Festival Time Again!

[Belfastboy]

as all u in the UK know its festival time again...sitting with a few beers watching the glastonbury festival makes u glad u are in the UK...im off to Dublin to see U2 which shud be amazing and then there is the LIVE8 gigs around europe next weekend...an all day gig ...u know that feeling of sun,beer and bloody good gigs...

my question being...is there any such festivals in thailand? or gigs? its one of the few things i wud miss when i move....

plus i wud imagine the vibe wouldnt be the same....

but hey im sure thailand has some????

[Jockstar]

as all u in the UK know its festival time again...sitting with a few beers watching the glastonbury festival makes u glad u are in the UK...im off to Dublin to see U2 which shud be amazing and then there is the LIVE8 gigs around europe next weekend...an all day gig ...u know that feeling of sun,beer and bloody good gigs...

my question being...is there any such festivals in thailand? or gigs? its one of the few things i wud miss when i move....

plus i wud imagine the vibe wouldnt be the same....

but hey im sure thailand has some????

Dont know of any here. Thats one of the main things i miss about living here and not the Uk. The festivals and gigs. My mate runs Brixton Academy and my best mate works there, So some festivals we get VIP passes. I miss it. But then again i live in LOS.

[bkkmadness]

Ah man, I hate this time of year in LOS, I would love to be at glasto now, skunked up with a glass of ale, relaxing, watching a few bands, camp fire at night, wicked.

I hear Glasto is a lot better these days (I went in 95 and a couple of other years, cant remember what ones, messy times ) because of the big fence they sorted out which don't let all the sum bags and riff raff in. Course, I'll have to start paying for a ticket now.

Saying that dont miss the toilets at all or waking up roasting in a tent after the heavy nights.

[Rinrada]

Glastonbury is a bit of a mud bath at the moment but no doubt its good for the "complex-tion"

In 1970 it cost £1 admission now for the 3 day weekend its £120....

bit of news from the BeeB..

Over 400 tents were submerged after a storm hit the Somerset site on Friday, the festival's opening day.

The worst-affected field was on a farm adjacent to Mr Eavis' land at Pilton.

But Mr Eavis (who runs the show)said he thought the festival - which ends on Sunday - had been "pretty damned good, really". Basement Jaxx headline the final day.

While his Worthy Farm is the festival's home, neighbouring farmers also give up their land for the festival, which attracts 112,500 fans.

Rescue workers were drafted in on Friday

The next festival will be held in 2007, to give Mr Eavis and his fellow farmers a chance to let their land recover from the strain of the event.

Despite the flooding being "a bit of a nightmare", Mr Eavis said he was remained pleased with the event, which was bathed in warm sunshine on Sunday afternoon.

He would rather have had the rain than "boring continuous sun", he added.

"The sun makes people lethargic and rain stimulates the character."

But he admitted he had to put a "brave face" on while talking about the flooding, which saw people swimming to their tents to retrieve their belongings.

"I went on Radio 1 and cranked it up and said we will survive, and I think that turned it around," the 69-year-old said.

"The people seem to love the festival more and more every year, it's the people who keep me going."

Coldplay encounter

Coldplay headlined the event's main Pyramid Stage on Saturday, and Mr Eavis revealed the performance only came about after a chance encounter with singer Chris Martin on London's Regent Street in October 2004.

Much of the mud on the site has now dried out

"He said he'd rather play here in 2006. I said we weren't running in 2006, so that changed his thinking process," he said.

"It took about 40 seconds for him to decide that he was going to do it."

But the farmer said he did not know why the Coldplay singer had his name written on his knees for Saturday's performance.

Acts due to play on Sunday include Primal Scream, Garbage, and Ian Brown. Hotly-tipped new band Hard-Fi had to pull out of their John Peel Stage appearance because of a family emergency affecting one of their members.

Local ticket sales

Bellydancers were among Sunday's performers

Mr Eavis also said ticketing for the festival was now under control, with the only people allowed to sell their passes being the festival's neighbours in Pilton.

"I thought the best I can do is to give them a chance to sell their tickets so at least they get £200 or £300 for it. I think they deserve it," he explained.

Meanwhile, police have named the man who died at the festival on Friday as 25-year-old Benjamin Shepherd, of Street, Somerset.

Avon and Somerset officers are still awaiting the results of a post-mortem examination but Mr Shepherd's family have asked for a tribute to be paid to him on stage.

Sgt Frazer Davey said: "His family have asked that Basement Jaxx dedicate a song this evening to help them in their grieving."

"We are asking on behalf of the family."

Some 84 non-drug related offences had been reported by 0800 BST on Sunday, a 40% drop on the previous year's figure.

There had been 93 arrests.

[Tarragona]

There is/was an annual festival at Khao Yai, held at a resort on the road up to the national park. It always used to be in February, 12pm-6am, but there were some changes in the organization a couple of years ago, with month and venue changing. I've been a few times but not since the changes.

It's mostly "peua cheewit" bands but a good mix from the really folky ones to the rock ones to the luk tung/mor lam ones. You can pitch your tent and there's environmental displays, activities for kids etc. The best performances I've seen there were from Malihuana, Mongol Utok, Zuzu and a local Korat singer whose name I can't remember. They have a small stage too where some of the singers do acoustic stuff when they're pissed.

The big minus is the fights that start breaking out all over the place through the evening after everyone's been drinking for six or seven hours. The last time I went there was just too much of it - which is why it was the last time.

Edited June 26, 2005 by Tarragona

[bkkmadness]

In 1970 it cost £1 admission now for the 3 day weekend its £120.

I think it's well worth the money, you can see so many bands and performance arts there that if you totaled up the cash to see all these seperate things individualy it would cost thousands, how much is a gig to go and see these days, 10-20-30 quid plus travel expense? Biggest and best arts festival in the world without a doubt!

[OlRedEyes]

...u know that feeling of sun,beer and bloody good gigs... cool.gif

This the one where the Wellies got sold out??

[Belfastboy]

Biggest and best arts festival in the world without a doubt!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

would have to agree there...im in the UK at the minute...and to be honest im glad im not in bkk ....sun is shining, not humid...few beers by the river glastonbury playing on the big screen ...chilling out....DAYLIGHT TO 10.30PM....which i love and one the things that pisses me off about thailand is the early darkness of 6pm ....not a bargirl in sight.....

beginning to wonder if i really wanna go to bkk ...its a vibe thing i guess..everone is so chilled out and happy... : ........primal scream are about to come on...god does it get any better!

[bkkmadness]

Don't rub it in man, bit of Primal Scream be sorted at the moment, and yep I miss those late summer nights as well.

I'll have to remember to start a topic just for you Belfast boy, about sitting on some island down south watching the waves roll in and out. Keep an eye out for it in January or Feburary, or perhaps a September thread when the summers all gone and it starts getting dark earlier, and christmas ads are already on the telly.

BTW, didn't Ian Brown play today?

[Belfastboy]

yeah ian brown is due on later i think....i saw him at xmas in belfast...he bloody amazing...although he performs better indoors in more intimate surroundings like dingy music halls...rather than open air gigs....

yeah winter sucks.....dark at 4pm.....although i know its sad but theres something disturbingly nice about having a few pints with a log fire in the local pub and the snow outside...sliding home pissed on the ice....

and then theres the footie season starting again soon...

i get the feeling u miss some things here madness?....

oh i forgot to mention.......supping endless pints while watching the cricket as well....and those farnang girls do look much better in the sun....infact yummy...

[bkkmadness]

Ian Brown be a good watch I think, though I caught the Stone Roses at their terrible Reading performance, well I heard it was terrible after, I was a bit gone at the time and can't remember much.

Lots of things I miss about the UK, but in the UK miss a lot of things about here and can't have it both ways. Though I am thinking of spending a bit more time over there next year in London during the summer as I will have more oppurtunity to then, nows an impossible time for me.

I always get bit miffed this time of year when I start seeing all the festival line ups come up on the net and it reminds me of my mates and hanging out in the summer, chilling in the park or a mate's garden, going up the city and enjoying a few drinks sitting outside the pubs at convent gardens watching the world go by. Saying that I miss chrimbo as well there, and a warm soup or beef stew after getting home on a winters night.

Suppose I get a bit homesick really, to be expected as it's been a while since I've been back, and I'm sure I am forgetting all the crap and just looking it at through rose tinted glasses sometimes. I'm sure a week in Dagenham and chavs will soon have me wishing to be out here again.

So why didn't you go the the festival? Watching it on the tv, not the same is it.

[Belfastboy]

just for u madness mate......check this out

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/glastonbury2005/watchandlisten/

enjoy..!

yeah didnt go as im in belfast which is an hours flight away from the festival...but going to see U2 in dublin 2morrow...

yeah u see im moving to bkk in 2 years.....what u do mate ...work wise?

im heading there with the mrs...shes thai...but whats to do apart from the girly scene for obivious reasons......

is the a scene without it? bit worried i might not make mates who outside that hooker scene.....

but hey lookijng forward to it....wont be working but wudnt mind doing something to keep my mind alert

[bkkmadness]

just for u madness mate......check this out

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/glastonbury2005/watchandlisten/

enjoy..!

yeah didnt go as im in belfast which is an hours flight away from the festival...but going to see U2 in dublin 2morrow...

yeah u see im moving to bkk in 2 years.....what u do mate ...work wise?

im heading there with the mrs...shes thai...but whats to do apart from the girly scene for obivious reasons......

is the a scene without it? bit worried i might not make mates who outside that hooker scene.....

but hey lookijng forward to it....wont be working but wudnt mind doing something to keep my mind alert

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for the link, I see Babyshambles played on Friday, I haven't heard them but the Libs were a top band, shame they couldn't keep it together.

U2 I can't deal with, never was a great fan but now all their stuff seems so bland, they have lost the edge they once had I think.

Workwise, I'm setting up a web company now, which is why I'm stuck here doing tons of stuff at the moment but hopefully be able to work remotely a lot of the time in the future so can spend an extended summer holiday in the UK next year or maybe do a jaunt travelling again, like a lot of people I got caught in the trap of Bangkok.

I don't go on the girly scene myself and to be honest been a bit bored recently of the whole place but thats because stuck in a kind of rut which I'm moving out of now thankfully.

For me the main interests right now are setting up businesses and making money and I have little time for anything else so nice and busy and my times occupied. I've also got tons of others things I want to do so no excuse to get bored really.

For you I don't know what you could do. It's great to have the luxury of not working but then what do you do with all the free time, believe me you can't party all the time, the booze will end up wiping you out and the same as anything you'll get bored of it.

I suppose it depends on you, any hobbies you wanna do that can be done here? If your cashed up enough then you can set up some kind of business as a hobby as many people do. It'd be kind of fun running a bar or something if you didn't have the concern of having to rely on it for money every month.

What do you plan to do with your time over here? How long you staying for? Age has gotta be a factor, it's alright chilling all day if your retirement age but for a 30 yr old guy it may get incredibly boring. How old are you?

End of the day, different horse for different courses aint it.

another BTW, did The Darkness not play? Shame if they didn't coz it'd have to be one of the most entertaining gigs there.

Edited June 26, 2005 by bkkmadness

[Belfastboy]

no darkness this year ..thank god..can't have them,

kasabian and kaiser chiefs where amazing as where razorlight.....

yeah as u say what to do in bkk with no work....well im 27....plan to be there for at least 3-5years. maybe longer if i like it...have some investments and cash....

plan to learn thai fluently at a thai language school which shud keep the mind active....bit of golf....painting ...gym....have a few business ideas but sounds like bit of a nitemare having a business in bkk from what ive heard....

do u have many mates over there? thats the only bit that worries me....need some mates just to watch the footie with etc go on the piss now and again....

apart from that shud be a ball really....my wifes friend owns a events management company which has some big clients from coke to apple....so plenty of parties there.....

u seem to be on the same wave length mate...wud be good to meet up for a few jars when i do get over........

u ever go on these TV pissups?

[bkkmadness]

Ah man, Kasbian played as well, it's getting worse, they would have been great to see.

Pretty much same age as you here, 28, but not a footie fan so you've got no joy there but sure man, a few drinks be cool. I haven't been to one of these thaivisa pissups yet, for one, I'm not that sociable, a bit of a loner much of the time to be honest though I do plan on dropping in on one when I'm not so busy. The recent ones they have planned have been at such a bad time for me, and I've noticed RDN has a reputation as a pool shark which I feel I have to put an end to at some point.

Learning Thai fluently is another of my plans, I have a good grasp now but I think I really need to go and study it somewhere as through my own lazyness my volcab is terrible and really lets me down. I still tend to point at something when I should know the words really.

I'be been doing the gym myself recently, and things like golf, scuba diving, photography, writing etc are all things that I want to try out and there is plently of things you can do like that in Thailand if you travel around the country, or even pop around the neigbouring countries here.

I think alot of the nightmare stories about setting up businesses here are based on not having the knowledge of the place or the requirements of setting up a legal company here (about amounts of Thai staff needed/money needed to set up company etc.). Tons of misinformation going around and it does scare some people off. I had a lot of doubts myself here about setting up my company properly with all the things I heard until I contacted sunbeltasia who really do know their business (setting up companies/brokering companies for the farang market) well it seems.

If your wife freinds got this events company then it looks like you'll be in the right circles for a lot of oppurtunites anyway, not as if you'll be stuck in front of the tv all day and in a beer bar every night. What kind of events do they organise?

[Belfastboy]

yeah her company set up launch events...in bangkok...like apple releasing ipod ..coke relasing new flavour...from that to all kind of corporate events...all good

plenty of music, pretty girls in skimpy skirts, and concepts flying....

yeah looking forward to bangkok....on the driving side of things u drive mate? ...i think i wud need to drive if im not near a bts...to keep my independence...

bring it on!

[bkkmadness]

Nope, dont drive here, never bothered to learn in London, and traffic in Bangkoks a nightmare. I know I can get around quicker combining metro and sky train really so no need to, but out of Bangkok always use a motorbike.

I don't see how it effects your independence having a car here or not if your living in the city.