Boards
GIITTV zine Glasto 09 diary
I went to Glastonbury and I returned, so I feel like I am safe enough now to regale you with how this happened. As a 'music journalist' I like to attend and review festivals, it's a good way to see a lot of interesting bands and discover smaller new acts, and after attending Square, Green Man and the End of the Road last year I was keen to try some new festival fare in 2009. More specifically, once I found out Blur were playing, Glastonbury.
I remember being a young lad, sat in my Grandma's house, at the dinner table no less, listening to the radio on the walkman whilst everyone else ate, eagerly waiting for the result of the much publicised battle of Oasis's Roll With It and Blur's Country House. I remember shouting "Yes!" when the Gallaghers fell in at number two, leaving Albarn and co to take the crown. Yet despite being a Blur fan at their prime (and beyond) I never got to see them live, being somewhat of a late bloomer in the world of gig going.
Anyway, I received an e-mail in early May from the Glastonbury press office saying that my Press Accredation had been approved. I was very excited and clicked on the e-mail to read the details only to discover that a press ticket came with an invoice for £200! Being a post-graduate with a degree in Creative Writing and barely any paid employment to speak of this was far beyond my means, so I let the e-mail be.
In early June I received a phone call from the Glastonbury press office asking me why I hadn't yet paid the £200 for the press ticket, and I told them that I couldn't afford it and that was that. Then in mid-June I received another phone call from the Glastonbury press office asking me why I still hadn't paid the £200 press for the press ticket, and I reiterated that I coulnd't afford it and that was that.
On Wednesday the 17th of June I was tidying my room. I have a pile of CDs that turns into a stack of A5 envelopes and jiffy bags on my floor, this is my backlog of material to review for this very website and as I shifted this wodge from one patch of floor space to another an envelope escaped the tower and skimmed across the room. I reached for it, to return it to the near bottom of the pile, but as I held it I couldn't help but feel that this envelope didn't contain a CD. I was, to say the least, baffled. Why would an unsigned band send me a demo without a CD? Being curious I opened the letter and contained inside was a Glastonbury press ticket! I couldn't help but laugh maniacally for a few minutes before rushing to Google to check that it was indeed a Glastonbury ticket and not some elaborate hoax, but, to the best of my understanding it was indeed a ticket. I checked the post date on the enevelope and it had been sent out a day after my second phone conversation with the press office. As amazing as all this was it suddenly meant I was plunged into a world of last minute organisation, seeing as Glastonbury was five days away and two of those days were to be spent in Canterbury and one of those days was to spent acting in a short film. By even more good fortune I found a lift with some very generous friends of a friend and on Wednesday morning drove to the South West and pitched my tent.
http://www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk/content/content_detail.php?id=3472&type=Features
More here:
http://www.twitter.com/godisinthetv