#glasto 2011

Laura Marling - Alas I Cannot Swim (Glastonbury 2011)

My alarm went off as planned and it was still dark out, so I hadn't missed my window. I grabbed my torch I'd bought the night before and headed through the campsite up to The Park stage. I grabbed myself a nice small pizza as I still hadn't eaten since yesterday morning and was a bit hungry. I found out I wasn't really in the right area, but after a detour or two later I finally found Stone Circle where a good 500 others or so had also gathered around campfires to watch the sunrise.

So I found a spot on the hill, put my bag down for a moment, grabbed some wood and rocks, some newspaper out of my bag and built myself a nice little fire on the hill. (Thank you - few years of Boy Scouts!) and then enjoyed my pizza as I waited for the sun to come up. I couldn't help but keep wishing I had kept with my original plan to bring Graham Crackers & Chocolate and stuff so I could make some S'mores but oh well. Eventually a couple firedancers had started putting on something of a show right in front of my campfire, so a much bigger crowd ended up forming around my fire than I'd anticipated, but people helped to build the fire up, so was all good. The girl firedancer actually was really impressive, definitely had some skill, the dude was alright, but kinda botched his moves a few times. I posted a video of them here.

Then the sun started coming up and it was actually quite beautiful the way it slowly peeked out from over the hill and turned the sky an orangey-pink color. I'd go all poetic and shit in the description here, but I'm not a poet, I'm a nerd, so I'll say the sky made me feel like I was temporarily in the world of FLCL (GREAT SHOW).

Anyway, after the sun was up I decided to head back down to the Chill & Charge and charge up my phone before I left just in case I got some calls. I then headed back down for tradition's sake to the same donut stand and got myself a bag of donuts before I left. Oh god, those donuts, so good. I then decided since I was going to be returning back to London today, I might as well try and find the proper showers before I leave and get a real shower before I go. Unfortunately, uh, that didn't really happen. I kept looking, I assume they're there somewhere but after an hour or so of looking I kinda felt like I was wasting time, so I just stripped down to my boxers, grabbed the soap out and decided to try and wash up under a fountain. I just want to take the time to note how hard it is to try and wash under a fountain when you're as tall as I am. Seriously like I was fuckin hunched over, like craning my neck, like, just yeah, just assuming I looked less like an Abercrombie model and more like Gollum in Lord of the Rings.

Then I went to grab my last day newspapers and the like Q Glasto Review/Program/Guide thingy and stuff. Then I finally headed back to my tent and begun packing up all my stuff. Back into the massive backpack that had caused me so many problems thus far and the broken computer bag which now just looked like a retard briefcase. And it was time for the long trek back to the bus (luckily I at least got to donate the tent and sleeping bag, so I didn't have to lug those around anymore).

I remember getting there just around 10 when my bus was supposed to be taking off, but the woman told me to just go to the end of the queue when she saw my ticket. I'm basically gonna shorten up the next 4 hours for you and tell you this woman was fucking stupid. She told me to go to the end of the queue to get on the bus, but then the bus was a National Express bus and I had my ticket through SeeTickets so I wasn't on that bus. So then I had to go over to that queue and show my ticket and those buses ended up basically being first come, first serve, rather than a set time. So I basically spent the next 3 hours in a queue waiting to get on my bus.

Finally though I did and I was on my way back to London. Naturally though, when you're running trying to get 200,000 people out of a town home to only 8,000, it's going to be quite a challenge. And the bus ride back was long, very long, VERY VERY long, we were stuck in traffic for the majority of the first 4 or 5 hours before we even got on the motorway. We made a few stops at some rest tops along the way and I was able to get some lunch at KFC and a few more candies, but yeah, not much else to say

By the time I finally got into London it was nearly 8 at night. I had spent most of the bus ride sort of drifting in and out of consciousness but had woken up before we entered London. What I had not realized however was that I somehow had spent the whole bus ride with phone on and had already drained the battery. So I grabbed my bags and quickly tried to find a payphone to figure out what was going on. See, I left for Glastonbury as you might remember in something of a limbo. I had gotten money from my family up there, but it was basically hold over money while my grandmother had transferred me money through Western Union. I also had no hotel or hostel reservations yet because of the money situation.

So I tried to call my roommate, family in Manchester, or my grandmother to see if anyone could at least help me to at least figure out where to go but as most of the payphones were broke, I was kinda SOL. So I decided to try and find something and as I turned the corner I saw a McDonalds and remembered they had free Wi-Fi, so I went in with my laptop on half battery life, knowing I had to figure something out quick. I also got me a Rolo McFlurry, which yes, is worth mentioning in here, people, because it was abso-fucking-lutely amazing. I'm a hardcore McFlurry fan and that one shot up to the top of my McFlurry list, so well done, McDonalds UK.

Anyway, unfortunately making my predicament worse, was that after a few Google searches later and I was quickly starting to realize that ever hostel in London I could afford was booked for the night and there was no way I was going to be able to afford a hotel. It also seemed nearly every place that had a Western Union was either already closed or closing any minute.

I kept turning my computer off from there to try and preserve the battery life as long as I could while I used the outlet next to me to charge my phone in case anyone called me. By now it was about midnight and a McDonalds security guard? Really, why does McDonalds need a security guard? Anyway, the McDonalds security guard came over to me and starts shouting. Now I just want to paint you a picture so you can understand. At this point, I've just been back from Glastonbury, my bags are covered in dry mud, my shoes as well, and I haven't been able to shower in anything but a wash fountain for 5 days, so I'm not exactly looking like Captain Kempt. But he starts shouting "Sir, you can't sleep here" and I'm like "What?" "I'm not sleeping, I'm wide awake"

"Sir, you've been here for 3 hours now, I haven't seen you eating, your bags are on the chair. You can't stay the night here, you're gonna have to leave"

Dude, I just had a McFlurry, I'm just using the internet for awhile

I never saw you order or eating anything

Well, I did, so

Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave

Oh, so you're asking paying customers now to leave. Sorry, I didn't know there was a fucking timelimit

I get up and hop in the line as he stands behind me watching till I get to the front. In a dumb but at the time I thought nice move, I just say out loud - "Huh, what's the most expensive burger on your menu - Oh ok, I'll have the Summer Chorizo meal, size large"

and then I proceeded to just sit back down and let the food sit, apart from the occasional fry or two  (honestly wasn't hungry). The bad part was now I was down to about 4 pounds and needed to get to a Western Union quick. Eventually though my roommate calls to let me know he called a Western Union in Leicester Square that was misprint online and they were open 24 hours.

After kinda stalling out another hour, I leave to go find the Western Union. Now the next bit really won't be as amusing to you guys as it was to me, because you don't have the same visual context. But it was kinda great walking through downtown London seeing all these like snobby folks all dressed up and heading to clubs or from clubs and then there's just me walking by covered in Glasto mud with this backpack sticking up over my head and like bags around each arm. I felt like this was some terrible elaborate challenge on The Amazing Race or some shit.

Finally I get to the Western Union and there's two guys there and I have the routing number and name and all that with me and they ask me to fill out my info and I do. I hand them back the paper.

We need your address?

My home address?

If that's here, than yes, but we need your UK address

and I'm like Uh, I don't have a UK address

Well we can't transfer the money for you without an address

Look, I just got into London literally like 6 hours ago, every hotel and hostel in the city I could possibly afford is booked up. I have about 4 pounds left on me. I need this money so I can get a place to stay.

Well where were you staying?

At Glastonbury, that's why I don't have an address. I could list a family member's address or something if I have that.

Are you staying with them?

No

Then that doesn't help. Can you call them?

I don't even have a phone and why would it help if I call them anyway, I'm not staying with them. Nobody is nearby right now, dude. I need money, this money was transferred to me, I'd like my money.

If you don't have an address we can't give you anything, I'm sorry, that's the policy.

Are you fucking serious? At no point when the money was transferred did anyone give us this information.

I'm sorry, sir, we can't help.

So I'm pissed off, I'm tired as hell naturally by this point as I've been up almost a day now, and I need my money and need it now. So I go outside with the paperwork, pull a pen out and write the number down and hand it back.

What is this? - the guy at the Counter says to me

That's my address, you said I need an address

Sir, you can't...

Oh no, I'm gonna. That's my fucking address. I need somewhere to stay, neither of you have been any help. I have no money, as I got fucking robbed. So y'know what, I'm just gonna stay out front till I get my money. You asked me where I'm staying, this is where I'm fucking staying. So that's my address.

The guy finally sighs and goes - Here, fill out a new sheet. Write this address down

He reads off an address to me, I copy it down and he finally gives me the money. I thank him and take off.

I head into a Burger King to get a drink and while waiting in line am behind a girl so drunk that she can barely stand or finish a logical sentence. When she gets to the counter she swipes her card and then when it comes time to punch in the numbers just stands there awhile looking at it like "What the fuck did I just get myself into", she then just starts aiming it around at people making laser noises before the guy asks her if she wants him to just punch it in for her. As I go find a place to sit down and chill, I notice directly next to me a French guy all suited up who's actually trying to pick up two chicks at a Burger King. I'm honestly not sure if I found these sights more sad or amusing, honestly, probably a bit of both. Ok, nah, it was actually pretty funny. I take out my laptop though and hop on to find a hostel for the rest of the week but my battery finally dies. I ask someone a little ways down if they know and internet cafes around here and they send me off in the right direction.

By now it was about 4:30 and starting to get pretty bright out. I found the internet cafe they mentioned, Internet City Ltd grabbed a soda and chocolate bar and spent the rest of the morning there. I actually would come to spend a lot of time here during the next few days as it helped me whenever I needed to get online. I finally found a hostel up near Oxford Street and waited till around 11 before I headed over.

Late night the night before meant that today I would take the time to give myself a little more shuteye, plus there were no big events this morning, so I didn't give up till about 11:30, and when I did I found myself covered in sweat (Ugh, hate camping). I poked my head out the front of the tent to see what was up and for once there thankfully was not rain, just sun and lots and lots of heat. I shuffled through my bag and realized I was completely out of any clean shirts or socks besides from my suit from the wedding which I obviously wasn't going to be wearing today. So if there was anytime I was gonna get my festival shirts it should be now, and I just found one of the little shops on the side to grab socks. Anyway I got the festival shirt for this year, which is awesome and done by Stanley Donwood

The best part is there's an easter egg of sorts on it, you can't see it here but the Kid A bear hinting Radiohead would play is on the bottom of the front design.

Also I got a Pulp shirt and a great Crystal Castles shirt with the Madonna/Vogue print.

Anyway, after heading back I saw a deal on a dozen donuts and coffee, so I figured I'd bring some back as a way of thanking the folks who've been camping near me. Thank christ they had some good carriers cause otherwise the hike back could've been disasterous. When I got back Adrian, Stu, and Tom, the nerdy guys who I ate breakfast with the other day, were under their gazebo having breakfast. Anyone want donuts? Coffee?

Stu: I'll take some

Tom: Nice one, mate, cheers

I then went over and knocked on Luke and his friends' tent door and Luke opened it.

Me: You guys want anything? Coffee, Donuts, Cereal, we got breakfast out here?

Luke: Oh, yeah, thanks mate. We'll be out in a bit, just waking up still, fuckin tired.

Me: I hear ya, man. Well anyway they're on the table.

So I had a seat under the gazebo, I'm not a big coffee drink to be honest, so I just had the donuts and cereal, which actually was a pretty good breakfast in my book. We all sorta hung out and just talked about who we was playing today and who we'd seen and that. I did realize in that minute though the opportunity I had now having made some Glastonbuddies. So I turned and asked

Me: Hey, does anyone got a phone I could possibly use, I kinda needa make a call to someone

Stu: Your phone dead then?

Me: Nah, not dead. Just one is broken and the other doesn't work for anything but receiving calls and texts, I can't make em

Stu: Ah, got ya

Tom: Here, you can use mine real quick

Me: Thanks man

So I called the number that Lucy gave me but ended up just getting her machine, that said, I decided to hope it just worked out and I left her a message.

I then decided to head off and start the day, was a little bummed out because I planned on seeing Cults who were listed on the set times but they canceled or something. So I ended up catching most of Cold War Kids set instead.

Cold War Kids (1:30 PM @ Other Stage)

Alright, so basically I'm not as big on these guys as I once was. I really loved their debut record but everything else since I've honestly found really bland.

That said, the band's set was surprisingly quite good. Despite the setlist being a little hit or miss, the band seemed to pour every bit of effort into each song and some extended breakdowns and guitar solos while asking the crowd to sing or clap along to certain bits got the audience into it. Which actually wasn't an easy task given that the band was playing at 2:00 in the afternoon on the first hot day of the festival.

And let me just say, when I say "hot", I don't mean it was warm after 4 days of rain or it was really sunny. I mean it was fucking HOT, like, I checked the weather when I got back to find that it was the hottest day of the year in the UK and temperatures were in the mid to high-90s (or mid 30s for people who use the metric system)

One other thing that greatly helped is whether it was a sign of acknowledging their strengths and weaknesses or not, despite two other albums the band mainly played songs from Robbers & Cowards and Hospital Beds went over like gangbusters.

And thankfully for me in the heat, there was an ice cream truck parked right next to the stage, no literally, like maybe 30 feet from the stage, there was an ice cream truck. So I ran and got a sundae between bands before getting back to my nice spot up front for Bombay Bicycle Club.

Bombay Bicycle Club (3:00 PM @ Other Stage)

By about 2:30 the field had practically become a grill and I could literally feel my skin burning but there really wasn't anything to do about it. So skin cancer be damned, it was time for another performance!

Honestly, I knew/know nothing about this band. I just noticed that a lot of my friends and some of my Tumblr and Last.FM buddies listened to them and that they were on right before TV on the Radio, so I decided to see them.

The band played a vibrant fun and occasionally quite lovely blend of straight forward indie rock with some pop and folk leanings. I didn't know any of their tunes so I kinda just chilled and grooved to the songs, sometimes joining in when everyone else began to clap along. I quite liked the songs they did with the female vocalist they brought up, I know one of them was called Shuffle and I really dug that one. The crowd seemed to be a mix of just curious onlookers and those waiting for another gig and some really hardcore fans who looked thrilled by the performance.

All and all, it wasn't enough to make me a fan but enough to catch my interest. They were better than some other bands I'd seen that weekend and put on a solid show, their songs were catchy, fast, and breezy and worked well in the environment.

(Crappy Quality video from my Cam of Bombay Bicycle Club)

Fuck it, I'm practically charred. I ran to get myself some pop while I asked the girl next to me to hold my spot. Also got a bottle of water for the sole purpose of dumping over my head to cool down. But next was one of the gigs I was most excited for going into the weekend.

TV on the Radio (4:30 PM @ Other Stage)

Ok, so this isn't my first time seeing TV on the Radio. I've seen them a few times now and they can be hit and miss. When they hit, they fucking hit, but when they miss it can be pretty disappointing. Luckily for those at the Other Stage that night, they hit, they hit like Apollo Fuckin Creed. Even despite the fact that nearly the whole field was full of exhausted people drenched in sweat, and that they tragically lost their bassist Gerard Smith to lung cancer earlier this year, this set somehow was just a magical late afternoon Glastonbury moment.

Now granted I was front row, so not only did I have an amazing view but I was surrounded by other hardcore fans who had been there waiting for TVOTR to play. The band sounded about as close to perfect as I've ever heard them line and Tunde seemed to nail every note pitch perfect, opening with an unbelievable extended version of Young Liars.

With 4 albums now to draw from the setlist played almost as a greatest hits with each album getting a few songs to highlight it's strengths (though I will admit I would've loved to hear Halfway Home or Dreams but being left wanting more isn't really a complaint, is it?) The setlist choices were mostly perfect to with a more upbeat energetic set than usual dominated by songs like Caffeinated Consciousness and a live take on Staring at the Sun that could give the record version a run for it's money.

The whole while Tunde was gracious, humble, and thankful to the audience and started passing water bottles into the crowd after finishing Wolf Like Me to those at the barrier. At one point he also dedicated a song to Gerard and seemed genuinely moved by a "Thank You, Gerard" chant before the song.

In a surprising and immensely fun and amusing finale, Tunde asked the crowd to join in and help him out as the band closed out their set with a cover of Ghostbusters with a little more trademark Dave Sitek roaring guitar distortion

All this helped the show to be my a close contender for my favorite of the weekend.

(Crappy quality cam footage of TV on the Radio)

(BBC Broadcast of TV on the Radio doing Staring at the Sun)

Looking for Lucy

As TV on the Radio came to a close I had planned to stay and watch Eels to catch a bit of Kaiser Chiefs afterward. Can't say I know or really cared about Eels but with a long gap between the two sets in the hot temperatures I just wanted something to pass the time and distract me. That's when I noticed a guy next to me in the WC US National Football jersey, which just seemed ya know, a little odd to me. I had gotten used to seeing all sorts of football jerseys at the festival and it wouldn't surprise me to see someone wearing an LA Galaxy - Beckham shirt or a NY Red Bulls - Henry one, but a US National jersey? So I finally got curious enough to ask.

So are you like a fan of the US National Team or is their just a certain player you like on the back or?

Oh, yeah, I mean, I got a Landon Donovan one but was definitely behind the US, yeah, all the way.

I heard his accent. Or to me, lack of accent. OH HEY, ANOTHER ONE OF ME OVER HERE. 

Ohhhhhh, You're American, Ok, I got it.

Yeah. You too, huh?

Yeah, where you from?

DC, you?

New York

Oh ok, so not that far either

Yeah, no, same basic region. 

I'm Mike

Nick

Ok, so I could tell you some or more of the conversation we had but I can actually sum it up by saving you a lot of reading by saying that we talked about how we got here/why we're here and that it turned out Mike basically is the DC version of myself. No really, our stories were eerily similar. I was here because why? Well obviously because I wanted to come back to Glastonbury and love England but also used a family wedding as an excuse. Mike? Pretty much exactly the same. Me - I was meeting much of my family for the first time because I have no relationship with my father cause he left when I was really young and then died. Mike? Exactly the same story. The similarities continued, from football teams we support, to bands we like and bands we actually saw that weekend. It was uh, both weird and kind of cool.

Eventually though I got to telling him about my phone when I checked the time on it and ended up relaying to him the whole story about Lucy and her number while he reacted with an audible groan.

Then Mike asks

So has she called you back since then?

Nah, not yet.

Just then, not even kidding, like a minute or two later I get a text.

Holy shit, dude, she just sent me a text?

The girl?

Yeah. Lemme see what's up.

I looked at the text. Lucy says she got my message, that she couldn't make Silent Disco cause she waited a little bit but her friend was feeling sick, she says if I still want to meet up that her and her friends are going to check out Pendulum.

I tell all this to Mike and then ask if he'll let me use his phone to send her a text. He obliges and I text Lucy to tell her I'll meet her at the Cider Bus near the Pyramid Stage. I run off to the Pyramid Stage and he shouts Good Luck as I'm running out.

I try to make it over there as quick as possible, so I can catch Lucy before the band begins. Just as I get there I get a text from Lucy.

"I don't know where the Cider Bus is, I'm sitting at a table by the entrance"

ARGH. I start circling around the massive crowd formed for Pendulum for the table that Lucy is sitting at, but the site has about 6 entrances to the Pyramid Stage all on other sides of the field which is now taking about 20 minutes around with all the people. Finally Pendulum take the stage and I express audible frustration and exhaustion with a heavy sigh. I continue to look anyway though, around each entrance and keep an eye on the crowd as Pendulum's early Prodigy ripoff music blares through the field providing my search with the soundtrack of a bad action movie.

Finally I decide to go to the Cider Bus, thinking maybe she found me over there. But I look and still don't find her. Finally I just have a seat on the one open seat on the bench in the crowded area before the most Irish Irish guys in the history Irish guys start talking shit about me. I mean, these guys looked and sounded like the worst stereotypes of Irish men. There was a group of them, all in their late 40s, early 50s and saying things like

I was planning for us to sit here, but some asshole took our seat

Assholes don't even seem to care either

Did you let the asshole sit next to ya?

Nah, the asshole just sat down

Finally their third friend sitting there goes

I told him he can sit there, he's a local lad, lives right round us

Him? He's not a fucking local lad.

Finally the guy who started the asshole names goes to me

Where you from, Mate?

New York

They start laughing, A fucking local lad, huh?

But then here's where things get weird. We basically do our bit, the same one that's been happening. "What all the way from America for Glastonbury?" and I feed into it too as they're now suddenly warming to me, I lie and make my story even better. Yeah, it was my 21st birthday yesterday, first time here. And then they all suddenly are like super cool to me. It is seriously bizarre. Then the one guy tells me he's a builder and worked in New York back about 20 years ago and he starts asking me if I know about a building in Queens and I pretend I do. And then he's like

You have no drink

Oh yeah, no, I'm just waiting for someone

A bird?

Yeah

And then his friend comes by and asks if he wants another cider and tells him to just get another round and get one for me too and I thank him and then tell him the story about Lucy.

So you didn't know her before?

Oh no, no, we just met the other day

So you just got here and you're already getting ya some pussy, huh?

Uh,

Cheers, mate, ya gotta when you're young.

Yeah, I'm just hoping she shows.

Do you wanna give her another ring on my phone or a text?

I remember her phone is almost dead, so I opt just for a text

Yeah, thank you so much, if you could just shoot her a text that'd be great.

So he sends her a text saying Nick is over by the Cider Bar waiting for you, will be here till the headliner.

A couple seconds later I get a text from Lucy.

"Ok, gonna try to find it, phone almost dead, hopefully I see you shortly, if not, I hope you have fun and it was great meeting you"

First I'm astonished he actually wasn't messing with me, then I thank him for the beer and they wish me luck and take off.

I wait maybe another 15 minutes and at this point just figure I'll head over before The Streets start if she doesn't show up. A group of people who work there sit down next to me and start talking about trying to decide who to see and then ask me who I'm going to see and I say The Streets and the one guy gives me a highfive. I asked them just a few questions about what it was like to work there and the girl tells me about how she went to sleep with her tent right behind the Other Stage while Mumford & Sons were playing and then suddenly hearing Primal Scream blaring just as she fell asleep. But more than anything this part of the day I remember for a character named Asbo Benliner. This was a crazy old man who suddenly joined us after asking if he could have a seat next to me and looked homeless, I swear, you'd think he was homeless. He talked to us all for like 20 minutes about nothing but Paul Simon and how amazing Paul Simon is and why he's a legend, and how we shoulda seen Paul Simon. He just like, takes over the conversation with Paul Simon. Then the one guy noticed he had a guitar and asked Asbo if he'd play us a song

Realizing Lucy wasn't gonna find me and The Streets were on shortly, I headed over to the John Peel Stage to get a spot for The Streets.

The Streets (10:00 PM @ John Peel Stage)

So The Streets sorta hold a special place for me, I wouldn't say I'm a massive fan and I fully contest that nothing Mike Skinner has released since A Grand Don't Come For Free was as good as the albums before it but I still really love The Streets. I kinda got into them totally randomly when I was still in my freshman year of High School. I had just started getting into indie music at the end of Middle School and really this was a period where I was just finding artists I'd never heard of before left and right. I was watching Subterranean on MTV, listening to College radio stations, reading Pitchfork. I just knew I was sick of the crap I was hearing on the radio and that when I discovered Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, and The Strokes I found something I was keen on.

The Streets came to me in this period after seeing a music video for Let's Push Things Forward really late one night on Subterranean and then seeing Mike Skinner again on G4 on a profile they had on famous gamers. As it happened one of my sister's friends had won Original Pirate Material in a bundle of CDs from a radio station and said I could have it because she'd already burned it. Now I'm having flashbacks cause I must've listened to that record 100 times because I just found the load your music feature on Grand Theft Auto and remember driving through the streets of San Andreas with Sharp Darts blaring.

Anyway despite all the rave reviews the first two albums get, I rarely listened with my friends because I mean, well, what would get me more shit than listening an extremely white, extremely English, rapper? But anyway, I've always really loved those first two albums and the new one isn't bad either. Always been somewhat nostalgic for me I guess. So this being Mike Skinner's farewell tour, I wasn't going to miss the show.

The one unfortunate bit though is that Robyn ended up going way long, which meant that Skinner finally started later than expected and the set got trimmed down from expected but Mike didn't waste a minute of those. He kept emphasizing throughout just how little time we had and that he wasn't gonna skip a song. So the setlist which focused mainly on those first two record and the new one besides for the odd appearance of The Escapist and Never Went to Church. Mike had the crowd totally in the palm of his hand from the first song with the crowd finishing off every other line of some songs and had probably everyone in the tent waving arms back and forth as the sight was amazing during The Escapist. He also worked through a remixed version of Blinded By the Lights as the crowd crouched all the way to the ground before building up the song and having everyone jump up at the same time.

Glastonbury was truly the perfect setting for Mike as even while he raced through songs he still told stories from the past weekend and led a celebration over the change of weather with those in the audience. The live band backing Mike is still something I have mixed feelings on though, normally I prefer a live band for hip-hop shows but on some of the electronic songs it really made them sound a lot more bare. That said when Mike organized the crowd to form a moshpit around a man who was pumping a stuffed fox the whole show and had the live band rip into rocking arrangements for Fit But You Know It and Going Through Hell it was definitely a major advantage. These moments that closed the show were ones of organized chaos. More than anything what Mike seems to know how to do is perfectly pace and dictate the rhythm of his show and by deliberately leading up with slower old favorites like It's Too Late and Stay Positive, the crowd was more than ready.

As the pit began to form before the band played, there was a moment there where I said to myself, well, I'll stay here and watch. I like madness at shows as much as the next person but I'm not gonna risk getting hurt in the pit. Then I remembered it was the last night and last show of Glastonbury, and I'd not have to really worry about how muddy, bruised, or tired I was on the bus back the next day. So I just said Fuck it and ran in and probably got bashed around a fair bit and probably did a fair bit in return. Brief scare when the beginning of Going Through Hell I got thrown to to the floor and had people coming my way but people quickly noticed and reached down to pull me back up. Kinda buzzing off this I decided to push my way to the barrier and pulled myself up. I hesistated for a brief second but after a quick look behind me showed people were ready, I leaped back and kept my feet up to avoid kicking anyone and crowdsurfed briefly along the crowd before starting to slip and hopping down in the middle of the crowd.

Also I got a picture of me feeding the stuffed fox beer.