Glastonbury loses way amid mud and money
In one case upon a time, fine-tune on a little scatter in the Benjamin West Country, a sodbuster and his married woman decided to stage a music festival. On 19 September 1970, the day later James Marshall Hendrix died, Marc Bolan rolled up at Worthy Farm in a velvet-covered car to play to a modest push of 1,D long-hairs. The �1 ($2.40) entry fee included as a great deal free milk River as you could drunkenness. The farmer, Michael Eavis, hoped to pay off the end of his mortgage with the proceeds. Rather, he doomed �1,D. Only the sunday shone, no one disturbed the oxen and they whole lived blithely ever subsequently. Or, at least, until now.Thirty-seven age on, the 2007 Glastonbury Fete was the biggest yet. More than 177,000 people paid �145 apiece for the privilege of organism rained on, risking their tents being washed aside with the birthday suit sewerage and strain their necks to catch a fleeting coup d'oeil of The Fratellis.When the �155 tickets for this year's three-day extravaganza went on sale on Sun, its organisers power justifiably have expected a stampede to match last year's, when the event sold out in to a lesser extent than deuce hours.
Or else, a clarence Shepard Day Jr. later, about 35,000 tickets remained unsold, and the coordination compound pre-registration organization designed to deter touts had to be re-opened to hold fans wHO were slow down off the grade. Of line, Glastonbury testament sell out as it perpetually does. The fete now makes millions every year - near of which goes to charity - only has it doomed its mojo?The brightest star at this year's festival is i reason for punters' waning enthusiasm. Many were surprised when it was announced that the American hip-hop mogul Jay-Z would headline the Pyramid Leg on the Sat night, traditionally the biggest gig of the weekend. Radiohead became the most acclaimed dwell act in the populace afterward their Pyramid Stage public presentation in 1997, and near festival-goers gestate a relatively traditional guitar band to fill the slot.So concerned was Jay-Z around his coming into court that Eavis has offered to introduce him on microscope stage personally, breakage a lifelong habit of remaining in the wings.The medicine cartridge holder NME's online message boards confirmed that the rapper was a controversial choice, with commentators suggesting he'd been chosen to appeal to a younger, more urban crowd than that to which Glastonbury has become accustomed. Others suggested the rap superstar was simply what the festival needed to impart variety.
Just Jay-Z, aka Ted Shawn President Carter, does typify the signified that Glastonbury has become too corporate. Last week, years in front marrying the vocalist Beyonce Knowles, Carter signed an unprecedented US$150 billion ($188 million), "360-degree" deal with concert promoters Live Nation, giving the company a stake in every panorama of his career, and making him arguably the richest rapper in history. It's a far cry from the flower child spirit that gave parentage to the first base Glastonbury.
