have seen them before at Worthy Farm, one magical day in about 1980 when Michael Eavis used to hold occasional little gatherings which had no publicity, it was just by word of mouth that people knew what was happening. As I approached the Pyramid Stage the music got louder and louder, but by the time I reached the barrier at the front their set had ended, so sadly I didn’t actually get to see them. As I was here, I thought I would hang about to see what the next act would be. Also, being right at the front there is always a chance of being on the telly, which has happened to me in previous years, such as when I watched Mavis Staples a few years ago 😊. It was really hot by now, so I asked a security man on the other side of the barrier for some water and he gave me a pint of water. I must have drunk gallons of water over the next few days.

The next act was Maisie Peters. I had never heard of her before. It said in the programme she was a versatile singer-songwriter whose second album The Good Witch was released today on Ed Sheeran’s Gingerbread label. She was very nice looking and reminded me a bit of Olivia Newton-John and a very confident young lady, strutting around the stage like she owned the place. After a couple of songs though I soon tired of it and began to wonder how she had managed to get on the world-famous Pyramid Stage. Near me somebody was waving this huge flag around which said MAISIE PETERS in great big letters. The cameras kept showing this flag on the big screens, and it dawned on me that her record label had probably made the flag, and her appearance was probably paid for by her management. I decided to head for the Acoustic Stage and hear some real music. (PS, Two weeks later I am thinking that I was a bit harsh on Maisie. I see her album is top of the charts. If it wasn't my kind of music, thousands of other people obviously enjoyed it, so apologies to Maisie.)

Berna, Gretta, Paul, Scilla, Peter, Helen.

Sadly, I had missed Allison Russell who I was looking forward to seeing, but they had put her on too early at 12.10. Martin Stephenson & The Daintees were performing when I arrived. They have been going since the 1980s and are a kind of folk-jazz indie type band with a Celtic flavour. They sounded very good, but I couldn’t possibly tell you what the songs were. Sitting on the grass outside the bar I spotted my friends Peter, Helen, Gretta, Paul, Berna & Scilla. I got to know Peter about ten years ago sitting around the fire in Tom’s field, and since then have become friends with his wife Helen, His friend Paul and wife Gretta, and Gretta’s sister Berna. We were all on the same team this year. Gretta & Berna are Irish and really good fun. Scilla is Helen’s mother, and she is amazing, ten years older than me and still going to festivals, an inspiration.

The Mary Wallopers.

The next band were one of my great discoveries of Glasto 23 The Mary Wallopers. They are an Irish folk band based in Dundalk. If you like music by bands like The Clancy Brothers and The Pogues then you will love the Mary Wallopers. The songs have a lot of humour, but also very political, anti-capitalist and anti-British establishment. I couldn’t tell you what the songs were called, but one song was about a rich man who went to hell. All the lines in the song ended in ium, so the rich man went to hell and ordered a whiskey & sodium, and the devil said, “This isn’t a fecking hotelium”. They were brilliant ! The next act was Seth Lakeman who you may remember I saw In Frome last year. He is a multi-instrumentalist folk singer from Cornwall and one of three notable musician brothers. He played a very nice set of laid-back music which might have gone over the heads of some of this festival crowd. Seth is very busy at the moment because he fitted this Glastonbury appearance in with touring as part of Van Morrison’s band. He played at the Royal Albert Hall with Van only a few days after Glasto. 

Seth Lakeman.

I headed back to base next to get something to eat, also something warm for the evening because I knew it would get cold later, so I missed Newton Faulkner. As I passed the Pyramid Stage Texas were playing, but I wasn’t that impressed. I wasn’t really a fan even in the 1990s when they were at their height. After dinner I put on my Irish rugby shirt for the evening and hurried back down. There was a mystery band announced called The Churn-ups. It turned out to be The Foo Fighters. I listened to a bit of it from the back, but had heard it all before in 2017, and I was keen to see two of my favourite acts. I was quite impressed with Irish singer Gavin James when I caught about 15 minutes of his show. I don’t know much about him. But will listen to more.

Gavin James.

The first act I really wanted to see was Steve Earle who I think is one of the all-time greats. It was surprisingly easy to get right to the front for Steve. He didn’t have his band The Duke’s with him, just himself, guitars and harmonica, but he put on a great show. I was hoping Sharon Shannon would join him for Galway Girl, but that didn’t happen. He paid a very nice tribute to his late son Justin Townes Earle who I saw play on this very stage only a few years ago. It was a great set of songs including some of my favourites such as The Pogues song If I Should Fall From Grace With God, My Old Friend the Blues, Guitar Town, Mr Bojangles by Jerry Jeff Walker, Harlem River Blues by Justin Townes Earle, Galway Girl, Copperhead Road and many others that I can’t remember now. It was a wonderful performance. 

Steve Earle.

My last band of the night was one of my all-time favourite Irish groups The Saw Doctors, all the way from Tuam in County Galway. I have seen them at Glasto quite a few times, but not for several years. I was very tired after a long day, but their infectious happy music energises you. We were dancing and singing along at the top of our voices. They sang some of my favourite songs such as Exhilarating Sadness, Red Cortina, Joyce Country Ceili Band, Share the Darkness, I Useta Lover, Green and Red of Mayo, To Win Just Once, Clare Island, Never Mind the Strangers, Tommy K, That's What She Said Last night, N17, Hay Wrap and some others that I didn’t know the names of. It brought a great day to a close. 

Saw Doctors.

For the second day running I hadn't had a single drink, and I don't think I could have enjoyed myself more even if I had. As we walked back up Muddy Lane I could see The Artic Monkeys playing in the distance, but I wasn’t interested. We were still singing Saw Doctors songs as we made my way back home “Never mind the strangers, 'cause I'll always be your friend, until the end”. I crawled into my sleeping bag and fell fast asleep. Another exciting day at Glastonbury was only a few hours away.

To be continued………………………

My Glastonbury 2023: Part 2, Love & Peace, Old Friends, & Old Cars.

Deepak Chopra

It was Thursday morning at Glastonbury. I didn’t have any work today, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and all was good. The gates had now been open for 24 hours and there were about 200,000 people on site. Although the music didn’t start on the big stages until Friday there were already events happening all over the site. After breakfast I took a long slow walk to the Park Stage where I had arranged to meet up with Odele. 

At 11.00 there was a guided meditation for thousands of people led by Deepak Chopra. In case you haven’t heard of him, he is an Indian / American best-selling author of books on alternative medicine, mindfulness, and healing. He was very influenced in his early days by meeting Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and discovering Transcendental Meditation. He became famous after appearing on television with Oprah Winfrey. It was a wonderful experience to take part in this event which gave a great feeling of peace, unity, and togetherness in the audience. I was so inspired that I resolved not to drink any more alcohol for at least three days until I had finished my shifts at work on Sunday. You don’t really need booze to have a good time, and also it could make you quite ill in the hot sun.  I hope next year they might get Eckhart Tolle to lead a similar event, especially since Eckhart used to live in Glastonbury town before he moved to Canada and wrote The Power Of Now.

Louise Stewart Daisy (Pure LSD)

After the meditation, we took part in the Peace Procession which was led by large puppets, flags and CND banners from The Park to Kings Meadow by the Stone Circle where 10,000 people formed the world’s biggest peace sign while a helicopter hovered above taking aerial pictures of the scene. There was a group of Mexican Indians there performing a ceremony as well. Their leader looked like an Aztec in his strange garb. The crowd then moved to a small stage where Deepak said a few more words. Then a poet called Louise Stewart Daisy (Aka Pure LSD) recited a long moving poem about peace accompanied by some strange beguiling atmospheric music. 

Highwire.

As she spoke, a man walked across a highwire 40 feet up in the air without even a safety net, just carrying a long pole for balance. When he reached the middle of the tightrope, he started performing head stands. It was truly awesome to behold. Finally, he reached the other side to the cheers and relief of the audience. When this mind-boggling experience ended, me and Odele had a little chat with Louise Stewart Daisy and had a photo taken with her. She told us that she was staying and appearing in the Tipi Field. What a nice lady she is.

Human Peace Symbol.

After that me and Odele went our separate ways. She wanted to see something else, and I wanted to catch an old friend Tony who was appearing on the Bandstand in the market area at 2.00. I have known Tony for about 40 years since he lived near me in Trowbridge. He lives in Bristol these days, but I always catch up with him at Glastonbury. He plays with his friend Steve in a folk duo called Hodmadoddery. By 2.00 it was scorching hot, but luckily, I managed to find a shady spot by the side of the Bandstand to listen to their set. I stayed for the whole performance. 

Hodmadoddery.

I think the first song was called Ladies of Spain, Other songs included Dylan’s Girl From The North Country, Painting Box by the Incredible String Band, Deep Blue Sea, Will Ye Go Lassie Go?, Roy Harper’s Tom Tiddler’s Ground and many others including their own songs which I can’t remember the names of now.. If you like bands like ISB or Tir Na Nog I think you would love Hodmadoddery, and if you live in the Bristol or Bath area then I urge you to see them. I took a few photos and had a chat with Tony afterwards who introduced me to Steve. I said I’d like to buy their CD. Tony wouldn’t accept any money and he very kindly gave me a free copy of their CD which I am listening to right now as I write this. It is excellent, and I might review it on my blog page before too long. Tony said they were playing again at the Avalon Café & Toad Hall, but I didn’t catch those gigs.

Carhenge.

I wasn’t bothered about what I saw after that. I wandered up to William’s Green and had a look at Carhenge which is an amazing structure built from 24 iconic vintage cars. There has been a Carhenge previously at Glastonbury in 1987. Thatcher’s nasty government had banned people from holding the Stonehenge summer solstice festival, so the Mutoid Waste Company built their own replica of Stonehenge at Glastonbury out of scrap cars. Their leader, the underground visionary designer Joe Rush has gone on to be world famous. On the Glasto website it says, ‘Carhenge is a tribute to the pillars of Counterculture and the free festival movement, the heroines and heroes from the margins of society, the non-conformists, punks, and visionaries whose courage and energy has shaped our culture from the underground out. From Quentin Crisp, pioneer of the trans community and author of The Naked Civil Servant, and legendary rock’n’roll guitarist, Chuck Berry, to fashion and environmental icon, Vivienne Westwood, and Hawkwind’s pioneering Sax player Nick Turner, who sadly passed away this year’.

After that I was getting hungry and tired, so wandered back to base. Thursday night is the traditional recycler’s party. I usually go to it because Michael Eavis always used to come along to thank everyone for their efforts. He hasn’t enjoyed the best of health recently, so I didn’t expect him to attend. Also, I wasn’t drinking and wanted an early night to make sure I was up for work in the morning. I was asleep before the sun had set over Avalon. I had now been on site for five days, and finally on Friday the music on the main stages would begin, and what an incredible day of music it would turn out to be.

To be continued…………….

Avalon Sunset.

My Glastonbury 2023: Part 1, Return To Avalon.

Our recycling team.

It was Sunday morning, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and it was time once again to set off for Glastonbury Festival. My first Glasto was 1979 and even after 44 years of going to the worlds best festival I still get excited, barely able to sleep the night before. Kate messaged me at 1.00 and said they would meet me at Morrison’s car park in Westbury in 10 minutes. I really fell on my feet when I met Kate & Donna. I used to have to catch the train to Castle Cary, then the shuttle bus, then a long walk across the vast site carrying my heavy rucksack and tent, but now thanks to them I get driven all the way there, through the entrance onto Worthy Farm and all the way to the Recyclers crew campsite at Tom’s Field. I am extremely grateful.

Donna & Kate.

Donna is a great driver, and it only took about 40 minutes to get from Westbury to the site at Pilton. The gates don’t open to the public until Wednesday, but there are about 30,000 workers at Glastonbury including 2,500 on the recycling team. Even so we were surprised at how busy Tom’s Field was already on Sunday. I had treated myself to a brand-new tent this year from Lidl (£69) and was a bit concerned that I wouldn’t know how to put it up, but with a bit of advice from Kate I soon had it sussed out, threw in my rucksack and sleeping bag and was relaxing with a can of cider by 5.00. Brilliant, job done!. 

Kellie.

Then I went to the office to register for work and collect meal tickets, gloves and my new recyclers veteran’s t-shirt. The following day our little encampment was joined by Kellie, originally from Essex but now living in Frome. It was her first Glastonbury, but she took to it like a duck to water. She is a great character, and we all became great friends over the next week or so. On Tuesday our group was complete when my friend Odele arrived. I met Odele ten years ago, the Rolling Stones year and we have met up at every Glasto since then.

Odele.

Most of the big public bars weren’t open yet, but there are crew bars dotted all over the site behind the main stages, so on Sunday evening me, Kate, Donna and Kate’s friend John went for a long walk to the crew bar at Arcadia. It was great in there. The part we went to had little alcoves where you could sit. You could almost think you were in a traditional English pub and not in a field on a farm in Somerset. It was very pleasant but after about three pints I got restless and thought I’d go for a wander on my own. In the market area I was surprised to see that the Bread & Roses Saloon was already open. It is a great spot for sitting outside and people watching. I sat there for about an hour talking to complete strangers and watching the world go by. Finally, I thought I’d have a wander to my favourite crew bar at the Acoustic Stage because I thought I might bump into some old friends, you never know who might be hanging about. I can vaguely remember talking to people, but I don’t know what about. In the end I decided I had drunk enough for one day and walked slowly back up Muddy Lane to Tom’s field, crawled into my sleeping bag and was fast asleep by 1.00.

Nearly ready.

On Monday morning I was awoken at 5.30 by the sound of cows mooing from a big barn nearby. It’s wonderful and reminds you that we are actually on a working dairy farm. Most of the cows go on holiday for the duration of the festival and sometime afterwards to surrounding farms. Some stay though and are kept in a huge barn known as the Pilton Mootel. I was starving hungry because I’d only had a bag of chips at Arcadia the night before. I made my way to the workers marquee and ate a hearty breakfast, vegetarian of course. Then packed my little backpack with all I might need for a day’s walking and set off for a lazy long walk all over the huge site. As in previous years my first stop was at the Tiny Tea Tent which has been in the same spot since 1992. It’s always nice to sit here and watch all the comings and goings. The Greenpeace Field opposite was a hive of activity with workers feverishly putting final touches to the various structures. It got a bit dusty with all the vehicles driving by that corner, so I made my way to the more bucolic peaceful surroundings of King’s Meadow, the Stone Circle and the Peace Garden, perfect for a spot of mindfulness and meditation. 

At the Stone Circle.

It was getting hot. To the left of the Stone Circle is my favourite oak tree which I enjoyed sitting in the shade of for an hour or so. I got chatting with this Irish man from County Sligo and asked him what he was doing at Glastonbury. He said he was setting up the secret Piano Bar. I told him that I had heard about the Piano Bar, but had never been in it, and asked where it was. He said, “You see that metal fence over there by the hedge, well, go through that gap in the fence, and you’ll find it”. I meant to check it out later, but never did. Maybe next year. I was out walking until late afternoon until I got hungry again. 

Dog made from cars.

Back in Tom’s Field the bar was open, so I had a couple of cold ciders and dinner at 6.00. That evening a gang of us went to the Acoustic crew bar. Kate bought me a drink which some woman immediately knocked over and didn’t buy me another one, but I didn’t get angry because this is Glastonbury. There was some quite heavy rain on Monday night. It didn’t bother me though. I like the sound of rain on my tent, it lulls you to sleep, as long as it doesn’t come into your tent. My new tent did its job perfectly and didn’t leak. Tuesday was another glorious sunny day which passed in much the same fashion as Monday. Tuesday evening was the annual recyclers Quiz run by Bronwyn from the office. Our team as in previous years were The Glastafarians. Team members were me, Odele, Peter, Paul, Berna, Orla, & Robin, We were previous winners, and have always come first or second, but for some reason this year was a disaster. We only got 14 points and came nowhere. I was disgusted with our performance and resolved to do lots of revision before next year to restore our reputation. 

Working above the tipi field.

I went to bed early Tuesday night because my first shift at work was on Wednesday morning at 10.00. I’ll tell you more about the work in a future instalment. Sufficient to say that the first shift went really well. It was easy because the gates were only opened to the public on Wednesday morning, so there wasn’t much litter to pick up. Basically, it was just a long walk. A packed lunch was sent out to us in the fields. Work ended at 4.00, we were given more meal tickets and told to meet at the Greenpeace Field on Friday at 6.00 in the morning. As I curled up in my sleeping bag on Wednesday night and drifted off into peaceful slumbers little did I realise was a fabulous day Thursday would turn out to be. The magic of Glastonbury was about to begin!

Mexicans at Glastonbury.

To Be Continued……………..