#shangrihell

With over a hundred stages, an eight mile circumference, and close to two hundred thousand in attendance, there's not really a way to sum up Glastonbury Festival. For those of you who’ve been, you know that it’s the most exhausting, unpredictable and fun weeks of the year. This year’s festival was my fifth, and certainly one of the most memorable. Now, Glastonbury is already the size of a small city, and I think one of the things that sets it apart from other festivals is not only the sheer size of it, but the fact that each area within the festival is so meticulously curated. A twenty minute walk west from the Pyramid, leads you to Silver Hayes, a dance and electronic village with multiple stages complete with a light-up disco Stonehenge. Last year the Greenpeace area featured a giant amimatronic polar bear which acted to bring awareness to the Arctic's struggle with global warming. This year the bear was replaced by a giant ship, complete with skate ramp, vertical slide, and climbing wall preached the dangers of over fishing our oceans. Block 9 boasts hotels, NYC themed gay bars and drag shows. Fancy a massage or some acupressure?  You can get that taken care of in the Healing Fields. Permaculture even has a restaurant that serves food made from the gardens that surround it. It's all a lot to take in.

Of all the different areas, Shangri-la has to be the most intricately crafted. It takes a crew of over 1,500 artists and performers to make that area happen every year, and it's Blade Runner-esque tunnels and room are more reminiscent of a movie set than something you'd find at a music festival. I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that people put so much work into something that will only exist temporarily.

Every year, the theme of Shangri-la follows the narrative of a failed utopia steeped in mythology. For example, in 2010 the story was that the citizens of Shangri-la had become infected by an alien disease, and the players (doctors, nurses and snake oil salesmen) encouraged festival goers to "take their medicine." In 2011, we learned that the citizens had all perished and Shangri-la now straddled two areas, Heaven and Hell. In 2014, Hell was "Corporate Hell" and featured board room meetings you were encouraged to corrupt, dance parties in office cubicles, and shadowy figures in corners dangling cash notes on fishing poles. This year, Shangri-la city had become "occupied" by the 99%, and so every installation from previous year had been adapted for political protest.

Posters covered the walls and festival goers were encouraged to tag them. People picketed and held placards. In my mind, there’s no doubt this years theme was influenced by the disappointing results of the recent British election. We first caught glimpse of Shangri-la on the Thursday night - the night before any performances on the main stages would take place - and these themes of social unrest and a hunger for change would be the threads I would follow through most of the performances on the days to come.

Now, I know it's not exactly a revelation that a music festival would have themes of leftist culture. This has been true going back all the way back to the days of Woodstock, if not further. And with a lack of corporate sponsorship and very relaxed rules (you're allowed to build a fire by your tent and bring your own alcohol, for starters) Glastonbury has always upheld that aesthetic. Now, if you spent the whole 5 days tripping on acid in the Rabbit Hole or doing Nitris in the stone circle, I guess it's possible that you wouldn't have noticed any kind of theme, let alone a political one but hey, it's a big place. There's a lot to take in. In my opinion, it just seemed that this year in particular, the best bits were emphatically politically charged. First up on my agenda Friday morning was an appearance by Russian activist group Pussy Riot in The Park. As a person with Russian heritage and a fan of the Riot Grrl movement that inspired them, I was really excited to see them in the flesh. They've been to Russian labor prison, they've been beat, they've been spit on and yet they continue to trudge forward in hope of facilitating some sort of change in the world. It doesn't get much more punk rock than Pussy Riot. Nadya and Masha performed a short skit and did Q&A with Charlotte Church on top of a Russian military truck, which was fun, but their presence alone was the meaningful part.  (And if you don't blink, there's a few glimpses of my mug is this clip.)

On Saturday I had the pleasure of seeing Kate Tempest perform for the second time.  If you're not familiar with Kate, you need to get on that train as soon as possible. I've seen a lot of concerts in my time, so trust me when I say that she is one of the most inspiring and invigorating performers I have ever seen. She is the youngest ever winner of the Ted Hughes prize for innovation in poetry, and Everybody Down (her first record) blurs the lines of spoken word, rap, and dance. When she performs, every emotion she expresses is contagious and if it feels like she's looking at you directly in the eyes it’s because she is. Kate ended the show by performing "Hold Your Own," a very emotional piece in which left the audience in tears. If she comes to your town, do not hesitate.

Immediately after Kate's set we stayed at the barricade for Father John Misty. Daddy Misty (as my friend Max calls him) may seem like a goofy crooner on the surface, but his tongue in cheek lyrics have more depth that his stage persona would suggest.  Take "Bored in the USA" for example, an apathetic critique of American life. "Is this the part where I get all I ever wanted?" He sings. "Who said that? / Can I get my money back?... Save me President Jesus!" It was during this song that FJM came down off of the stage, took Max's phone, and filmed himself singing the end of the song. The full set is below, fast forward to 42:15 for the shenanigans.

I've often joked that every time I've seen Patti Smith there's been a birthday cake on stage. Every year she does a series of concerts to celebrate New Years Eve, and since her birthday happens to fall the night before they’re very celebratory. These shows have become a New York tradition, and in my eyes it’s one of the best ways to celebrate the year's end. Seeing her as many times as I have, I thought I knew what to expect from her set. Never in my wildest dreams did i suspect that this time, the birthday cake on stage would be for the Dalai Lama. Now, Patti Smith has presence, but the Dalai Lama really has presence. I'm not sure if I can accurately describe how humbling it was to listen to him speak.  After he had finished, Patti played People Have the Power, which couldn't have been more fitting. If they weren't full on crying, everyone around me at least had a tear in their eye. It was the most moving event of the entire festival, and ranks among the best concerts I have ever seen.

This is, of course a mere sampling of the weeks events, but it’s moments like these that make Glastonbury tickets sell out months before any lineup is released. I think I saw over forty sets played over the course of Glastonbury’s five days. Every time that I’ve attended, I leave feeling more inspired by art and music and people than any other time of year. Because of that, the exhaustion, the mud, and even the toilets are worth putting up with. Long live Glastonbury, without a doubt the best festival there is.