Was it different back then?
Would never want to visit that festival myself as it is today.
A little bit, more of a product in change of culture in the 10-15 years since then. And the festivals just getting bigger and bigger. Adolescent/university age kids becoming more and more entitled and obnoxious. More security and rules around the festivals too, which is a good thing in some ways, lame in others. It was fun to go see a ton of bands in big outdoor venues, with tens of thousands of people, as a ~20 year old, but definitely holds no interest now. I know some mid-30s people still going to these types of festivals each year and it seems crazy to me, but to each their own.
2004 was pretty awesome though, with The Cure, Radiohead, The Pixies, The Flaming Lips, Danger Mouse, Belle and Sebastian, Death Cab, Muse, Sparta, and others there.