After two hours of mayhem, I only noticed what appeared to be blood when I shuffled away from the West Holts stage in a crowd of people.
In the sweltering afternoon sun, it was smeared on people’s hair, clothing, and across acres of uncut flesh.
I had no idea what I was told was a fire extinguisher filled with red-paint going off in the chaos of Bob Vylan’s and Kneecap’s controversy-filled sets.
Anyone’s guess as to how this was brought into Glastonbury through security.
A stunt like this, which is typically associated with Palestine Action, even though it’s unknown if they were behind it, would have grabbed all the attention.
Even this was overshadowed by the extraordinary scenes that followed, such as the chants from Vylan’s “Death, death to the IDF” on the set.
I ought to be aware. because I was the action’s focal point.
That snarling cesspit of hate turned into a little Worthy Farm over the course of two and a half hours.
Specifically, toward Israel, the BBC, and Sir Keir Starmer.
Although I was only partially anticipating that the audience would be predominately young, I was quickly positioned just a few meters away from the stage and saw people of all ages.
An elderly woman next to me is draped in Palestinian flags, while a man in his 60s wears a Free Mo Chara T-shirt.
I’m assuming they arrived early rather than Kneecap, which secured a good spot.
Glastonbury’s managers had earlier warned them that overcrowding might force them to omit access to the West Holts area.
But it became clear right away when Bob Vylan’s set was about to begin that the agitated audience was looking for.
However, the main course could have been given the level of disagreement.
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We are on the BBC live, so we must be careful with what we say, Vylan said.
However, he started a spine-tingling chant calling for the assassination of the Israeli Defense Force by being prudent.
As the elderly woman chants along, her face becomes contorted with rage.
Then Vylan launches into a rant criticizing former “bald headed c***” of a boss who wrote to Glastonbury bosses calling for Kneecap to be banned.
The crowd yells “Name him, name him” in a threatening tone.
If Glastonbury wanted to rouse the audience before Kneecap, scheduling Vylan for the opening act did just that.
The atmosphere was already supercharged by the time the Irish band arrived and looked out at the sea of Palestinian flags.
The situation quickly escalated.
Moglai Bap urged fans to “start a riot outside the courts” in response to Chara’s upcoming court date and his bandmate.
Perhaps someone who was not on stage was speaking to him right away during the hurried u-turn.
He reacted, saying, “No riots, just love and support for Palestine.”
The Prime Minister, who had demanded that Michael Eavis stop playing the band, was the target of five foul-mouthed chants.
Given its ties to the party, hearing a large portion of the 30, 000-person crowd berating a Labour official was a Glastonbury first.
Chara referred to the former leader’s very different reception here in 2017, saying, “You’re just a s*** Jeremy Corbyn.”
The audience was sipping it up. Something in the distance of me was constantly emitted flames, as was the fire extinguisher.
Kneecap’s set will be made available on iplayer, but the BBC has pledged to do so in accordance with editorial guidelines.
They’ll do a great job, I promise.
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