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Tuesday, 25 June, 2002, 15:38 GMT 16:38 UK
'Legendary' Glastonbury remembered
Ian Anderson (centre, with head down) played in 1970
The farmland setting may be the same, but modern Glastonbury Festivals are a world away from the original event that started it all in 1970.
The first Glastonbury was "more like a bunch of people sat on the grass in a park" than a festival, according to folk singer Ian Anderson - one of those who performed at that fabled first event.
But just 1,500 laid-back music fans were there in 1970 - and they describe a very different atmosphere. "We decided we'd all pile into one or two vehicles and see what this festival was like," says Anderson, who was joined on stage by fellow folk star Al Stewart. "And it was very thin on the ground."
"It was very pleasant," he says. "Nobody, I'm sure, had the slightest inkling that it could grow into anything the size it subsequently became." It was a sunny weekend, with no mud, he remembers, and there were a lot of "people with large smelly dogs and afghan coats". But Anderson, who now edits music magazine fRoots, has not been back in recent years because "I don't need the hassle". The festival's reputation was cemented the following year, when organisers expanded and 12,000 people went to see acts including David Bowie, Joan Baez and Fairport Convention.
"It was a pretty good atmosphere," he says. "It had a lot of spirit and a very open feel to it." "There were various people prancing around in the nude, and other people gathering around fires."
"I seem to remember wandering off into the woods, really," he says. Brown returned to play the Acoustic Stage in 2000, and describes the modern mega-event as "very bewildering". "It's vast. It struck me somewhat like as if somebody had uprooted a huge city, moved it and plonked it all down," he says. "There were people who were walking around for two and a half hours trying to find my set and arrived after I'd finished. "I obviously prefer the older festival because it had more to do with fitting in with nature, it was almost a continuation of the Stonehenge things."
"It was a gorgeous time of year, and everyone was very positive," he remembers. But 10 minutes into their Pyramid Stage set, the power failed, delaying their performance for half an hour. But when they came back on, it was in "that magic moment of sunset", Allen says. "The effect of the music brought everybody down from the house, which was in the distance. Suddenly, we saw this pied piper procession dancing down towards us.
But the amount of mind-altering drugs being taken meant that people could not always tell what was real and what was imaginary. "That was also the charm of it, because it meant anything was possible," he says. "Even the most outlandish thing could be possibly real. In retrospect, quite a lot of it probably wasn't." He too went back in 2000, and describes it as a "much more complicated thing now".
"It used to be a compact group of people who all had the same view. These days it's as complex as New York City." He adds: "It's become huge now, and hugely devoured by people who want to make a fast buck. "It's also become this huge holiday camp, like a new-age Butlin's. And also, towards the end, it starts to feel like a refugee camp." He says part of its success is down to its original "high intentions" of altruism and not being materialistic. Back in 1971, the performers and fans did not even know whether there would be another Glastonbury Festival. "But after such a beautiful experience, there was a strong feeling that it should go on," he says. |
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