GLASTONBURY 2003 danny and miss chichi's world tour - part one What better way to kick off Summer and the world tour than with the biggest, greatest music festival in the world? Glastonbury has come to represent the very best in music and diverse culture from all over the globe, and this year’s festival has already been hailed as one of the greatest ever. Expectations were sky high, as three of the biggest names in music (R.E.M, Radiohead and Moby) were set to headline the notorious Pyramid Stage. Last year’s festival had been immense, with Faithless’ awesome set amongst the highlights, and so there was much speculation as to whether or not this year’s could match it. Wednesday After a stressful bus journey from Bristol we finally arrived at the site. The sun was beating down and we walked as far as we possibly could before collapsing on the grass and beginning the arduous task of pitching our tent. After a stressful few moments we finally had a place we could call home and it began sinking in that we were finally at Glastonbury, after months of waiting and trying to find tickets on the black market. We had a little wander around the markets and slowly began to take the huge site in. A calm air of expectation hung around the site and so we made our way up to the stone circle. People from all walks of life were lazing about and chatting together. Glastonbury isn’t about one type of person, it’s about all sorts of hippies and curious characters coming together for one very special occasion. The stone circle is the quintessential place to chill out and admire the view of the whole site and beyond. Drug dealers stroll around freely offering everyone various narcotics (usually mushrooms) at fairly reasonable prices. Everyone just gets on with what they are doing and nobody seems to really care what anyone else is up to. Wednesday night was spent wandering round the site, bugging out and admiring the various characters who had managed to get to Glastonbury. We passed the Energy 24 stage, which was was not especially to our liking. the DJs were good enough, but the general vibe of the stand, I felt, detracted from the general vibe of the crowd. The MCs didnt add anything to the mood, but enough people seemed to enjoy it to make it worthwhile. We carried on bumbling around, entertaining ourselves with all the sites before collapsing in a giggling heap on the floor and saying goodnight to Glastonbury. Thursday Today we continued our ramblings, shopping for bracelets and treasures from the market place. We noticed that the Energy 24 stand was to run 24 hours a day. All day, every day, which didn't especially appeal to us, but it didn’t matter because tonight we had Freq Nasty and Sasha to look forward to. Miss Chichi took to reading Harry Potter and before we knew it, it was the evening and we were once again up to mischief in the stone circle. We had made it our mission to learn how to do poi properly, and so looking around to everyone else for inspiration, we slowly but surely learnt a few new tricks. A little worse for wear, we eventually hurried down to a packed out Glade to see Freq Nasty spin some crisp breaks. Donna Summer’s I Feel Love boomed out of the sound system and everyone bounced away merrily. We decided to give Sasha a look at the Radio One stage and had a lot of fun stomping to some clean, fresh beats in a genuine, warm clubbing crowd. The set only lasted two hours, but it finished nicely with Scorchio. Still feeling a little warm inside we ventured around the site looking for another party, and came, once again, across the Energy 24 stage. The new MC didnt really make the stage any better at this stage, and so we did some more poi and headed for the stone circle to see the sun rise. The energy at the stone circle was awesome, and everyone cheered as the sun came out. Some amazing performers entertained us to the early hours with fire poi and juggling and so we continued our wanderings and headed back down to the main site. The Energy 24 stage was still going, with only a few die hards still at it. Time for a cup of tea. It suddenly dawned on us that it was Friday, so Miss Chichi was put to bed and I had a little rest at the stone circle once more. Friday The bands hadn’t even begun and we both felt fairly tired. A little weary of everything, we headed down to see De La Soul on the Pyramid Stage, who once again proved they are one of the only acts in hip hop who can successfully pull off a live show. The crowd were fairly unresponsive, but the act was awesome, energetic and playful. Old skool beats sat nicely with the newer cuts and everyone seemed to at least be smiling. Next up were the oddities that are Mogwai. Almost no interaction with the crowd from an incredibly shy front-man meant that the everyone generally sat down looking a little bemused. The music was atmospheric, if a little repetitive, but generally didn’t suit the mood of the day at all, which was a shame, because Mogwai are a class act, and they hate Blur, which is always a bonus. The excellent The Music were next up. A brilliant, charismatic performance of some awesome songs picked up the mood dramatically. Everyone bopped away happily to the feel good tunes. We caught the end of the excellent Audio Bully’s set, and headed back to the Pyramid Stage to see Suede try to further pick up the mood. No matter how hard the enigmatic Brett Anderson tried, though, the crowd didn’t really seem that interested. Suede put on a good show, though, and really deserved better. You just can’t help but love Suede’s music. The sun began to set and I wasn’t especially looking forward to the next act. David Gray has never really appealed to me that much, and so I was expecting his live set to be a bit dull. I was, of course, totally wrong, as he rolled out one of the highlights of the festival. Truly moving tunes, such as ‘Babylon’ and ‘Please Forgive Me,’ sat nicely with glorious moments like his cover of ‘Whiskey in the Jar.’ David totally won the crowd over and showed just how good he really is. He was also one of the many acts who said ‘fuck Tony Blair and fuck George Bush’ to a rapturous crowd reaction. Feeling content, we took to the streets once more until R.E.M started. Picture the scene: we were walking toward the Pyramid Stage when all of a sudden we heard the distinct chords to Drive. Michael Stipe’s unique voice bellows over the crowd and we turn the corner to see 90,000 people eagerly watching probably one of the greatest bands of all time. This was a truly special set, and Stipe seemed genuinely taken back by the reception. Losing My Religion and other classics provided moments of wonder, and Everybody Hurts as an encore was breathtaking. There was no need for anymore, and as we strolled past Primal Scream performing Loaded on the Other Stage, we felt like we’d really accomplished something. Saturday Bizarre cries of ‘Gay Bar,’ ‘Timmy’ and ‘Ballocks’ continued to rattle through the site, and with none of the bands really taking our fancy in the early afternoon, we headed to the circus, where Nono the clown became an instant hero with his mime and juggling act. Various acts, crafts and oddities kept us entertained until it was time to see The Thrills, who everyone seemed to enjoy. We made a point to miss the strange Polyphonic Spree and headed for Supergrass, who delivered sing-a-long anthems galore, rounded off with the excellent Caught By the Fuzz. Supergrass are a truly fantastic live act and well worth seeing. Tonight was always going to be a special night. The Flaming Lips were the funniest, happiest and most charming band I think I will ever see. If you don’t know who the Flaming Lips are, it’s fairly difficult to describe what it is to see them live. Perpetual suns, giant furry animals, puppets, giant balloons for the crowd and a wonderful front-man provided a huge amount of entertainment for the crowd. Everybody enjoyed the show, and smiles beamed around the vast array of people. To be part of this was something really special. Wayne Coyne even got the whole crowd to sing happy birthday. You simply must see the flaming lips live if you ever get the chance. They are brilliant. After the Flaming Lips, the crowd didn’t disperse at all. What was to come was the most talked about point of the festival. Radiohead were returning to Glastonbury for the third time, and the excitement in the crowd was immense. By the time Radiohead came on, it was estimated that 100,000 people were in the natural amphitheatre in front of the Pyramid Stage. This was the big moment. Thom Yorke came on and Radiohead romped their way through a breathtaking set. The energy and atmosphere were second to none, something that could never be recreated. The set was without doubt the highlight of the festival, and probably the highlight of my life, even better than faithless last year. To see Radiohead live is something that is quite difficult to put into words for anyone to understand. They don’t do many live shows, but to see them at Glastonbury, at the front of a crowd of 100,000 other people, do a show of this calibre was quite a moment. Thom Yorke was superbly animated, with crazy dancing and chilling smiles, and the whole show was fantastic. The whole band really seemed like they had discovered some kind of new-found happiness, and the crowd really fed on this. The most bizarre moment of the festival came as four eerie red lights floated across the sky, confusing everyone in the crowd. They weren’t flares, and they couldn’t have been planes. Who knows? Street Spirit was the momentous encore that finished a set that left the vast crowd totally head-fucked. Nobody really knew what to do with themselves afterwards, and bemused faces wandered the site, waiting for it all to sink in. We went over to see Layo and Bushwacka at the Radio One stage, but somehow, it seemed all so pointless, so we went to bed. Sunday Still on a high from last night, we took in the site once more on what was the last day of the festival. Everyone seemed a little dejected and sad that such an enigmatic event was finally coming to an end. There was still much to be done, though, as we shopped and saw the various sites, including a performance of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody entirely in sign language. Asian Dub Foundation were the first band of the day, and as always, they delivered with (political) style. The Glade was witness to the fantastic Man With No Name, who gave a stylish live set of the very best in real trance music. The Man With No Name was one of the first acts that got me into trance music around 1996, and so it was kind of an honour to see the guy live. A few more botched poi tricks later and it was time for the extremely dull Feeder. The rain came and the set got even duller, so we sat under a tree. The Manic Street Preachers gave a rather collected, emotional set that seemed to aptly fit the mood, and it became apparent that all that was left of the festival was Moby, who Miss Chichi and I were both very excited about seeing. Moby’s set was coupled with an incredible light show and seemed to fit in exactly with what everyone was feeling. All his classic tracks from Go to Honey were rolled out in style, and he even did some of his really old skool rave tracks, which worked the crowd into a frenzy. The whole package with Moby was stylish and interesting and in my opinion, was the best way to end the festival. After Radiohead had tried to get other bands to cover Creep so they didn’t have to do it (they notoriously hate the track), Moby took it upon himself to do the honours. Moby performing Creep was the last great moment of a truly inspirational festival, and it had everyone singing along joyously. Following the musical journey that was Moby, Miss Chichi, incredibly tired from the weekend’s exploits, headed back to the tent for some well earned rest. I took this opportunity to wander the site for one final time, taking in the various small closing parties. This wasn’t quite as exciting as I had anticipated, but did provide some entertainment and gave me the chance to have one last stomp. The Hare Krishna tent was in full swing once again. Throughout the festival we had enjoyed many lunches and afternoon chanting sessions in the Hare Krishna tent. This lot are harmless, charming and interesting, and tonight their tent was full of people from all walks of life, believers and non-believers, coming together for some sort of spiritual barn dance. The Radio One stage was playing host to some lacklustre beats from the Tribal Gathering crew, whilst the Energy 24 stage was still in full swing. Tonight's show was a lot better from the camp, however, as some nice, old skool tunes greeted my ears and I felt they had perhaps made up for, what i though, was a lacklustre stage in general. Saying that, I only caught glimpses of the stage now and then, and so who knows what went on when my back was turned. The smaller parties dotted around the site were a lot more fun, but the evening was slightly tarred by a few people going a little bit loopy. I saw one guy take a fairly large sniff from a bottle of poppers and collapse, another guy climb up the DJ booth to hang from the roof of a tent only to fall twenty feet to the ground. I also found one guy fitting before being carried off (limp) by paramedics and various other casualties being attended too. It was generally quite disturbing. Casualties aside though, the night had been fun and I returned to bed satisfied that, once again, Danny and Chichi had taken on Glastonbury and won. All that was left was the slow, mundane return to normality. Top five highs 5. David Gray covering Whiskey in the Jar. 4. R.E.M. 3. The Flaming Lips being the happiest live show I have ever seen. 2. Moby’s gorgeous live show and brilliant cover of Creep. 1. Radiohead. Top five lows 5. Feeder rolling out the dullest of live sets. 4. Miss Chichi losing two pairs of sunglasses :) 3. Shady characters and drug dealers. 2. The toilets. 1. People going a bit crazy on the last night. Top five curiosities 5. Gorgeous hippy chicks, often prancing about in hot-pants and bra tops. A true wonder of the world. 4. Tricky headlining the new bands tent, being neither a band nor new. 3. The four UFOs that flew over the Pyramid Stage during Radiohead’s set. 2. Magic mushrooms. 1. Being told by Q that Saddam Hussein had been captured, that Gaetano had slept with Tania and that Lisa entered the Big Brother house by parachuting into the garden. ROLL ON NEXT YEAR!!! Home > Features > Clubland > ^top