A Dream Weekend

I, like I imagine a lot of people, have been thinking in the past couple of days what I could have done with the money if I’d won that £161m Euromillions jackpot. One idea that would probably be completely impractical but when viewed with the same degree of realism as involved in me winning a lottery without entering it in the first place, it seemed pretty brilliant was that I would organise my absolute dream festival. The idea was triggered by my excitement about Tramlines in a week’s time and the knowledge that it’s now about halfway between Glastonbury and Leeds Festival, the two national festivals that I always wish I could afford to go to.

As it is a festival being paid for out of my money it would of course have a line up handpicked by me, and just as obviously, every single artist I’d like would be available and eager to play at the festival. I’d also somehow control my weather to be a beautifully sunny every day and have some kind of control over who was allowed to turn up. Because in my fantasy I’m allowed to be a bit of a snob.

That though naturally rolled into this one; who would make up that dream line up. I decided to settle on a 3 day festival, with 10 bands playing each day (I have no interest in booking a festival so fully that I end up having to choose between two bands I want to hear.) There’d also be an almost excessive number of conveniently placed toilets and cheap beer stands, so there would be no issue of too much or too little hydration. There’d be 15 minute breaks between each band for people to get food and drinks and stuff.

So here goes, in chronological order of when they’d go on stage, starting at around 3 pm, with the first 6 bands having 45 minute sets, the next three having an hour and 15 minutes and the headliner getting two whole hours. Factoring in the breaks that means the headliners would finish at around half 12. At which point a club in a giant tent would start up. I would also have final decision on set lists, which for some of the bands listed would mean skipping whole albums or focussing on 1 particular record.

Friday

· Hurts

· Delphic

· Arcade Fire

· LCD Soundsystem

· Naked and Famous

· The XX

· Wild Beasts

· Fleet Foxes

· Elbow

· Bloc Party

Saturday

· Florence & The Machine

· Chapel Club

· The Gaslight Anthem

· The Strokes

· We Are Scientists

· The Boxer Rebellion

· Muse

· White Lies

· Arctic Monkeys

· Rise Against

Sunday

· Tegan and Sara

· Jamie Woon

· Frank Hamilton

· Sigur Ros

· Bon Iver

· City & Colour

· Adele

· Laura Marling

· Mumford & Sons

· Frank Turner

That festival would, for me, be absolutely worth whatever expense it took to arrange. It’d be worth it just for the three headliners, but with all those other bands I can’t really think of a way I’d rather spend a weekend than at that festival.

Today’s song is a Frank Turner one, a song that fits well with yesterday’s post, specifically the section where I mentioned that he is responsible for some of my favourite lyrics ever. This song has probably my favourite two verses worth of lyrics and I think I’ve posted them before, but I love them so much I’m going to post them again.

“I am sick and tired of people who are living on the B-list. They’re waiting to be famous and they’re wondering why they do this. And I know I’m not the one who is habitually optimistic, but I’m the one who’s got the microphone here so just remember this:

Life is about love, last minutes and lost evenings, about fire in our bellies and furtive little feelings, and the aching amplitudes that set our needles all a-flickering, and help us with remembering that the only thing that’s left to do is live. After all the loving and the losing, the heroes and the pioneers, the only thing that’s left to do is get another round in at the bar.”