New music
Now, we know what you’re thinking: ‘Doesn’t it start on Wednesday?’ Well, the live coverage from Worthy Farm does indeed commence in the middle part of the week, but a cursory check on BBC iPlayer will proffer enough treats to pass the next few agonising hours.
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The coverage across the BBC has already started, with some special programming all over their network, so head over to the iPlayer now (or in a few minutes, after you’ve read all about it). In an exclusive interview with Clash, BBC Head of Popular Music Jonny Rothery and 6 Music stalwart Steve Lamacq talk us through what’s on the agenda both before and during the Biggest Music Weekend Of The Year. With a mammoth 45 hours of coverage, there’s lots to pick through.
“We’ve got more programming across linear (TV) and iPlayer over the festival,” Rothery opens. “Sunday night (June 18th) kicks off with We Love Glastonbury, with lovely moments from the likes of Noel Gallagher, Jake Shears, Sharleen Spiteri (and) comedians like Nish Kumar and Joel Wicks who love Glastonbury. Whether they’ve been or have watched it on TV for years, they’re just going through their highlights.”
“We’ve also re-imagined Frances Whately’s 50 Years & Counting film which (went) out on Sunday after We Love Glastonbury, then we’ve got programming across the week: lovely little highlights shows called Glastonbury Anthemson Monday-Wednesday. It’s a simple programme; just re-living great moments with some facts and stats, in chronological order to give you the huge span that have been on since the TV (coverage) started.”
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“Then on Monday morning we’ve got the iPlayer coverage kicking off, which is super-exciting,” Rothery continues, his glee readily apparent. “That’s been super-sized this year. We’ve got this new thing called GlastoCam which is a bit nerdy but I’m really excited about it! It’s quite lo-fi, but it contrasts nicely with the high-end BBC performance and presentation pieces. It’s a few Glastocam-type cameras for people who are excited about the festival and may want to look at it. It’s got a slow-TV aspect, streaming live so you can tune in to see what’s happening onsite, and it’s on from 4.30 am-10 pm, so you’ll be able to see the sunset and sunrise, which is beautiful.”
“It was inspired by a Café Del Mar webcam on YouTube, where people can watch the Ibizan sunsets every day with a chillout soundtrack. Over our Glastocam we’ve got curated music so it’s a lean-back channel that you can have on in the background and dip in and out. That’s a new iteration this year which we can build on if it goes well.”
“We’ve got lots of highlights and best moments building up the live stuff kicking off on Friday then the presentation team kicks off on the channel, fronted by Huw Stephens,” he explains. “We’ve gone over the 40 hours mark, including more on BBC1, which is fantastic and a good thing as the festival’s music curation broadens out over time (and) we’ve got that on our channels as well. We’ve got the spectrum of artists on the stage these days, there’s amazing pop acts mixing with credible acts so it feels like a broad thing these days and we’re trying to represent that across the channels.”
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Representative diversity is important for both Glastonbury and the BBC, so in many ways, the two national institutions are tailor-made for one another. Rothery agrees: “I love the world we’re in with music now, where it’s less tribal and much more accessible for everybody. In the old days, it was probably an easier conversation to segregate what goes where, but it’s a different conversation.”
Having recently re-joined the BBC from Channel 4, Rothery can offer a unique perspective on how Glastonbury and the according coverage has changed over the years, although he believes the ethos remains: “I fundamentally think the coverage is in the same space and how it’s been produced, but the capability of iPlayer is probably the main point of difference in that time. It’s not broken, it’s fantastic as it is, we just work on how it could be improved and a lot of it is really the viewer experience through iPlayer. Year on year we’ve got more choice on there and you can skip around the stages. That’s not going to go away, we’re boosting that.”
“This year, for the first time, we’ve got a signed-accessible Pyramid channel from the first band to the last band. It’s these little incremental changes we’re looking at to bring it up to date and keep with the times. The immediacy of the offering on iPlayer is bringing people closer to the action. It was really interesting on the We Love Glastonbury show; the comedian Kerry Godliman picked a Beyonce moment as one of her highlights but couldn’t actually remember if she had been there to see it or watched it on the TV. I took that as a massive compliment! People can love Glastonbury and feel like it’s a part of them even if they don’t go or have barely been.”
“I look at Wimbledon and sporting events as much as anything as to how we can iterate and improve our festival content, rather than other festivals. It’s how BBC Sport and other broadcasters report on other events that I feel are more relevant to us. It is a music festival but it’s become bigger than that, it’s a cultural event now.”
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Of course, it’s not just on TV that the BBC coverage can be found, and 6 Music is perhaps the ultimate Glastonbury-friendly radio station (with all due respect to Worthy FM, of course!). With countless festivals under his belt, Steve Lamacq knows the festival as well as anyone and is keen to reflect that on his show. “On Friday we’ll spend most of the day wandering around (the site) and recording bits and pieces,” he explains. “One of the things that I’m always very conscious of is trying to bring all the bits of Glastonbury to life on the radio.”
“It took me about me about three Glastonburys before I found out there was life over the other side of the hedge! You go through that hedge and suddenly you’re in the Cabaret field, and you just keep walking from there and there’s so much of interest. So much spontaneity which is what people like and embrace. I’ve almost given up having a schedule of people I want to see now – apart from 1 or 2 acts you’ve definitely got to be at – because it’s all going to go out of the window and you’ll find yourself watching a man singing Frank Sinatra songs to a backing track of a boombox, standing outside what looks like a telephone box. You think to yourself, ‘I’m never going to see this anywhere else!”
“So, on Friday we’ll be searching for the curios. It’s always good to work out the lay of the land as some things will have changed, like the William’s Green tent has gone, so just trying to bring parts of the festival to life.”
“I’m always in favour of trying to match up the old and the new,” Lamacq continues. “So, the people who have been there countless times and people who are relatively new to it. For instance, we’ve got Ian Broudie from the Lightning Seeds on with a couple of members of Prima Queen – who came through the Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition – to get different perspectives on what people feel about Glastonbury. Once you become an old hand at this thing – which is fine because you know where to go and what mistakes not to make – but there is something great about the naivety about someone going to Glastonbury for the first time.”
“That first time you go to Glastonbury, you’re coming in and you drive over the brow of the hill then all of a sudden you see this mass of humanity. The tents, the faraway fields of tents…being able to enjoy that for the first time and getting that across is important.”
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With a weekday show, the dawn of the weekend leaves Lamacq to enjoy his weekend without having to work, but there is a sting in the tale for the DJ: “Once again, I’ve got the slot that they all wanted: 8 pm-midnight on Sunday night! Everyone else is off having a marvellous time having finished work, apart from the engineers, who will be starting to de-rig and unplugging things all around us. The only thing left plugged in by midnight will be our little Outside Broadcast truck backstage.”
“We’re very lucky this year because there’s so much on the Sunday night that we’re hoping to take live to air, (so) we’ll just be going from stage to stage and seeing what’s going on. As a frustrated Radio 5 Sports presenter, being able to go around the grounds (as I call it) is quite thrilling.”
Although it’s an ever-evolving event, there are always Glastonbury traditions, and Lamacq, and his army of listeners, is the architect of one: his review at the end of the weekend, about which he is disarmingly honest: “I try and make people cry. My brief to myself is I’ve three and a half minutes to sum up Glastonbury and make people cry!”
Another tradition is the notorious ‘Glastonbury Moment’ and Lamacq identifies his with no hesitation, taken from Blur’s joyous headline slot in 2009: “Me and Blur go back to Colchester when we were nobodies drinking in a pub called the Hole in the Wall, near Colchester Arts Centre, and we’d grown up together and been through so many highs and lows separately in our different careers. To see them and how emotional they were… to see Damon so overcome in the moment (after ‘Tender’) …if you could define Glastonbury in a moment, that would be it.”
“But (2009) was just a great year all round. I don’t particularly know why, but there was just a good feeling. I was sent by 6 Music, having never seen Bruce Springsteen in my life, to go and interview him in Norway prior to the festival and came away as a fan! There have been other highlights along with the way but, in general, that year was my favourite.”
Yet, while Glastonbury has a rich heritage to choose from, it’s equally about looking to the future, and Lamacq kindly lists his tips for the 2023 iteration: “Deadletter are playing the Left Field on Friday. They’ve done a couple of things for (my show) and it’s taking that post-punk thing in an acerbic way, but it’s quite celebratory as well. I think you really have to see it live to understand just how moving their set can be. There’s just something incredibly rhythmic and joyous about it, while at the same time quite angry at points! Benefits are on later on that bill, who are even angrier. There is a very passionate man on a crusade!”
“Loyle Carner has had an interesting Glastonbury story. He’s headlining the West Holts and I think that’s going to be brilliant. I remember seeing him years ago and he really brought his first album to life, he was great. He’s one of those people that will be wandering the site listening to music.”
“Arctic Monkeys will be interesting. I passed on seeing them at the Emirates because I want to see what they do at Glastonbury. They’ve done so many festivals so they are properly match-fit for this. I’m really hoping that, amongst the hits, they at least do ‘There’d Better Be A Mirrorball’ and others from the last album. That song could be particularly magic at Glastonbury, I think.”
One of many contenders for what is going to be an unmissable weekend, whether you’re watching in a muddy field or from the comfort of your sofa.
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BBC Music broadcasts from Glastonbury on TV, radio, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds from June 21st – 25th.
Words: Richard Bowes
