The A-Z of Glastonbury Festival 2007

United Kingdom | | 19 June 2007

Back for the first time in two years, the world famous festival returns with more to contend with than ever before - and we're not talking about the rain. So, if you're struggling to deal with the mountain of bands, tents and activities on offer, check out our checklist...

A - Arcade Fire and Arctic Monkeys
Other than the Virtual Festivals-hosted night in the Left Field, this particular Friday evening combo looks a pretty good way to kick off the festival. As darkness falls, Arcade Fire will take to The Other Stage, against Kasabian who line up on the Pyramid Stage (in what surely has to be the fall-out clash of the weekend?) Afterwards, Arctic Monkeys take on Bjork. No contest there, surely?
Also: Adjagas. Watch them open the Pyramid on Friday and let out a little 'yip' of delight.

B - Beirut
A favourite of Emily Eavis', the multi-instrumental prodigy from New York lays down every instrument himself when recording, including farfisa organ, accordion, piano, ukelele, mandolin, glockenspiel, violin and cello, but live brings along a band of ten to sooth audiences with everything from Balkan brass music to Congo drumming. See them on Sunday's Jazz World.
Also: Billy Bragg. Shake a fist with him on the Left Field on Sunday night.

C - Carl and Pete
Will they, won't they? It certainly seems like the stage is set for some kind of Libertines reunion with both Babyshambles and Dirty Pretty Things in attendance, especially after their surprise acoustic pairing at Hackney Empire recently. But where will it be? Both play the two main stages with their respective bands but our guess would be the Park Stage, where Emily Eavis has promised, "surprises a plenty."
Also: The Cat Empire. Funky festival good times from Down Under on Friday's Avalon Stage.
  
D - Dame Shirley Bassey
Fulfilling a "lifetime dream" and still looking stunning at 70, it's fair to say Shirley Bassey's primetime Sunday show will be her one and only Glastonbury performance. With a bag of decade-spanning classics and an aura of sheer class, it promises to be one of those classic Pyramid Strage moments that could only ever work at Worthy Farm. Will she play her stunning 'Light My Fire' cover? What about the Propellorheads rumbler 'History Repeating Itself'? The rest you can probably guess.
Also: Damian Marley and brother Stephen returning to 'Exodus' on behalf of Bob prior to the 'Dame's' set.

E - Eat nice food
Glasto is one festival you can walk away from relatively healthy - booze and substance abuse aside, of course. Instead of eating burgers made from pureed weasels, get involved in some tasty scran that won't have you running for the nearest manky portaloo - from oven baked pizza to thali to Spanish cuisine. Our tip is to roam around the stalls before making an impulse choice. It adds to the experience and you might even get a few tasters along the way!
Also: Eat Static. If its one thing you get your chops around at Glasto, make it these festival legends.

F - Folk
It's the new rock'n'roll, bigger than Belgian gabba and in a better state than ever. Whether 'nu', 'psychedelic' or old school beard stroking, you can't leave Glasto until you've folked it up with some smelly ferret ticklers. For one easy dose, spanning the noodly and the groovy, check out the Park Stage on Sunday when King Creosote, Adem, Gruff Rhys, Circulus, Willy Mason, Euros Childs and Fionn Regan are among those lining up. Then head down to the Avalon and Acoustic Stages for more.
Also: Fat Freddy's Drop. Funky bombs from New Zealand on Sunday's Jazz World.

 G - Get off with someone
Having once incited a small earthquake at a previous festival (Madstock back in 1992), Madness will be using their Lost Vagueness show to kickstart another spontaneous moment - a massive kiss off! The 'Baggy Trousers' boys will stop their Saturday night set at 1.30am to encourage a world record breaking attempt for the biggest mass snog.
Also: Guilty Pleasures. Tickle your tacky bone on Friday night's Jazz World.

H - Head off somewhere on your own
The likelihood is that you'll be stringing along with your mates, but try to have an hour or two on your own to go exactly where you want to. Glastonbury, generally, is the most friendly festival you can go to and you're more likely to stop and have a chat with a random is you're on your own - just make sure you're phone isn't dead so you can meet up with your friends again.
Also: The Holloways. If anyone can bring out the sunshine on Sunday morning it will be these scamps on the Pyramid Stage.

I - I-Count
Following the spectacle of thousands joining hands in 2005 in a call to Make Poverty History, this year the focus will be climate change. The I-Count campaign is hoping that more than 100,000 festival goers will sign up to show a universal commitment to solving climate change. Of course, if you do sign, make sure you practise what you preach and do everything you can to reduce your carbon footprint, including recycling. 
Also: Infadels. Post-punk disco fun in Saturday's East Dance Village.

J - Joe Bananas
With the weather due to be a bit rubbish, to say the least, check out Joe Bananas for everything you need to survive Glastonbury, from blankets and wellies to shades and sun cream. In 2005, they saved the day by shipping in truck loads of Wellington boots as the site turned into a swamp - and made an absolute fortune to boot!
Also: Jamie T. Closing Glastonbury Festival in the John Peel Stage Sunday night.

K - Klaxons
They're playing twice but the big one threatens to be their show in the Dance Village on Friday night. We bumped into singer Jamie Reynolds watching Daft Punk at Wireless and he told us: "It's going to be amazing, we've got something very special lined up. I can't tell you what it is, you'll just have to be there, but it's going to be an audio visual treat." See you there.
Also: The Killers. Come one, you know you love 'em. Don't you...?

L - Left Field
2007 is set to be the year of the Left Field with loads of amazing bands set to compliment the campaigning spirit that goes on in the 4,000-capacity arena. It kicks off on Thursday and will feature speeches and discussions with the likes of Tony Benn, comedy from Marcus Bridgestock among others, and performances from the likes of Ned's Atomic Dustbin, CUD and Back To The Planet on the Virtual Festivals-hosted Friday night. Hard Fi headline Saturday night.
Also: Liz Green. The Glastonbury 'emerging talent' winner will be all over the place, playing the Pyramid, Acoustic and Left Field stages.

M - Meet Michael Eavis
You're bound to see him at some point, racing around on his chauffeur driven buggy, and he'll happily stop and talk to you - in fact he loves it! This is his weekend and his opportunity to absorb two years worth of adoration following the event's hiatus last year. Question is, will he be wearing his newly presented CBE?
Also: M.I.A. A great live performer who'll no doubt kick up a storm on Friday's Park Stage.

 N - Never Get Too Wrecked
You can get stupidly off your face any weekend of the year. To enjoy Glastonbury properly, take it easy, you'll have just as good a time. Things can go slightly awry if you get battered on drink and drugs and there's nothing worse than spending all day Sunday wanting to go home.
Also: Noisettes: One of the best live bands on the circuit, playing Sunday's John Peel.

O - Offer up your tent
Not while you're there - unless there's flooding again, or you meet someone - but when you leave. The Give Me Shelter campaign is asking festival goers to leave their tents behind so that they can be distributed to some of the world's poor. Loads get left behind every year anyway, but now at least you can feel that you're benefiting someone and not just adding to someone's headache during the clean up.
Also: Ozric Tentacles. Get down 'n crusty with the smelliest hair on site - Saturday at the Glade Stage.

P - Park Stage
New for 2007, the Park Area is the labour of love for Emily Eavis and aims to recreate the hippy vibe of old with archaic pianos scattered in front of the stage and acts playing alternative sets to the norm, many with an acoustic focus. The lineup includes Spiritualized, The Aliens, Ed Harcourt and Chas'N'Dave but Emily has promised loads of surprises which includes the mystery supergroup on Saturday night going under the name of Africa Express.
Also: Poetry and Words Tent. Go fill your ears with the musings of others.

Q - Question
Wander round Worthy Farm and you'll have a lot of things thrown in your face - campaigns, leaflets, things to sign, 'spiritual' things to try. By all means be open minded but don't get carried away into thinking that everything at Glastonbury is 'cool'. If you're not sure about something, question it and confront it, it could be a load of pap. The same goes for cheering everything your favourite band says, even though you don't understand what they're on about.       
Also: Quantic. Homegrown percussive summer funk with smatterings of drum'n'bass.

R - Ralph Myerz and the Jack Herren Band
We've been banging on about this lot for ages because they're bloody ace! Fusing chilled out grooves with banging beats, the bizarre Norwegian electro outfit are made for festivals, combining two mental drummers with the cool, regal Ralph Myerz controlling things from his throne. Catch them in the West Dance Village on Friday.
Also: Reverend and the Makers. A festival anthem in the making with 'Heavyweight Champion Of The World' - Pyramid Stage on Friday.

S - Stone Circle
It's London's Magic Eye, New York's Statue Of Liberty. If you venture anywhere to watch the sun rise during Glasto it has to be the steep Stone Circle, which rises out of the Green Fields. Join the drummers, the wasted and the freaks for an eye opening, enlightening morning experience you will never forget.
Also: Seasick Steve. A one-man blues machine who's old enough to know what he's talking about. See what he can do with one guitar on the Pyramid and Left Field stages.

T - The Ting Tings
The best pop song since Mates Of State's 'Fraud In The '80s' with their new single 'That's Not My Name', The Ting Tings are one of the freshest band to emerge this year - not bad seeing as they've been in existence for just a matter of months. The band play the new BBC Introducing Stage... on Saturday. Go see them before they go all massive along with a number of other exciting acts handpicked by music pros.
Also: Tinariwen. Desert music from Malian nomads turned rock rebels.

U - Understand other people
With almost 180,000 people stumbling around covered in mud and stinking of booze, you may conclude that a few are likely to get on your tits. Ultimately, laughter is the best medicine and as long as you have a smile on your face and a relaxed attitude, you should find situations that would normally appal you rather amusing instead. Just ask the 12 lads who squeezed into a sodden six-man tent to 'protect' themselves from the 2005 downpour.  
Also: Uncle Jam. Getting loads of attention at the mo and oozing with funk. We can't find him on the lineup but he's definitely playing somewhere!

V - The View
Looks like they're going to be playing everywhere, so they'll probably be hard to miss. The View are the type of band made for Glastonbury and this could well be their year, unless they could 'do a Doherty' and prove incoherent throughout. Only time will tell but 'Same Jeans' is likely to be particularly fitting, if you'll pardon the pun.
Also: Err, struggling a bit here, how about EnVy Corp?! Arcade Fire meets The Stills in the Queen's Head Sunday.

W - Wellies
Just bring 'em!
Also: The Waterboys. Glastonbury legends - just ask your dad - playing all three days on Avalon, Acoustic and Pyramid respectively.

X - Examine our guides
For any last minute tips check out our all-encompassing festival survival guide HERE. It covers everything from what to bring to how to look after yourself. If you're driving you should definitely have a good read of our travel guide, as recommended by our friends at the AA. Just click HERE.
Also: XX Teens. So good they named them twice (formerly know as Xerox Twins until the company made them change it!) - on at Friday's East Dance Village.

Y - Yell!
With so many bands, so many stages, hundreds of acres to roam and thousands of people to meet, you might just want to let it all out by shouting your lungs to pieces. For those who tell you Glastonbury should be a chilled out affair with minimal fuss, just shout loudly in their face, yeah. It's the biggest party on earth so let's treat it like one and have the best, maddest three days of the year. If you find yourself scoffing at this in disgust, you may want to invest in some earplugs and we can get you 20% off - just click HERE.
Also: The Young Knives. Quirky party indie stomps in Sunday's John Peel.

Z - zZz
They're a great band playing in the Left Field who we first came across at Eurosonic in Holland last year, but you might also want to get some zzzzzs of your own. Doing Glastonbury on no sleep is ill advised. This writer tried it once and spent most of Sunday morning roaming around identical looking fields for both brain and tent. Again, grab some earplugs to get you to sleep and don't take strange things from strangers while 'avin it' at the G Stage.
Also: Errrrrrrrr, give up. Cold War Kids.