2023 legend slot

[stuie]

5 minutes ago, Green Croc said:

What makes you think it's on the cusp of going stale? Diana still pulled one of the biggest crowds of the weekend and yeah she couldn't sing very well but it was still a party atmosphere. I didn't see Kylie but that also looked like a great time.

I think the appeal of the legends slot in its current format is that you get to see an artist that many people wouldn't otherwise see at their own concert. I would guess a large proportion of the Dianna Ross crowd this year either haven't seen her before, or wouldn't have a ticket to see her at her own show but are there to enjoy it at Glasto and have a great time. If you change that slot to be bands like Blink182 and Pulp then I think many people will have seen them before and it kind of loses it's magic.

I would agree with this.  Those packed fields on the last two Glasto Sundays don't look stale to me. 

There's no way on this earth that Pulp would ever draw a crowd the size of DiRo or Kylie. 

[henry bear]

33 minutes ago, Green Croc said:

What makes you think it's on the cusp of going stale? 

Let’s face it, it isn’t going stale. It’s one of the most anticipated acts of the weekend, a late afternoon party to have a bop and singalong to big hits that we all know.

What’s clearly going to happen is we’ll soon run out of the 1960’s/70’s legends and start on more of the 80’s acts, but there’s plenty of them to mine.

[Skip997]

Thankfully I've never been to one of the Legends performances.

The only one I fully regret not seeing (if it was in the legends slot) is Johnny Cash.

I mildly regret not seeing Kylie, but it was far too hot.

The rest of them - at best meh, at worst what the hell were GFL thinking.

[Superscally]

2 hours ago, nikkic said:

Pulp // Dolly // Lionel // Tom Jones // Kylie 

Who is the odd one out here? 

Cleary Pulp. 

The criteria at the moment is crowd friendly camp pop. That’s not Pulp.

The suggestion for them was if Glasto decide to move away from the camp pop and reimagine the legend slot, which is something I’d be all for. 

Conveniently missed out ELO in your evidence there...

[Superscally]

1 hour ago, Green Croc said:

What makes you think it's on the cusp of going stale? Diana still pulled one of the biggest crowds of the weekend and yeah she couldn't sing very well but it was still a party atmosphere. I didn't see Kylie but that also looked like a great time.

I think the appeal of the legends slot in its current format is that you get to see an artist that many people wouldn't otherwise see at their own concert. I would guess a large proportion of the Dianna Ross crowd this year either haven't seen her before, or wouldn't have a ticket to see her at her own show but are there to enjoy it at Glasto and have a great time. If you change that slot to be bands like Blink182 and Pulp then I think many people will have seen them before and it kind of loses it's magic.

Pulp have been massive for the festival and helped em out before. If they don't ready have the legend in the bag (they probably do), I'm sure they'll be discussed. I think it's the aspect of a mega comeback that adds the requisite magic. 

[stuie]

6 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

The rest of them - at best meh, at worst what the hell were GFL thinking.

Yeah right, what the hell were they thinking booking an act that would attract 80,000 people to the field! 

[Crazyfool01]

14 minutes ago, stuie said:

Yeah right, what the hell were they thinking booking an act that would attract 80,000 people to the field! 

I had a shit time at all of them honest 😉

[stuie]

11 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

I had a shit time at all of them honest 😉

Load of old rubbish.  Never been so bored! 😆

[DeanoL]

I mean technically ELO formed in 1970 and did the slot in 2016.

Pulp formed in 1978 and so that'd make them the same age if they did it in 2024.

But admittedly ELO peaked much sooner and the first ten years of Pulp was Jarvis dicking around.

[nikkic]

52 minutes ago, Superscally said:

Conveniently missed out ELO in your evidence there...

No you’re right, let’s include them, then we can agree the one act since 2014 who doesn’t fit the camp pop mold, was complete fucking garbage. 

Edited August 1, 2022 by nikkic

[Superscally]

8 minutes ago, nikkic said:

No you’re right, let’s include them, then we can agree the one act since 2014 who doesn’t fit the camp pop mold, was complete fucking garbage. 

They weren't though. 

Obviously you draw the cut off at 2014 as it suits your point. That's not how it works. 

 

[km9]

What I love about festivals is everyone is so friendly and accepting of other people's opinions 

[jparx]

4 hours ago, Green Croc said:

What makes you think it's on the cusp of going stale? Diana still pulled one of the biggest crowds of the weekend and yeah she couldn't sing very well but it was still a party atmosphere. I didn't see Kylie but that also looked like a great time.

I think the appeal of the legends slot in its current format is that you get to see an artist that many people wouldn't otherwise see at their own concert. I would guess a large proportion of the Dianna Ross crowd this year either haven't seen her before, or wouldn't have a ticket to see her at her own show but are there to enjoy it at Glasto and have a great time. If you change that slot to be bands like Blink182 and Pulp then I think many people will have seen them before and it kind of loses it's magic.

It’s just my opinion but Ross really didn’t click with me, and IMO that makes three average/clunker legend sets in the last 5 festivals (Gibb being okay and ELO being very meh). When that slot works, it ends up being a highlight of the whole festival season, not just Glastonbury (Kylie, Lionel, Dolly), but for me if the act isn’t fully up to it all just feels a bit too cringe. 

I don’t think it should be scrapped though, I’d just like to see the scope of if opened up a bit and go back to the “Sunday tea time slot” branding rather than “legend. I want them to feel like they can book something maybe a bit newer but still on the novelty side, and not end up booking ELO because they feel the act needs to be a certain age/heritage, tick a certain box. ELO is exactly what I mean when i say the festival should never apply limitations on themselves by saying “only such and such acts can play that slot”. It can end up a self enforced handicap.

And again, in my opinion, if you could grab a Blink-182 in that slot, for a huge portion of the crowd that would have a similar level of novelty to a traditional legend act, but it feels a bit different. They were a defining act of a huge wave of music. It’s also why I argued Pulp and think they’d fit that slot well as Brit Pop pioneers, but I’ll take that one on the chin after being shouted down heavily.

[Skip997]

Is it "a thing" that people go to the Legends slot regardless?

 

[stuie]

3 hours ago, Superscally said:

They weren't though. 

Obviously you draw the cut off at 2014 as it suits your point. That's not how it works. 

 

If you wanna go back further, 2010 Ray Davies and 2011 Paul Simon were both shite.  And I grew up on both of them, thanks to my Dad.

The slot doesn't have to be camp pop but it has to make people feel good and resonate across the age groups, regardless of if they even like that genre of music usually. 

The past acts don't even fit into any mould - it's quite an eclectic mix so far.   I wish I went when Dame Shirley performed.  Or James Brown.  

 

 

[stuie]

8 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

Is it "a thing" that people go to the Legends slot regardless?

 

Well Skip, the ones I've been to, a fair percentage of the festival have attended. 

I expect people make decisions though, just like any other act. 

[Skip997]

Just now, stuie said:

If you wanna go back further, 2010 Ray Davies and 2011 Paul Simon were both shite.  And I grew up on both of them, thanks to my Dad.

The slot doesn't have to be camp pop but it has to make people feel good and resonate across the age groups, regardless of if they even like that genre of music usually. 

The past acts don't even fit into any mould - it's quite an eclectic mix so far.   I wish I went when Dame Shirley performed.  Or James Brown.  

 

 

That I don't understand.

James Brown - missed that, might have been okay. What year?

[stuie]

Just now, Skip997 said:

That I don't understand.

Well, as an example, I'm not into Kylie but I like fun and as I live on Earth I know her songs.  Who hasn't done the locomotion? 

 

1 minute ago, Skip997 said:

James Brown - missed that, might have been okay. What year?

2004 not long before he died.

[Skip997]

5 minutes ago, stuie said:

Well, as an example, I'm not into Kylie but I like fun and as I live on Earth I know her songs.  Who hasn't done the locomotion?

Me

Re Kylie, I actually quite like her, she's done some great up-tempo dicso/house type music (though I doubt she played any of it). I missed her set though as I couldn't be bothered with the heat, kinda regret it now.

Edited August 1, 2022 by Skip997

[Superscally]

1 hour ago, stuie said:

If you wanna go back further, 2010 Ray Davies and 2011 Paul Simon were both shite.  And I grew up on both of them, thanks to my Dad.

The slot doesn't have to be camp pop but it has to make people feel good and resonate across the age groups, regardless of if they even like that genre of music usually. 

The past acts don't even fit into any mould - it's quite an eclectic mix so far.   I wish I went when Dame Shirley performed.  Or James Brown.  

 

 

Ray Davies was great. As was Shirley. You would be glad of missing James Brown. 

[Superscally]

2 hours ago, jparx said:

It’s just my opinion but Ross really didn’t click with me, and IMO that makes three average/clunker legend sets in the last 5 festivals (Gibb being okay and ELO being very meh). When that slot works, it ends up being a highlight of the whole festival season, not just Glastonbury (Kylie, Lionel, Dolly), but for me if the act isn’t fully up to it all just feels a bit too cringe. 

I don’t think it should be scrapped though, I’d just like to see the scope of if opened up a bit and go back to the “Sunday tea time slot” branding rather than “legend. I want them to feel like they can book something maybe a bit newer but still on the novelty side, and not end up booking ELO because they feel the act needs to be a certain age/heritage, tick a certain box. ELO is exactly what I mean when i say the festival should never apply limitations on themselves by saying “only such and such acts can play that slot”. It can end up a self enforced handicap.

And again, in my opinion, if you could grab a Blink-182 in that slot, for a huge portion of the crowd that would have a similar level of novelty to a traditional legend act, but it feels a bit different. They were a defining act of a huge wave of music. It’s also why I argued Pulp and think they’d fit that slot well as Brit Pop pioneers, but I’ll take that one on the chin after being shouted down heavily.

By two people. And backed by two. Still in the game.

Edited August 1, 2022 by Superscally

[Jay Pee]

Right Said Fred > ELO

[nikkic]

14 hours ago, Superscally said:

They weren't though. 

Obviously you draw the cut off at 2014 as it suits your point. That's not how it works. 

 

Dolly changed things, that’s why I’m talking about 2014 and onwards.

The slot has turned into something completely different since then. It was never a “4th headliner”, now it’s arguably the biggest slot of the weekend. 

With the exception of ELO who were an abomination, every other act in the time frame has been a camp pop singalong.

Unless they switch up policy it’ll be The Spice Girls or Robbie Williams before it’s Pulp. 

[eastynh]

I know they have played a few times before, but Chic would absolutely nail that slot.

[gigpusher]

8 minutes ago, eastynh said:

I know they have played a few times before, but Chic would absolutely nail that slot.

Chic played after Barry Gibb and IMO were the true legend slot that year. They definitely got much more of the crowd involved. I don't think if they came back and did it that it would be any different or any better though so I consider it done.