Is it the nature of the blog format that leads people to use the medium to vent more negative feelings than positive? I suppose it’s natural to want to alert folk to bad experiences so that they can then avoid them; and perhaps there is something a little smug in papping on about the wonderful time you had.
I’m thinking about this stuff because I’ve just read a rather interesting blog post about Secret Garden Party, which took place at the weekend. It’s a good example of why event organisers need to be aware that anybody can get online and publish their views these days.
The writer at i am kat - her name’s Kat, unsurprisingly - had a right old miserable time at the festival. Now, I’d like to think that if she’d had a marvellous time she’d have written just as lengthy a post, but… well, it’s that human nature thing again, isn’t it?

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Posted by Stuart Waterman on Tuesday July 29th, 2008 at 11:36 am

What’s the skinny on festivals set to take place this weekend, then?
- Here’s a history of Scotland’s Wickerman Festival. PAGAN-Y!
- The police don’t want people to take drugs at Global Gathering. PREDICTABLE!
- South Island Music Festival takes place in Margate, Kent, in case you didn’t know. Performing: The Hoosiers, Scouting For Girls, UB40. SUICIDE-INDUCING!
- And here are a couple of previews of The Secret Garden Party, which looks like it should be delightful. INTERESTING IF YOU’RE ATTENDING!
Aaand sleep.

Posted by Stuart Waterman on Thursday July 24th, 2008 at 8:50 am

In the melee of festivals littering the summer season it’s inevitable that some will get more coverage than others.
I am, however, shocked to somewhere near my very core at the lack of coverage the Glade Festival has received. I was going to do a round-up of links for this ecelctic event, but there’s flip all out there, really.
Glade, do you have PR people? You might want to ask them what they’ve been up to recently.
In the meantime, here’s someone who was disappointed by the sound levels and was then arrested for possessing ketamine; and here’s someone who lost their zebra.
Can’t wait for next year!
Did you attend Glade? Fancy answering some questions so people can judge whether it’s worth attending in future? Mail stuart(at)shinymedia.com and I’ll send some In-Tents Questioning out to thee

Posted by Stuart Waterman on Tuesday July 22nd, 2008 at 11:58 am

- Radio 1 DJ Huw Stevens wrote “a blog” (i.e. a short account) for The Daily Mirror. In a nutshell: Latitude was nice
- EDP24.co.uk hung around the literary and comedy tent a fair bit

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Posted by Stuart Waterman on Tuesday July 22nd, 2008 at 10:13 am

I might just leave a little pause here so you can get your head around that doozy of a headline.
SO. NME has a report of Kele Okereke’s account of what happened at the Summercase festival in Spain. The Bloc Party frontman has had no hesitation in accusing John Lydon and his associates of a race-related physical attack, which, if true, is obviously a) depressing, and b)… well, a)’s probably enough to be going on with.
Foals and Kaiser Chiefs were apparently on hand to break up the scuffle, with Foals singer Yannis Philippakis then doing his rock cred no harm at all by relating his subsequent handcuffing to the crowd at the following day’s Latitude festival.
The incident has since been reported to both Spanish and UK police.

Posted by Stuart Waterman on Monday July 21st, 2008 at 11:51 am

- Uncut magazine reported from the, er, Uncut Arena at Latitude. Sebastien Tellier to the crowd: “You’re very nice people but so fat and ugly.”
- Some rather nice punter photos from Latitude thanks to Kill Ugly Pop
- The Telegraph was also at Latitude, where its writer was dismayed by The Mars Volta’s onstage patter

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Posted by Stuart Waterman on Monday July 21st, 2008 at 10:30 am

- Let’s get the weather out of the way:
Latitude: Looks like showers Friday and Saturday; sunny with cloudy spells Sunday. Temperature 18

Posted by Stuart Waterman on Thursday July 17th, 2008 at 12:13 pm

- This person is understandably annoyed that the previously promised Dandy Warhols now appear not to be appearing at the Lovebox Weekender this Sunday
- Oh, and tickets are still available for the second day, by the way
- The increasingly popular Latitude festival, taking place this weekend, has a number of environmentally-conscious initiatives this year - including “the world’s first fuel-cell-powered festival stage”
- A fair few thespy types will be among the entertainment at Latitude, an’ all
More after the jump…

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Posted by Stuart Waterman on Wednesday July 16th, 2008 at 10:30 am

First things first - the TRUCK festival does not take place in a truck. I really can’t stress that enough. If you’re hoping to see Evan Dando strumming in the back seat while you watch from the passenger seat, you’re going to be disappointed.
If, however, you’d be up for seeing The Lemonheads, Okkervil River, legendary rave mask-wearers Altern8, Get Cape, Camera Obscura and Laura Marling play on a farm, you could be in luck.

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Posted by Stuart Waterman on Tuesday July 15th, 2008 at 12:10 pm

However worried/amused you are by the state of flux the music industry is in right now, it is good to see that the huge number of festivals out there is providing more opportunities for up-and-coming bands to receive exposure.
Sure, most people probably still go along to fests to check out headliners/acts they already know, but there’s always the chance they’ll be exposed to something new and exciting.
The latest festivals to offer unknown bands a spot on their bills are the Big Chill and Underage Festivals, which both take place in August. Acts are encouraged to submit music to alterhit.com, which is running the competition in association with Love Music Hate Racism.

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Posted by Stuart Waterman on Monday July 14th, 2008 at 3:07 pm