We were once again blessed with very hot, very sunny, very un-British weather at Glastonbury this year as Elton John graced us one last time with his legendary presence on the Pyramid Stage on Sunday night, a crown of fireworks overhead. On the other hand, we mourn the most surreal set of the weekend: that of our half-an-hour late queen, Lana Del-ayed, whose mic was cut off, unjustly robbing us of “Video Games” and “Summertime Sadness” (i.e the most epic sad girl tracks of all time). Then there was Woodsies (formerly known as the John Peel Stage), offering us those sad girl vibes with amazing live performances from Warpaint, Caroline Polachek and Rina Sawayama.
However, as the sun set each night, the real stars of the weekend were actually the performers, artists and stages in the South East Corner, such as Block9 and Shangri-La. On Friday night, Pxssy Palace took over the Nomad Stage. The next evening London Trans+ Pride and The Chateau presented “The Summer of Rage”. It says a lot that, despite a power cut, the MC and dancers kept the crowd entertained and, even in the pitch black darkness, the vibe was electrifying.
On the same night, another secret party from Dialled In kicked off at 4am in what seems to be a container but is a new secret bar called “Lost” in Platform 23. As 11 incredibly versatile and talented DJs went B2B2B, each playing one single track and plugging their respective USBs in and out, the transitions were a seamless harmony of multiple styles. The secret bar “Lost” itself barely held 100 people inside and whoever stumbled across this party by pure luck must have felt like they won the lottery.
Reminder to self for next year, though: Don’t go to sleep until the sun has risen; indulge in small, tight spaces; and don’t look at the map because the real fun is off-grid at Worthy Farm.
Credits
Photography George Harrison