Glastonbury Festival — Kan-yay...?

Kan-yay...?

There aren’t many festivals that sell out in 25 minutes, let alone one without a line up having being confirmed. Expectation is always high, with people wanting to feel that the £220 they spent on a ticket, and not on the bath that needed fixing, was worth it.

There are reasons for this seemingly brash purchase. Glastonbury creates an aura of limitless possibility; what comes with the ticket is the intangible, priceless factor of anticipation. Expect the unexpected (and more).

Last weekend the 170,000 strong crowd made their way across the seemingly endless fields to find their home for the next few days – “Should we go near the stages?”, “But it’ll be too loud!”, “Let’s go somewhere quieter”, “But that’s soooooo far to walk…” – an argument often echoed but never resolved.. By this time, the 17 ½ kilos of alcohol in your bag is severely weighing you down and you JUST.DON’T CARE. Once you find your spot normal, happy life is resumed and you remember you’re at Glastonbury!

It rained, yes, but doesn’t it always? Wednesday and Thursday held out, but Friday produced an almost apt introduction to proper Glasto (in a west country accent) when the rainfall created a Tough Mudder-esque slog around the 1,200 acre grounds.

It didn’t take long for all of that to be forgotten though. The uniquely beautiful sound of Alabama Shakes dispelled any frowns with a powerful set on the Pyramid Stage, easing the crowd into the modern soul sounds of the unmistakable Jungle (and a breakdancing kid on stage, yeah you heard right). With Foo Fighters off the bill, Florence and The Machine had a lot to live up to, The Libertines were announced as the surprise replacement – to be honest, this was quite underwhelming. The crowd seemed to agree. This being said, it only benefitted the energy-filled show from Florence Welch; she certainly depicted the feel of Glastonbury in her performance.

The Saturday sunshine pierced through the tents to wake up the dreary eyed festival goers for another day. Park stage gave us Ibeyi, two Cuban girls who interweave languages through music to produce something very wonderfully different, a definite highlight. It was then only right to see one of the big hitters of the last year, George Ezra, with a good ol’ fashioned singalong in the sun – this guy was good. The Maccabees kept the consistently mellowed out summer vibe going on the Other Stage, bringing out Jamie T, then playing their big hit ‘Toothpaste Kisses’, all this an incremental build up to ‘The greatest rock star on the planet’ (modestly self-appointed by Kanye West himself).

His performance was lively, electronic and powerful. He brought out the hugely talented Justin Vernon for the slightly misplaced section, now known as the ‘Auto-tune lull’, but other than that, all the hits came out and the crowd were bouncing. The performance was very good, it’s the reputation that precedes him which places expectation so high, it’s a question of whether anything will be enough for some people. Haters gonna hate.

Sunday brought us the classics with Lionel Ritchie and The Who gathering in huge crowds on the Pyramid Stage. While Lionel Ritchie produced one of the best performances of the weekend, The Who closed the festival and quite literally smashed up the stage. A real Rock ‘n’ Roll ending and back to what many believe to be the roots of the festival.

Arcadia was as electrifying as ever throughout the weekend, with all the other parts of Glastonbury consistently surprising and delighting in their own distinctive way - the music, the people, the freedom still come together to give an experience like no other. This is Glastonbury.