The Ned Wood Archive

Ellie

Ellie’s a big fan of Pink.  She likes the songs, yeah, of course, but it’s more than that.  She likes her style.  She likes the way she does her hair.  It gives her confidence in keeping hers short.  She likes the way she does whatever she wants.  That gives her confidence too.  Repeat that to yourself.  Be more Pink!  Mind, all the girls like Pink, so they have to leave the Pyramid and Ellie Golding early so they can get to the Other Stage in good time. Well before Pink starts. So they can get near the front.  

To be honest, they arrived a bit late for Ellie Goulding so didn’t get near enough for her anyway.  At the Pyramid, there’s always a mass of people who get to the front early and stay there all day.  If you turn up to an act soon enough early in the afternoon, maybe you can squeeze in in between the stage barrier and the next barrier a quarter of the way back and get a good view.  If you get there late, you’re stuck a bit further back or at the side, so you don’t see as much.  

That was after Jehnny Beth.  Abi and Lauren weren’t big fans, so they were a bit restless.  Jehnny Beth was loud, in your face.  Restless.  Relentless.  Pounding drums, squalling guitars, screaming vocals.  Like Problem Patterns, but without the laughs.  It suited Ellie, but not the others.  She came on wearing this short skirt like she was going to play hockey and had what looked like knuckle dusters on each hand.  Abi enjoyed that, though, and said that was going to be her look next time she played.  Ellie Goulding was good, though, for the few songs they stayed for.  Just the hits, so you couldn’t complain.  

Playing through Ellie’s head is the question of what Joe would be going to and wondering whether they’ll bump into him as he’s going to the Pyramid stage for Radiohead. But would he be going to Radiohead? And anyway Abi tells her, as they make to leave, that they have to go round anticlockwise, that’s the new system.  He’ll be going one way and they’ll be going another. They can’t go the short way through the markets to get to the Other Stage, they have to go back towards Woodsies then through the gap past BBC Introducing.  So they go past BBC Introducing and there’s a secret set about to start.  Ellie’s tempted for a minute, but she’s committed to spending the evening with her crew, so she controls her instincts.  Phoebe tells her it’s rumoured to be Sprints which is doubly tempting.  Phoebe is also half up for staying there, but girl power wins out and they all stream round to the Other Stage and squeeze their way as far forward as they can get.  It’s worth it.  There’s still room, just about, in front of the barrier.

It’s a wonderful show.  Choreographed.  Spectacular.  It’s just all fun fun fun.  She does all the songs.  Trouble, So What, Fuckin Perfect, Coz I Can, Just Like a Pill.  But it’s when she does Trustfall that the emotion finally bursts inside Ellie and comes flowing out down both cheeks.  Partly it’s Joe, to be honest.  Partly it’s leaving in a few days.  But mainly it’s her crew.  She’ll miss them so much.  It’s that line “I’m not going without you (and you’re not going alone)”.  That perfectly expresses how much she values her mates.  How they are always there for her.  She fell that morning and they caught her.  Actually, having mates like that means that you can chance your arm.  You can do a trustclimb.  You try something that’s a bit risky knowing that if you slip, your mates will catch you.  Like if she was climbing that big skyscraper that bloke did in China on Netflix, except not doing it alone, doing it with the other three one step behind, each of them with a great big net.  It tells her that it’s OK to fail.  Just go for it.  We’ve got your back.  She doesn’t like crying in public, but she can’t stop herself.  She gives each of them a massive hug.  Plus one for Georgia, because she’d do the same.  Of course they all think she’s upset because of that bearded bloke she just met and they hug her back twice as hard.  It’s a massive great love-in and it makes Ellie feel super wonderful.