I should've written this post sooner, but I've been busy (and not by myself, which allows me to reflect on what exactly I want to blog about).
It only seems like yesterday that I awoke in Gloucester services at circa 5am on a Monday morning, half covered by a sleeping bag, wearing clothes from the night before and smelling like the local tramp. I'd be there again in a heartbeat: Glastonbury Festival was amazing.
I'm not going to lie to you, getting in and out of the festival is pretty much hell on earth. However the five days you have there, between those two events, you can make as heavenly as you like. There is no sweeter taste than the first beer sat looking over Worthy Farm from the top of The Park.
Everything about the place is magical. From the mysticism of the Healing Fields and Stone Circle to the hedonism and perversions of Shangri-La. It is a very happy place, isolated from the rest of the world. Plus the 30+ stages/arenas have you dancing for as long as you can stand up. There were too many great acts to mention, everything about it just seemed like a grand spectacle: a tribute to live performance across all the arts.
The BBC did a wonderful job in providing vast coverage of the festival. I even managed to see the acts I missed in person, but it lacked the magic/hangover that I had felt being there. I thoroughly recommend doing Glastonbury to anyone considering it. I will happily admit that I was not the perfect attendee, I made mistakes. Here are 7 helpful tips, based on my own errors, to help you enjoy any future Glastonbury attendance.
1. Warm white wine is not a sensible first drink of the day.
2. There is no such thing as a 2-man tent.
3. If you do bring a 2-man tent, ensure you bring all parts including a roof...
4. Wear insoles in wellies to avoid blisters.
5. Photograph everything you do (including checking if people in your party are conscious).
6. Take a flag, it gives you an identity as a group.
7. Never underestimate the power of Dolly Parton.
I got everything else just about right, thanks mainly to the recommendations of previous attendees - and ultimately the relaxed atmosphere of the festival seems to make the mistakes you make much easier to deal with.
If you aren't convinced, you'll just have to experience it for yourself. I dare you.
The second event wasn't perhaps as well covered by the BBC. It was a barbecue at my friend Mark's house. However, let that not skew the relevance or importance of this.
I was asked to bring some music to put in a playlist. My laptop is pretty poor so I made a couple of playlists on music applications like SoundCloud and Deezer. However, in order to put the music through Mark's mixing software and ultimately out through his speaker system we had to get the digital copy onto his local laptop (via legitimate means, of course). This allowed me the opportunity to play the set and try my hand at mixing the tracks myself. Not one for shyness, I agreed to give it a whirl.
Unlike Glastonbury, I was the other side of the fence. I was responsible for making people dance... And I loved it. It was lots of fun and I think software makes it really intuitive. I now have desires to become a part-time DJ, but I have to ask myself:
1. I don't even have time to blog, how will I find the time to become even a part-time DJ?
2. The kit is an expensive investment to just muck about with. Would it be worth it?
3. Does it always rely on you owning the music? I can imagine trying to recreate my virtual/application library being expensive.
Then...
4. Who cares? It's fun to pretend you can replicate the DJs who make you dance like a tit.
It's the music which makes me happiest, and being a bedroom DJ is probably as close as I'll get to performing live in any case. But is it an expensive hobby or a waste of time?
I'm still "umming and arring" as to whether I will pursue the adventure and expenditure. But I know that attending Glastonbury is worth every penny and for good measure, if I could be a DJ anywhere, I can think of few better places than a headline spot at Glastonbury x
P.S. Despite his own protests, Mark is a very good DJ and if he sends me the link, I'll point you in the way of his TATV mixes.
