Festivals and Travelling for Music: From Glastonbury to Ghent

Can a music festival replace a traditional summer holiday? In this episode of Unravel Travel, Malcolm and David revisit more than three decades of festival travel, free concerts and trips built around live music.

Their festival memories begin at Glastonbury Festival in 1992, reached from North Lincolnshire in an ageing Mini with camping equipment—and a portable toilet—strapped to the roof. They recall James, Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine and several emerging performers they failed to appreciate fully at the time, including Blur and PJ Harvey.

Malcolm returned to Glastonbury in 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1999. He remembers the smaller stages, comedy, crafts and bars beyond the main programme, as well as the festival’s increasingly formidable fences and ticket arrangements. His memories also include Tom Jones, a burning wicker figure, comedian Rob Newman, or was it?

Malcolm’s first major festival was Reading Festival in 1991, where he attended on Sunday to see The Sisters of Mercy. Only afterwards did he appreciate what he had missed on the other days—including Nirvana. It demonstrates one advantage of attending an entire music festival: discovering performers you did not originally plan to see. And a guest appearance by John Peel.

The episode then travels to Rock Werchter in Belgium, where David saw Metallica, Neil Young with Booker T. and the MG’s, Faith No More, Lenny Kravitz, the Levellers and Sonic Youth in 1993. Compared with major British festivals, tickets, food and drink in Belgium were surprisingly affordable.

After starting a family, Malcolm returned to festival life through the family-friendly Wychwood Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse. Between approximately 2010 and 2013, the family saw performers including the Waterboys, the Damned, the Levellers, the Saw Doctors, Dodgy, Dreadzone and the Human League. Wychwood combined live music with comedy, crafts and children’s activities.

Free festivals also feature strongly. David recalls the 1994 Carnival Against the Nazis in Brockwell Park, featuring the Levellers and Manic Street Preachers, and seeing John Cale with the Soldier String Quartet at Belgium’s Lokerse Feesten. At Gentse Feesten, the historic centre of Ghent becomes a ten-day city festival of music, theatre, circus and street performance.

Although, not quite offering the same vibe the same vibe, the rise of one day festivals like British Summertime Live (Hyde park, London), usually offer great line ups and give a great reason to visit a place and hook for a memorable trip which can include other activities in nearby locations.

Finally, Malcolm and David discuss travelling to see bands, including The Wedding Present in Ghent, New Model Army in Brno and concerts at venues such as Nottingham Rock City, the Marquee and Wembley. They finish with memories of the Great Xpectations Festival in Finsbury Park and the pleasure of discovering free local live music such as the summer delight of Cap r live music in Breclav, Czechia.

Places mentioned

•  Glastonbury and Pilton, Somerset 
•  Reading 
•  North Lincolnshire 
•  Cheltenham and Cheltenham Racecourse 
•  Brockwell Park, London 
•  Finsbury Park, London 
•  Hyde Park, London 
•  Ghent, Belgium 
•  Werchter, Belgium 
•  Lokeren, Belgium 
•  Brno, Czechia 
•  Bradford 
•  Bristol 
•  Nottingham 
•  Wembley and Hammersmith, London 
•  Singapore 
•  New York 

Other subjects and performers mentioned

•  Festivals as alternatives to conventional holidays 
•  Travelling overseas for cheaper concerts 
•  Discovering unfamiliar performers 
•  Festival ticket ballots and security 
•  Glastonbury’s fences and unofficial entry 
•  Camping equipment and the portable toilet 
•  Arriving early and leaving after the crowds 
•  Family-friendly festivals 
•  Free festivals and politically motivated music events 
•  Following New Model Army around Europe 
•  The Wedding Present in Ghent 
•  Festival camaraderie 
•  Famous music venues 
•  Pulp and David Bowie 
•  James, Carter USM, Blur and PJ Harvey 
•  The Sisters of Mercy and Nirvana 
•  Metallica and Neil Young 
•  John Cale
• Green Day
•  The Cure
• The Damned
•  The Levellers and Manic Street Preachers

If you have any question on this or another travel topic, just contact us at contact.unraveltravel@gmail.com

Our theme music is Traveler's Blues by Jerzy Gorecki from Pixabay (with licence)

https://pixabay.com/users/jerzyg%C3%B3recki-2233926/

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:09

Welcome to Unravel Travel, where every journey has a story.

SPEAKER_03 0:15

And basically for ten days it's a medieval city again. It transforms itself into a massive free festival featuring music, theatres, circus, and street performers. And that again is all free, although getting hold of accommodation these days is probably quite difficult because and it's heaving. Back in the early 90s when I first went, it was a bit quieter. But just amazing that a whole city, I guess it's a bit like the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, uh, in that the whole city turns itself over to becoming this festival for that period of time. And you know, and it's it's another it's a holiday, I guess, you're going abroad or you're going up to Edinburgh, but another way of of holidaying, which is uh quite interesting.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

Don't ever go for one day. If you're gonna go, go and just soak it all up, and some of the best things you see will be things you didn't necessarily expect to see, you know, and it's a good way to find out about uh music. I mean, nowadays it's all different, of course, because you can find it all on Spotify and there's so many different ways of finding your music. But back then, uh if it wasn't played heavily on the radio, you know, you just often didn't know about it, did you so?

SPEAKER_04 1:25

Yeah, completely.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

Oh, is this the way they say the future's meant to feel? Or just twenty thousand people standing in a field? Uh and I don't quite understand just what this feeling is, but that's okay, because we're all sorted out for ease and whiz. And tell me when the spaceship lands, because all this has just got to mean something. In the middle of the night, it feels alright. But then tomorrow morning when you come down.

SPEAKER_05 1:56

Oh something like that.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

When you come. Uh don't know, who is it? Please, I can hear people switching off for ages. That's Pulp.

SPEAKER_03 2:10

It is. Although funnily enough, I was thinking when I was thinking what you might choose. Uh the one that came to mind for me was David Bowie, uh memory of a free festival. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

Yeah. Yeah. Although I'm not sure I've been to a free festival. Oh, I have actually. Well, I've I've been to a festival and not paid, let's put it like that.

SPEAKER_03 2:29

Well, okay, that's not quite the same thing. Whereas I've been to a couple of free festivals, which is maybe why it was uh in my mind. Yeah, I suppose I have. We'll come on to those a bit later.

SPEAKER_01 2:38

Yeah, cool. So we're gonna talk about festivals and travelling for music. Last week, as we're recording this, should have been Glastonbury, but they're having a fallow year this year. And is that because there was no rain forecast? Hey, we'll come on to that in a minute. Uh and I was reading a piece on the BBC website about how lots of people are giving up traditional summer holidays to go to festivals instead and going to like three or four long festivals over the summer, and saying that festivals are really just a way of getting away from home doing something different, which is what traditionally people have seen as holidays.

SPEAKER_03 3:19

So Well, traditionally festivals didn't cost as much as a holiday. No, they do now, quite often. Now I don't think you could afford to do both. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 3:27

Especially if you're a young person. Exactly. So we thought maybe talking about festivals and travelling for music was an interesting idea. Summer summer spin on things, yes, I totally agree. Uh hence why we're doing it. I'm not here against my will. So, I mean, we're gonna talk about some traditional festivals and travelling for gigs and following bands and all that sort of thing. Because these are all variations on the same sort of theme. What shall shall we start at the beginning? What what was the first festival or thing like that that you remember doing, Dave?

SPEAKER_03 4:00

First festival, as I think you know. Uh I don't know whether it was your first festival, but it wasn't. Was you and me. I didn't think it was, I thought you'd done something before. Was you and me going to Glastonbury in 92. We'd both finished work, hadn't we? No, I'd I'd all finish university. University. Uh I'd actually been working for a handful of months. That had I? Yes. No, God, I'm getting this all wrong. I'm confusing it with our travelling going around Europe. Uh I hadn't uh started work. We did the festival first, then I went to start work, which means I think you were still were you still at university? Well, I I was doing a summer job, I think. Right, okay. Yeah, and we I remember you, me, and a mate of yours, who I can't remember his name, but hopefully you do, piled into your was it a Mark I mini? It was certainly a small one. My old mini, yeah, old mini. And this was in Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire. Never having been to Glastonbury and not having Google to hand back then, uh other than a road map. Uh it seemed like quite a long way on a roadmap. It was an even longer way in a mini, yeah, with all our gear, including Portoloo, strapped to the roof. Helped with the aerodynamic nature of the mini, didn't it? But I've got to say of all the things we took, I think I would have got rid of everything apart from the I probably would have slept without a tent if it meant that I could keep the Portaloo, uh, because it was a genius. And that's probably why I know you should have known that you'd been to a festival before because you'd already learned all the little tricks.

SPEAKER_01 5:32

Although if we'd have got rid of the tent, you'd have been sat on a portaloo in the middle of the field. So that might not have been that might not have been quite so good. Good point, but there probably would have been a cue for it as well, if it was the tent not hiding it. That was and we just went to Glassmore for the sort of traditional three or four days. I think then we arrived maybe Thursday. We got that this mistake, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:54

You had some friends already there who had sort of secured us a camping spot, uh so we didn't have to get there very early. We sort of got a pretty good location. You could actually see the main stage, I think. Yeah, we were up in the main field, weren't we? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, that was quite good. The downside was we could hear James from there though. What were your when the rumour had been it was going to be Morrissey, very disappointing. Oh, I'm glad it wasn't Morrissey.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

And what what were your musical highlights of that, David? Best and worst choice of the of the trip.

SPEAKER_03 6:23

What I enjoyed Ned's Ned's comic dustbin. That that was my favourite. The one I what uh uh probably would have enjoyed, but it was maybe two, three years too early was the orb because when you know three songs into the set you said, Oh, shall we go and watch Shakespeare's sister now? I went, Oh yeah, good idea. Which, you know, in hindsight should have stayed and watched The Orb. Probably. You know, I didn't know them at the time. And I've also looked back in recent years, who else was playing? Apparently, Blur were playing that year. Carter, the unstoppable sex machine were playing. Well, yeah, that they played because yeah, we knew them, they were a headline, I think. But Blur were unknown at the time, more or less.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:02

PJ Harvey played, didn't know her at the time, would have looked so you know, I'd love to have a little time machine. I know this is a travel podcast. Can we do something on time travel so I can go back and see PJ Harvey and Blur at the 92 uh Glastonbury Festival?

SPEAKER_01 7:16

Well, and if I talk about my first festival experience the summer before I went to Reading with Simone and a couple of other people, again in a mini, all the way all the way to Reading, and and Reading's a three-day festival as well. We were going we wanted to go for Sunday night to see the Sisters of Mercy who were headlining, and we didn't go for Friday and Saturday nights, we just went down for one night. Well, we arrived at some time the day before.

SPEAKER_03 7:45

Sisters of Mercy back then they probably would have been quite good to see, but who who did you miss on the Friday or Saturday?

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Well, we missed at Nirvana. Oh yeah, which is probably a mistake, and Blur, I think, were playing as well. Just looking back at the set like like you, looking back at the list of who played at things. So and the fall. Oh, yeah, wouldn't we? And Iggy Paul as well and Sonic Youth. Bloody hell Alco.

SPEAKER_03 8:11

But you got to see Andrew Eldritch.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

Yeah, fall over, yeah, that was great. Yeah, so you know, a time machine would be very helpful. I think the thing with festivals straight away is take the time, don't ever go for one day. If you're gonna go, go and just soak it all up, and some of the best things you see will be things you didn't necessarily expect to see, you know, and it's a good way to find out about music. I mean, nowadays it's all different, of course, because you can find it all on Spotify, and there's so many different ways of finding your music, but back then, if it wasn't played heavily on the radio, you know, you just often didn't know about it, did you so?

SPEAKER_04 8:49

Yeah, completely.

SPEAKER_03 8:51

And one of my memories of uh Glastonbury, and I know we chatted before we went on air, so to speak, about stuff like this, is that we we spent a lot of time up in the chill-out fields during the day. Yeah I think it it was it was one of those rare Glastonbury's where if the weather was a bit like it is now, it was very hot. So getting a little bit higher up, just and away from all the crowds, just felt nice and cool. Uh and we chilled out in both senses of the word. With a frisbee, as I remember it.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

I mean I've been to Glastonbury five times, they were all in the nineties. Uh since then I've applied on the ballot for tickets many times and not got them. But I I've been five times.

SPEAKER_03 9:26

Your history's finally caught up with you.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

Yeah. Apart from the first time, I always went for more than just the three stroke, you know, bit of travel time days. Usually went as soon as they opened, like on a Wednesday, and stayed like till the Tuesday afterwards or something, because there's quite a lot going on in the smaller bars and tents, and it's just you know, it's just a different environment, and it's quite enjoyable like that, when it not the packed three days of you know main festival. Okay, you're not seeing necessarily the such big bands, but a lot of the music that's going on is pretty good um and and happenings. But so I've spent a lot of time in those fields and only been rained on for about half an hour during that entire time. So you always talk about the mud baths. There were two famous mud baths in the 90s, but I was in Singapore when they happened. So Wow, well well done, Malcolm. So if you want to go to Glassmith, find out when I'm going, because it's probably gonna be dry.

SPEAKER_03 10:26

Which is not because he's not allowed in anymore. Do you remember who headlined in '92? The the main headline. Oh no, actually it wasn't it wasn't the headline, it was the the legend slot. Do you remember who was the legend slot? I don't even know if it was called the legend. Was it Tom Jones? It was. Back before I think it was called for like Tom Jones. Uh but yeah, it was it was a good set.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

I remember that one. I remember some but someone some entrepreneurial person opened up a stall at the side of the field selling selling knickers to throw at him and bras and stuff. I forgot about that, but yeah. Yeah, very good. How much money did you make from that? And so I went in '92, '93, '94, '95, '99. '93 it was Lou Reed, headlining and Mooney Kravitz. 94 Levelers were the main thing. 95, Oasis Cure, Pulp. So I always paid for t I I I always had the the view that the festival wouldn't happen if people who could afford to pay for tickets didn't pay for tickets. So I always paid for a ticket, even though back in those early years you could pretty much just walk in if you wanted to. You're saying those early years, didn't it start in the 1970s? Oh, yeah, it did. But I meant, you know, that that that was the time. Yeah, I I think those those years ninety two was ninety two or was it the year before when all that sort of convoy of of travellers turned up and all that?

SPEAKER_03 11:50

I think it was the year before because that the members did a song about it, didn't they? Or related.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

So they were just sort of set starting to improve the security and stuff. But 95, I couldn't get a ticket, it sold out, but I wanted to go.

SPEAKER_03 12:02

So But Malcolm, you said you saw Oasis Cure and Pulp in 95.

SPEAKER_01 12:07

I went, obviously, I I went over the fence. But the only time I did over the Berlin Wall. Yeah. It was it was a serious military operation, and it's even worse now. I mean, it was two it was like trying to get out of Calditz or something. There were two eight-foot-high fences, you know, with a with people driving round the middle of them on a sort of patrols. It was and and normally, well, it built up over the time, but as you said, we took a portal one year. Um we took, you know, because it's a quite it even then, it was quite expensive if you're gonna stay for a long time, having to buy all your food and drink and everything. So we would take stoves and a bit of a more serious camping setup. But you can't do that if you're going over the fence, because you're just and and with the lightest amount of stuff you can't. Not one person gets a ticket, carries all the story. So that was done pretty lightly, and then in 1999 we went for uh with Rich Keely, I think it was his stagdo effectively, actually.

SPEAKER_03 13:05

And that was doesn't surprise me that Rich would have a stagdo that is basically a festival around music, centered around music.

SPEAKER_01 13:12

Skunk and Nancy, Manic Street Preachers, REM. Different sort of feel suddenly to the earlier nineties. But that was good, that was the last time we went, and it was sort of starting to get a bit more professional and serious at that point, I think.

SPEAKER_03 13:25

I watch it on TV these days, and I'm I don't regret that choice because as you said, it I mean I only went once and it was one of those weird things where I just said, I don't think I'm gonna go back because it was it was just so good that you know I just thought I want that to be my memory of Glastonbury, which I know is a bit weird, but it just it was how it felt. And I did other stuff, I've done other festivals as well, although nothing they were all day festivals if I remember correctly. I've never camped again at another festival.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

This is Unravel Travel on festivals and travelling for music. We went 92 and then we went interrailing later that year together. And if you listen back to the interrailing uh episode, episode two, we met some guys who David described as Dodgy from Scotland, who we were on the ferry with from No, I said they were listening to Dodgy. And I was sat in one of the fields in Glastonby in in the second in '93, and sat right in front of me was one of those two Scottish guys. By some amazing coincidence. I mean, probably not for but there's still you know a hundred thousand people there, so it's quite a coincidence, I suppose.

SPEAKER_03 14:45

That was then. God, how how that's the other thing that puts me off now. Just so so big, is it a quarter of a million now? Something like that's running. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:53

Yeah. The mind boggles. And I still can't get a flipping ticket. It's become much more internationalising that people come from all over the world now. That really hadn't quite happened then. It was still mostly English people, I would say.

SPEAKER_03 15:05

Well, actually, yeah, so we're British people. Let me say British people. I'm gonna jump all over the place here, and I'm just trying to yeah. So you've got Glastonbury in the UK in '93, which was the year after you and I went to Glastonbury, I went to Rockwerter uh in Belgium, and that that festival's still going. I I don't know if you can camp or not there. We just went for the day, but I think it is multi-days.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

We we'll put the correct spelling of that in the notes for anybody that might be trying to search for it.

SPEAKER_03 15:33

Well, it starts with a W, but it is Rockverta, is how you pronounce it, I'm pretty certain. And on the headline there, and it's a fraction of the cost. Uh, even these days it's a fraction of the cost of Glastonbury. Metallica headlined, uh, Levelers were playing, Neil Young was with and Booker T and the MGs. Well, I don't know, but obviously I know Neil Young.

SPEAKER_01 15:54

Booker T and the MGs, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:56

Oh yeah, you know them, do you? Yeah. Uh Faith No More, Lenny Kravits, and Sonic Youth. Not a bad lineup. And I can't remember how much we paid for the ticket, but I'm thinking 20, 30 quid. You know, sometimes and again, I I've got to stretch this a little bit, but we went to see the what I say, we, me and a couple of few mates, went to see the Raytons in Ghent in Belgium a couple of years ago. And one of the reasons we went was well, we know people in Belgium, so we got free accommodation, got to meet up with some friends. But the other reason was it sold out in the UK, so you couldn't get a ticket. But also it was damn sight cheaper in Belgium, and then we went for a night out afterwards, and instead of paying sort of seven, eight quid a pint, you're paying two, three quid a beer in Belgium. So, you know, it it can be a way travelling to see a band can be a cheaper way of doing it. And I think you did you say you'd just seen New Model Army or you're about to?

SPEAKER_01 16:51

No, well, one of the reasons we're in check this particular week is that New Model Army are playing in Bruno, which is the closest city to where we stay, on Friday night, tomorrow night. So we're going to that. I mean I've seen them lots of times in England. Uh I mean I always have to travel to see them because they didn't come on a plane chip in Norton. So Bristol or London or Nottingham.

SPEAKER_03 17:16

I thought I might have seen them in Bradford with you once.

SPEAKER_01 17:18

Yeah, we've seen them in Bradford together, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:20

Yeah. Um but and you were in Leeds at the time.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

Yeah, but you always have to travel, don't you? I mean, you always have to travel unless even if you as you say you lived in London for a while, you still have to travel across London unless you happen to look next to the Hammersmith Odeon, you know, that you know you're not you're not going to see these bands on your doorstep.

SPEAKER_03 17:39

So I did see some at Wembley, so that was they that was nice and close. Yeah, that's true. But yeah, you're right. Normally you're travelling and it's you're talking two hours or so.

SPEAKER_01 17:47

Yeah, and sometimes you're staying over because these things finish late. Uh sometimes you're driving back late, you know, but it is a travel experience, and quite often you go a bit early in the day and enjoy the place, don't you? I mean, all these people on Facebook on the new Model Army tour, they're travelling around different European cities every couple of days. They're obviously out sightseeing, and then they go to gig in the evening, and there's a sort of camaraderie of these groups of people doing this together. Your brother did it for a while as well, and it's a good way of experiencing something slightly different. It's like a holiday, but with a with a sort of kernel of logic in it. You're not necessarily selling selecting the destinations, even you're following whoever's already putting it.

SPEAKER_03 18:35

And that I that was what came to mind when I thought about when we went to Glastonbury the first time because I don't really remember the journey back so much because I think I was just shattered. And I I I remember we stopped so you could have a sleep, which is fair enough since we started at stupid o'clock and we hadn't had any sleep. But the journey down I just remember as being really exciting and everything, and it's all part of the package, isn't it? Yeah, it is. Uh travel travelling with mates, going to uh see a band that or bands that you all enjoy, and you know, it's all part of the package. And even better if you've got a designated driver. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 19:06

He doesn't like being behind people. I mean, you know, though at Glastonby the famous thing was the cut was the queuing to get into the in and out of the car park, wasn't it? I mean, that's a nightmare.

SPEAKER_03 19:15

Yeah, well that's why we left early. I I don't remember it being bad going in, but that's probably because we got there at in decent time. But yeah, coming out, I think we'd left at six in the morning or something on the month.

SPEAKER_01 19:25

Maybe something like that. I can't quite remember now. But like I say, uh in the other ones where we've gone in earlier and and stayed later to avoid that sort of rush as well. Did you remember seeing anybody famous other than on stage when we were in Glastonby 92, Dave? Did you remember the sporting reference?

SPEAKER_03 19:43

Yeah, I know. Uh I I can't remember their names because I think you couldn't at the time either. David, uh it is uh it was Rob Newman, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_01 19:52

Yeah, no, it was David, it was David the deal. We were playing Frisbee and he walked almost past us and somebody said, Hey, isn't that isn't that Rob Newman from from the Mary Whitehouse experience? Because he was a sort of famous one, wasn't he? So we threw the frisbee right past him and cast that showing, hey Rob, throw the frisbee back. And he goes, My name's not Rob, it's Dave. He had a bit of a hissy fit. You'd we'd misrecognised him. He thought, hey, I'm famous, and then oh, actually I'm not that famous.

SPEAKER_03 20:26

Well he is now, I'd recognise him now. Just took a bit longer.

SPEAKER_01 20:29

And uh and when I was at Reading, lying zonked out in the middle of the field in the heat of the room. Sounds like you're doing the reading again. Uh John Peel stepped right over me. Did he? I said you mentioned John Peel in the last episode, and he would be recurring again in this episode.

SPEAKER_03 20:47

I was just gonna say, and we've not released that episode yet. Uh so that's two episodes the dear old departed John Peel is in.

SPEAKER_04 20:54

Good for him.

SPEAKER_01 20:55

Those are sort of major festivals. I had a bit of a gap from festivals for a while while my children well, I got married, and then my children were very little. But then I started festivalling again, but family festivals, and we went to Witchwood. It's in Cheltenham Race Course, it's in the middle of Cheltenham Race Course, and it's got camping and you know, a few stages and various other such things.

SPEAKER_03 21:18

What was that? Was that music, uh performing clowns for children, or what was the deal?

SPEAKER_01 21:22

Well, it was a whole load of things. It was mostly music, but they also had not quite at the Glastonbury level of performing arts, but they had a comedy tent as well, and there were arts and crafts things going on, not only with the kids' emphasis, but you know, just so what what makes that that's this is an interesting question, I I think, because I'm asking it.

SPEAKER_03 21:40

What makes that a family festival and Glastonbury not when clear then they're providing the same things? And one answer I'm guessing is prevalence of drugs, maybe?

SPEAKER_01 21:50

Uh probably. Uh that's got something to do with it. I mean, cost effectiveness to get in with a family. Uh there was definitely more family oriented things. things to do and face painting. Yeah. That's what I mean. Okay. That that was all going on. That was all going on at Glastonbury as well, of course. Oh right. But there were more there were more it was just more aimed at families, I think. Maybe they probably had sort of family performing acts on the stage on a morning, you know, that sort of thing. But I mean the the music was still pretty good. Okay, so this was 2010 to 2013. We saw the Water Boys, the Damned Levelers, Saw Doctors, Dodgy, Dreadzone. Same types of bands. Yeah. I mean obviously 10 years later, so they're they're not in their you know the height of their fame, but pretty good. I mean Human League, they were pretty good, even though that was 20 years after the height of their fame.

SPEAKER_03 22:46

Right the damned were even earlier.

SPEAKER_01 22:48

Yeah yeah indeed. They weren't there wasn't it wasn't quite so much a punk vibe I think it's fair to say everyone was spitting each other.

SPEAKER_03 22:57

I'm not entirely sure they were completely punk anyway to be honest. Obviously they were but then they changed in the 80s. I've just remembered something uh about the first well the Glastonbury that I went to and you and I went together one of the highlights for me was the burning of the uh the corn the Wickerman the Wickerman yeah the corn dot um man or whatever they called it at the time maybe it was Wickerman. I learned my memory and it's probably completely wrong is that this was hundreds of feet tall flames coursing through it. Obviously nobody in the head which was what they used to do with all the prisoners or whatever but uh and that then this just m pounding drum beat that was sort of invoking fields of the Nephilim in my head. I I don't what was your experience of that? Was it sort of like six inches high and somebody put a match to it?

SPEAKER_01 23:43

I I don't particularly remember it Dave. It's funny isn't it it's funny what different people remember about about yeah for me I I think I might have had my mind altered ever so slightly but I loved that.

SPEAKER_03 23:55

We were probably together all the time though weren't we I think we were because I was you know I was a newbie I'd had somebody try to take a knife to me within five minutes of turning up at the place to try and take my band off my wrist. Uh-huh I was probably a bit clingy I would imagine because I I was a little bit out of my comfort zone. So I think we did spend all the time together because I was following you round like a faithful dog.

SPEAKER_01 24:18

And I should thank you for looking after me and putting up with that. The main bands tend to be on in the evenings don't they? And you do sort of moot around the stages and listen to this and that and the other but quite often there's so much more going on than just the main bands. Yeah you know and the main stages that the comedy field is always very good and various arts and crafts things going on as well which are quite if you go in there for quite a long time it's quite a nice break. And actually often people setting up bars in various places and they'll often have some sort of live music on. So and they're generally pretty good. So it's just that sort of chilling out thing isn't it it's it's a holiday it's like a break from your day to day environment you're going to somewhere different and you're doing different things and you're just chillaxing.

SPEAKER_03 25:04

Yeah exactly can I do a a little bit on a couple of free festivals that I went to of course I think this first one was free. Well actually uh 1994 I went to an anti-Nazi league uh carnival in the park which is I look had to look it up because I could vaguely remember it was uh I thought it was anti-fascist same sort of thing I guess I remembered the heav levelers were headlining and I remembered it was somewhere in London so I had to look everything else up it was in Brockwell Park which I have no idea where that is but South London maybe can't remember. But Manic Street Preachers I do remember seeing them there. Apparently Tom Robinson was there but I don't remember seeing him but I'm pretty certain that was a free gig if not free not very expensive and obviously it was supporting the rise of fascism which was apparently supporting the rise of fascism sorry good point uh opposing the rise of fascism we won't be editing that out no I'm sure we won't uh since I don't get to say uh say on the edit which was apparently sort of growing quite strongly at the time uh which makes me think uh might be time for another one exactly we are looking to be in that area unfortunately I can't believe it's still an issue but anyway the other amazing free one I went to was the in Lochoran and I this you will have to look up the correct pronunciation is the the Lochhurst festival and John Cale I all I remember is him on his piano he had a a string quartet just playing some kind of avant-garde set and absolutely loving it. I don't think I knew any of the songs he might have played one or two of his famous songs and maybe a Valve underground one as well I can't remember but I just remember it just being absolutely amazing. I was with my ex-wife and I remember say this is free how come this is free it's so good and then on a slightly different tap they do do music there but it's more about um other stuff is the uh the Ghent festival and I'm just going to read what the internet says it about about it. So it's all it's called the Gentis Gent see Gent Feaston I can't say that and basically for 10 days it's a medieval city Gent it transforms itself into a massive free festival featuring music theatre circus and street performers and that again is all free although getting hold of accommodation these days is probably quite difficult because and it's heaving back in the early 90s when I first went it was a bit quieter. But just amazing that a whole city I guess it's a bit like the Edinburgh Fringe festival uh in that the whole city turns itself over to becoming this festival for that period of time. And you know and it's it's it's another it's a holiday I guess you're going abroad or you're going up to Edinburgh but another way of of holidaying which is uh quite interesting.

SPEAKER_01 27:45

I mean obviously we're in Czech quite a lot and one of the particular things that we like we were there last night is every July there's a there's a there's a sort of pub in town outside the castle which only opens in the summer. It's a sort of open air pub and they put on music every Wednesday night in July and August and and it's free. I mean they go around with the collection box the band get whatever the crowd pay for them and it's such a range of different I've been to a pub like that in London.

SPEAKER_03 28:20

And it's it's it wasn't music though. I did not know I was going in I got taken when I was working a bit of a surprise when I walked in and looked at the stage.

SPEAKER_01 28:32

Anyway sorry Malcolm but but this is uh memories such a range of different music uh and we've seen uh Hungarian ro Romany jazz bands and all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff local local type folk music uh international jazz acts all sorts of things people coming from Poland to play in it and quite a way away as well as quite local things and and always top quality they don't just invite any old person to play. So you're always getting something good but it's a bit of a pot look exactly what you're gonna get. So and that's excellent and you just sit outside drinking beers that goes on whatever the weather even if it's raining they'll sort of huddle under some sort of canvas and play and there'll be a few people watching but on I mean there must have been at least two hundred people there last night at least to be honest I just don't think you can beat live music. Yeah and and when it's foreign you don't normally listen to it do you we're saying about not finding out about new music but I mean for foreign music you know I'm not gonna hear any Romani Hungarian jazz bands very often and and they were they were fantastic they were really good blind pianist he was amazing um you need to hang out with Howard Moon a bit often a bit more often than you'd hear about the Romani jazz bands. That's right anyway uh gonna I took a clip of it last night we'll we'll play out with the the song they played out with which is Dobrunats which is good night so I'll play a clip of that at the end as we leave. Brilliant we you know we aim we always aim to make sure we're gonna if we're in check July and August we're here on a Wednesday and I think we're good four of them this time out of the nine that will probably be on. Yeah or great that sort of thing you know but you've got to find out about it that's the problem isn't it you've got to get a hint about that sort of thing.

SPEAKER_03 30:22

Yeah yeah although you know these days I could find out what happened back in the nineties in Belgium just by doing a search. So if you you put music near where you're staying you'll probably have a good chance of finding it.

SPEAKER_01 30:36

Yeah that's true searches you know in London you'd be looking at a timeout when you'd see what gigs are on. Back in the day absolutely when we went to New York we said let's go and see some live music and and actually it was saying I when I was looking into it it was saying that bands often don't get listed so early whereas in London the s the you know who's playing where what night is often arranged you know a couple of months in advance but apparently it's a bit a bit short notice in America I didn't know that but apparently that's the case other than the major tours and you know Taylor Swift ten nights at Wembley or whatever. Yeah in New York. Yeah but you know I knew what you meant. Um where have you been to any iconic music venues Dave? I can think of a couple I've been to I think I think we've been to Nottingham Rock City together I've been quite a few times I think I've been at least once with you.

SPEAKER_03 31:30

Been twice with me. Right oh yeah because we went to see the Colts didn't we that Christ all nighter yeah Christie and death that all nighter yeah exactly all nighter right both of us fell asleep at different points in the evening you asleep on a bog with the door closed and a queue of people waiting for the toilet to become available me getting woken up with somebody pouring a it will uh me getting woken up with somebody pouring a pint of beer over my head. Anyway yeah so um and the Marquee club oh the marquee yeah Wembley's not iconic is it there Marquee definitely Rosetta Stone any yeah I think I've been there a few times.

SPEAKER_01 32:09

Well that was when I went that time with you and we just speaking about travelling we ended up one of the one of their travelling fans because they were based in Liverpool I think they're from originally he was asking any can I stay anywhere tonight? Can anyone put me up tonight? Because he was just travelling around following the band and and we took him back to your house Dave and put him up do you remember?

SPEAKER_03 32:31

Yeah yeah I I remember he slept on the floor yeah um yeah he was probably expecting something a little bit a little bit more luxurious but probably probably not probably not probably not yeah yeah I do remember I I might have done that another time as well I went uh to see uh Terror vision with Darren and I have a recollection that maybe somebody put ended up putting somebody up at the end maybe not maybe I'm confusing the two because when we were in New York I was gonna I was looking to see if we could go to CGB's but it's not there anymore. No, unfortunately and that would have been another time travel moment I'd love to have gone back and seen either Iggy and the Stooges or Blondie uh or Velvet's uh that that would have been pretty cool. Well we saw the Velvet Underground at um at Wembley of course we did we did although it would have been nice to see him in their heyday I mean it was very good seeing them whatever.

SPEAKER_01 33:19

I mean they only played five gigs on that tour and they broke up again didn't they they only got they didn't get to America they did like Glasgow and not they did Paris I think. Yeah that's right Glasgow a couple in London and then I think they broke up before they got any further didn't they so I've still got that t-shirt.

SPEAKER_03 33:36

In fact I might wear it tomorrow lucky you I got rid of mine which was a big mistake. I also bought the black one rather than the white one but anyway that's maybe why I got rid of it.

SPEAKER_01 33:45

Any other festivals traveling gigs that uh you want to mention so I think we've got like a couple of minutes left I don't think so I think we're probably well I s I suppose when I was living in Singapore I didn't it's not really a major venue for music is it I saw Blur there on the song number two tour that era British Summertime live I was doing that for a few years you and I went and saw the cure together Green Day with the twigs.

SPEAKER_03 34:09

The other one I want to just do a quick shout out to another one in London um a one-off one uh called Great Expectations festival in Finsbury Park uh that had the cure Carter Sugar Belly Damon Alban and Graham what it wasn't somebody reading Dickens all day was it? No it was um a promotion to get XFM or back then I don't think it was called XFM because they were trying to get their late radio license. I think previously it had been uh pirate so they were trying to get an FM license which I don't think they did immediately but they did eventually and then the whole thing went you know all the radios went online shortly afterwards anyway. But it was a nice nice festival.

SPEAKER_01 34:52

Good and and I shall keep trying to get tickets for Glastonbury and go again. I'd like to go again Petra and I'll go I mean I was going to take the kids I want to take the kids before they thought what to do anything with me that we didn't manage and I've kept trying since for Petra and I but I you know we'll try again next year it'll be good if we could get that landed. Yeah thank you and I I'll have a good night tomorrow. I'll try not to get beaten up in the mosh pit. Yeah we'll enjoy oh it's tonight is it tomorrow night oh tomorrow I enjoy uh well that's it for this episode thank you for listening everybody thank you and I'm just gonna play you out with some music from last night double nuts