Glastonbury 2023

I think that Glasto are doing it cleverly, aiming for a balance but not confining themselves as Primavera have done. When you set quotas for gender then race, disability, sexuality will follow and you tie yourself up in knots. The Eavises are wisely going down the egalitarian route but giving themselves some wriggle room.

And, as ever, the acts that can sell out large venues will be the acts that get the big slots irrespective of their race, gender, etc.

The Saturday night headliner gets a longer and later time slot still. GnR will do 2 1/2 hours.

Anyway Taylor defo for 24, maybe Madge but I suppose Rhianna or Dua Lipa too.

Ive been to Witness, Oxegen etc loads, Picnic a few times, Glasto (lost count) Mad Cool, Rock Am Ring and now go to End of the Road every year.

End of the Road is the only one that comes close to Glasto in terms of the buzz there, albeit a lot more chilled and easy. First thing I judge, can you bring your own booze in. If not, its a no from me.

Sound at Glasto is usually great. Theyve had new audio guys for the last decade or so. I bring less and less every year. 1 rucksack and the missus brings a small rucksack.

Theres nowhere like Glasto. Apart from the New Orleans French Quarter festival but thats a different jaunt!

Friday sad Saturday’ headliners have finished at the same time (11.45) for several years. Sunday is usual 11.30.

McCartney got longer but that’s to be expected. I’ve never known any priority in time for Saturday nights. At the previous fest in 2019 The Cure had the longest set on Sunday night. The last festival before that in 2017 Radiohead on the Friday night had 2hrs 15mins, 30 mins more than Ed Sheeran on the Sunday and 15 more than the Foo Fighters on the Saturday. Clashfinder was my source.

Any night is good for an act to headline, though some artists may see it differently. And I reckon Madonna would not want to compete with Taylor Swift on crowd numbers over the weekend.

The first couple of times I was at Glasto, a couple of our group were always of the mindset to sit as far back as possible to avoid the crowd. Looking at the crowd, it always looks like a nightmare from the distance.

However later (Once the couple stopped going) we decided to give it a go to go in further. When at the Pyramid now we usually aim for between the sound stages, towards the front and this is no problem. Yes, it's crowded. You will not be sitting down for the last couple of acts on the Pyramid. But there is room to breathe and move than it looks (Usually). But, of course you can grab your chair and sit further back. Sound on the main stages are fine, even back a bit due to the layout. The Pyramid and Park have slopes behind them, West Holts has a lot of stalls around it etc.

I've only ever also been to EP and a couple of other much smaller festivals. As has been said above, Glasto is large. It can take you 20 mins + to get from one stage/area to another (You most certainly will get your ten thousand steps in). But if you stay at the main stages, you are missing a HUGE amount. (Having seen the Arctic Monkeys there before, I would be giving them a miss if I get resale tickets).

Hauling your stuff... Depends on what you want, how you want to get there and where you want to go. I'm old... so very old. So we usually fly into Bristol. Usually Wednesday. Do a big booze shop and some last minute things (Wellies maybe) in Bristol and get the bus on Thursday morning. Usually stay 5 mins or so from the Bus gate area as it's far enough back that music won't cause an issue if you are back early (Although removing trees between Other Stage and this area lead to a noticable increase in volume. But this IS a music festival and if one complains about the music being too loud, maybe it's not for them 😀).

So when leaving the tent to head in, I usually have my chair, fleecy top, poncho (Depending on weather), bog-roll, baby wipes, empty 1.5 litre bottle for water and booze. As I don't drink shorts, I try to stick to wine for alcohol as drinking gallon after gallon of beer and then standing in the middle of a crowd for a few hours is... yeah, is taxing. (But I do sample the local ciders. It would be rude not to, in sommerset). So it's not too bad at all. Some go lighter, some haul carts.

If it's your first time, pace yourself, have a realistic timetable (You are NOT going to catch a bit of clashing acts). hydrate and have fun. It's both bigger and smaller than you think and both more than and less than you expect. I know that sounds stupid. But at times we make it sound like it's heaven on earth. It's not. But the people and craic is great ans it should be experienced by anyone who has even a passing interest in music festivals.

EOTR looks excellent, pals rave about it. Always a great lineup but I’ve never been due to the EP clash. That will probably change soon, and wish I was going this year with Wilco playing. The acts probably ensure an older very mellow vibe. And I guess you but early birds plus arrange transport well in advance so not too expensive? Enjoy your 2023 fests.

I agree re Glasto but what do you mean by ‘what EP has become in the last five years’? More pop acts for sure but still plenty of great stuff, two of those years lost to lockdown btw and 2022 had less international travelling acts.

2022 has the most amount of international bands touring throughout the summer months.

EP has evolved in last 8 or years, expansion of branded stages/areas, capacity increases, new areas such as terminus etc. programming has changed to compensate.

Dude, you’re really tempting fate with those last two sentences. 😄

I sincerely hope you’re right, and I’ll be particularly envious on the Thursday night. There are few better live bands on the planet than Wilco, what a way to start a weekend.

You stated that 2022 had less international acts touring, you didn’t state any comparison year. 2022 had the most international bands touring especially throughout the summer than any other in recent decade. Bands couldn’t even find tour buses to rent cause demand was so high.

between rescheduled festivals and concerts last year was over subscribed for bands around europe.

EP 2022 had over 30 international acts alone from the top 3 sections of the poster, similar to 2019.

if taking just about Non European acts EP 2019 had 6 (the strokes, Mitski, Courtney Barnett, Billie eillish, duff mckagan, parquet courts) in the top 3 paragraphs. So again nearly identical to the 2022 figures you posted above.

you are the one who threw out the blanket statement that less international acts around last year, when even just comparing between EP 2019 and 2022 that is not evident.

There were also shortages of bus/truck drivers, along with any other in person jobs, last year.

I would suspect that supply side factors had the greater effect than demand on bands finding a tour bus.

Look at the changes to Reading Festival in this time period. A shambles. Festival industry has eaten itself.

Unlike other festivals R&L has always ran with the trends of the time their main target audience is feckless students.

No, I didn't introduce EP to the thread, the post I was replying to did.

I was comparing EP to Glastonbury, not Sziget.

"Please clarify" - nah.