We had no intention of going this year since it was our 20th (!!!) wedding anniversary so we were going to go back to Siena at the start of June. But the elder daughter and her boyfriend wanted to go so we said we’d help out trying to get tickets for them and so when we actually managed to get through we of course ended up putting all five of us in.

As ever there was far too much I wanted to see. I’ll stick up a Spotify playlist of what I wanted to see, but here’s what I ended up seeing. I decided I would prioritise getting to stages I’d not been to before over artists I wanted to see. This was a fantastic idea and also somewhat helped with making decisions over clashes. And as luck would have it, it meant I had checked off most of the stages (Greenpeace, Glade, Strummerville, Croissant Neuf, Acoustic, Left Field) by the end of Friday. Artist-wise my must sees were Heartworms and then something Scottish (ended up being Corto.Alto) as I felt bad in 2023 for missing all the Scottish acts.

• Wednesday
  • Small world stage: Headmix
• Thursday
  • 13:45 Greenpeace: Anna Erhard
  • 15:00 Greenpeace: Joshua Idehen
  • 17:15 Glade: MJ Cole
  • 20:00 Strummerville: Jeanie and the whiteboys
  • 21:00 Strummerville: Heartworms *
  • 00:00 Bimble Inn: Dogshow ^
• Friday:
  • 11:30 Holts: Corto.Alto
  • 13:15 Croissant Neuf: Nancy Williams *
  • 14:00 Park: Jalen Ngonda
  • 15:15 Woodsies: Shed 7 ^
  • 15:45 Other: Wet leg ^
  • 17:00 Acoustic: Billie Martin *
  • 17:45 Greenpeace: Jarvis DJing ^
  • 18:45 Greenpeace: Miso Extra ^
  • 19:00 Luna: Joy Anonymous x Kurupt ^
  • 19:50 Left Field: Antony Szmierek *
  • 22:30 Other: Loyle Carner ^
• Saturday:
  • 11:30 Other: Alessi Rose
  • 12:45 Other: Good Neighbours
  • 14:00 Park: Japanese breakfast
  • 14:30 Holts: Bob Vylan ^
  • 16:00 Holts: Kneecap
  • 18:45 Pyramid: Pulp (Patchwork)
  • 20:30 Lonely: A.G. Cook
  • 22:30 Other: Charli xcx
  • 00:00 Bimble: Alex James DJing (OAP disco)
  • 01:00 Arcadia: Annie Mac B2B Jamz Supernova ^
  • 02:00 Arcadia: Groove Armada B2B Jungle ^
• Sunday:
  • 14:00 Woodsies: Sprints
  • 15:30 Woodsies: Djo
  • 18:20 Avalon: Big Moon *
  • 19:45 Other: Wolf Alice
  • 21:45 Other: Prodigy
  • 23:20 Tree Stage: Max Cooper ^
  • 00:20 Tree Stage: Jon Hopkins ^
  • 00:30 San Remo: Job Jobse ^
  • 23:30 Levels: Seth Troxler ^
  • 01:00 Levels: Groove Armada ^
  • 00:10 Arcadia: ShyFX B2B Eats Everything ^
  • 01:30 Arcadia: Basslayerz B2B Born on Road ^

* - Original must sees, based on stages

^ - Didn’t see the whole set. Sunday night we had a whirlwind tour on the way back to the tent

My top three (not necessarily in any particular order) based on emotions (almost crying; definitely welled up):

1. Antony Szmierek
2. Sprints
3. Pulp

Other notable mentions: Joshua Idehen (amazing) and Heartworms (obviously, although we annoyingly ended up next to people who decided to meetup and talk all the way through it, which put a bit of a dampener on it).

I really noticed crowd “issues” this time round. Already mentioned Heartworms, but for Shed 7 I missed most of it because I went to the bar and then couldn’t get back into the tent due to “crowd crust” on the edges. People sat in friggin’ chairs! If I hadn’t have had a drink in each hand and a backpack on I would have just pushed through as A had gone in and there was plenty of room. On a related note, the crowd can really make or break an act: With Wolf Alice, the crowd where we were felt really flat; I thought it was just people getting an early spot for Prodigy, but when Wolf Alice finished everyone left. Weird; I don’t get the point in going and not enjoying yourself? I didn’t mind too much as we’ll never beat when we saw Wolf Alice at Barrowlands.

I, of course, missed a load of stuff I wanted to see. I do have regrets (Marie Davidson, Biig Piig, Two Shell, Lens, John Glacier, Doeechi, Divorce, Lambrini Girls, etc…). Such is Glastonbury. My “prioritise stages” plan was causing issues with the family by the end of Friday (I am perfectly happy to go off on my own and see stuff, others… less so) so Saturday and Sunday I mostly went along with what others wanted to do, but this worked out ok - you have to be a bit flexible at Glastonbury - as I would have skipped Pulp for something else and yet that ended up in my top three. As per last time, though, I think the best way to experience Glastonbury is as a single person who thinks the line-up is crap.

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A fair few of these overran from March or earlier and then the whole list just got ridiculously long.

• Japanese Breakfast: For Melancholy Brunettes (and Sad Women). I like Picture Window best. Was going to say it’s a bit too chill for me, but that’s silly as I love chill stuff, but unfortunately I can put this on and forget I’m listening - Nothing grabs my attention.
• Greentea Peng: Tell Dem it’s Sunny. It’s ok and I enjoy listening to it, but it doesn’t excite me much. One Foot is good, CREATE OR DESTROY 432 is kind of interesting. Green is ok. I supposed Green, One Foot and Stones Throw are the most “single” like tracks. Whatcha Mean is probably my favourite though.
• Perfume Genius: Glory. Chilled so I suppose I should like it, but it doesn’t grab me.
• Panda Bear: Sinister Grift. I like Ends Meet which is the one that’s been on 6 music. Beach boys ish?
• Jadu Heart: Post Heaven. Not as good as Derealised. U is pretty good, also Aux, and Mild To Moderate Pain. SOS is a nice ending to the album. A little bit too Ethel Cain art installationy for me.
• Chy Cartier: No Bring Ins. There is no Like Magic which I love, but Not the One is a good substitute.
• Scowl: Are We All Angels. 2000s skate punk vibes? B.A.B.E. and Not Hell, Not Heaven are good. Are We All Angels is a great fisher. I think maybe this album does get a bit harder as it progresses.
• Lady Gaga: Mayhem. How Bad Do You Want Me if I was going to pick one. The last song is truly terrible.
• Aya: Hexed. Gives me Aphex Twin vibes. A lot of electronic noise. Not really for me, definitely not “easy” listening, but Huddersfield represent!
• Throwing Muses: Moonlight Concessions. I was forced to pick a favourite for my “One from each album” playlist so picked the first track.
• Jennie: Ruby. Some great guests, but not really my thing.
• Lisa: Alter Ego. I like Rapunzel (Kiki Solo Version) best.
• Winona Fighter: My Apologies to the Chef. A bit like Scowl. Same 2000 vibes..Would have probably been all over this years back.
• Water Margin: Gleaming Cursed. From the cover and name I expected folk, but this is actually hardcore. Really liked it, but I can’t pick a particular track. Maybe Two Eggs if I had to pick one? Palisades is pretty cool too. None are bad. Just nothing stands out.
• Honeymoan: Pink Hell. I like the cover. Maybe like the last track best?
• Quickly quickly: I heard that noise. Less noisy and more slow than you’d think. Very chilled in bits. Maybe a bit Mogwai-ish in bits? he last song anyway.
• Cassyette: This world still fucking sucks. It’s ok, but not super exiting.
• Emma Jean Thackray: Weirdo. I really hate the opening track. I really want to like this because it’s jazz and she’s very cool, but it’s just not quite my thing (Corto.Alto is/are more up my street). Maybe Nowhere is my favourite (and less jazzy).
• Samia: Bloodless. Beautiful vocals. I like this. She’s getting better with each release. It’s a nice easy listen. My faves are Dare (fantastic!) and North Poles.
• Self Esteem: A Complicated Woman. Nothing is ever going to be as good as Monster from Compliments Please. I do really like her more spoken word stuff though, like I Do and I Don’t Care - it’s good with the choir like backing vocals. Hate the album cover.
• Maria Somerville: Luster. Garden is a bit shoe-gazey and probably my favourite. Spring is good too.
• Prima Queen: The Prize. I like Prima Queen. I love the story of how they met, etc. But this is just no Eclipse. Maybe The Prize and Oats (Ain’t Gonna Beg). Or Meryl Streep?
• Sunflower Bean: Mortal Primetime. I just want everything to sound like Moment In The Sun and it hasn’t for years. Champagne Taste is pretty good though. Also Take Out Your Insides.
• Model/Actriz: Piroutte. Noise. Discordant. If had to pick one it’d be Diva.
• Kali uchas: Sincerely,. Flows beautifully from song to song. It’s all about Angels All Around Me.
• Blonde shell: If You Asked For a Picture. T&A and What’s Fair, the singles before the album, are my favourites, but 23’s A Baby is good too.
• Sherelle: With A Vengeance. Freaky (Just my Type) is the obvious standout to me.
• Miso Extra: Earcandy. Certified is really good.
• Carla Aakre: things I forgot to tell you. Outstandingly beautiful. These Hours is what put this on my watch (listen?) list and that and Through are just utterly sublime. Utterly. They make me want to crumple onto the floor and cry. I listened to this album on repeat the day it was released and that wasn’t enough times.
• Annahstasia: Tether. Believer is very much a stonking finishing track. Probably Villain is still my favourite (it was a single before). This is really good though.
• Loyle Carner: hopefully !. The closing track, About Time, is heads and shoulders above everything else on there. It’s beautiful.

There is probably even more than this list. I think next time round, since I seem to be doing this quarterly, I just need to pick the highlights and not try to list everything. The problem with intentionally trying to listen to new and different music is that it can become a chore when most of it doesn’t end up exciting you that much. But I suppose overall this is better than just listening to old and familiar stuff (I wouldn’t have discovered Carla Aakre otherwise). Also, sometimes, it takes a good few listens to an album for songs to click or standout - case in point, I nearly overlooked (overlistened?) Samia’s Dare which is superb - and I just don’t really have the time for that anymore.

Stuff I just didn’t have enough time to get to (or didn’t have enough time to listen to enough times to have even the briefest of opinions):

• Clipping: Dead Channel Sky. I think I listened to some of it, but it is a lot of tracks.
• Ray Vaughn: The Good The Bad The Dollar Menu.
• Billy Nomates: Metalhorse.
• Sault: 10.
• Little Simz: Lotus.
• Pulp: More. (I’m guessing Spike Island will be the standout)

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