Name: Tracey | Where from: Queens Park, West London.
First gig, first festival: My first gig was at Hyde Park watching Bob Dylan, The Who and Eric Clapton. I was 14 I think, so about 1995? (Although honestly it was Kylie Minogue for my 8th birthday). My first festival – Reading festival 2000. Beck tied people to the stage, I got slightly concussed on the last night by someone lobbing a full bottle at my head, which was then not helped by watching a man running around naked with a toilet brush sticking out from his ass.
Top 5 albums: Manic Street Preachers – The Holy Bible/Everything Must Go. (This counts as one as they tell two parts of the same story. You won’t win having this argument with me). Frank Turner – Tape Deck Heart. Or Love, Ire and Song. Idlewild – 100 Broken Windows. Primal Scream – XTRMNTR
Gah – this is tooo hard! Who set these questions? Erm….. Ben Marwood – Back Down. Or Hole – Live Through This. Or Arcade Fire – Funeral. Or Los Campesinos – Romance is Boring. Or Archive – You All Look the Same To Me. Or Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly – Chronicles of a Bohemian Teenager.
Why do you volunteer for SGFW: I’ve been going to gigs since I was 14. Over that time I have experienced sexual harassment at gigs and festivals on numerous occasions. In 2015, I travelled to Cardiff to see my absolute favourite band (Manic Street Preachers) play a 20th anniversary set for their seminal album, The Holy Bible. During the last song, a guy lunged at me putting both hands around me, pulling me towards him. Once I’d fought him off, he told me he’d done it because “it’s the last song”. I cried. After spending the rest of the night blaming myself for going alone/wearing a dress and make up/having one cider, I woke up the next morning a lot calmer and decided to write about what happened. Safe Gigs for Women grew from that blog. I think I just got to the point where I feel so angry that as a woman, why isn’t my love of music taken seriously?