Glastonbury Blog

...and so the stress goes on.

In my naivety I had assumed that all the messing around with tickets had finished; that everyone who was going knew they were going; that things were set in stone.

I was, of course, wrong.

This morning at 9am marked the third and allegedly final time that tickets would go on sale, now available only with coach tickets (at an extra £48, no less). Truth be told, I wasn't going to bother. My ticket is safe and so are those of my friends who are able to go. The only exception to the latter being the guy who broke his leg last week. Lord only knows how he is going to hobble around the place but knowing his complete absence of self-restriction I'm sure he'll find a way in the intervening 2 months.

Just before the tickets went on sale this morning, however, I checked my e-mail. There I found an otherwise unrelated message from a friend who remarked, almost as an afterthought, that she hadn't managed to get a ticket. "Aha," I thought. "This is my chance to help."

The site, unsurprisingly, was unavailable. So I kept trying. Then, success! After only 10 minutes I was in and ready to buy.

Of course, life isn't that simple. What I didn't have was her pre-arranged reference number and she wasn't answering her phone. By the time she did get back to me, two hours later, tickets had long gone. Shame. Damn shame.

Just for the sake of irony, I did manage to buy a ticket for another friend - who probably now doesn't want it. As I write this it appears that she won't be able to make it and I will have to give it back to claim a refund because they aren't transferable. Yes, that means I have both a spare ticket and a need for another ticket.

Ah, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune…

It took the best part of a fortnight for the money to leave my bank account. That's a long, long couple of weeks wondering if any number of electronic screw-ups could have taken the festival from my friends and I. Thankfully, everyone in our group now seems to be accounted for and ready to go.

Well, nearly everyone. One of my friends has broken his leg which, combined with not getting a ticket in the first place, has pretty much ruined his summer. Gotta feel sorry him.

Back to the tickets. There's an 'acknowledgement' on the Glastonbury Festivals website that there was a delay in accepting payment followed by a rather arrogant statement that:

"Should any individual have their payment declined as a result of this problem, the Festival's ticket agent, See Tickets, will see how these sales, that have already been accepted, can be honoured."

Tell you what - if that was me in that position I'd be less than impressed that they'll see what they can do. Better if they just fixed it, methinks.

This glitch aside, it does appear that the system for getting rid of the touts has worked. Michael Evis claims that there isn't a single ticket for sale on eBay. I'd respectfully correct him that there was one but 'tis a brave soul who would buy it and try to get through with the wrong photo on there.

My goodness - there's just two months to go. I'd best start packing....

Got a call last night from a friend who is very much into his Drum ‘n Bass (he’s got decks, vinyl, tinnitus … the lot). Apparently the Australian group Pendulum are the target of strong rumours indicating their presence at the festival. To say that this is good news borders on the ludicrously understated; Pendulum are the people who got me back into DnB after a few years of apathy towards the genre. I’ve seen them at Fabric in London and the Custard Factory in Birmingham - both fantastic nights – and if the rumours are true then the Glastonbury Festival Dance Village will rock out like nothing else.

Other acts who seem to be confirmed include The Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian; both quality outfits. The Killers are also back after a stonking performance in 2005 when they were offered Kylie’s vacated headline slot but turned it down. In fact, it’s worth remembering that we still have no idea who 90% of the artists will be and worth yet more consideration that no-one really cares. It’s the festival we are going for more than the specific bands.

On the subject of actually going, it has now been fully four days since T-day and still no money has left my bank account. A call to the nice man at LloydsTSB confirmed that a payment was pending though has not yet gone through. I don’t mind admitting I’ll be a little more relaxed when I am officially £150 lighter.

The best things come to those who wait.

And wait.

And wait.

After 29 hours I was still waiting for a full and final confirmation that my order had been accepted, that there hadn’t been some dubious mix-up at the ticket agency, that I was in all likelihood going to be sent a ticket in May that would allow me into probably the best birthday party in the world. Admittedly, for this to happen it has to be your birthday at the end of June but it is mine and I like to celebrate the continual, unstoppable march to senility by losing myself in a field in Somerset. It’s a tried and tested format and I love it, or at least I would love it if my attempted purchase was accepted.

At 2:50pm today the infamous confirmation e-mail finally arrived. Barring any ludicrous, unforeseen circumstances like my card being rejected or the ticket printing machine chewing it up; it does appear that I will be sent a multicoloured bit of thick paper that will permit me to pass through the gates, past the 3.6 metre fence and into the hallowed grounds of Worthy Farm. The stressful part appears to be over.

If it wasn’t for the fact that there are still the delightful months of spring and early summer in between now and then I might say that I could hardly wait. But the best things come…

According to the BBC tickets sold out after 1 hour and 45 minutes. That's fast. Damn fast.

The trick, it seemed, was to have an IP address that the ticket website liked. Mine wasn't one and by the time I got close to the website they had all gone. Rumours abound of a glitch that continually allowed you access once you were let in, making it difficult for those who had not broken through to make it.

Hope came in the form of a friend who was at work. Her favoured connection took her straight through and she took my details to order the tickets. I am now anxiously awaiting a confirmation e-mail which has not yet come. I am, to put it mildly, a little nervous. The final answer will come by Wednesday when money will, or will not, have been debited from my account.

The nail-biting has only just begun.

The annual e-scrum for Glastonbury tickets kicked off at 9am this morning. By 8:30 the ticketing website had already stopped serving pages leaving some very stressed punters with some very blank browser windows. I've been reloading for over two hours and so far ... nothing. Nada. Zip. If I'm lucky I get a page saying 'Our site is busy'. Otherwise the connection just gets dumped. Don't even talk to me about the telephone option.

In 2005 all the tickets were sold out in three hours. Assuming things are progressing at the same speed that means I have less than an hour left. This could be a very stressful Sunday.