Massaging At Glastonbury – Part 4
It is Saturday night and I decide to take some more time off from massaging…
Saturday Night
On Saturday I am semi-reluctantly dragged to the Pyramid Stage to see The Rolling Stones. Live music doesn’t do a thing for me. I arrive half an hour early and stand near the back of the crowd, about a quarter of a mile away. There is no way you can see Jagger and cohort in the flesh from this distance, but the large screens make them visible. I often wander what the difference is between this and watching them on TV. People assure me it’s the atmosphere. I can’t see it. Still, I’m here. It is The Stones. Let’s see what happens…
A short sound and light show precedes an announcement introducing The Stones. The crowd cheer. They come on stage. A firework is set off. They open with “Jumping Jack Flash”.
Around me are random conversations not at all related to The Stones. I still don’t get the atmosphere thing. I stick around until the end of the third number (“Paint It Black”). This whole live music thing is not for me. I leave the people I am with to enjoy it (and they do) as I head into the rest of the festival.
I wander back towards The Green Fields. The site is strangely peaceful. Even Public Enemy have drawn no more than a respectable crowd. I am taken by the Greenpeace encampment (which is on the Babylonian side of the tracks). Its sign is illuminated and, through the icebergs, snow is blowing out as a select few dance to peaceful but vibrant music. Although The Greenpeace is in Babylon, there is a tunnel beneath the railway line leading from it to The Greenfields. On the ceiling are suspended masses of glass bottles of various sizes. I look up at them, thinking they are pretty. Then someone shouts. Their voice echoes like a symphony – the bottles are turning it to music. Is there anything in Glastonbury that isn’t an experience? As I go to bed, I reflect that I will be back in York at my massage therapy practice in a couple of days. I drift off to sleep, happy in the thought and from the day’s experiences…
Greenpeace At Glastonbury