Q4music sent down a band of intrepid bloggers to the 2005 Glastonbury Festival. They braved thunderstorms, power cuts, mud and flooding to bring you coverage of the world’s best festival. This is their story.
KT Tunstall is saved by Jewish hip hop
Acclaimed singer songwriter KT Tunstall popped into the Q4music gazebo to tell us why she's forever grateful to Nas for giving her a great break on the Jools Holland show and how a Jewish hip hop band saved her Glastonbury...
Billed as "Radio so local, you can smell it", Bramble FM 69.9 are now a fixture of the cabaret field, offering special radio roadshow fun every day at Glastonbury from 1 'til 3. Q caught Bramble's Les and Maureen as they packed away their kit for another year and asked them how it went, what was the deal with The Fred Dibnah Memorial Chimney and the Paul McCartney Crazy Golf Tribute and their plans for 2006...
Why is Glastonbury the greatest festival in the world? We asked The Subways, The Departure and Morning Runner to explain why they were so chuffed to be there. "It has the most spirit!"
Jaff from The Futureheads risked ruining his nice smart suit to talk to us after The Rains had subsided and pondered on the rigours and misfortunes of jetting into LA and being faced by three feet of water and the prospect of no wellies. Also, please welcome the concept of the "Just William" half-suit for men.
The ubiquitous singer took time out from her busy running-around-the-site to discuss her sudden rise to fameand writing the theme tune to Celebrity Love Island. She thought they wanted her to be on it, you know. Now there's a thought... Plus, check out her wellies!
Watch the hardest working men in showbusiness reflect on their amazing summer and the odd spectacle of their tunes appearing on Top Gear, while relaxing in the Q4music gazebo. As Nick "Peanut" Baines and Simon Rix demonstrate, they've ARRIVED!
Backstage at Glastonbury, Tim Wanstall and Steve Roberts from Athlete told us tales of squashed tents, what the lyrics to Tourist mean and about the difference between dossing around at home and wistful longing on the road.
The unfeasibly lovely Magic Numbers almost came a cropper when their tourbus found itself in three feet of water on Friday morning. Q4music finally tracked them down in a higher and drier car park just off the festival site and asked them a simple but serious question: How does one cope with the mud? Romeo Stodart had the answer - he's been to Glastonbury seven times, don't you know...
Plus, the band explained how pleased they were with their new found fame and fortune: "It's been an insane week!" they say...
The inimitable New Order drummer chatted with the Q bloggers before taking the Pyramid Stage on Saturday night for a storming (and often bewildering) Glasto set. Watch the video and find out which is the worst festival he's ever been to, what it's like to play a show to eight people in their Ford Capris and how Bernard Sumner "pioneered" horizontal guitar playing...
The Q Glastonbury Blog is proud to have contributed to the sum total of human happiness over the last weekend by being the catalyst to some genuine LURVE.
Q Blog reader Leah Todd was one of our Glasto Weirdness winners, thanks to her ace pictures of horse men, and gratefully took boyfriend Ramsey down to the festival. When the pair ventured up to the Stone Circle one afternoon, something unexpected happened... a proposal!
"He gave the camera to a random stranger and then whacked a ring out," says Leah. "Then he dropped it.... then put it on my finger. It was all very sudden. Then we saw Michael Eavis being driven round in a Land Rover. We ran up knocked on the window and said, Mr Eavis, Mr Eavis.... we just got engaged in the stone circle! I bet he thought, yeah right love - who hasn't!
"Ramsey and I have been together for almost three years. Aparently he'd been planning it all along and was gutted when we couldn't get tickets. So there you go, in a sense Q made that happen."
We're filling up as you read this and already thinking about a new hat for the wedding. Congratulations Leah and Ramsey!
Posted at 03:30PM | June 30, 2005
The sun sets on The Other Stage swamp
Posted at 11:11AM | June 30, 2005
"Oh the flags, they're so pretty..."
The Dance Village, Sunday night. Taken with WobblyCam (TM)
Posted at 11:08AM | June 30, 2005
Ironic sign alert!
Posted at 11:02AM | June 30, 2005
The Pyramid Stage goes sailing...
Posted at 10:54AM | June 30, 2005
More sloshing on the way over to the main stage
Posted at 10:49AM | June 30, 2005
"Would you like a drink with your pastie?" "Er, no..."
Posted at 10:48AM | June 30, 2005
Kylie "deeply moved" by Glasto tributes
Kylie Minogue has said she was "deeply moved" by tributes paid to her at this year's Glastonbury. The Aussie Pop Princess (TM) was due to perform on Sunday night, but a brush with breast cancer caused her to pull out while she underwent treatment. Both Coldplay and Basement Jaxx - who replaced her on the Pyramid Stage on Sunday - performed versions of Can't Get You Out Of My Head as tributes. "Though I'm desperately sad not to have been able to perform at the event, I was so happy to feel that I was, in a small way, still a part of it," Kylie said in a message on her official web site, www.kylie.com. "My humble thanks to the artists and the crowd. I'm far away but I hope you felt the smile on my face and the joy it brought me. Hope a great time was had by all. Love Kylie."
Posted at 01:44PM | June 29, 2005
On the way home...
Posted at 04:11PM | June 27, 2005
Q4music checks out...
...But we'll be adding more pics and interviews this week. Plus enter our Weirdness competition and win a Nokia 6680, the very same phone this message has been blogged from using Nokia Lifeblog!
Posted at 01:35PM | June 27, 2005
It's all over...
Highlights from Sunday... Basement Jaxx also pay tribute to Kylie with a three-pronged attack on Can't Get You Out Of My Head... Brian Wilson puzzles everyone by playing Little St Nick in June, but reduces the entire audience to tears with God Only Knows...Garbage's Shirley Manson "performing" with a blow up doll... Not one but two pantomime horses at the Stone Circle...
Posted at 01:29PM | June 27, 2005
The sun sets on Glastonbury 2005
Posted at 09:23PM | June 26, 2005
The Pyramid Stage sweltering under the sun on Sunday afternoon
Posted at 07:46PM | June 26, 2005
Jem hangs out backstage
What you can't see here is Jem's delightful summer dress and black wellies combo. Nice - and practical!
Posted at 03:01PM | June 26, 2005
Barney!
New Order frontman Bernard Sumner caught backstage... we shouted at him to play Touched By The Hand Of God, but we don't think he heard us.
Posted at 01:00PM | June 26, 2005
"Kate! Wait for me!"
Posted at 12:59PM | June 26, 2005
Kate and Pete enjoy their wellies...
Posted at 12:57PM | June 26, 2005
Saturday highlights
- Sir Bob Geldof joining Michael Eavis onstage for the Make Poverty History event at 4pm, as over 134,000 revellers joined hands... - Chas 'n' Dave support the cause during their set by giving Make Poverty History "a big round of applause"... - New Order joined onstage during World In Motion by Keith Allen dressed as a matador and a pantomime horse... - Coldplay's surprisingly good version of Can't Get You Out Of My Head as a tribute to Kylie...
Posted at 12:50PM | June 26, 2005
The clean up begins at the Pyramid Stage
TAKE YOUR LITTER HOME!
Posted at 12:34PM | June 26, 2005
Dawn breaks over Glastonbury, Sunday morning
Could Sunday be a much nicer day? Let's hope so...
Posted at 12:30PM | June 26, 2005
Steve Morris of New Order
...Promising for their set "something old, something new, something borrowed", but sadly not Blue Monday. They were due to play that classic, but ran out of time - possibly because of the peerless (and, indeed almost endless) version of Tempation that they unleashed earlier on in their show, but could they really top World In Motion, accompanied by Keith Allen dressed as a matador, riding a pantomime horse? I think not.
Posted at 12:24PM | June 26, 2005
It's a bit swampy...
...Mud now the consistency of glue. Wellies frequently lost in bog. People falling over in humourous manner. Dunkirk spirit still holding on...
Posted at 12:19PM | June 26, 2005
Johnny Borrell arrives in style!
The Razorlight frontman tries to get to the Other Stage parking area. What you can't see is the enormous tourbus in front of him, preventing him from gaining access and allowing passers-by to have a good old gawp at him. Including us. Ha!
Posted at 05:32PM | June 25, 2005
Latest tittle tattle
- We had a month's worth of rain in 8 hours yesterday! - Ryan Adams has cancelled, he has an ear infection. - Kate Moss spotted last night looking for the "Main Stage", when directed to the Pyramid, she replied "No, the MAiN stage..."
Posted at 01:08PM | June 25, 2005
Saturday... We're still here!
Braving the mud, it's overcast but dry!
Posted at 12:58PM | June 25, 2005
The red and white orchid comes to Glastonbury
The White Stripes light up the Pyramid Stage in their own special way. Jack White is playing a xylophone - why?
Posted at 11:23PM | June 24, 2005
The Magic Numbers
...Hide out in their tourbus after being moved to higher ground, for fear of being swept away! Having arrived on Thursday, the band were alarmed at what they saw on Friday morning. "When we woke up, we opened the door of the bus and the water was almost pouring in," explained Michele Stodart. "So we had to get out of there quickly! Luckily, they put us in a bus park on higher ground, but if we want to see any of the festival, we have to walk miles." This didn't dampen the spirit of the faithful Glastonbury-goers, and they were looking forward to playing the next day and even a bit of a campfire singalong - "I Shall Be Released" was a favourite to be rolled out at some point. How apt...
Posted at 07:41PM | June 24, 2005
K T Tunstall
"...there was soap left, it was amazing!"
Q4Music just caught us with scottish songstress K T Tunstall. And she enjoyed using the Glastonbury toilets! Incredible!
Posted at 07:09PM | June 24, 2005
The Subways
"...Torrential rain, thunder and lighting, and a flooded PA!"
We've just had a chat with The Subways, one of the first casualties of the erratic weather after their pyramid stage slot was cancelled due to a flooded stage.
Posted at 04:38PM | June 24, 2005
Clearing up...
Posted at 03:53PM | June 24, 2005
Good advice
Posted at 02:54PM | June 24, 2005
Waterlogged...
Posted at 02:53PM | June 24, 2005
It's brightening up...
Posted at 02:50PM | June 24, 2005
The rain won't stop the poo truck
Posted at 02:48PM | June 24, 2005
The sun is back!
Temperatures are soaring again after this morning's deluge, bringing a smile to Glasto's face... Normal service has (kind of) been resumed!
Posted at 02:46PM | June 24, 2005
The juice bar remains open, despite flooding.
"Take a picture of us!" cries the lady behind the juice bar counter, near the Pyramid Stage. "We're still open, even though the place is full of water!" Bravo, ladies and thanks for the pint of apple juice. (BTW we PAID for it, those who would accuse us of leeching. Q4music does not "ponce"... except for those cans of Guinness we got from MOJO)
Posted at 01:52PM | June 24, 2005
Couch potatoes
Posted at 01:33PM | June 24, 2005
Dunkirk spirit
Posted at 01:22PM | June 24, 2005
When Doves cry...
Doves singer Jimi Goodwin spotted backstage. Get indoors, you'll catch your death, etc...
Posted at 01:20PM | June 24, 2005
Rain expected for 2 to 3 hours...
...But bands begin to play as bad weather continues and chaos confronts people trying to get on site. We've heard that a lot of people are being stopped from accessing the festival site, as the car parks are flooded... I have water in my beer.
Posted at 12:53PM | June 24, 2005
Weather chaos!
Well, we're still here, just about... There have been power cuts, stages running late (The Subways and The Dead 60s have reportedly cancelled) and there are stories of the Dance Tent being struck by lightning. Or was it the JazzWorld Stage...? Organisers are starting the clear up after the flash floods and storms last night, and the music has finally begun, even if the rain hasn't stopped...
Posted at 11:52AM | June 24, 2005
We've had a bit of rain...
Posted at 11:47AM | June 24, 2005
Oh no! Return of the rain
This is what we woke up to this morning. The Q field is half waterlogged, as you can see. Torrential thunderstorms in the early hours of Friday morning have put a dampener on Glastonbury 2005... And it shows no sign of letting up... Hopefully, it'll clear up, but I've never heard a storm like it...
Posted at 10:11AM | June 24, 2005
Still going strong..!
Posted at 03:45AM | June 24, 2005
Sunset on Thursday
Posted at 08:53PM | June 23, 2005
Phew! What a scorcher!
Well, it's a beautiful June evening, and Glastonbury 2005 is off to a cracking start. But will the blisteringly hot weather last? With storms predicted for tomorrow, let's hope the weathermen are wrong...
Posted at 07:12PM | June 23, 2005
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Songwriters Special -
Featuring interviews with Michael Stipe, Rufus Wainwright, Bjork, Nick Cave, Rufus Wainwright, KT Tunstall, Burt Bacharach, James Blunt and more.
