Glastonbury + Michael Eavis = Power + Principle

As we now enter a local election campaign where the various parties will be debating about why their principles should earn them power, it was truly refreshing on Monday night to listen to a non-political man who has ‘the power’ but has never lost sight of the guiding principles that inspired him to want it.

Michael Eavis was the guest speaker at a packed Ustinov event organised by Creative Bath which brought together people from all around the city to pick up nuggets of wisdom from a truly remarkable individual.

Mr Eavis, who still regards himself as a farmer who just happens to run the Glastonbury Festival, was as self effacing and modest as ever – something which I suspect the vast majority of those like him named by Time magazine as among the 100 most influential people in the world do not share.

More than 40 years ago having been inspired by the big concert in Shepton Mallet, the Pilton farmer decided he would set up his own (at that stage) free festival event. It has of course now transformed into possibly the biggest festival in the world and it is one that artists clamber to play out of respect for its core beliefs as well as the prominence it gives them.

Mr Eavis spent far more time on the night talking about the pleasure it gives him to raise some £2 million every year for charity as a result of the festival than about the actual event itself. To him the festival is five glorious days in Somerset but it’s real lasting legacy will be the hundreds of thousands of people who will have been touched from Pilton to Peru by the money raised at the South West’s biggest party.

What was also inspiring to hear was that the 75-year-old absolutely loved what he did. Several times he described running the festival as a ‘buzz’ and he said that he thought he had the best job in the world and one which he had always treated with great respect.

But, of course, respect is a two-way street and it is because some of the most famous performers in the world believe in Mr Eavis’s vision of using music to bring people together to do good in the world that they are prepared to forgo their usual commercial rates.

As an example, he quoted the fact that Sir Paul McCartney played at Glastonbury for around a twentieth of what he could normally command at a big stadium event. People don’t do that unless they believe in you and believe in what you stand for–- and people rightly believe in Michael Eavis.

Above all, as he continually told us, he enjoys every minute.

It is no coincidence that when we went into our archive of photographs of him, every one of them saw him with a big smile.

He loves what he does, he loves the feeling the festival gives to people but most of all he loves the fact that long after the last chord has been played, people are benefiting from a festival that uses its power to prove its principles.

Why I enjoyed my second Glastonbury.....

I had the pleasure of going to a very jolly outdoor birthday party at the weekend.

My party was for someone’s ‘40th’ and the hosts had kindly invited a few people around to their home and were offering the odd glass of cider and a bit of live music to keep us all amused.

But, I have to confess, this was a somewhat bigger party than I usually attend. The ‘few’ guests totalled around 180,000, the amount of beer drank was expected to be over one million pints and as for the live music, well there was an estimated 2,000 acts on.

For this was the Glastonbury Festival’s ‘40th’. And it was the biggest, noisiest and cheeriest party on the planet.

Like all the best outdoor parties it was also helped by the somewhat unexpected appearance of the sun which kept a watchful eye on proceedings throughout and almost dared the storm clouds to be party poopers. They didn’t of course – they knew they were (weather) beaten which meant that the huge £12.99 I had invested in my essential last-minute pair of wellies was totally wasted. And I bet they don’t do ‘Glastonbury no-mud’ refunds.

I have done a review of the musical delights elsewhere but as I said last week in this column the joy of Glastonbury is that it is about so much more than what comes out of those enormous speakers. And for those yet to taste the festival’s bountiful offerings I just want to re-iterate that it is never too late to join this seemingly never-ending party.

You may still be thinking ‘Glastonbury is OK for other people but for not for me’ but trust me you are wrong. The answer to the question ‘who goes to Glastonbury’ is an easy one – everyone does. It is, I think, impossible to feel out of place.

People genuinely don’t seem to care what you look like, what age you are, or what your background is – there is an equality here that I have rarely seen elsewhere. Sure, there are ways of ‘upgrading’ your experience a bit but by and large the corporate side of things is kept to a bare minimum in the search for a kind of Utopian, democratic equality. The ethos is ‘we are in it together’ – come rain, shine or England defeats (I watched that one with 50,000 fellow sufferers). And it is hugely refreshing.

The other thing that struck me again on this my second visit (is there anything worse than a late convert)? is how safe the whole experience feels. Despite the fact that people didn’t exactly, ahem, hold back on their alcoholic intake, I saw no evidence of any trouble, no aggression, no fights, not even any cross words. It is as if once people enter the ‘Royal Borough of Pilton’ the Glastonbury spirit descends on them and encourages self-policing.

Overall I returned tired, hot but far from bothered and I thought again how lucky we were to have all this fun right on our doorstep. So, go on, try it next year.

For if you can find nothing to enjoy at Glastonbury then I am afraid the problem is yours – not the festival’s.

Glastonbury - my 'shocking ' review

The Glastonbury Festival of 2010 turned out to be a rather shocking event.

The first shock was that not only was there not a millimetre of rain (causing misery only to the many waterproof-sellers on site) but the heat was on from start to finish. Indeed, at times it was so hot that I am sure that on Saturday afternoon in particular that if the punters had been offered the choice of a miracle Beatles reunion or a ‘tad more shade’ many would have seriously opted for the latter.

The other big shock of course occurred on Sunday afternoon and had nothing to do with music. It was England’s abysmal capitulation to the Germans in the World Cup, a match watched by more than 50,000 of us concert-goers in a weekend where even in the Pilton fields you couldn’t truly escape the footie. We had already been warmed up (aha) by Dizzee Rascal’s Shout and the Lightning Seeds Three Lions on the previous days and everyone was in good spirits sensing England’s glory. Once again (of course) we were left high and dry but what makes Glastonbury so special is that once the final whistle had blown people just sighed, dressed themselves down and then went to hear the music again. No fights, no riots, no chaos.

England may have disappointed on the fields of South Africa but England was at its best in the fields of Pilton that afternoon.

So the sun and the football may have shocked us all but the one thing that stays the same is that the music at this most incredible of events never lets you down.Once again I was delighted to immerse myself in a sea of wonderful sounds and wonderful moments and this year I made sure I saw many acts that were well out of my comfort zone.

Of course when it comes down to it, it is always the headline acts on the biggest stage that define a festival and it is those sets that are remembered in the months, years and yes decades to come. And on this special occasion, to quote Meatloaf, ‘two out of three ain’t bad’.

First the (very) positive. Stevie Wonder charmed and delighted the audience with his warmth and warming Sunday night performance. This is a man who oozes charisma and has more tunes in his locker than England’s footballers have excuses and his performance will be remembered for its quality and professionalism. Long before he got to his expected Glastonbury Happy Birthday finale he had already ‘won’ the audience totally and the smile on his face mirrored tens of thousands in the audience. We often use the word ‘legend’ too glibly in music but this is a man that definitely deserves that title.

Saturday night’s headliners, Muse, are probably too young to be classed as legends but there is a good argument to say that their performance at Glastonbury could have legendary status. They were simply outstanding from start to finish and the power, passion and purpose they displayed was truly thrilling. Tunes such a Time is Running Out, Plug in Baby, Knights of Cydonia and Uprising were all dazzlingly good and when The Edge appraised for an impromptu version of Where The Streets Have No Name it as like the final glistening cherry on the top of an extraordinarily bountiful cake. It was THE great set of one great weekend.

As for the third headliners, The Gorillaz, well, the truth is despite deserving great credit for playing at short notice following U2’s withdrawal – and also managing to persuade stars of the calibre of Lou Reed to join them on stage – it just never quite clicked. They started promisingly enough but then went on to prove that it IS possible to be too eclectic and too diverse. The wide variety of their material meant it struggled to get any momentum and at times the audience seemed baffled. Yes, it was a brave and honest performance but – and it seems remarkable to say this considering it featured two members of the Clash and Blur’s front man – it was often a tad dull. For Gorillaz, read Gorillazzzzzz. Sorry.

Beyond the headline acts I saw many bands that excited and enthralled me. The National, America’s great Indie hope, produced a stunning set as did Manchester’s finest The Courteneers and my own fave raves The Stranglers but beyond my normal sphere, I absolutely loved Dizzee Rascal’s show, found my toe tapping throughout The Scissor Sisters (was that really Kylie up there?) and couldn’t resist the large slice of Snoop Dogg that was served up.

One thing that did make me smile about both the Rascal and the Dogg was their continued plea to the crowd of ‘make some noise’. Err, isn’t that their job?


So, that is just a bit of a snapshot of how I saw things but the great thing about Glastonbury is with 180,000 people there you will find 180,000 different experiences. And all will be equally valid. It is a festival like no other – an ell-embracing, feel good event where not even the need for Factor 100 sun cream or Matthew Upson can ruin your weekend.

So Glastonbury I salute thee again. And here is to the next 40 years.

Make some noise!