Glastonbury 2009 Preview » The Music Mag

Glastonbury 2009 Preview

A few hours time and I’ll be setting off to my first Glastonbury Festival.

I’ve been a regular festival goer for ten years now, although have previously mainly stuck to the more mainstream deals; I took a break in 2007 when a combination of being bored with V and Reading lineups (full of either decent bands who’ve been around for a while or hyped ‘next big thing’ artists) and submerging myself in electronic dance music (sic) saw my lass and make make our first pilgrimage to Ibiza instead. That in turn lead us to hit the less beaten festival path of Bestival in 2008 which turned out to be the most enjoyable five days sitting in a field with stinking toilets I’ve ever had, and that was despite the relentless rain four days straight and a gazebo that blew over after two hours of erection.

Festival tank well and truly recharged and refilled for 2009, Glastonbury had to be hit this year and in retrospect I’m glad I waited this long for my mind to truly be in the mindset to be completely open to everything that’s likely to go down…

So, the line-up.

Starting with the headliners, I consider myself a reasonable fan of Bruce Springsteen, although as soon as his mid-eighties albums hit I’ve not been able to get through an album without a dollop of Dairylea smacking me in the face – I’ve get to wipe it off to reach his later stuff. Can’t say I know a lot about Neil Young which is a shame, but I’ll certainly be there for Blur since they provided me with a musical awakening back in December ‘99.

Other highlights will be some of the new acts who will hopefully have long-lasting careers ahead of them; Glasvegas and Ladyhawke have both had excellent debut albums from start to finish and hopefully I’ll catch them. Spinal Tap will simply be unmissable, as will Nick Cave and the lovely Bad Seeds. Kasabian I’ve enjoyed live before and after a storming debut album and decent follow-up, I’ve liked what I’ve heard of their third offering despite the ridiculously wanky title.

Having seen them live before, I’m anticipating a ‘festival moment’ when Madness take the stage and hit “Nightboat to Cairo”. Prodigy and Pendulum always go down well live at festivals too. Having developed a bit of an angle on Miss Lily Allen over the past few months, hopefully she’ll make me Smile.

Where it really takes off though is the frankly ridiculous 7 dance stages in its own ‘Dance Village’. There the likes of Timo Maas, Tom Real, Stanton Warriors, Stereo MCs, Don Letts, Slam, Jim Masters, Scratch Perverts, Krafty Kuts, Erol Alkan, 2manydjs, Eric Prydz, Mr Scruff and Rob da Bank all whet my whistle, but the real standouts for me are Deadmau5 (who is about to become the next big dj to crossover into the mainstream popularity circles), Freeland Live (top notch kickin’ breaks) and Tom Middleton (funky extraordinaire). Far too much of a good thing, add that to the conventional line up and there’ll be far too much to hope to see.

I dare say though that this festival, much like Bestival last year, will be a 24/7 experience where the lineup is no more than half the attraction. Unlike the Vs and Readings of this world though where once the music stops at 11:30pm the only entertainment is a 6 pack, dodgy fag and some berk playing the little-known ‘Wonderwall’ by a fire (which I’m not necessarily knocking), the highlights and madness of the festival will probably only be about to begin.

I’m looking forward to a hazy homage at the Stone Circle, a vist to Trash City, the bizarre Shangri La and apparently a visit ‘to a pub’. I’ll be sure to post pictures to try and illustrate the probable frolics.

Anyhow, the sofa is calling and I’ve some CDs to burn, and besides, who the f*** would want to continue reading this lengthy diatribe?

Joy and love x