Women are to blame for the big Glastonbury sell-out

I suppose you can look at it two ways. Glastonbury, and rock festivals generally, were once patronised by music obsessives; largely male and probably some distance along the autistic spectrum, in many cases. People like me, in other words, when I was younger. Oh yes – and that’s another thing. Age. They used to be for the young. But the defining difference with today was that people once went for the music. I note that next year’s Glastonbury has sold out – without anybody knowing who is actually playing. I blame women. In general they have a different approach to music. They like the experience of being somewhere people are making a lot of noise, without worrying about the name of the bass guitarist. It’s probably a healthier way to enjoy music, I suppose. But part of me thinks it would serve them right if instead of the vapid pop pap Glasto trades in these days, next year’s was given over to three days of Stockhausen played by Brazilian noise-metal bands.