I found myself wondering if people who actually attend the Glastonbury festival ever try to recreate the real Glastonbury arse-sitting experience of watching it at home on TV by bringing a sofa with them and also bringing their dad and putting him on a nearby armchair so that he can say "Crap" every time an act he doesn't like takes the stage before moaning that he is missing the football.
I also found myself overcome with curiosity about Dua Lipa's set after reading a few accounts praising it. I am not familiar with Ms Lipa's music but I am aware that she holds important views of a progressive nature that predispose me to liking her. I checked out some of her set on YouTube, and guess what, she is a pretty strong performer with lots of catchy tunes, many of which have a "good beat". I am a bit ambivalent about the pop music takeover of Glastonbury, not because I hate pop music but because it is symptomatic of the festival losing whatever countercultural edge it once had. That shift to the mainstream is I think driven by the festival's relentless growth and by the need for familiar headliners that will appeal to the television audience. Yet watching Dua Lipa on YouTube had me thinking that her set was amazing and that if I was there I would have completely loved it. However, were I to have been at Glastonbury this year I suspect that I would probably have missed Dua Lipa in favour of Bongo Bill up in whatever is left of the Green Fields.
I also suspect that if I ever go to Glastonbury again I will be confused by the emergence of new stages and of things I remember not being where they were or having new names. And it all being so much bigger than it used to be.
image:
Pyramid Stage (Louder Than War: "Glastonbury 2024 – Festival Review")
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