The Libertines - why did they not announce it, ridiculous

[st dan]

They were superb.

It looked like they were having fun up there and not just doing it all for the money. Great to have them back!

[Bobs]

I knew quite early, a friend of ours was receiving txts that a band going under "The Albion" were playing (a name the liberties have used before). But as everyone else has said, we all knew the slot was left as TBA some of us used our heads went round at the time and found out. Well done to Glastonbury to keeping it quite.  

 

In regards to the Albion, i was surprised at how many people didn't actually know that this basically confirmed The Libertines. There was a picture doing the rounds of fb, with the sound check bands, in order on the Pyramid, and alot of people were like 'What does Albion mean', maybe they aren't as big as I thought, and perhaps thats why some people were disappointed that the atmosphere was a bit flat.

 

I personally thought it was awesome! Everyone around me were having a ball!

[willutalk]

I think that they should do this every year! Very very exciting, and went down a storm.

[Mud Dweller]

As has been mentioned earlier in the thread it was due to contractual reason they could not be announced. Pretty sure if they were allowed to say it was The Libertines we'd have had them rather than Flo in the headline spot.

[Pbird81]

I knew, but late - surprise was quite good, but probably agree they shouldn't do it that often - I probably wouldn't have gone if I hadn't known

[deadpheasant]

Really exciting moment. Didnt know who it was until the banner came down, so excellent work at keeping it secret. Crowd were a bit naff though as half the crowd looked like they didn't want to be there.

[kingcrawler]

I only saw them from Music When the Lights Go Out onwards but I thought they were really dull up until the last few songs and even then it was hardly great. It just seemed really slow and half arsed. Probably didn't help that I was quite far too the side and no one around me was really bothered.

[Chris E]

I also knew it was the Libs. Lots of people around me had no idea, the banner lifted and a grown man squealed next to me. I would love this to happen annually! Brilliant.

 

I'm a grown man and I squealed despite knowing!   Big Libs fan here.

 

The number of people that had no idea and the reaction when the banner went up was absolutely brilliant.

 

As good as they were for the 2010 reunion, Friday was the closest I've seen them since 2002/2003. They're definitely back properly this time.

[DeanoL]

To be honest you knew there was a gap to be filled, I couldn't get on my internet on my phone but a quick sms to my dad at home in the middle of the day resulted in him finding it on a few places on the net taking about it.

There was a lot of confidence in the rumour so I changed my plans.

The result of not announcing it was the crowed going nuts when the banner was unfurled and the band walked on.

A real moment.

That's only half the story though isn't it? You've got the other half of the crowd who see it's the Libertines and just sigh "fucks sake".

If it was contractual fair enough (though surely announcing Friday morning would have worked?) but the net result, as demonstrated here, is people that love the band miss out, and people who don't like the band end up not seeing other bands they like because they're worried about missing out on something better.

The whole special guests / secret set thing is a load of old bollocks.

[Bignews]

My highlight of the weekend and I didn't even know they were going to be playing until the day, how good is that!!!

[Matt42]

I thought how they did it was perfect, 'To be announced' was on the screens all day so we knew something was coming but I didn't know who it was till the banner rised!

[fatyeti24]

That's only half the story though isn't it? You've got the other half of the crowd who see it's the Libertines and just sigh "fucks sake".

If it was contractual fair enough (though surely announcing Friday morning would have worked?) but the net result, as demonstrated here, is people that love the band miss out, and people who don't like the band end up not seeing other bands they like because they're worried about missing out on something better.

The whole special guests / secret set thing is a load of old bollocks.

i think it depends on the circumstances.  a band already on the bill playing elsewhere - well i don't much care but it can be fun.  the secret sets where a band is actually playing to a larger crowd than at their ordinary gigs seems a bit pointless (i'm looking your way, Williams Green, Dalai Lama excepted).  this Libs thing has been divisive.

 

but then there's the little ones that are genuinely lovely.  like on saturday, in a half-full stonebridge bar, where Jarvis Cocker and the Micheal Clark dance company ("all of them") attempted to recreate the Friday Pyramid opening slot, dancing so much to a Bowie vinyl that the needle kept skipping, while outside the crowds were oblivious (or perhaps really enjoying Father John Wotshisface).

 

it was just a fun few minutes, totally unexpected (for me anyway).  no crowds of people following their phones.

Edited June 29, 2015 by fatyeti24

[The 38 year old virgin]

Due to the tireless work of the 2 hatted gentleman, I knew and avoided, but told plenty of people

[Hugh Jass]

Read on here at around 2pm that they were going to playing. The gig itself was a bit of s let down. The Libertines themselves were fine, but there was absolutely no energy or atmosphere from the crowd which killed it IMO.

[hfuhruhurr]

That's only half the story though isn't it? You've got the other half of the crowd who see it's the Libertines and just sigh "fucks sake".

If it was contractual fair enough (though surely announcing Friday morning would have worked?) but the net result, as demonstrated here, is people that love the band miss out, and people who don't like the band end up not seeing other bands they like because they're worried about missing out on something better.

The whole special guests / secret set thing is a load of old bollocks.

totally agree - the guest thing shows no respect for their fans. As said here, the band gets a field with a complete mixture of ugh to wow instead of a whole field of wow. Can't understand the lack of respect for the music fan. We're at a festival enjoying ourselves and not wanting to be plugged into a device or texting just to find out what's on. Stupidity - I've never understood it.

[Collide]

Glad everyone who managed to get their enjoyed it and that, just felt it was a little unfair on those of us who didn't get to see what would have been the highlight of the weekend.

 

As I said in the original post, this was the pyramid stage, at least tell us who is on after the Foos couldnt make it, its bloody massive!! Still gutted about it.

[tweed1981]

I had heard a rumour it was then earlier on in the day, then checked online and realised it was definitely going to be them. Earlier on in the day before we had heard a thing our group was discussing it and the consensus was that if it was somebody crap they would have announced it already, as there would be no point in making it a surprise, only for people to leave in their droves and just be really disappointed and underwhelmed.

A few of our group had wanted to see Mark Ronson and Rudimental as they had seen Florence before, but based on the Pyramid screens still showing TBA we thought it was worth a gamble on the basis that it would be somebody big, when we then heard the rumour it was a no brainier but if we hadn't and then didn't go with our gut instinct I would have been angry with myself and not the festival.

I thought it was a brilliant fantastic moment, understandable to be annoying for anybody who would have wanted to see it and missed it but the clues were there and the gamble was there to be made.

[swede]

It was common knowledge in our group from Friday morning onwards, we'd been told by a friend off site. Talking to people during Motorhead everyone knew so why people didnt know or people who are fans didn't take the chance is beyond me.

 

Even being 99% sure it was them when that banner raised it was a truly amazing moment. Im 33 so these were my band, every time I had the chance to see them Pete was out of the band for being a naughty boy. So in the past it was Carl on full vocals and every thing was a bit rough around the edges, which was what I wanted as a 21 year old lad.

 

However Friday night we saw a proper band on that stage, parts were pure rock and roll, parts pure poetry, it was simply stunning. The moments of interplay between Pete and Carl was beautiful, like when Carl had to tie the scarf round Petes waist. Carl absolutely looked the part as well, a proper band this time, no messing about.

 

The new songs sounded brilliant, from a deeply personal point it was the best thing I have ever seen on that stage. For me it was heaven.

 

To see them collapse in a heap on stage together at the end showed how much it meant to them.

 

I think Dave Grohl is fantastic but thank fuck he broke his leg, The Libertines made my Glastonbury band wise.

[verrymerry]

The only slightly annoying thing was the people leaving who weren't interested, but after 10 mins or so it settled down & was good!

[The Placid Casual]

I think Dave Grohl is fantastic but thank fuck he broke his leg, The Libertines made my Glastonbury band wise.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[Spindles]

I thought how they did it was perfect, 'To be announced' was on the screens all day so we knew something was coming but I didn't know who it was till the banner rised!

Same.  I hadn't found out who it was and decided to take a punt.  When they played common people on the PA before hand I knew it wasn't pulp and when the loo started to show it was a good moment for me.  I can understand why people would be annoyed though, but I wasn't.

 

Earlier in the day there was a glitch on the screens and for just one frame in the running order it flashed up "catfish and the bottlemen".  At this point I honestly thought all my worst nightmares had come true and they had just bumped up someone uninspiring to fill the slot (which should have been 2 slots, I might add!)

[efcfanwirral]

It was common knowledge in our group from Friday morning onwards, we'd been told by a friend off site. Talking to people during Motorhead everyone knew so why people didnt know or people who are fans didn't take the chance is beyond me.

Even being 99% sure it was them when that banner raised it was a truly amazing moment. Im 33 so these were my band, every time I had the chance to see them Pete was out of the band for being a naughty boy. So in the past it was Carl on full vocals and every thing was a bit rough around the edges, which was what I wanted as a 21 year old lad.

However Friday night we saw a proper band on that stage, parts were pure rock and roll, parts pure poetry, it was simply stunning. The moments of interplay between Pete and Carl was beautiful, like when Carl had to tie the scarf round Petes waist. Carl absolutely looked the part as well, a proper band this time, no messing about.

The new songs sounded brilliant, from a deeply personal point it was the best thing I have ever seen on that stage. For me it was heaven.

To see them collapse in a heap on stage together at the end showed how much it meant to them.

I think Dave Grohl is fantastic but thank fuck he broke his leg, The Libertines made my Glastonbury band wise.

That pretty much describes it for me!

I only saw them at Hyde park before - I got into them after it all fell apart (went to uni in 2005 and it still soundtracked those years) so it was a big moment for me as Hyde park was absolutely terrible.

I wondered if it'd be them based on things I'd read but courteeners were my must sees, and while I don't like being glued to my phone at a festival I had to find out and be sure so got my dad to check a few sites and it seemed to be happening, and during circa waves got the text about the helicopter pic.

Watched half an hour of courteeners and got over in time for the big reveal. I knew but it was still an incredible moment.

I understand there were loads of people weren't as bothered but around me everyone knew all the words and were very excitable, it was one big party so the whole thing basically made my festival. I didn't really have a 'headliner' as in one band I was hugely looking forward to once foos had pulled out, but in reality if I'd been given the choice between foos and libs I'd have taken libertines every time so I was very very happy.

And see the above post for the on stage stuff. The girlfriend doesn't really like libertines and what she liked was the on stage chemistry between Pete and Carl, and alongside that with a few songs she didn't realise she knew she's converted and wants to come to the (presumed) tour when the album is out!

Edited June 29, 2015 by efcfanwirral

[the_lost_girl]

That's only half the story though isn't it? You've got the other half of the crowd who see it's the Libertines and just sigh "fucks sake".

The whole special guests / secret set thing is a load of old bollocks.

Agreed.

The idea of keeping it a secret was fine to a point- the suspense/speculation for those without 3g/phone battery- but then on the other hand I was hearing Bowie/oasis rumours and then to have the libertines turn up... I'm glad majority were happy on here but i guess when you hear people arguing the case for x, y and z and you get your hopes up.... just a shame. and that let down would have been avoided had we not had the excitement leading up to the secret sub. 

[Alan_C]

Was an amazing moment, and the surprise until the news leaked on the day made it even better. I broke the news to someone who went to The Courteeners later on and he seemed devastated! My highlight of the festival.

[hfuhruhurr]

Was an amazing moment, and the surprise until the news leaked on the day made it even better. I broke the news to someone who went to The Courteeners later on and he seemed devastated! My highlight of the festival.

 

On balance methinks "surprise" v. "devastated", then telling people should win.

Totally hate the idea that someone misses seeing their favourite band because they didn't have a working phone - can't balance that with the other values that Glastonbury is holds.

Knowledge and power - really? Is that what this is about.