1968 Conqueror of American Rock - Chapter 182



Only Krnovel

182. Again, Summer of ’69 (6)

[ Glastonbury Fayre 1971 ]

Mr. Michael Eavis has put up a large sign at the entrance that reads ‘Glastonbury Fair’. Last year, he thought of it as a village fair and simply named it after a farm, but as the scale of the fair grew, he thought that using a famous place name would attract more attention.

To be exact, it was about six miles (9.7 kilometers) from Glastonbury, which was a pretty conscientious decision considering that the Woodstock festival was named after a place 62 miles (100 kilometers) away.

Anyway, in the history that I know, the festival was not held for a while after this one. I don’t know why. It wasn’t until 1979 that the third festival was held, and from then on, the festival was established as a three-day event like Woodstock.

And two years later, in 1981, Mr. Ibis began using the long name ‘The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts’, which was later shortened to ‘The Glastonbury Festival’.

This year, director Robert Smith and his film crew arrived to film the entire process from rehearsal to the actual performance. Robert was also impressed by the pyramid stage.

As expected, more than ten thousand people gathered.

“I think I understand why James said to limit it to ten thousand. The bathroom is the problem right now······.”

“Yes, that’s why we only brought 10,000 T-shirts this time. And we decided to sell them only to regular ticket holders. It might seem harsh to the audience, but in the long run, if we keep accepting all the people who overflow, it will eventually cause problems.”

“I learn so much from James.”

“No. I only found out about this after experiencing it myself in 1969.”

“I will also take my time, but next time, I will extend the period to three days like the next Woodstock with proper facilities. I want to develop it into a variety of attractions, including not only music, but also art, film, dance, comedy, theater, and circus, haha.”

Ah······ So this is the reason why the festival wasn’t held for 8 years. That’s why the Glastonbury Festival has been able to last for over 50 years.

So you prepared for 8 years to be perfectly prepared.

Mr. Ibis, you can definitely do it.

The staff kindly explained the reason to those who were dissatisfied with not being able to buy T-shirts. People could only nod their heads. Because the excess people were causing minor problems right away.

“Okay, I’ll go to the waiting room now.”

“Yes, please take good care of this performance as well.”

* * *

Saturday, June 22nd.

There was something different about this festival. You could see the pyramid stage from the waiting room tent. It was Ibis’ idea. Thanks to this, the participating band members could enjoy the performance from the waiting room without getting bored.

“Wow, it’s much better than last year. It’s a bit far, but I can see the stage well.”

Annie was sprawled out on a camping chair inside the tent, ready to enjoy the show in comfort, even sipping on a glass of lemonade with ice cubes floating in it.

The Queen and I were last in line. We sat in a fan-shaped circle around Annie.

“Hello everyone. Thank you for visiting our farm again this year! Let’s start the 2nd Pilton Festival!”

Woohoo!

The audience in the tent village cheered.

“This is the hottest band on pirate radio right now. We’re introducing the scary new band from New York, Killing Machine!”

People began to gather in front of the stage with shouts like a hurricane. The midday early summer sun was scorching. Young men took off their shirts and sprayed water on their heads and bodies.

“Unlike last year, everyone was really excited from the start. After all, festivals are for the summer, haha.”

Blond Roger Taylor also unbuttoned his white shirt more than halfway and fanned himself with his hands.

A group of young, energetic boys ran up onto the pyramid stage. Among them, the boy holding the microphone shouted loudly.

“Hey, nice to meet you, England! We’re the killing machines from New York!”

The somewhat violent men gathered in front of the stage responded to the boy’s shout by scratching their throats and imitating his voice.

“Don’t misunderstand the name of the band. We’re here to kill social injustice. I’m the singing MLK!”

Amidst the powerful introduction, the guitarist put a pickup on the amp and created a howling sound.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee—

It created an emergency situation, almost like a siren sound.

Weekdays, weekdays, weekdays, kkiiiiii—

“Wow, the sound is much richer than during rehearsal.”

“That’s because James was a tad nosy. After rehearsal, James spent over an hour fixing all their sounds.”

Annie explained the situation to her brother.

“Somehow. We were the only team that had two amps connected in parallel on the guitar, or a booster pedal on the bass. James, why did you go out of your way to teach us that?”

“The kids were so friendly and kind. The kid who plays the guitar is my fan, haha.”

To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to have a good conversation with Michael Lang. But for a group of guys who make extreme music, they all seemed to have good personalities. The vocalist was particularly cynical.

– We have to resist!

(We must resist!)

– We have to break it down!

(It has to be taken down!)

– Make some noise!

(Scream!)

The boy continued to run around the stage and scream loudly.

The men in front of the stage linked arms and jumped up and down, ran in a circle like a herd of buffalo, and slam-danced wildly, bumping into each other.

“Everyone seems to be too excited from the beginning. Are they people or animals······.”

Annie frowned slightly.

At that moment, the nightmarish memories of 1999 flashed through my mind again.

“no!”

I jumped up from my seat and shouted.

Everyone’s attention was on me.

“Ah······ It’s nothing. The guy playing guitar over there almost missed the peak while performing, haha.”

“That’s quite possible. Oh, you’re young and energetic, so do that. I don’t think I can do it because my back hurts.”

Brian also stuck out his tongue at their excessive performance.

Please, please······.

I prayed and prayed in my heart that nothing would happen······.

“Hey, comrades of revolution! Thank you for welcoming us so warmly! I love you, England!”

A boy, dripping with sweat, smiled brightly and shouted out his closing comment.

Fortunately, the situation we were worried about did not occur.

My worries were unfounded.

Joan Baez took the stage next.

Joan Baez’s beautiful voice cooled the heated atmosphere.

The song she sang was the exact opposite genre to Killing Machine, but the lyrics weren’t all that different. No, she’s probably much stronger than the boys in terms of radical ideas.

* * *

Michael Lang, who was watching from behind the pyramid stage, shouted inwardly with joy.

‘That’s it! This is it! I knew that a song that pushes forward with a simple rhythm, rather than a technical and difficult song, would drive the public crazy!’

There were two reasons why Michael forced the then-new Killing Machine to participate in the festival.

One was how much this new music could dominate the atmosphere of the scene, and the other was how much these young boys could enjoy themselves in front of a crowd of ten thousand people without being nervous.

Michael killed two birds with one stone.

He completely turned the opening stage upside down and welcomed the boys coming down.

“Well done, very well done! What did I say? I said it would definitely work? Hahaha!”

Unlike the other members who couldn’t hide their joy and high-fived Michael, Jerry didn’t look particularly happy.

“Jerry, you did so well, why are you like that?”

“I need to build up my stamina a bit more. I should have run more during the chorus, but I was out of breath at the end. When I return to the U.S., I will start with endurance training with the members.”

Michael really liked Jerry’s mind. Among the rock band members he had met so far, the only musician with such a healthy mind and passion was James Choi. But this guy, he may be the only one who can compete with Sparkling Ripple’s momentum.

“Okay, everyone worked really hard. Now let’s cool off in the shade with some iced tea and watch the other teams, haha.”

The waiting room tent was divided into the first and second part tents. The boys glanced at the second part tent where the teams that would be performing last were located.

“David Bowie, Queen, Sparkling Ripple are all here. Could we one day be a band that decorates the festival finale like them······.”

Danny, holding his guitar, couldn’t take his eyes off the tent with envious eyes.

“Of course. Danny, a great band isn’t just about skill. It’s about luck, and you have to know how to seize it when it comes your way.”

Just like Jerry.

“The setup that James taught me today was really awesome. I wonder how he makes booster pedals and knows how to set things up in a way that I’ve never heard of before······.”

“That’s right, the bass sound has also improved a lot. Since the bass is an instrument that is responsible for low tones, I only focused on low tones, but when James explained the concept of EQ to me, it went straight into my ears.”

“The same goes for drums. He’s a guitarist, but he knows how to tune the snare drum. He tightens it up so much that you can clearly hear the guitar, bass, and sections meshing together.”

The members talked about James all the way back to the waiting room.

“You can do it too. Don’t be happy just because you’re a little popular like other rock bands, but study and work hard every day.”

As the leader Jerry expressed his determination with a meaningful look in his eyes, all his friends put their hands together.

“The bands that will be performing the finale are probably warming up hard in that waiting room right now.”

Michael Lang smiled happily as he looked at the boys. Where on earth were these lovely guys? They just showed up now.

* * *

“Ti~rariro, re~rariro, ri~rariro······ ah, umm um······.”

“Freddie, do you always stretch your neck like that?”

“Yes, of course. But Annie, aren’t you going to warm up? It’s our turn soon.”

“Ah······ That······ It might sound a bit unlucky, but I don’t loosen my voice. It’s definitely not because I’m confident. I just save up a little bit of my energy and then pour it all out on stage······.”

Annie hid the bread she was eating behind her back.

“Hahaha, no, please relax. I just asked because I was curious. I have a hard time singing high notes unless I warm up my voice enough.”

There were later mixed opinions among critics about Freddie Mercury’s vocal style. Judging from his usual speech, it sounded like he was trying to maintain a slightly high tone, but when he seemed to struggle whenever he hit a high note, it was more likely that he was a baritone.

While everyone was warming up and stretching their arms, Annie warmed up with some bread and lemonade.

Woohoooooooooooo!

At that moment, a huge cheer was heard from the stage. It was a completely different tone from the shouts of men that had been heard during Killing Machine. It was a cheer mixed with more than half of the voices of women.

London smog!

London smog!

“You guys are popular, haha.”

Annie pulled up her chair slightly, crossed her legs leisurely, and took a bite of her bread, grinning.