Going To Get A Doing
I was once asked the question “what music festivals are you doing this year?”. Doing? I had fully intended on going to some but didn’t anticipate “doing” any. Where I was brought up the phrase “to get a doing” means being unfortunate enough to be on the wrong end of a beating – and that does not equate to a satisfactory festival vibe for me. Having said that, there have been plenty of “doings” handed out at festivals over the years with Altamont and Woodstock 2 immediately springing to mind.
This modern phraseology in relation to festivals has increasingly crept in to the public vernacular over the last few years but certainly wasn’t noticeably prevalent when I attended my first, The Reading Festival in 1994. Having enjoyed sets by Pulp, Radiohead and countless others, it was time to look ahead as in the forthcoming weeks I was due to start college as I had finished my schooling that summer. Yes, I was going to college. At no point did I intend to “do” college.
There are things I can’t help but “do” of course. I do the dishes when they are dirty and I do my tax returns when they are due. Once in a public park I even witnessed a dog do a Doo-Doo. Not a Go-Go. A Go-Go would be a member of the Belinda Carlisle fronted pop group, a band whom Belinda would leave before enjoying considerable solo success. She also posed naked for Playboy which many others enjoyed as well, but that’s a conversation for another time.
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