The Purple Penguin

Didn’t do much yesterday. It was pouring down and I could hear the Jazz World stage from the tent (well, most of the time) so I just stayed in, read my paper and listened to the Jazz World stuff. After a while the rain stopped and Joe poked his head into the tent to see if we should do something. So we headed out and went for a wander though the mud. Rain and mud just make it difficult to get around and enjoy things. But we saw Trash City and the circus area and had a lovely dinner in the Juke Joint (Oliver’s chefs apparently).

Headed for the Jazz World stage early to hear John Fogerty; ended up listening to the end of the Guillemots set but weren’t very impressed. However, Fogerty was wonderful! Played for about an hour and a half, old and new tunes and we were all singing and dancing in the mud (except Joe who was sitting in his chair, with his whiskey, singing). Great time and of course the music was great. We then headed over to the Avalon stage for the Saw Doctors which were also very good. We got there a bit late (slogging through the mud) so ended up just putting our chairs up just outside the tent and listened.

Joe’s idea to bring the folding chairs was a brilliant one!

So Sunday. At least it stopped raining for a while yesterday, today, well not so much. It was pouring this morning so I read the rest of my paper while hoping it would stop. It didn’t. So I got into all the wet weather gear and headed out carrying my chair. It did manage to stop raining for a bit while I sorted breakfast (doughnuts and coffee), then set my chair up in Left Field with my breakfast. Then it started pouring down again. Luckily Left Field is covered so I sat there for the environment talks and Tony Benn’s talk. Wonderful with some very good comedians as well. Joe joined me during the comedians and just before Tony Benn’s talk. We laughed quite a bit and then headed out for a walk. Ran into Dan who was going to see Dame Shirley Bassey – I hadn’t wanted to go through the crowd on my own but joined Dan and his friends for the Pyramid stage. Had a great spot so stayed through to the end. Saw Dame Shirley (a wonderful showperson), Manic Street Preachers (good and loud), Kaiser Chiefs (loud), and finally THE WHO!! Yea! They were wonderful! The sun shined for Dame Shirley but then the rain set in again and it stayed and got cold, but despite being very cold and very wet we really enjoyed The Who and stayed through until they told us to leave. It was worth every drop of rain.