- Being a festival so epic in stature, you might think that Glastonbury would neglect cutting-edge dance music in favour of rock and indie. You'd be wrong. Glastonbury takes pride in providing its faithful crowd with a mix of the classic and contemporary, bringing some of the best talent—both established and up-and-coming—that dance music has to offer. As well as the Dance Village—an entire area devoted to dance music with a wide-reaching line-up and superb atmosphere—there are plenty of other hidden gems for keen clubbers to stumble upon whilst exploring the expansive site.
THURSDAY
After an evening arrival on Thursday, and after visits to a number of bars and small stages that were open, we found ourselves in the Dance Village. With the news of Michael Jackson's death filtering into a remote and initially confused Glastonbury, there was even more of a buzz floating around the eternally bustling site. Amid the inevitable wild rumours and subsequent debates, the Dance Lounge began to swell to capacity as hordes of clubbers arrived to fly headfirst into the festival with some deep and driving techno courtesy of Jamie Jones.
Photo credit: Laughing Man Images
However, late night sound restrictions meant that what should have been a great opening to the festival ended up being a frustrating and short-lived affair which ended up with Jones only playing for forty minutes in the difficult circumstances. The amiable Welshman had courteously taken the time to explain the problem to the crowd and did his best to honour the chipper Glastonbury ethos of having fun despite difficulties, but without the backing of a powerful system his rolling basslines seemed futile. This was made even more frustrating with the inclusion of his new MGMT remix, "Electric Jones" which truly deserved the kind of sound quality we all craved.
FRIDAY
After a decent night's sleep, we had renewed our optimism in time for Paul Woolford's 1 PM set. To our delight we could hear the pumping bass from the approaching tent as we meandered our way through the Dance Village. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a healthy-sized crowd who seemed to have no regard for the time of day. A metal barrier separated the highly animated dancers at the front from a wellies-clad Woolford, who was clearly enjoying his Glastonbury outing. The plan had been to leave before the end and make the short walk across to Dance West to check out Bristol outfit Deepgroove, but with the party in full swing it was literally too difficult to leave so we happily remained stuck between our fellow festival goers until the end of his set. Buoyed by his performance and the bag of wine we found when leaving the tent, we set back off into the mud to explore some of the other stages around the huge site.
Photo credit: Sophia Spring
We were back at East Dance at 8PM for Layo & Bushwacka! No strangers to festival crowds around the world, the duo had already created an atmosphere by the time we had got there, just a few minutes late. Looking comfortable behind the decks, they proceeded to plough into a breathless set that got pulses racing and feet moving. The sun even made a guest appearance, peering over the hills in the background and sneaking into the tent from underneath the plastic ceiling. After the mutual appreciation between the crowd and the DJs following their set, we left dance music behind for a few hours and made our way to The Pyramid stage to see Neil Young. After rocking in the free world for a couple of hours, the main stages drew to a close so we made the long journey to Shang Ri La and Trash City to enjoy the festival by night.
Way out on the fringes of the festival site lurks the wonderfully peculiar Trash City. The perfect place to experience Glastonbury in the dark, this apocalyptic dream land of fire and fantasy is an invasion of the senses. The smell of lighter fluid wafts over the colourful scrap metal sculptures as they reflect the light from the bursts of flames that shoot out into night sky from their menacing, angular metal frames.
Photo credit: Sophia Spring
After walking through what I think was a replica of part of the Blade Runner set, we found ourselves in the aptly named Igloo tent. Once inside we were greeted by infectious techno from the likes of Johnny D, Omar-S and Seth Troxler. The entire interior of the tent was lined by screens beaming us through the solar system and into the inside of a human body. Before long we had forgotten we were even at a festival and had settled into a night of clubbing.
SATURDAY
Following a late and lazy start to the day, we found ourselves at the crowded Pyramid Stage where the effortlessly charming Dizzee Rascal entertained the masses with his fun blend of hip-hop, dance and grime. Despite enjoying the young rapper's energetic and animated show, we decided to squeeze through the crowds and to catch Pete Doherty's slot on The Other Stage. Sat towards the back of the field, a light breeze floated over us as we relaxed to the charismatic front man's engaging, yet calm performance. Finishing with a Libertines song, we were soon back on our feet, raring to go and within ten minutes were dancing away to Timo Maas' extended set in The Dance Village. Given an unusually long set (just under three hours) the German veteran had a great opportunity to reflect his club style on a festival crowd—which he grabbed with both hands.
Photo credit: Sophia Spring
After a quick skip across the pathway, we were back in East Dance for the beginning of Pete Tong's performance. Afternoon was turning into the evening as Tong drew a large and up-for-it crowd into the tent. He stayed true to his house roots but played an edgier, more underground set than perhaps would have been expected from the Radio 1 man.
Later on, we also caught Josh Wink as well. Having missed his opening on account of Bruce Springsteen's magnetic pull, we arrived to a crowd totally immersed in the sounds of Philadelphia's finest. In addition to administering Glastonbury's acid injection, Wink served up intelligent, groovy techno that seemed to build continually until we reached the climatic "Higher State of Consciousness" which brought the tent to a frenzied end for the night.
SUNDAY
After another long night of exploring, we found ourselves at The Other Stage on Sunday for Bat For Lashes. The singer produced one of the most intriguing and enjoyable hours of Glastonbury 2009. Natasha Kahn's beautiful, serene voice seemed to merge with the calming breeze that washed over the stage to create the perfect atmosphere for our fragile selves to enjoy Sunday afternoon. Her psychedelic, experimental tendencies perhaps points to her unusual and travelled upbringing and when fused with intelligent beats and grumbling bass brings a unique and totally engaging sound to a festival that always cherishes and supports the extraordinary.
Photo credit: Glastonbury on the BBC
Now engulfed in the spirit and ethos of Glastonbury we set off in an effort to find other acts that would usually escape our attention rather than catching Quivver and Dirty Vegas in The Dance Village as we had scheduled. Various small stages, tents, drinks and a disappointing Noisettes set later, the headline slot at the Pyramid stage was fast approaching. Before long we were halfway up the hill, amongst the huge crowd in front of the truly special stage. Through the sea of flags and beautiful fire balloons that were tenderly released into the night sky, Blur emerged onto the stage to rapturous applause before steamrolling through hit after hit. The four-piece demonstrated the sheer scale of their success with their arsenal of favourites. The enormous crowd joined an emotional Damon Albarn in joyful singalongs to songs like "Tender," "Park Life" and "In the Country."
It was the perfect end to one of the most exciting and colourful festivals around. Whether immersed in the craziness of Dance Village or Trash City, chilling at the Other Stage or taking in the sights and sounds of the Pyramid Stage, Glastonbury is always an experience. And it's one that invariably lasts longer in the memory than a host of similar events. What more can you ask for?