They'ce already dropped out of WOMAD anyway.
Womad 2009
- Thread starter Tort
- Start date
They'ce already dropped out of WOMAD anyway.
Really? Shows how much I keep up
Oh well .... plenty of other acts
Yeah, cancelled all European dates for some reason.
moonsi til
worked it out now!
Yay...WOMAD. Got up at 6 which was killer but happy and dressed now. Aiming to be on site about midday. Will need the time to faff around with new awning!
Really looking forward to all the music I have not yet heard and just bimbling around on my 2 legs rather than driving.
Hope you all have a fab weekend xx
Really looking forward to all the music I have not yet heard and just bimbling around on my 2 legs rather than driving.
Hope you all have a fab weekend xx
We enjoyed it overall, but our mood when depitching the camp very early yesterday morning was not great, with it still raining harder than ever after almost 16 hours of near continuous and ever heavier rain .... that was a very late downgrade to the forecast! 
Still most of Thursday, Friday and Saturday brought very reasonable weather, much of Saturday especially, and we caught plenty of fine music.
Best for me were
Skatalites, Thursday -- traditional ska, exellent!
Dennis Bovell, Friday -- roots and dub and ting with a fine band, as befitting the legend that he is
Mad Professor, Friday -- similar on the decks, but with added remixed Michael Jackson ...
Dub Colossus, Friday -- nice combination of African and dub
Sara Savoy, Sunday -- fantastic Cajun.
17 Hippies, Sunday -- suitably lively and multiinstrumentally talented, even with only 13 of them ...
and we LOVED Che Sudoka, Barcelona based punks, on Sunday -- highlight of the weekend
A good few other excellent acts as well -- Victor Demi, Acetere (Spanish folk), Los Desterrados, Mec Yek (fast and furious gypsy folk) and Jim Moray.
A combined plus point and drawback was the Real Ale Bar -- fantastic range of choice on Thurssday, almost all gone by mid Saturday.
Almost all bar managers at festivals should predict their beer requirements then automatically increase the order by 50% at least. And not just because we're coming!
Sorry to miss you madz, as planned we were at the Real Ale Tent Thursday for quite a while including 6 pm but I probably needed a better way of identifying you!
Another plus point as ever was the wide range of lovely food, not all of it mega expensive either despite our need to count the pennies at times.
Once again I was struck by how beautiful the site was, and surprisingly, not ridiculously muddy even right at the end. Nothing like 2007's ultra mudbath ....
They need many more toilets though, the shortage and consequent queues were a big bone of contention ....
I think quantities of conspicuously ultra middle class well off types were not any worse than previous years, maybe there were somewhat fewer even, perhaps they wimped out and buggered off quite early on Sunday when the clouds threatened ... or were some at Camp Bestival?
We had a nice quiet camping space anyway, untroubled by party hardcores or early-wakening kids
This was my 12th WOMAD, I've been every year since 1997 (2001 excepted), and given how much good and varied music you get (even with this year's sligthly weaker lineup) it's very hard to see us not wanting to return. Especially now what with the Big Green Gathering going down the shitter.
But I will so need to get a job in the Autumn because WOMAD is a pricey old event when one half of a couple (me) is unemployed.
Still most of Thursday, Friday and Saturday brought very reasonable weather, much of Saturday especially, and we caught plenty of fine music.
Best for me were
Skatalites, Thursday -- traditional ska, exellent!
Dennis Bovell, Friday -- roots and dub and ting with a fine band, as befitting the legend that he is
Mad Professor, Friday -- similar on the decks, but with added remixed Michael Jackson ...
Dub Colossus, Friday -- nice combination of African and dub
Sara Savoy, Sunday -- fantastic Cajun.
17 Hippies, Sunday -- suitably lively and multiinstrumentally talented, even with only 13 of them ...
and we LOVED Che Sudoka, Barcelona based punks, on Sunday -- highlight of the weekend
A good few other excellent acts as well -- Victor Demi, Acetere (Spanish folk), Los Desterrados, Mec Yek (fast and furious gypsy folk) and Jim Moray.
A combined plus point and drawback was the Real Ale Bar -- fantastic range of choice on Thurssday, almost all gone by mid Saturday.
Almost all bar managers at festivals should predict their beer requirements then automatically increase the order by 50% at least. And not just because we're coming!
Sorry to miss you madz, as planned we were at the Real Ale Tent Thursday for quite a while including 6 pm but I probably needed a better way of identifying you!
Another plus point as ever was the wide range of lovely food, not all of it mega expensive either despite our need to count the pennies at times.
Once again I was struck by how beautiful the site was, and surprisingly, not ridiculously muddy even right at the end. Nothing like 2007's ultra mudbath ....
They need many more toilets though, the shortage and consequent queues were a big bone of contention ....
I think quantities of conspicuously ultra middle class well off types were not any worse than previous years, maybe there were somewhat fewer even, perhaps they wimped out and buggered off quite early on Sunday when the clouds threatened ... or were some at Camp Bestival?
We had a nice quiet camping space anyway, untroubled by party hardcores or early-wakening kids
This was my 12th WOMAD, I've been every year since 1997 (2001 excepted), and given how much good and varied music you get (even with this year's sligthly weaker lineup) it's very hard to see us not wanting to return. Especially now what with the Big Green Gathering going down the shitter.
But I will so need to get a job in the Autumn because WOMAD is a pricey old event when one half of a couple (me) is unemployed.
Not 'full of'
There was a crap arrangement with two areas. I will proceed to attack them, but the punters in them were far outnumbered by the others.
One was for people who paid extra to be able to park their cars v. near to their tents, the lazy losers
(had they not heard of trolleys? 
). And ripped off losers too 
, because their toilets were no better, and accessible to anyone else anyway (quite near our tent as it happened). And not that many people had paid the extra for it anyway -- very quickly 'ordinary' punters of who there were a LOT more overall, had made their way into the 'fenced off' area and filled the empty spaces The second was 'tangerime dream' -- I know less about that one, but it was where you could hire tipis, or mini-pods like huts, or tents that were already set up. A rip of all round, becuase the tents at least were very ordinary (I suppose if you were coming from abroad and subject to weight limts for luggage on flights, you could sort of justify the extra expense (ish), but no way otherwise would it be worth it ..... ).
But that second area looked half empty too, and the VAST majority of punters onsite weren't paying those extra costs. Not everyone there was flash and rich by any means.
christonabike
Elm Park Bencher
Haha fucking hell, that's funny
Why do festivals have to deal with these cunts?
No showers
No cashpoints
No mobile phone reception
Get the fuck on with it, folks
Build_A_Fire
Active Member
Yeah that's it - they're only a couple of days away from their nice comfy faux leather settees anyway, get a grip
get a grip
Agree totally -- a completely unnecessary facility for any normal person
I laughed at it anyway
madzone
Physically unfavourable
William - I didn't make it on to the site until just before the Skatalites started by which time all I was capable of was sitting on the viewing platform, shaking
Womad didn't really grab me I have to say. There was such a wide range of people, from a few hardened festie-goers to many more sparkling clean people who looked like they felt a bit our of place and didn't quite know what to wear There wasn't a sense of camaraderie like at the other festies I've been to this year (or maybe I've just got festie fatigue)
I didn't like the site - too clinical. I didn't like the country park feel to it. To me it felt a bit fake and village fete-like. It was quite a small site which was great for knowing that I'd bump into the kids every now and then and safety-wise it was spot on for them.
The disabled campsite was a fucking shambles and was run by Atilla the Cunt. At one point they were trying to charge a quid for showers - two of which were cold and one which was so hot you couldn't stand in it without getting scalded. It was way too small and many disabled people had to camp in the family area. To be honest they got the better end of the deal because the disabled campsite was hideously overcrowded and actually further away from the main arena than the family camping. It was very badly planned and very badly run.
I had the misfortune to be camped on the other side of the fence from a family who thought they needed to shout their every conversation from 7am every morning. 'Oh, look everyone, Milly's dressed as a ballereeeeeeeeeeeena!!!! Isn't she simply adorable!!!!' and 'Mummy I neeeeeed olives for breakfast' all bellowed at the top of their lungs. I actually went over and asked them to keep it down but they completely ignored me.
Also, while I like/need my creature comforts whilst camping who in their right minds was paying £35 a day to use a fucking spa?? Wtf was that all about?
I thought the music was all a bit meh. I think they should have put Yousson D'our where the Ethiopiques were. Skatalites were ace fun and Dub Colossus were good. I loved the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble for their sheer energy and Rachel Unthank etc were good enough. It was fun to introduce the 10 yr old to Dubstep in the Big Red Tent. A couple of the gypsy bsnds were good but no-one really grabbed me really.
To be honest the most fun we had was scavenging plastic glasses so the kids could make a few quid. On the Sunday we went bin diving as a family and between them the kids made £50
Womad didn't really grab me I have to say. There was such a wide range of people, from a few hardened festie-goers to many more sparkling clean people who looked like they felt a bit our of place and didn't quite know what to wear
There wasn't a sense of camaraderie like at the other festies I've been to this year (or maybe I've just got festie fatigue)I didn't like the site - too clinical. I didn't like the country park feel to it. To me it felt a bit fake and village fete-like. It was quite a small site which was great for knowing that I'd bump into the kids every now and then and safety-wise it was spot on for them.
The disabled campsite was a fucking shambles and was run by Atilla the Cunt. At one point they were trying to charge a quid for showers - two of which were cold and one which was so hot you couldn't stand in it without getting scalded. It was way too small and many disabled people had to camp in the family area. To be honest they got the better end of the deal because the disabled campsite was hideously overcrowded and actually further away from the main arena than the family camping. It was very badly planned and very badly run.
I had the misfortune to be camped on the other side of the fence from a family who thought they needed to shout their every conversation from 7am every morning. 'Oh, look everyone, Milly's dressed as a ballereeeeeeeeeeeena!!!! Isn't she simply adorable!!!!' and 'Mummy I neeeeeed olives for breakfast' all bellowed at the top of their lungs. I actually went over and asked them to keep it down but they completely ignored me.
Also, while I like/need my creature comforts whilst camping who in their right minds was paying £35 a day to use a fucking spa?? Wtf was that all about?
I thought the music was all a bit meh. I think they should have put Yousson D'our where the Ethiopiques were. Skatalites were ace fun and Dub Colossus were good. I loved the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble for their sheer energy and Rachel Unthank etc were good enough. It was fun to introduce the 10 yr old to Dubstep in the Big Red Tent. A couple of the gypsy bsnds were good but no-one really grabbed me really.
To be honest the most fun we had was scavenging plastic glasses so the kids could make a few quid. On the Sunday we went bin diving as a family and between them the kids made £50
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
See, complaining about showers at a festival...
Again...it's a festival...
madzone
Physically unfavourable
In the disabled campsite. There are many disabled people who need to keep clean for various reasons. Charging for them in that area was wrong. Having them there in the first place is entirely correct.
disco_dave_2000
la la lapland
I was there working - but did pass by the disabled camping area on my way to and back from the car and thought it was quite a way away from the arena and could have been a lot closer. And yep, as Mads says above, you do really need showers in that area.
Madzone
Interesting to read a report from another perspective. Perhaps as a long time WOMAD regular I'm used to some of the drawbacks and don't become aware of some of the others. That Disabled campsite sounds bad ...
COMPLETELY sympathise as well about posh mums and their annoying kids early early on, we had one such group well early last year but we had better luck with our camping spot this time.
As for tatting for glasses, good on ya, all those kids were genius at it and we didn't get any look in at all. We were quite casual about it though tbf, not on a mission ....
Thinking overall ..... so often one person's excellent festival suits another person much less which is a shame but highly understandable sometimes.
You'll probably take to Endorse It much more!
Interesting to read a report from another perspective. Perhaps as a long time WOMAD regular I'm used to some of the drawbacks and don't become aware of some of the others. That Disabled campsite sounds bad ...
COMPLETELY sympathise as well about posh mums and their annoying kids early early on, we had one such group well early last year
but we had better luck with our camping spot this time.As for tatting for glasses, good on ya, all those kids were genius at it and we didn't get any look in at all. We were quite casual about it though tbf, not on a mission ....
Thinking overall ..... so often one person's excellent festival suits another person much less which is a shame but highly understandable sometimes.
You'll probably take to Endorse It much more!
I reckon that running order was deliberate, because a fair few people were leaving Sunday night and that's commonplace at WOMAD.
christonabike
Elm Park Bencher
Isn't this just the same as twatted people late on, come back to their tent, crack a can, skin up, get out whatever gear they have and carry on until it's light? (Me, usually)
It's a festival so you suck it up as it's what goes on
Isn't this just the same as twatted people late on, come back to their tent, crack a can, skin up, get out whatever gear they have and carry on until it's light? (Me, usually)
It's a festival so you suck it up as it's what goes on
Point taken on the late partyers, of which I've been very much part of many times too
.I have to say that I think it's far worse to be woken barbaricly early than have yer guyropes crashed into late, followed by drunken rowdyness ..... but that's me ...
madzone
Physically unfavourable
I have been to festivals before, WilliamInteresting to read a report from another perspective. Perhaps as a long time WOMAD regular I'm used to some of the drawbacks and don't become aware of some of the others. That Disabled campsite sounds bad ...
COMPLETELY sympathise as well about posh mums and their annoying kids early early on, we had one such group well early last year
As for tatting for glasses, good on ya, all those kids were genius at it and we didn't get any look in at all. We were quite casual about it though tbf, not on a mission ....
Thinking overall ..... so often one person's excellent festival suits another person much less which is a shame but highly understandable sometimes.
You'll probably take to Endorse It much more!
I have been to festivals before, William
I know ...
Just sounds like there were more negatives than normal this time for you?? Was sympathising ...
moonsi til
worked it out now!
I generally had a good weekend despite the weather and weak line-up.
We were in the campervan field arriving about 12.30pm on Thursday. It was all very compact and organised though one of the volunteers who was making sure that all the vans used their own space was rather shouty and aggressive. The campervan field had mowed out squares and woe-betide anyone who didn't get this right!
I appreciated the showers though I only went on Friday morning. They were hot, with no queuing and free. Like others I was affected by lack of toilets though I was impressed with the folk working the toilets in the rain with head torches making sure everything flowed. I'm not keen on just using hand gel for sanitation and would have liked a few hot water & soap places too.
It was my 3rd WOMAD and my 2nd at the new park. I booked the tickets without bothering about the line-up which I probably won't do again. So if I return to WOMAD it will be because of the music which didn't really do it for me this weekend.
We were in the campervan field arriving about 12.30pm on Thursday. It was all very compact and organised though one of the volunteers who was making sure that all the vans used their own space was rather shouty and aggressive. The campervan field had mowed out squares and woe-betide anyone who didn't get this right!
I appreciated the showers though I only went on Friday morning. They were hot, with no queuing and free. Like others I was affected by lack of toilets though I was impressed with the folk working the toilets in the rain with head torches making sure everything flowed. I'm not keen on just using hand gel for sanitation and would have liked a few hot water & soap places too.
It was my 3rd WOMAD and my 2nd at the new park. I booked the tickets without bothering about the line-up which I probably won't do again. So if I return to WOMAD it will be because of the music which didn't really do it for me this weekend.
