The mythology of Glastonbury goes back thousands of years. Still, the best stuff definitely happened more recently as these classic moments demonstrate...
The Secret Piano Cave (1999) Michael Eavis was reportedly enjoying a stroll around his beloved festival, when a voice beckoned him to a small hole in the ground. Peering down, the father of Glastonbury was baffled to discover a whole subterranean cavern that had been excavated, complete with grand piano, tiered seating and a party in full swing!
We discovered the location of this cave at Glasto 2000, and found Michael Eavis in there, on-stage with Jools Holland and Billy Bragg!
Super Furry Ghost Van (1999) During the Super Furries' raptuous set on the Other Stage, a mysterious unmarked white van appeared out of the blue and proceeded to drive straight into the heaving crowd! It didn't take long for the party people to make good use of this X-File, climbing atop the vehicle and enjoying a mobile perspective. The van disappeared without trace, never to be heard of again...
Jarvis Cocker's Saturday Night (1999) Where there's a Keith Allen, there's usually a party and if not he brings one with him. Such was the case in '99 when he livened up the backstage area with his 'travelling karaoke'. The highlight was Jarvis Cocker, achieving his Glasto triple with a rip-roaring cover of Whigfield's 'Saturday Night'. Bless him.
Girl discovers new depths of depravity at Glasto (1998) Rumour has it that an ill-fated female made the horrendous mistake of not only making contact with, but actually putting her weight one of those 'open plan' toilet seats, which then proceeded to collapse, plunging her into the sewage tank below! She won't do that again.
Virtual Festivals Crew blag free round-trip and so could you! (1998) Everything looked hunkydory when the VF crew set off from London to Glasto in 1998, in a huge borrowed, but knackered Volvo Estate packed to the hilt with beer, World Cup footy on the radio. The fun came to a crashing halt (literally) on the Chiswick roundabout (still in London), as the car decided that the sheer weight of lager was too much for it's aged brakes, and ploughed defiantly into the back of a Belgian tourist's car, and was only stopped by the masterful stunt-driving of this quick thinking writer - by re-directing it into the concrete side of the roundabout. Luckily, the Belgian understood, there were no police about and Volvos being what they are, the thing was still driveable apart from the lack of brakes. How pleased we were when the Green Flag Breakdown Recovery people upheld their policy by towing us to our destination (150 miles to Glasters!). They also put our car in a local garage so it would (in theory) be fixed when we were ready to leave.
Unfortunately, due to the life-threatening weather conditions, we were ready to leave a good deal earlier than we had planned, but were forced to stay, waiting for the repairs. Add to this, crew-members breaking their limbs and catching hypothermia, it wasn't all roses. It was quite amusing, however, when the brakes failed again on the M3 motorway, whilst eventually heading home, and we had to be towed all the way back, too!
