Thursday at Glastonbury Festival 2023: How did the event warm up?
Warming up was never going to be a problem as the sun-baked Glastonbury Festival on Thursday, June 22nd. The Met Office might have cited 22°C sunshine, but that sounds more undervalued than a good night’s sleep, which, ironically, was very hard to achieve as sleeping in a sun-blasted tent was like slumbering inside the middle of a petrol station apple pie.
For those who have never been to Glastonbury, the Thursday has always seemed a bit mythical. With the main stages out of action, what do you do when you pitch up? Well, the fact that one veteran kindly informed me yesterday morning that Thursdays were his favourite day of the festival tells you a lot about Glastonbury itself. It is a festival of arts and culture in general as much as it is a celebration of music.
You are, in essence, in the midst of a small city, so simply wandering about and taking in the sights is part of the charm. Scattered among these sights are performers who work up a small cluster of ravers who have been gravitated in by the sound of an acid house four-piece from Bolivia, a dance troupe from Basingstoke, or the sight of Ben Howard’s hat peaking over the background of the BBC’s TV area.
Then out of nowhere, as you recline by an impressive Carhenge installation, sudden news will erupt that Katy J. Pearson is set to perform at the Crow’s Nest in an hour. So, you now have the task of finding that hallowed spot somewhere amid the 900 acres and 100 different stages. But it will be worth it for the beautiful sounds that follow with the sunset descending beneath the hill like a famed Toto lyric and Grian Chatten watching on over your right shoulder. And what’s more, you might even catch Working Men’s Club’s Sydney Minsky-Sargeant playing his first solo acoustic set too.
When the sun finally disappears, the festival takes a rave turn. Thursday is largely an EDM night with the likes of SBTRKT, Eats Everything and Example all bringing in revellers. It is at this juncture you will see the strange sight of a two-year-old in ear defenders hoisted aloft by a liberal father while all those around them are losing their heads.
This sort of narrative then wavers on to the wee hours, emblematic of the festival’s laissez-faire attitude to absolutely everything. Anything and everything goes with seemingly no curfew, noise restrictions or restrictions of any kind for that matter. Alas, Thursday might be the day that best represents the ethos of the festival on that front, but it is, indeed, a warm-up with expectations, myriad rumours, and a hankering for some good old rock ‘n’ roll all mounting.
