Festivities
As you might already have seen on Twitter, I’m performing at Leeds Festival on Sunday 28th August. This is in addition to Latitude Festival on July 17th. At Leeds I shall expect people to half-listen to me while chilling out with their £9 pints of beer and being understandably distracted by the thrum from the drum-and-bass tent. However, you never know. I’ll be fairly happy whatever happens because I get to see the reformed Pulp. As for Latitude, I’ll be on during the afternoon most likely, as last year. SCANDAL: someone told me that although the literary tent turned me down because they can’t have anyone twice in a row, Robin Ince IS DOING IT FOR THE SECOND TIME IN A ROW. Outrageous!!! I’m not sure whether to get my ‘people’ to shut down the whole festival. I’ll obviously keep you posted in case you have bought tickets.
If you’ve never been much of a festival-goer, maybe this is the summer you can get into it. It used to be the pursuit of hardcore rockers/people who wanted to get stoned/people with poor standards of personal cleanliness. Over the last ten years or so, since my own festival-going days were at their zenith, I would say it’s become a more comfortable experience while retaining that essential getting-away-from-it-all charm. Also, festivals have broadened out; there are more stages, more variety generally. In my day you’d only have your two or three stages and you could sometimes get trapped watching Slipknot with 15-year-olds who had frightening hair and threw bottles of piss around.
See you at these events or, failing that, at the generally more pleasant book events I mentioned the other day. There’ll be a couple more announced soon. But I wouldn’t wait for those. I would get right on and buy tickets for the existing ones. I would really panic quite badly.
Posted by Rachael on May 19, 2011
Everytime you mention it I get more sad that I’m not going to latitude this year
Posted by Kate W on May 18, 2011
I had a lovely time at Latitude last year (including the Watson Literary Event) and would recommend it as a festival even though I’ve decided against it this summer. I’m unlikely to see Mark at a festival this year, so it’ll just have to be a book event.
(For anyone in the vicinity of north London, the Apple Cart Festival looks pretty good: http://theapplecartfestival.com/ It’s their first year, so still fairly small and one day, but only £25, a great comedy line-up and not in the middle of nowhere.)
Posted by Andrew on May 18, 2011
Festivals. Shudder. I think that covers it.
Posted by Natalie-Helen on May 18, 2011
I’m going to Download so I’ll miss you T_T
As for the Sipknot thing. I went to see them at Reading a couple of years ago, I know it gets wild but my hair is not that frightening is it? ^_^
x
Posted by Sarah on May 17, 2011
Latitude is going to be my first festival, seems to be the right atmosphere for me. I didn’t mean to cause a scandal by my comment the other day. Clutching at straws could it have been that you were talking about Eleven (if that is what you talked about last year) Maybe Robin is doing another book or section.
Posted by Tom Beasley on May 17, 2011
“In my day you’d only have your two or three stages and you could sometimes get trapped watching Slipknot with 15-year-olds who had frightening hair and threw bottles of piss around.”
Most amusing way of describing a teen sub-culture ever.
Posted by Misha on May 17, 2011
I’m too relaxed for panic Mr Watson, i’ve just come out of a 5 week panic if anything and it’s bloody marvelous.
Posted by Melanie on May 17, 2011
Woo you’re doing Sunday at Leeds! Got a day ticket for that day, will be great seeing you there!