Glastonbury 2007

Lynne says...

The excitement had grown to fever pitch, a fortune had been spent on last minute must haves, the car was packed and the alarm set for 4am. So far, so good. We picked Sam up and squashed her in amongst the back packs, boxes of wine and tents belonging to various friends who weren't able to get to the site until Thursday or Friday. So far, so good.

Half an hour out of London and the squeak began. At first we could hardly hear it but after a while it became more and more noticeable so we had to pull over and check it out. The rear right tyre smelled strongly of burning rubber. We were in trouble. Was the car overloaded? We spend half an hour redistributing the weight before giving it another try at a slower speed. Would we make it to Glasto or would we end up hiring a car or hitching a lift like a few unfortunate festival goers we had already seen standing forlornly by their broken down car? Eventually we made it to Castle Carey and stopped for a fry-up and a visit to the last decent toilet we would see in the next five days.



There is nothing quite like the first glimpse of the Glasto site in the distance. The thought of what lay ahead reduced us to excited children in an instant. After parking the car we struggled under the weight of five tents and made it to The Glade. Jake was already there and had staked out a huge area. I only ever see Jake at Glastonbury. We've camped together for the last few years and even then I only ever see him on the first day when he is sober.


Please don't camp here etc,etc.

After managing to put up the tents we spent the rest of the day and night just wandering around the site. It was great to share the experience with Sam, a Glasto virgin - she was SO excited. We found the cider bus and had the first of several hot spicy ciders. If you go to Glasto you have to make the most of it and arrive as soon as the site opens. The music doesn't officially start until Friday lunchtime but there is something special about wandering around on Wednesday and Thursday. Several pear ciders later and Sam and I found ourselves the owners of two wonderful second hand skirts courtesy of the Oxfam shop. I was unsure about my choice of colour. How long would a white wedding skirt stay white in a muddy field? Still, it was great fun trying them on.


Nice pair

Kat and Andy arrived on Thursday lunchtime. Unfortunately the weather had also taken a turn for the worst and Andy didn't look too happy as he struggled under the burden of several boxes of red wine. Still, it was nothing a nice pear cider wouldn't sort out. I was more concerned about locating Elma later that evening - she wasn't due to arrive until midnight when it would be dark and packed full of people. Later that afternoon we all watched a few bands in the Leftfield before heading back to the tents for a change of clothes.


Poseur prepares for a night out

Matt put everyone to shame by having a wet shave and donning his best clothes to meet up with fellow skaster Glenn to see The Beat. As it grew dark Sam and I managed to locate Elma in the mayhem. We were well and truly in the Glasto spirit by this stage and quickly whisked her off to experience the Silent Disco. I can't remember the last time I have laughed so much. Two thousand people crammed into a tent wearing headphones. Two DJs broadcasting on two different channels. Some dancing to techno, some dancing to Bob Marley. Take off the headphones and you can hear a thousand people singing to Smells Like Teen Spirit. I was crying with laughter.


Silent until 2000 people sang the chorus to 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'

We didn't manage to crawl out of our tents until mid-morning and it was raining steadily. The few patches of green grass had already disappeared and had been replaced by mud. Sam was particularly proud of her blue whistling kettle and camping stove and sorted us all out with a nice strong brew.


Passed out on Thursday afternoon

Matt decided to stay in the tent for a few more zzzzs so Sam, Elma, Kat, Andy and I headed down to the Jazz World stage for our first official gig of the weekend - Guilty Pleasures featuring Suggs and various other musicians singing their favourite cheesy songs. It was 11am and Elma insisted we have a pint of Brothers pear cider to start off the day.....


Brother's pear cider at 11am? That'll do nicely

Matt joined us later and we headed off to the Other Stage to see The Cribs followed by Modest Mouse, in the pouring rain. Sam disappeared off to see some bright new band somewhere and Elma, Matt and I sought shelter in The Glade and watched an old crooner singing away to a despondent mixed crowd trying to stay dry. Later on that afternoon I met up with Elma and Sam and we wondered off to The Saloon for some food where another random band was blasting out some tunes. We fought our way through the mud and crowds to see The Magic Numbers, Bloc Party and The Fratellis at The Pyramid although it all gets a bit hazy at this point (probably due to the 11am pint of pear cider - I blame Elma). Somewhere along the line I lost Elma - not sure who she went to see. Matt and I ended up catching Amy Winehouse at the Jazz World followed by mad pixie Bjork headlining the Other. Unfortunately we were too far away to appreciate her mad brilliance and it was time to call it a night.


Rain, cagoules and a bag of red wine. Pure class

After another of Sam's brews late the following morning we all headed off in separate directions. Matt went to see the Brakes and Grim Northern Social, Elma and I wondered around the Greenfields and Healing Fields and bumped into Kat and Andy next to a smoke breathing clay dragon. We found a great cafe tent and sipped chai tea as the rain continued to pour outside.

Around lunchtime Elma and I met up with Sam and Matt in Lost Vagueness and watched Pink Fraud - a great Pink Floyd tribute band. It was here we found out about one of the weekend's secret gigs - Madness at 11.30pm.


Elma's welly testing went incredibly well

Not quite sure what we all did in the afternoon. Matt went to see Chas 'n' Dave. Elma and I trekked all the way to The Lounge to see Bonde De Role only to discover there were two tents called The Lounge and we were at the wrong one. That's Glasto for you. We struggled to the Other Stage to see the Klaxons before heading back to the tent to change into warmer clothes for the night session. Maximo Park were great and then Elma and I headed up to the Dance field to see Mika. I had to leave early to make my way back to Lost Vagueness to see Madness - it can take an hour to get from one stage to another and when you add the crowds and the mud to the equation it becomes a real effort just to get around. I eventually met up with Matt, Tom and Andy and we watched a rock 'n' roll band before Suggs took to the stage in all his glory.


No, I don't think he's been drinking...

I've never fancied going to a Madness gig before - all those sweaty shirtless men jumping up and down really doesn't appeal to me. However, I quickly found myself at the very front with a thousand blokes behind me rocking the tent. One by one the girls around me were pulled from the stage by big burly bouncers but I'm proud to say I made it until the very end. It was fabulous and definitely one of those magical Glastonbury experiences.


From left, Bedders, Chrissy Boy and The Specials' Lynval Golding. Matt died and went to heaven!

We all met up back at the campsite where Kat proceeded to drink her way through a bottle of vodka. After several attempts we managed to light a fire and sat around talking nonsense until Kat fell off her chair into the mud - it was time to get some shut eye.

I tried to get up early the next morning but my air bed was just too comfortable. I did manage to see the Marley Brothers early in the afternoon when the sun came out - perfect for a bit of Jamaican reggae. Shirley Bassey sang in a beautiful pink outfit and blasted everyone with some crowd pleasers. Elma and I went to see the London Gospel Choir in the Acoustic tent while Matt, Kat and Andy stayed at The Pyramid to see the Manics - I've no idea where Sam was at this point. No doubt watching some bright new things I'd never heard of.


Relaxing to the Marley brothers

Elma headed back to the tent and I stayed in the Leftfield watching a young new band competition winner before catching the first half of K T Tunstall back at The Acoustic. I would have loved to stay to the end but there was only one place I was going to be on Sunday night - The Who at the Pyramid. By some miracle we all managed to find each other and danced like crazy things as gorgeous Roger strutted his stuff. What a fabulous end to a fabulous weekend.


I remember when all this was fields...

Monday morning misery struck home - it had poured with rain all through the night. The downpour continued during the morning as people either struggled to pack up their tents or simply decided to abandon them. We made the big mistake of not getting up super early and instead found ourselves faced with hours and hours of queuing to get out of the site - the major disadvantage of arriving early. We packed up all our tents, took everything back to the car and decided to head back to the site to wait for the queues to go down. When we eventually got back to the car the people in the queue hadn't moved in over four hours. Tempers were beginning to flare around us but really, what was the point?



Our worries about the state of our car began to surface as we realised just how packed it would be on the return leg. We may well have got rid of a few tents but now we had Elma and her back pack as well. We decided to play it safe - the three of us walked and Matt negotiated the muddy lanes. We finally made if off the site at around seven in the evening but after half an hour on the open road the noise returned. There was only one thing for it. Either Elma and Sam or the tents had to go. We decided on the tents - lucky for the girls - and they were abandoned on the roadside. Several hours later and we were back in London. By the time Matt and I arrived back at the flat it was 1.30am.

Another year, another Glasto. I'm already looking forward to the next one.


See you next year