Glastonbury 2016 Round Up
So I managed to wangle myself a ticket to Glastonbury this year and as ever it didn’t disappoint. As ever we were also three feet under in mud, but hey, it’s Glastonbury, what did we expect…
I saw some great bands, both old and new and wanted to share them with you.
Thursday
I’m awarding myself a gold star as I stayed in London to vote, not that it did much good, le sigh, let’s not go there… It took 7 hours to get in, so we didn’t arrive till evening, but still, we used the time waiting in the queue to do out hair and make up so at least we looked FABULOUS for an hour at Glastonbury….
Friday started with a heavy heart at the referendum result. I decided there was nothing for it but to cover myself in glitter and go and do Power Ballad Yoga in the Greenpeace Fields. Yes, that’s a thing. It was part comedy, party yoga and very funny. There were maybe 150 people all doing it and feeling the love. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3lI3foiGtU
Next we went and checked out The Orchestra of Syrian Musicians with Damon Albarn on the Pyramid Stage. At that point it felt more important than ever to go and show our support for the refugees and remember we are all connected as human beings and remember that we have more in common than that which divides us. I’m not going to lie, it was a bit emotional. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p03y0j0m/glastonbury-2016-the-orchestra-of-syrian-musicians-with-damon-albarn-guests
Then we drank some cider (standard) and watched Hobo Jones And The Junkyard Dogs who have become a firm festival favourite band over the years. A tongue in cheek skiffle band, these three chaps know how to rock a tent! https://youtu.be/1as_4YGLmlQ?t=1m25s
Next up we saw our friends She Drew The Gun (SDTG) performing in the backstage bar at Theatre & Circus. SDTG won the Glastonbury emerging talent competition and played 5, yes 5 (!) times this festival, finishing off by headlining the John Peel Stage on Sunday morning, which I just missed, (arriving as they finished) because I’d been too busy dancing disco with drag queens in a backstage bar. For real. Anyway, you should definitely check out SDTG, they are destined for big things and Louisa is a top gal with a clear conscience. http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/she-drew-the-gun-win-2016-emerging-talent-competition/
Then I headed off to Bastille with my friend’s kid, Rory. Rory is 12 years old and has been to Glastonbury 10 times already. In theory I was looking after him but the reality is that I think he was looking after me. Top tips like shortcuts and “lift with your heel!” when you get stuck in the Glastonbury mud. Man! It’s so frickin sticky!!!!! Rory persuaded me to go to the front of Bastille and we got right to the front! Big thanks to the lovely Bastille fans who let us go right to the front. You made a 12 year old kid (and a 36 year old adult) very very happy. Bastille were absolutely brilliant live, with the lead singer performing superbly. It was a sunset session, so utterly gorgeous to look at. Check it out here. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p03y0jf0/glastonbury-2016-bastille
After that we made a quick tour to Stormzy and Muse before heading back to sensation Seekers Stage to watch a bit of cabaret. Yes, that was all one day. No wonder I’m still tired! Over the four days I did 100,000 steps, which is equivalent to about 1,000,000 normal steps due to the sticky Glastonbury mud…. We went to the after hours area “SE Corner” which was pretty banging and danced to some breaks and I randomly bumped into a friend. Love it when that happens!
Then I swung by West Holts stage, also known as the world music stage. I saw two acts I hadn’t seen before. First up was Mbongwana Star, who are a 7 piece Congalese band, very up tempo and fun. Perfect for a Saturday afternoonhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p03yggrf/glastonbury-2016-mbongwana-star
Saturday evening was always going to be Adele. I was lucky enough to get a last minute ticket to see her at the 02 recently and she was jaw droppingly amazing. The thing that most people don’t realise if they haven’t seen her live is just how funny she is. I love her refreshing honesty and genuine approach to life. As well as being a world class singer she can also tell a cracking joke and you just want to go down the pub with her. If watching Adele on the Pyramid Stage was amazing, spare a thought for our very own trombone tutor Emma Basset who was PLAYING FOR HER! ON THE PYRAMID STAGE! What a star Emma is and we’re very very proud of her. She was playing on Skyfall, see if you can see her here…. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p03ybdky/glastonbury-2016-adele
Just as Adele was finishing we decided to hot foot it to another section of the Festival and popped up to The Park for the David Bowie tribute. It was the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra playing a live orchestral piece by the American composer Philip Glass. His “Heroes Symphony”, written in 1996 in homage to David’s 1977 album Heroes was the first classical headliner to appear at Glastonbury and was accompanied by an outstanding laser show.
We then watched a bit of cabaret, went to Block 9 for a proper Glastonbury rave up, complete with subway crashed into the building (it’s a theatre set, not real but still completely impressive). Then I got distracted by dancing drag queens.
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