Acts Touring around Glastonbury 2023

[zahidf]

[jump]

^I know bands don't stay big forever but Ash have proper fallen down the festival line ups for a band that once headlined Glastonbury. I saw half their set at Camden Rocks in 2019 and they didn't even headline one of the 20ish venue/stages there.

[Gnomicide]

4 minutes ago, jump said:

^I know bands don't stay big forever but Ash have proper fallen down the festival line ups for a band that once headlined Glastonbury. I saw half their set at Camden Rocks in 2019 and they didn't even headline one of the 20ish venue/stages there.

Have they played Glastonbury since 2010 when they headlined JP? I can't remember seeing them on the line-up.

They were pretty good that night.

[Quark]

3 minutes ago, Gnomicide said:

Have they played Glastonbury since 2010 when they headlined JP? I can't remember seeing them on the line-up.

They were pretty good that night.

Don't think so. In my head they played 2019 after their last album came out in 2018, but having checked it looks like I imagined it.

They played Concorde2 in Brighton last week, and that's only a 600-cap venue.  They're still going strong but definitely not the size they once were.

[nikkic]

Friendly Fires seem out of place on that Sunday line up.

[Stokesy10]

54 minutes ago, sisco said:

Actually wondered if they could do the Park.  Manics who were doing it done some festivals this year so maybe off the cards for next?!

NOOOOO STOP ALL THIS AT ONCE

[jump]

2 minutes ago, Gnomicide said:

Have they played Glastonbury since 2010 when they headlined JP? I can't remember seeing them on the line-up.

They were pretty good that night.

Yeah I'm not a big fan but they are normally good live every time I've seen them although they have never been as good since Charlotte Hatherley left. Maybe they would do a reunion one day and see abit of a bump to their name.

It's still mental a band that has headline the mainstage of Glasto has dropped so much even if they were a last minute replacement.

[Quark]

Just spotted Echobelly on there as well.  I'd happily watch them in the sunshine, used to love them!

[Quark]

Just now, jump said:

Yeah I'm not a big fan but they are normally good live every time I've seen them although they have never been as good since Charlotte Hatherley left. Maybe they would do a reunion one day and see abit of a bump to their name.

It's still mental a band that has headline the mainstage of Glasto has dropped so much even if they were a last minute replacement.

I quite like it tbh. To me it shows that Glastonbury has (and hopefully still will) strike a balance between acts that are established and massive and have a huge legacy, and acts that are big for the moment.  

[zahidf]

23 minutes ago, Quark said:

Don't think so. In my head they played 2019 after their last album came out in 2018, but having checked it looks like I imagined it.

They played Concorde2 in Brighton last week, and that's only a 600-cap venue.  They're still going strong but definitely not the size they once were.

Yeah, just basically stopped having hit albums. Playing roundhouse in a couole of weeks, still fun live, can probably get a decent crowd for a album gig, but basically just a mid size band now. but thats fine, i still like them a lot

[giantkatestacks]

Sorry if this has been discussed ad nauseam but where are Wolf Alice now in terms of Glastonbury positioning?

[nikkic]

3 minutes ago, giantkatestacks said:

Sorry if this has been discussed ad nauseam but where are Wolf Alice now in terms of Glastonbury positioning?

Subbing Pyramid or The Other most likely. 

[Quark]

2 minutes ago, Ddiamondd said:

I often think about this, specifically relating to Ash but also a few other examples before the modern era.

Rage topped Reading 1996 but then were 4th in 2000. Manics headlined Glasto 1999 and subbed in 2003. I couldn't imagine an act headlining the farm these days, subbing 4 years later, then playing 3rd from top only a few years after that.

We have big debates here about whether Mumford, KoL or Kasabian could appear on the farm again without it being a secret slot, even though their stock has demonstrably fallen. Razorlight, Franz never came back to Reading & Leeds after headlining (although, again, Manics did).

Kaisers allowed themselves to slip down in an Ash-y fashion, going: mid-Pyramid > Pyramid sub > Other sub > JP headliner within 10 years. Would there be some kind of mental block on allowing that trajectory if they had headlined in 2007? Reckon so.

I'd love to see someone like Arcade Fire take an Other headline slot in the next few years and buck the trend. 

Wonder if it's about ego, protective agents or a bigger pool of headliners nowadays. Maybe all three.

I sometimes think bands like Manics and Ash "suffer" a bit when it comes to venues and bill placement because they've continued plugging away and releasing albums over the years without being the zeitgeist bands that they were at their peak. It's not like seeing them is a rarity.

Whereas you look at some of the bands that haven't done or released anything for years, come back and announce a stadium tour. It's not because they're bigger or better, but they play on the reunion and nostalgia factor, and for some reason people lap it up. 

[Hugh Jass]

I met Tim Wheeler once and he was a fucking arsehole.

That said, I could get behind Ash popping up early doors on, say, The Other.

[jannybruck]

Ash are in the "let's just pay the mortgage and enjoy being in a band" stage of their career now like many of the B and C list bands on the festival circuit that burned bright back in the day, and that's perfectly fine and not at all shameful.

They're still excellent live, have a bunch of great festival singalong bangers, and aren't struggling. Good for them.

[jump]

7 minutes ago, Quark said:

I sometimes think bands like Manics and Ash "suffer" a bit when it comes to venues and bill placement because they've continued plugging away and releasing albums over the years without being the zeitgeist bands that they were at their peak. It's not like seeing them is a rarity.

Whereas you look at some of the bands that haven't done or released anything for years, come back and announce a stadium tour. It's not because they're bigger or better, but they play on the reunion and nostalgia factor, and for some reason people lap it up. 

Yeah, it seems like the bands that have the work ethos and the passion to keep doing 200+ shows a year and creating new music aren't rewarded the same way as the ones that quit so don't build up the must see vibe to them. It does make me want to support them by grabbing tickets for their next London show (the same with Subways after hearing that they had to sell some of their equipment over the last year for the money) but at the same time I'd rather have that night in and watch shit telly.

Although saying that my next year festival plans are gonna be shaped depending on where Rage Against The Machine are playing who have done sod all for years.

15 minutes ago, Ddiamondd said:

 

Kaisers allowed themselves to slip down in an Ash-y fashion, going: mid-Pyramid > Pyramid sub > Other sub > JP headliner within 10 years. Would there be some kind of mental block on allowing that trajectory if they had headlined in 2007? Reckon so.

Probably bullshit but I remember seeing somewhere that both Arctic Monkeys and Kaisers were considered as equals for headlining Glasto that year and they decided to flip a coin to decided which one would headline and which would sub and the coin came up for Arctic Monkeys. If true and it came up the other way things could be different nowadays.

I remember Kaisers were headlining IOW in 2009 (?) along with The Police and The Sex Pistols and now are headlining the 2nd stage at the same fest this year. 

[FloorFiller]

17 minutes ago, jump said:

Probably bullshit but I remember seeing somewhere that both Arctic Monkeys and Kaisers were considered as equals for headlining Glasto that year and they decided to flip a coin to decided which one would headline and which would sub and the coin came up for Arctic Monkeys. If true and it came up the other way things could be different nowadays.

 

Whilst Kaisers were certainly popular in their day, they didn’t have nearly the feverish hype that was surrounding Arctics at the time so I find this hard to believe. What a strange timeline that would’ve been.

[dentalplan]

47 minutes ago, Ddiamondd said:

I often think about this, specifically relating to Ash but also a few other examples before the modern era.

Rage topped Reading 1996 but then were 4th in 2000. Manics headlined Glasto 1999 and subbed in 2003. I couldn't imagine an act headlining the farm these days, subbing 4 years later, then playing 3rd from top only a few years after that.

We have big debates here about whether Mumford, KoL or Kasabian could appear on the farm again without it being a secret slot, even though their stock has demonstrably fallen. Razorlight, Franz never came back to Reading & Leeds after headlining (although, again, Manics did).

Kaisers allowed themselves to slip down in an Ash-y fashion, going: mid-Pyramid > Pyramid sub > Other sub > JP headliner within 10 years. Would there be some kind of mental block on allowing that trajectory if they had headlined in 2007? Reckon so.

I'd love to see someone like Arcade Fire take an Other headline slot in the next few years and buck the trend. 

Wonder if it's about ego, protective agents or a bigger pool of headliners nowadays. Maybe all three.

I think Rage from that sample was a last minute thing before they were due to split. The rest - Ash, Manics, Franz, Razorlight - not staying in headline slots probably isn’t surprising. They were bands with very local appeal who were taking non-headline slots at the same time. Biffy are the only modern headliner who I would expect similar but they haven’t dropped from the top slots yet.

The thing is that the bands who people reckon aren’t headlining Glastonbury again have headlined Glastonbury. It’s ticked off the list for eternity. Coming back in a lower slot is gonna do stuff all for them except probably lower their price and appeal as headliners at other festivals. That’s why I’m usually the first to tell people to stop huffing glue when they reckon someone like Kings of Leon are gonna headline the Other Stage.

[dentalplan]

7 minutes ago, Ddiamondd said:

I hear you on some of this. It's no surprise Franz, Razorlight or whoever had a spike in popularity that didn't sustain.

But I think you're sorta missing what's being discussed. 10/15 years prior, a bracket of (local) headliners appeared to have less of a hang-up about returning to a festival in a non-headline position. Now these types of one-time headline sensations just don't come back at all.

Alongside the likes of Manics and Ash, The Charlatans and Primal Scream are also good examples of acts who headlined Reading + Glastonbury in the late '90s but then returned on a lower billing only a few years later. So to your second point, they didn't see it as "stuff all" — they saw it as opportunity to play to fans, and fair enough. The big boys of 00s indiegeddon, for whatever reason, don't follow that pattern.

I think the festival scene was a lot less developed back then. Headlining a festival was more of a gig than it was a defining status for an act. And there were fewer to play.

Tbf I think if they chucked headline slots out as freely as when they promoted Primal Scream and Charlatans - say if we had headliners like Foals, Bloc Party, Wolf Alice, The Vaccines, etc. in the past ten years - there would be more acts dropping from that status. Now it’s such a hard job to get that acts aren’t letting go when they get it - and festivals aren’t relegating them to take a chance on someone else.

Edited September 9, 2021 by dentalplan

[jump]

46 minutes ago, FloorFiller said:

Whilst Kaisers were certainly popular in their day, they didn’t have nearly the feverish hype that was surrounding Arctics at the time so I find this hard to believe. What a strange timeline that would’ve been.

Oh yeah, I reckon it's bullshit too simply because I don't see an organizer relying on a coin toss for a decision like who's the main stage headliner is. I think it came from a legit website/journalist rather than some random poster on the forum which is why I didn't completely write it off.

I can see a logic to the two of them both being heavily considered as headliners and it could have gone either way though. Both were big and even though Monkeys were ridiculously hot at the time they jumped from being an unknown pub band to THE Arctic Monkeys almost overnight the year before whilst Kaisers were closer to being the polished finished article with more big gigs under their belt and felt like there was less risk of them choking with that kind of spotlight on them

[Matt42]

If it wasn’t for mid-tier festivals / things like Hyde Park/outdoor gigs I reckon a few of these would have dropped to sub headliner (and below) status already.

You don’t have to drop from headliner status if you focus solely on headlining 20k / 30k max festivals.

Edited September 9, 2021 by Matt42

[Ryan1984]

1 hour ago, Ddiamondd said:

Ash do seem like they genuinely enjoy playing for people without being bothered about billing, taking support slots with Weezer or Supergrass to feed that core of fans as well as modest sized venues — so fair play to them really.

The last couple of albums have had some bangers as well - Buzzkill and Confessions in the Pool don’t feel out of place in the ‘hits’ set.

[mattiloy]

10 hours ago, AlexOvd said:

 

Ah just came to post this off pigsx7’s fb.

Very promising. If a good half of these are on the Glastonbury bill i’ll be a happy man!

[John the Moth]

On 9/8/2021 at 10:41 PM, Hugh Jass said:

Woop! Woop!

It’s the sound of…

 

You barsteward! You nicked my joke and vastly improved it with photoshop 🤣

[Hugh Jass]

7 hours ago, John the Moth said:

You barsteward! You nicked my joke and vastly improved it with photoshop 🤣

I’m too lazy to photoshop, just nicked it from somewhere else.