Written by Tom Bedding
Anyone else been dreaming about the run of the mill and simplest of pleasures of normal life most nights? How good would it be to get that peck on the cheek from your gran again or work banter at the printer or one of your mates even spilling their pint over you again, we all know a spiller don’t we.
It is mad to think that this time a year ago, we were still going about our normal existence and having those well deserved, special moments to get us through the week. I myself had a gig with my best friends in early February to look forward to, something I was even more excited about as it was the first concert after coming back from travelling.
To turn up to the venue once more, spotting the gleaming faces of your friends before walking into the venue and smelling the stained booze on the floor, feeling that sense of anticipation that only your favourite bands can create. Oh what a feeling.
When looking back at music pre-covid in 2019, we had many highlights from Billie Eilish taking over the world to the Mercury Prize nominations all delivering positive messages of hope and the need for change, it felt like a great time for popular and alternative music.
However the highlight for me and I feel very lucky to of witnessed such a moment, was Stormzy stealing the show at Glastonbury Festival. With not even two albums out and previous rappers who had headlined not fully delivering, there was a lot of pressure on the MC to capture the imagination of punters on the first night of the 2019 festival.
Did he do it? Oh my word did he!!! The dude looked like a man possessed, the drive and desire you could see in his eyes to knock us for dead, was inspiring and incredible.
Previously, many had disapproved of rap music being at the forefront of Glastonbury and said the man from Croydon could not deliver a set long enough. In a way you could understand that being suggested due to the fact he had only one record out and the festival experiencing Kayne’s incredible first 25 minutes before the slump it eventually suffered.
In the end, Stormzy did indeed accomplish all the things many said were not possible that night. For me, that is one of the beauties of the festival, it’s the World Cup final where artists come to become stuff of legends and leave their mark on an iconic institution that is, British Music.
Even just from watching sets on the tele before my first year down at Worthy Farm, you could tell how truly significant it was for all of the acts who had the privilege to perform there. Unlike other festivals potentially, it is not due to the money or exposure or simply being higher up on the poster, it is all down to how Glastonbury Festival, has directly or indirectly impacted the musicians love for their craft and for their heroes.
They see it as a pilgrimage, performing on a stage that they either stood in front in the rain for hours to see Amy Winehouse or sitting in their lounge after another open mic night, seeing Bowie strut onto the Pyramid Stage on the TV. No other festival comes close to impacting the performers to such a spiritual level like that. It truly does help create the unique and purest of atmospheres, that only a few places and moments can create.
My first experience of Glastonbury was in 2019, volunteering with my sister and her partner. My soon to be brother in law and I, had to clean the water stations that were dotted all across the farm, it was demanding but the laughs I had along the way with him will live long in the memory.
The whole spirit of the place captivated me, the variety on offer was inspiring and the pure love people had for anyone and anything to do with the festival, was beautiful. The event put on by the Eavis’ is outstanding and it makes me so proud/fortunate that I can experience such a place, the impact it can make on you is undeniable.
credit: David Levene/The Guardian
Sadly, Michael and Emily Eavis had to cancel the festival for the second year running, leaving the hope and potential of work for so many still in the wilderness. Obviously it is the right thing to do, the amount of second dose vaccinations done won’t be enough by late June but we have been told, by Michael himself, that a smaller event is possible in September.
Yes that would indeed be amazing, however who knows what it will include and how accessible it is for the public? Only time will tell. So for now I want to focus on 2022’s Glastonbury Festival, especially on how it will be the much needed uplifting and MEGA party for the lucky devils who are going and the for people who will tune into BBC’s lovely coverage of the event.
credit: PA
Everyone will enjoy what makes them smile so much more when the world is at a calmer state with COVD. I for one can not wait to hear people close to me enjoying even the most smallest of things again, which is something I think many are learning during lockdown, the appreciation of the little nuances of existence.
So yes, music festivals are a luxury, there are more important things obviously and there are things higher on my list on what I want to do again, one of them is indeed a kiss from my nan. But what that week in late June represents and makes one feel, reminds me how beautiful the human spirt can be and the thought of a festival with that ethos, being deemed to be a celebration of normal life again, seems so incredibly fitting.
From the music fans who travel down to Pilton; all the variety of performers that will walk on one of the hundred stages at the festival; the crew doing all the work to make each set the best it can be; the locals serving your favourite dish (mines the big roast dinner in the Yorkshire) or beverage; the wholesome people in Green Fields who show us some yoga; the volunteers who refill your water bottle; the drivers who ensure the stages and all that jazz are there in time and so many more people associated to the festival and industry, I know that we will all truly be lifted by Glastonbury Festival next year and other music events again!
I hope you are all keeping well and I hope anyone in the music industry who has been impacted by the lack of work, are doing okay and can be rightly seen as important people who ensure that we can love and breathe the arts. We will get there, we will be sipping on that cider in the sunshine soon.
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