Be Excellent To Each Other

Not really. Glastonbury tickets are £125, for example.

In fact, for a three-day festival it's a bit of a steal, even. Especially since - yes! - all forum attendees will receive a free soapy beard job from Dimrill.

So, to clarify, it's £65 per ticket + about £8 service charge. The service charge is per ticket. Grr.
The Custard Factory is only just over half a mile from Birmingham New Street station.
It runs from the 11th to the 13th of July, Friday to Sunday, from 10AM. According to the ticket.

2 main reasons

1) To 'be' 'cool'
2) For the tone. A sound system pushed hard makes a considerably different sound, not just a louder sound.
also 3) Drums are sufficiently loud that you'd want ear protection anyway if you were to be exposed to them so regulary.

A thousand times this. My right ear is a little rubbishy now, after several years of china cymbals crashes right next to it at practices.

Also; guitars have to fight to get over the drums. This makes them louder.
Alsoalso; Wearing earplugs makes things easier to hear. As in the sound is still "loud" but it's not abrasive. It's quite nice

These are the best ear protectors ever, but I wouldn't go to a gig wearing them.

Why not? Wimp.

Because my pair cost me about £75, and I'm afraid some Nottingham scamp might steal them.

Was in Birmingham today with my sis. Went off on a wander and found the Custard Factory - it's a reasonable 15 minutes or so from the Bullring, and on a bus route. On the way back, discovered the Barfly and Carling Academy, and that The Breeders are playing at the latter in about a week. Hoorah! But sold out. Boo.

According to the CF's site, "day passes will be available in May."

So, I'm going to book a ticket when some money comes in this week. Where is best to stay in Brum? Best being: cheap, nearby and safe for a nervous skinny bloke with a bad hairdo and badder beard?

Speak to me, fool. Leeds lot are booking a couple Etap hotel rooms (see my post earlier on), you can share a double bed with me, big boy!

Are you gonna be going for the whole weekend? If so, right on!

here people freak out if they have to pay more than 50€ for it. I think nowadays festivals are about 60-70€ for all days, while Rock in RIo is 53€ for a single day.

Actually It's nearer the £160 mark.

I also go to Download Festival which costs me around £150 +crappy fees
Well worth the money for the amount of bands you can see.

I just read somewhere that Reading Festival costs £240! Is that right? Fucking Hell, thats ridiculous! This country is a fucking Piss Take. I went to a brilliant festival in Barcelona last June, 3 days, tons of big name bands (The Fall, Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins etc) and it cost only about 110 Euros.

The Reading festival is ridiculous anyway, even if it cost a tenner

I went to Reading festival in 1999 I think, it was alright, but it only cost about 80 quid then. 240 is insane, I noticed the lineup yesterday anyway, and I think the only band who I liked on the bill was QotSA, and I haven't really heard anything they've done since their first two records. I'm not cool.

The Reading and Leeds festivals are full of chavs. *shudder* Thus I'll never attempt one. Oh, that and the fact I dislike msot of the bands that play there, it seems.

Reading / Leeds do look extra specially awful this year. I think there was RATM whom I wanted to play, can't remember anyone else.

It's like twenty years ago, again. When the Reading festival had the likes of Bonnie Tyler and Deacon Blue playing prominently, despite the cool kids being into Pixies and Throwing Muses and Jesus and Mary Chain and stuff. Many bottles of piss were thrown, I have read.

Now THIS is a festival:

http://www.bangfaceweekender.com/bfwlineup.htm

Really wish I could go, but alas, no squids this month

i remember seeing Altern8 on Amiga Power. This is the second time i hear from them in 15 years.

kid 606, Squarepusher and Vsnares?

Oh. My Gawd.

Krome & Time is the big one there for me.

And Chas & Dave, DON'T FORGET CHAS & DAVE!

AND THE WHOLE THING IS HOSTED BY NORMSKI!!11!11

*cry*

I went to leeds not last year but the two before that and cant remember seeing any charvs, also the ticket this year was around 160, well thats what my mate says, Im sure some sites were over charging around the 240 mark when tickets went on sale though.

there's this festival in July if anyone's interested (seeing as Algarve is mostly a british colony nowadays):

lagoaburninglive.com

50€ for all three days, and many good metal bands.

the lineups been updated and now includes red sparrowes woo.

Ooooo. Still not going. I might go to Latitude in July though.

yeah i like the look of latitude but im quitting my job so its a pretty slim im going. theres another decent looking festival called hydro connect which has got sigur ros, the breeders, grinderman, camera obscura, mercury rev and spiritualized.

Day tickets are now on sale!

Since it's a pricey do this year, I think I'll just be going for the one day. Looking at the lineups, I think this will be the Saturday. I'd love to see Earth and Graventemple, but I can't really justify all the extra cost of going to the Sunday just for those two bands.

...oh yes, and

Here is probably a good place to ask this.

Anyone else going to Leeds/Glastonbury festival this year?

Well Saturday has:
Oren Ambarchi
Thrones

Sunday has:
Asva
Earth
Gravetemple feat. Julian Cope . Stephen O'Malley . Oren Ambarchi . Atllia Csihar
Kikuri feat. Merzbow & Keiji Haino
Red Sparowes

that I'm interested in. Seems very pricey though.

I purchased my ticket for the Saturday (only. tis all I can afford this month). Who else is gonna be there on that day, then?

EDIT: oh, and Mr Marsh says he has permission from the missus to go on the Saturday too. I told him to book a ticket, but he probably forgot, so I will force him at knife point to do so asap.

whereabouts are people staying in birmingham for this? because Ill need to sort out accommadation pronto and dont really want to be on my lonesome.

Right, first I was going, then wasn't, then was, then wasn't, and now almost certainly will definitely be going. I think.

So. I'm planning to get a room somewhere in Brum. A room with two single beds and floor space. I would sleep in one of those beds. Others are welcome (by me) to occupy the rest of the space, in a discreet, non-staff alerting manner. Just get me some drinks If you're going, you'll want to book the Monday off, and possibly the Friday too.

There's at least two folks (inc. me) who are going - who else?

NOISY FORUMITES! ASSEMBLE!

Which was that My friends are off to Beni this year and it looks well nice.

I'm not a big festivaler, but sunning it in Spain while bands play could be fun. Went to Leeds Festival in 2004 (so Mark Lanegan, Mondo Generator, 80s Matchbox, Dillinger Escape Plan, The Roots, Super Furries) for free. Was nice. I got all emotional and cried like a baby for Lan's last two songs.

Bump.

Ha, tell me if Oxbow have improved at all, when I heard them, they were awful!! I may even have the CD somewhere, but I don't think I ever managed to listen to the whole thing!

STARTS TOMORROW NIGHT!

So, who is actually going in the end then? Any meet plans? I'm gonna be there just for Saturday.

I'm not. I's got no munny.

Myself, Runcle and Davydd Grimm are all going I think.

Though, I/we have an exciting new issue of needing a place to stay (which wasn't arranged before because I had an issue with my tickets, and am unexpectedly £310 poorer overnight) in Birmingham, for the weekend. Sigh. So, as a consequence, I may not be going after all, despite now having my ticket, speaking only for myself. Gngggh.

Oh my God they were woeful. Just a horrific noise...

They weren't called maybe Merzbow, were they?

You're not supposed to listen to Oxbow, just be intimidated by Eugene. He's all naked and that, and hits people! An avant-gardener, he.

I have a D. Grimm and a Runcle in my house, handling my instruments!

Dalek and Battles have been highlights thus far. Looking forward to Gravetemple and Merzbow tomorrow.


Wooden Shjips are rubbish, and have a stupid name.

Any bumming?

Yes, frequent.

Excellent! If it continues throughout the night, feel free to "tweet" in here. I'll catch up in the morning. Night!

Missed Daleks due to real life bleurgh, but Battles and Thrones have entertained me lots, and I'm actually more excited about the line-up tomorrow, having finally checked the programme. Reads like lots of shoegazer and krautrock stuff, woo.

Also, FUCK YEAH I got my picture taken beside Joe Preston, ex-Melvins bassist*! I'm going to be grinning about that for quite some time.

Annoyed though that the singer bloke from Battles walked right past me, three bloody times, and there was me without my camera. Tomorrow, I won't rest until I've whined and begged any Famous Stars I see into taking a picture with me. Apparently one of Mr. Bungle will be there! Come on down...

Wooden Shjips really were dull as fuck. As Runcle said - like The Doors but longer, less tuneful, less interesting. Or like Lift To Experience minus everything that made them an interesting and exciting group of shaggy men. Wooden Shjips were just some men.

* Admittedly, compared to Matt Lukin, Lorax, Mark D, Kevin Rutmanis, and the current guy from Big Business, Joe Preston is um, rather very low down on the Melvins bassist totem pole. Athough, he played 'With Teeth' from off Ozma, and even just with a drum machine and bass loop, it still prodded buttock very nicely indeed.