Here we... Here we...

It's been a few weeks since Scotland's biggest music festival. This means I'm finally getting days where I don't have to listen to someone talking about it! Even those with no interest in music will have found it impossible to avoid the constant reminders of its presence.

I didn't attend the festival of course; if I had, this article would be a bit more enthusiastic on the topic!

Instead I spent the weekend about a mile from the site. The swathes of people hobbling around trying to find a ticket, their camp, their breakfast or something to shag make it a pretty undesirable place to be for all but the festival-goers.

This was precisely the reason my dad chose to flee his home in Milnathort to spend the weekend in Orkney and leave me to cat-sit for him as the festival went on ... It wasn't all bad- I got to steal his car for the weekend!

I was a bit miffed to be sat in his house that Saturday night as some bands I'd like to have seen played nearby but this was overshadowed as the unofficial camp site right outside the back garden began blasting 'unn-tss unn-tss' from midnight til 3am. Overall though the noise and the traffic jams were pretty tame considering 60,000 people had moved into the area for the weekend! If one thing really wound me up that weekend, it was that people were talking about it.

The ones who spend £200+ to go and party in a field for a weekend are naturally going to do all they can to enjoy themselves. Ignoring a few low points to make the financial blow seem a bit more worthwhile. It was not uncommon for attendees to throw superlatives around when recalling their weekend. Good for them if it truly has been the best of their lives. The trouble is I wouldn't rule out the possibility of them seeing through rose coloured glasses to defend their investment.

Those that went were not half as bad as some people who didn't even bother! Some were over eager to talk about it and had the tendency to get a defensive when asked why they weren't in attendance. I heard tales of new found hatred for everything they could think of: the bands, the mud, the booze, the crowds and pretty much anything synonymous with a music festival. I heard at least one go as far as to say "I wouldn't go if you paid me."

I couldn't shake the feeling that some of these people had gone in the recent past and had at that time, spoken of it was the best weekend of their life!

There ought to be a middle ground here. If you go you should keep a lid on your bragging, leave the chants behind, and oh god, please take off your wristband!* Those who didn't should have a clear and un-stupid stance on why; work commitments or being too skint to buy tickets are acceptable.
*I say this despite going 3 years in a row '06-'08 and keeping my wristbands until the first broke... but cut me some slack- I was nineteen!

The only other complaints I have are the line-up compared to the ticket price. If, like me, you're going for the music, you're paying to go to one big gig. I could be being picky but I'd have real trouble making up £200 worth of bands over the weekend. A ticket to see a main-stage headliner (~£40) and another lower down the bill on the main stage (~£20) each day (calling the rest support bands) over 3 days and you've pretty much made up the ticket price, but that's the only way. Stray from the top 3 stages and you're likely to be hugely overspending!

I'm not someone who thinks the atmosphere makes up the rest of the value. I might well feel better next year if there are a few more £20+ bands I'd like to see. This year I might have made up about £120 worth of bands but there would of course be clashes. Here I go being hypocritical and complaining publicly, but I don't think the mud makes up the remainder of the bill.

I don't think I'd ever go so far as to say I wouldn't go if you paid me. The money was the issue for me- I actually counted all the money I could afford to spend the day before the festival and told myself if I could find a weekend ticket for that price, I'd go! Despite threats of downpours which were only partially delivered, I couldn't find a ticket reduced in price by that much. Some were half price, but nobody was willing to go as low as £45!

The closest I was to T this year