What to do when the Football season is on a break?
Music - I love it, so so much
I have been so lucky to be able to fill my last month with festivals and Concerts, some of them working their, others enjoying as a fan;
Download in Donnington - 3 days of rock music. Rock isn't my choice music, but quite a lot of it did grow on me, in particular I now love Alestorm, who I also met backstage. Download covers a large area, with two main stages. Fortunately the weather did shine upon us and it was beautiful all weekend. The main stage was massive, it laid host to amazing acts, finishing with a fantastic set by Aerosmith, who had loads of energy, and sounded great.
I spent 90% of my time working second stage. It was obvious very quickly that this stage was where the bucket list of 'crowdsurfing' was popular. It meant for a busy time for Pit Security. I actually love it, constantly on the lookout for the telltale feet making their way towards front of stage. Several times it was like a tsunami of people coming out of the crowd. I was definately able to keep my fitness up during this festival.
Glastonbury - Talking of bucket lists. Glastonbury should be on everyne's bucket list. It is the most incredible festival. It is suited to everyone in the family, it has around 360 stages, coverimg every type of music, all sorts of comedy and even a variety of presentations. You can be electrified in Block 9, with the incredible DJ's. move on to the wood for a spot of relaxation in front of the real fire. Then jog across to Shangri-la for total music mahem. Get away from it all by going to the holistic area, where you can even get in a cinema visit. We went up to the Glastonbury sign, where the views were stunning and while we were there a chap suddenly went down on one knee and he proposed to his girlfriend - In true Glastonbury style the gathered crowd went into uproar, and the bar handed out special shots.
I was working on the 'Other Stage'. We hosted acts such as George Ezra, Liam Gallagher, Kaiser Chiefs and the most incredible RagnBone Man. The crowd was massive, you couldn't see the end, the atmosphere was electric. The celebrities were all around, and were up and down the celeb rabbit run which takes VIP's from the Pyramid to the Other stage. At one point I was keeping the crowd happy with my kick-ups, only to turn round and see Beckham watching me - Cool!!!
Glastonbury is 24 hours, so as soon as we finished work (around Midnight), we got changed and went out into the site to party the night away. So many choices, so much fun and everyone so nice and in such wonderful moods. It is absolute escapism, it's somewhere that you can be whoever you want to be, it's totally safe, and it's just full of fun, quiet, loud, music, comedy, faith, just everything.
I've got another couple of festivals coming up, but before these I actually managed to go to a couple of concerts as a fan. I went to Elton John, who was great, his audience was a variety of ages. I didn't know all his songs (went with Mum), but I sang along woth those I did know. Tonight I went to see 'Little Mix' - Amazing. I had the best evening, they got the crowd going, I danced non-stop and sang as loud as I could. The atmosphere was fantastic, and their set was so enjoyable.
My off-season is going really quickly, and I still have so much music to go - Love it
So, I referee'd the first of 5 days of a tournament today. It was hot, it was tiring, but as always it was great to see the teams, the teamwork and the competitiveness. Teams have come from across the globe - USA, Columbia, Holland, Canada, Finland etc They were all great, men, women and children's teams.
Points to note though - for all Referee's out there;
We've all referee'd at a tournament, and we've all noticed those Referee's that turn up first thing, referee a match or two, then disappear - like they have just put on Harry Potters Invisibility Cloak - although they may possibly be found where the refreshments are - If you are going to referee a tournament, it's an all day event, and the referee's are a team to - if you see that someone has referee'd back to back matches for about 6 hours, and you have done one, go and replace them for a while - so they can get a drink or something??????
For those of you in a Referee Coordinators position - whoever you are (cos I didn't actually see you), ensure;
That there are enough referees to fulfill all the matches
That the referee's have enough water - especially when the temperature is 27 degree's
That the referee's are getting breaks
That the referee's get some lunch
That you have given all the referees a brief about the event and how it's going to work
Just Saying!!!!!!
Well anyway, as always I had a good day. Met new people and caught up with old friends. When I got home I decided to do a sport of footy practice in the garden - Always a mistake for me to put music on in the background - I just can't help myself;
I was working on the 'Other Stage'. We hosted acts such as George Ezra, Liam Gallagher, Kaiser Chiefs and the most incredible RagnBone Man. The crowd was massive, you couldn't see the end, the atmosphere was electric. The celebrities were all around, and were up and down the celeb rabbit run which takes VIP's from the Pyramid to the Other stage. At one point I was keeping the crowd happy with my kick-ups, only to turn round and see Beckham watching me - Cool!!!
