The BBC Three presenter on what it's like doing live TV when you're at the world's biggest piss-up and the Brooklyn rapper on playing one of his biggest ever shows.
As the dust and faecal matter settles on Glastonbury for another year, we asked performers, presenters and those involved in the festival for their perspective on the weekend. First up is Jen Long, the writer, DJ and TV presenter on what it's like trying to do a live broadcast in a field full of drunk people and Zebra Katz, the Brooklyn queer-rap artist who played to an overflowing WOW tent of over 5000 people on the Thursday night.
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Jen LongI had an amazing Glastonbury. This year I was working for the BBC on the festival TV coverage for Three and a bit on Two. I was that annoying person who stands in the middle of a field, usually participates in something "wacky" and tries to look like they're having fun. In the end, I actually did have a brilliant time. Things that I discovered this weekend…1. Being sober at AM at a festival is quite a terrifying experience.2. Not being hungover at PM at a festival is a pretty smug experience.3. Two minutes is a long time to fill on live television when the thing that was supposed to happen hasn't.4. Don't ask the presenter of The One Show if she's Welsh thinking you'll bond over a love of £1.50 bottles of Fosters at Clwb Ifor Bach.5. I actually like Chase and Status.Zebra KatzWe got down to the site around noon on Thursday and it hadn't started raining yet, which felt lucky. I'd bought some Hunter boots because I'd been told horror stories about what it can get like. But it was nice, we got to walk round a bit before we performed. We grabbed a beer and saw some of the stone circle and tried to get some of the magnetic energies of the field. We saw some tipis, a lot of sculptures and DJ booths that were absolutely incredible structurally. The giant spider in Arcadia was a treat. There were bonfires and music was playing, everyone was really happy to be there even if they were just setting up their tents.
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Then we played. It was incredible to see so many people come out prior to the official start of the festival. It was unexpected and surprising. But we got like two songs in and my DJ's power cuts. Something had short circuited on the stage. So for "Last Name Katz" I had to just do a freestyle, which was actually kind of terrifying but ended up working because of the call-and-response nature of the track. I could have easily lost a sea of people but that's actually when it really popped off. Once we got back on track and did "Ima Read" it was great. Unfortunately we were only able to spend one night in Glastonbury but I can't wait to go back and camp and see all the parties. I felt a big smug when I saw people coming back from the festival on the tube on Monday. None of my friends will see me! They say they need to recover.But oh my God, it was one of the greatest performances I've had in my career so far.More GlastonburyWe Hung out with PhoenixGlastonbury is a ParadiseMajor Lazer and Old PeopleMore Jen LongA Short Film about CassettesFollow Jen Long on TwitterFollow Zebra Katz on Twitter
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