Rob da Bank’s A-Z Of Festivals By Rob da Bank Illustrations by Josie da Bank (Boxtree) Radio 1 DJ and Bestival organiser, Rob da Bank has been going to music festivals for as long as he can remember, and his A-Z Of Festivals (subtitled: My Life Of Music, Mud, And Mayhem In 26 Letters) explains why. Festivals are listed alphabetically, and he writes passionately from both personal experience, and from an historical context. Both approaches work. His writing on the 1970 Isle Of Wight gathering offers up some interesting snippets, as do his pieces on Glastonbury and Reading (yes, I was there when Meatloaf took a carefully wrapped shit parcel directly in the mooey - good times). Some of his more personal observations can be a little rose-tinted. When talking about Cornbury he rightly comments on the excellent facilities, food, etc., but omits to mention the high attendance of twatty middle-class gits and their obnoxious offspring (Tarquin, Crispin and Jemima take note: if you spill my cider, your daddy will pay, one way or the other). And Latitude receives much kudos for its greener than green policy of solar powered showers, deposits for beer glasses and composting toilets, though I suspect he’s never used the latter. The smell of stale piss is fiercely overwhelming, just 45 minutes into the weekend, and you wouldn’t pass a solid in one if Nick Cave offered to come to play in your tent for free. Then there’s the omissions; what about Leicester’s very own Summer Sundae, and Fairport’s annual Cropredy beano? Apart from that, a thoroughly good read. Ideal to dip into when reading in my own toilet, where there’s always paper to hand, rarely a queue outside and it’s yet to be upturned while I’m halfway through the business (or the chapter on the Montreux Jazz Festival). www.bestival.net Rob F. Next