Glastonbury is upon us once again, with Worthy Farm already awash with rivers of mud – but that has never stopped anyone from making the most of what the UK’s biggest festival has to offer. If you are heading to Glastonbury and want to discover your new favourite band then you are in the right place.
Getting There
People travel from all over the world to Glastonbury, and we’ve made a playlist to keep you occupied and excited for the upcoming festivities, giving you a taste of some of the new music you are going to enjoy in the coming days.
We’ve teamed up for this guide with the fine folk at Cuvva (iOS/Android coming soon), the app that lets you get insurance on your friend’s car by the hour – so why not share the driving on the way there and back?
The latest version of the Cuvva app lets you not only get travel insurance by the hour in the time it takes to press a button, but also lets you see which of your Facebook friends a car available for you to borrow in return for a bit of cash. This is the real sharing economy – a social garage.
If you’re looking for some last minute options for transport to get yourself down to Pilton for the festival, then go and download the free Cuvva app – and use the code BLUEWALRUS1 to get £5 off your first use.
Friday
No need to start too early on Friday, but give yourself time for a leisurely amble over to to BBC Introducing stage for the bright, and joyous alternative pop of six-piece Gwen and the Good Thing.
And you may as well get comfortable and grab a few ciders while you wait for Bad Sounds, who we like enough to have booked for next month’s Hopscotch and Glastonbury describes as “like Steely Dan jamming with Prince” – what’s not to like?
Long-time Walrus favourites Frightened Rabbit are playing the Other Stag at 14:50 and their emotional and cinematic indie should not be missed – it is a thing of beauty.
You might miss the start of his set, but making the effort to catch some of Toothless, the new solo project of Bombay Bicycle Club’s Ed Nash will be worth your while.
For a change of pace, get yourself over to the Pussy Parlure stage for Hayden James, whose subtle and soulfully bouncy electronic jams will be some of the finest you’ll hear all weekend.
The soft and gentle acoustic sounds of Daughter are next up on the Park Stage, before we build into some of the bigger names of the festival with Foals on the Pyramid Stage.
Savages will be bringing their thunderous energetic rock’n’roll to the Park Stage, and the only way to calm yourself down after that will be seeing the pure unadulterated textured beauty of Sigur Ros closing the John Peel Stage.
To pick up the beat, the highlight of the festival for us feels like the NYC Downlow, and Honey Soundsystem will be bringing the house before you can catch DJ Yoda over at Pussy Parlure until 3am.
13:00 – 13:25 Gwen and the Good Thing (BBC Introducing)
14:30 – 14:55 Bad Sounds (BBC Introducing)
14:50 – 15:40 Frightened Rabbit (Other Stage)
15:45 – 16:30 Toothless (The Rabbit Hole)
17:50 – 18:45 Hayden James (Pussy Parlure)
18:30 – 19:30 Daughter (Park Stage)
20:00 – 21:15 Foals (Pyramid Stage)
21:30 – 22:30 Savages (Park Stage)
22:30 – 23:45 Sigur Ros (John Peel Stage)
23:30 – 01:00 Honey Soundsystem (NYC Downlow)
01:30 – 03:00 DJ Yoda (Pussy Parlure)
Saturday
You’ve stayed up late for DJ Yoda, so grab a bloody mary and nod along to Haelos atmospheric trip hop sounds on the Other Stage to ease into Saturday.
Grab a bite to eat and then get over to the Park Stage for the much heralded soulful pop songstress Izzy Bizu.
The mysterious golden-masked, Berlin-based deep house producer Claptone will be well worth checking out on the Sonic Stage for some midday dancing come rain or sun.
The biggest clash for me comes at the 3pm spot on Saturday, with Walrus favourites Låpsley and Wolf Alice both taking the stage – so this is down to you. Do you want fragile beauty or growling rock’n’roll? They’ll both be fantastic.
The synth pop delights of the day will come in the form of MØ at the John Peel stage and Vaults at Pussy Parlure.
And then we’ve got some psychedelic rock from Perth’s Tame Impala on the Pyramid Stage, before pioneers of the scene Mercury Rev take to the Park Stage for a heady double-bill.
Many will be heading to catch Adele on the Pyramid stage to close the night, but I would stay around the West Holts Stage for the soulful electronica of James Blake and then head over to Pussy Parlure for the beats and rhymes of Blackalicious.
11:00 – 11:40 Haelos (Other Stage)
13:00 – 13:45 Izzy Bizu (Park Stage)
13:30 – 14:50 Claptone (Sonic)
15:00 – 16:00 Wolf Alice Pyramid Stage / Låpsley (John Peel Stage)
16:40 – 17:30 MØ (John Peel Stage)
18:00 – 19:00 Vaults (Pussy Parlure)
20:00 – 21:15 Tame Impala (Pyramid Stage)
21:30 – 22:30 Mercury Rev (Park Stage)
22:15 – 23:45 James Blake (West Holts Stage)
00:30 – 01:30 Blackalicious (Pussy Parlure)
Sunday
Pick yourself up for the final day of festivities with the socially-aware dreampop of She Drew The Gun , and then the upbeat, jangly indie pop of Marsicans.
Head to the John Peel stage after some lunch for Australian Matt Corby and his gospel-inspired indie pop, before catching the fast-rising Spanish garage rock from Hinds – who should very much not be missed.
Afro Cluster are on hand to bring the funk, and for you to get your groove on before heading over to the Other Stage for the soaring electronic dance pop of Walrus favourites Years & Years.
Multi-instrumentalist and cross-genre musical pioneer Beck takes to the Pyramid stage with a set that never fails to impress, and then there is the recently reformed LCD Soundsystem back together to get you to dance with your heart.
Annie Mac takes over the Wow! stage to keep your feet moving, with Four Tet taking over from her to mesmerise the crowd as only he knows how.
11:00 – 11:30 She Drew The Gun (John Peel Stage)
12:00 – 12:25 Marsicans (BBC Introducing)
13:00 – 14:00 Matt Corby (John Peel Stage)
14:00 – 14:45 Hinds (The Park Stage)
16:05 – 16:30 Afro Cluster (BBC Introducing)
16:50 – 17:50 Years & Years (Other Stage)
19:15 – 20:30 Beck (Pyramid Stage)
21:45 – 23:15 LCD Soundsystem (Other Stage)
00:00 – 01:00 Annie Mac (Wow!)
01:00 – 02:00 Four Tet (Wow!)
Getting home
You’ve already got our playlist on your phone to relive the memories of the mud (or sunshine) of the last few days, and remember we talked about Cuvva? Share the drive home amongst those in the car, so you can each have a much deserved rest.
Photograph by Rachel Docherty
Glastonbury music guide 2016: Who to see, where, and when was originally published on The Blue Walrus.