Glastonbury Fayre

OK Glastonbury, one of the worlds biggest live music festivals, huge big name acts, fantastic light shows, tens of thousands of screaming teens..... err no. This is Glastonbury before the corporate bread-heads got there man. When it was FREE to go man, the music was everything man and there were no toilets. (The trick was to eat a dozen eggs before you went, eat as little as possible whilst your there and have the laxatives on standby for when you got home... I know, I used to goto Stonehenge back in the day) Yup, this film is a bog standard look at a typical small hippy fest in early 1970s. A few thousand heads, flower children and bikers gather on a small Somerset farm and grove around to the sounds of Gong, Arthur Brown and Fairport Convention amongst others; take acid, smoke pot and drink the local cider. Sadly legal reasons meant that David Bowies headline set had to be cut from the film and a few other performing acts such as the legendary Hawkwind ended up on the cutting room floor, but on the whole the performances are good, Traffic and the aforementioned Fairport Convention being the highlights. It's not quite Woodstock, or Monterray Pop, but worth a glance if the hippy movement is your thing...... Man.

I absolutely love the Glastonbury Festival,one of the greatest music festival there has ever been. This "documentary" is from the 1971 festival, but made in 1973. It is a very good representation of the era, and really shows the attitudes of the time. However, I get very tired of hearing people say that early Glastonbury was best because it was free to attend, and today it is too commercialised. First point to address, in 1971, the Glastonbury Fayre attracted around 1,500 people, and the bands basically played for free. By 1979, there was a £5 entrance fee and 12,000 people. Trouble is, you can not have bands playing for free, so, Glasto has to charge entrance. And by charging, then you get the big bands coming in to play. All these people who say that Glastonbury has got too commercial are out of touch with reality. I personably have never made it to Glastonbury, but if I were to have the privilege to go there, then the entrance fee would be worth it. Back to the "documentary", it is good, and it shows the humble beginnings. Yes, peace and love man, but performers need to be paid, that is their living. This is a good documentary to watch; how the decades have changed. But you can see from this early example of Glastonbury, this is how it has grown up into the world famous festival that it now is. Watch this film, I am sure that you will enjoy it; a trip down memory lane.