Just noticed live coverage starts on sky arts 1 in 20 mins, this should be good for a laugh sat here nice and warm
Well we went tonight to hear Noah and the Whale, can sit right opposite the stage on the other side of river for free! No mud, no crowd and could hear and see exactly what we wanted, we even had a nice picnic bench to sit on, and got parked right by it! Just a pity we had been in a bit of a rush and not taken a good supply of bevarages and food, otherwise think we would of still been there now! As to the main town - its dead! All very eerie! ;D However it did mean there was no queue at the chip shop this friday evening! ) Its normally the town to avoid at this time of year!
Poor buggers, but thats Brit waether for you eh? Don't really know who is on at IOW, apart from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, who I'd like to have seen but I kinda think that ship has sailed, let it go old chap..... Only did 2 Glastos, 2002 and 2005, the second was bloody wet but great fun. :rain:
I have said it before - but in my humblest of views - the IOW fest is a pretty 'middle of the road' line up - radio friendly shifter units and a few big names - that is in no way a criticism or such like -- but just not my cup of tea
My first IOW was 05 and back then is was still relatively small compared to the Glasto's and Reading's. I think it was something like 35.000 people. One stage, a few bars / concept bars, as fun fair and some top notch food stalls. Also magic mushrooms were available in plentiful supply I remember there was plenty of space to get round and not a bottleneck in sight. Campsites were spacious and filled with wicked people. Fast forward to 09 when i went and it was carnage. Overcrowded and overcrowded with absolute bellends. To many youngsters with a chip on their shoulder up for it and also up for robbing tents. Glasto was off in 06 and that's when things went wrong. All of a sudden there was a void left that needed filling and bands were available for the IOW so they nabbed the Foo's, Coldplay & The Prodigy plus a whole host of other top bands/artists. Mr Giddings and Solo bath in a fortune and thus it became about making money rather than giving the festival goer value for money. That's where the smaller festivals come in. Decent line ups with some underground names and also some known names, cheap price for a ticket, no hassle by a load of p ricks and they try to keep the vibe real and remember the small things that used to make the big festivals what they were at the time.
Its been raining all night so if it was'nt already a mud bath it must be a swamp by now on the island, so glad i'm sat here in the warm all ready for the F1 and then footy tonight. My bro in law still reckon's glasto 97 was the worst weather he's seen at a festival, was anyone on here at that glasto?
i did iow last year for the first time (normally a leeds festy guy) and the organisation, weather and general feel was very poor I thought.
Well we've just braved it and driven around festival and quite frankly it seems to be a lot of fuss about nothing. Yes its definitely welly weather but then aren't most festivals? :- In fairness to the organiser it does certainly seem from the outside and conversations we have been involved in its just alot of people getting on their high horse about nothing. Big Bang this year was far worse and your talking of a lot less of a crowd at that. However don't get me wrong, there should certainly of been better organisation for the Thursday arrival traffic and the delays experienced not occured. At least it wasn't another cancelled event. Its the first year I can honestly say that the Isle of Wight seems to of come to a standstill, it really is like a ghost island - most obscure. ??? No one can control the weather and this year has been extreme weather for the time of year. That we can't argue with. Wishing everyone a safe journey home!
I was there. Thursday was hell. Ten hours to get from the port to the site but we were one of the lucky ones that made it. The organisation was appalling considering the rain we've had since April. No communication to those out in the queues. Still a good atmosphere in the parked traffic until the evening rain came. I felt for anyone stuck there with kids though. I've never been so happy to be towed (and by a New Holland tractor). Friday and Saturday were absolutely brilliant. Good weather, good music, space on site just muddy underfoot. The site had mainly dried out before the rain returned on Saturday night (while watching the Charlatans). Sunday afternoon we had to come home as one of our party wasn't too well. The crowds were much smaller than last year. As ticket sales weren't as good as last year they made a decision a couple of months out to cap it at 55,000 rather than the 90,000 that people like to erroneously quote to make a point. Good atmosphere throughout and met lots of friendly people. Not going to go again as Thursday meant that they lost our built-up goodwill, but in terms of the festival events, site and people it was a good one and not deserving of the cynicism on here.
Finally a point of view from someone actually there, glad you had a good time. Have seen a few friends last night but they were on the ******* still so could not get much sense outa them but saw a few pictures of where they camped and it looked a proper mess but thats where having a camper van comes into its own at a muddy festival.
