Future headliners

[NoBuses]

Saw a tweet about it and got me thinking, which current new acts can you see headlining glastonbury in the next 10 years?

[Crazyfool01]

October Drift 

[NoBuses]

1 minute ago, crazyfool1 said:

October Drift 

what sort of genre are they? I keep getting their tiktoks on my for you page and they are quite interesting

[Crazyfool01]

Just now, NoBuses said:

what sort of genre are they? I keep getting their tiktoks on my for you page and they are quite interesting

Shoegaze editors I’ve heard them described as …. But the most energetic band I’ve ever come across live … it’s quite hard to describe … latest single is this 

 

[Wanderlei]

If the time travel technology comes along like I hope it will in the next ten years, I think Emily might be able to go and grab Bach for a headline slot.

[Superscally]

2 hours ago, crazyfool1 said:

October Drift 

Dude, I came on here to write October Drift to make you smile and see you already nailed it. 

[Crazyfool01]

Just now, Superscally said:

Dude, I came on here to write October Drift to make you smile and see you already nailed it. 

🙂 steady progress … next time they play Liverpool I’ll buy you a ticket and you can see what you think 🙂 

[balti-pie]

14 minutes ago, Wanderlei said:

If the time travel technology comes along like I hope it will in the next ten years, I think Emily might be able to go and grab Bach for a headline slot.

I fucking love Skid Row! 🤘🏻 The proper 91 lineup! 

[Punksnotdead]

To paraphrase Noel Gallagher "If Ed Sheeran can headline Glastonbury, then so can I"!

For a more serious answer, if Phoebe Bridgers continues her upward projectory, why not?

[Superscally]

32 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

🙂 steady progress … next time they play Liverpool I’ll buy you a ticket and you can see what you think 🙂 

I'm here for this

[nikkic]

The most obvious answer on this years like up is Sam Fender. 

[NoBuses]

20 minutes ago, nikkic said:

The most obvious answer on this years like up is Sam Fender. 

Agreed, I think he'll do it before 2025

[kemosabe]

Maybe not necessarily new acts but as new headliners - for an obvious one I'd say Dave. I think The XX, Little Simz, Tame Impala and Wolf Alice are all potentials if things go right. 

Finally, it's obviously so hard to predict these things, but my longshot guess is that Confidence Man might headline one day. 

Edited April 30, 2022 by kemosabe

[Matt42]

5 hours ago, kemosabe said:

Maybe not necessarily new acts but as new headliners - for an obvious one I'd say Dave. I think The XX, Little Simz, Tame Impala and Wolf Alice are all potentials if things go right. 

Finally, it's obviously so hard to predict these things, but my longshot guess is that Confidence Man might headline one day. 

Dunno about some of these. Haven’t Tame/The XX clearly peaked already? Confidence Man is a bit of a random one to throw out there. I’ve not really seen any indication they are growing a giant fanbase. This is also Wolf Alice’s peak. Can’t see them getting bigger than this.

I would say at the moment the safest bets are Dave, Dua Lipa, Sam Fender, Olivia Rodrigo.

In a fair and just world I’d add Little Simz / Phoebe to that list. But they fall victim to the curse of having a very strong musical output, but your average joe/basic water cooler person at the office going “who??” when you mention them. 

I’d say the combination formula for a future headliner is 

(1) promising output from the beginning of their career

(2) very early mainstream attention 

(3) is on the radar of very casual music fans.

It is strand 3 where I think a lot of people fall short, they make good stuff but they are just not known enough to pull a comfortable 80k - 100k crowd.

Edited April 30, 2022 by Matt42

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

Yes I have to say Confidence Man as much as I like them are never headlining the Pyramid in a million years.

[Suprefan]

33 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

Dunno about some of these. Haven’t Tame/The XX clearly peaked already? Confidence Man is a bit of a random one to throw out there. I’ve not really seen any indication they are growing a giant fanbase. This is also Wolf Alice’s peak. Can’t see them getting bigger than this.

I would say at the moment the safest bets are Dave, Dua Lipa, Sam Fender, Olivia Rodrigo.

In a fair and just world I’d add Little Simz / Phoebe to that list. But they fall victim to the curse of having a very strong musical output, but your average joe/basic water cooler person at the office going “who??” when you mention them. 

I’d say the combination formula for a future headliner is 

(1) promising output from the beginning of their career

(2) very early mainstream attention 

(3) is on the radar of very casual music fans.

It is strand 3 where I think a lot of people fall short, they make good stuff but they are just not known enough to pull a comfortable 80k - 100k crowd.

Kendrick falls into the ''who?'' category so phoebe and simz have a chance. Simz prob more cause she is from the uk so thats an instant plus. Emily prob takes a chance in say, 3 years on her like she did with Stormzy. I think there is going to have to be  a true roll of the dice on an international stadium act one year, so Bad Bunny or when theyre back, BTS. They cant just ignore music thats listened to everywhere in such high numbers and such.

Edited April 30, 2022 by Suprefan

[blutarsky]

Bob Vylan as a Peel headliner. 
Idles as TOS headliner. 

[Matt42]

10 minutes ago, Suprefan said:

Kendrick falls into the ''who?'' category so phoebe and simz have a chance. Simz prob more cause she is from the uk so thats an instant plus. Emily prob takes a chance in say, 3 years on her like she did with Stormzy. I think there is going to have to be  a true roll of the dice on an international stadium act one year, so Bad Bunny or when theyre back, BTS. They cant just ignore music thats listened to everywhere in such high numbers and such.

Kendrick falls into the “who” category for older festival goers who don’t listen to hip hop, but to say he’s unheard of is pretty crazy. 

The problem with Simz is she needs some gigantic hits to get on peoples wider radar. I’m not too sure it’s coming for her. I think she will continue to release solid albums and get a nice following / respected following… but I’m not sure she’s going to become a massive mainstream success.

Also this isn’t the US, Bad Bunny is not a name here many people would recognise. The US has a large Spanish speaking population (which we don’t). It’s not the same.

Edited April 30, 2022 by Matt42

[CaledonianGonzo]

10 minutes ago, Suprefan said:

They cant just ignore music thats listened to everywhere in such high numbers and such.

They can, you know.

[henry bear]

38 minutes ago, Suprefan said:

They cant just ignore music thats listened to everywhere in such high numbers and such.

Given they've ignored the likes of The Spice Girls and Take That for decades, I can't see BTS being particularly high on the Eavii's wish list 

[Matt42]

I could see BTS being offered a special pyramid slot, but not as a headliner. No one is really clamouring for BTS to headline Glastonbury, their fans are incredibly loud but it doesn’t necessarily translate to the festival.

Billie for example has a big fanbase but also can sell tickets to people who may not be immediately familiar with her. Hard to pinpoint but I feel like you’re either a fan of BTS or you’re not bothered about them. No middle ground.

[Suprefan]

1 hour ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

They can, you know.

Then its gonna get interesting when there are no more legends or legacy acts to book in about 5 - 10 years.  Cause its getting to the point where now its 1 big album to get you to the top. No more waiting til the 3rd album because they could flame out by then and the window closed to book Em.

 

1 hour ago, Matt42 said:

Kendrick falls into the “who” category for older festival goers who don’t listen to hip hop, but to say he’s unheard of is pretty crazy. 

The problem with Simz is she needs some gigantic hits to get on peoples wider radar. I’m not too sure it’s coming for her. I think she will continue to release solid albums and get a nice following / respected following… but I’m not sure she’s going to become a massive mainstream success.

Also this isn’t the US, Bad Bunny is not a name here many people would recognise. The US has a large Spanish speaking population (which we don’t). It’s not the same.

You mean the Americas do. Dont ignore south America since thats where a lot reside also. Where do you think a lot of the high streaming numbers come from. Not just the u.s. Ya keep trying to find the acts that fit a certain criteria but they also cant sing in a different language for some reason. Yet thats the music that dominates the world. 

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

1 minute ago, Suprefan said:

Then its gonna get interesting when there are no more legends or legacy acts to book in about 5 - 10 years.  Cause its getting to the point where now its 1 big album to get you to the top. No more waiting til the 3rd album because they could flame out by then and the window closed to book Em.

 

You mean the Americas do. Dont ignore south America since thats where a lot reside also. Where do you think a lot of the high streaming numbers come from. Not just the u.s. Ya keep trying to find the acts that fit a certain criteria but they also cant sing in a different language for some reason. Yet thats the music that dominates the world. 

It’s a British festival, that’s an unavoidable fact. The acts are largely going to cater to British people.

[Matt42]

10 minutes ago, Suprefan said:

Then its gonna get interesting when there are no more legends or legacy acts to book in about 5 - 10 years.  Cause its getting to the point where now its 1 big album to get you to the top. No more waiting til the 3rd album because they could flame out by then and the window closed to book Em.

 

You mean the Americas do. Dont ignore south America since thats where a lot reside also. Where do you think a lot of the high streaming numbers come from. Not just the u.s. Ya keep trying to find the acts that fit a certain criteria but they also cant sing in a different language for some reason. Yet thats the music that dominates the world. 

On your first point

It seems a bit dinosaur to complain about this. The music market has changed and you can get way bigger with your debut album than you could without streaming. In the past you’d need three or so albums just to get on peoples radar, but big albums can travel further now. It’s not a sign of the end days, it’s just how things have changed. Taylor Swift is on album 10… and she’s still going strong. If you are consistently good you will have a long career.

I’d love to see the stats of how Bad Bunny/BTS’s streaming numbers hold up in the UK. They are way bigger in the US / Spanish speaking market. I don’t have to look for evidence to feel confident with that assertion. To compare them to Kendrick is a bit silly as he has had transatlantic appeal for a long time now already and Glastonbury isn’t anywhere near the first UK festival he has headlined.

You’re listening too much to the old people on social media who complain about Glastonbury lineups, purely because they’ve not listened to anything new since 2007. The actual Glastonbury attendees (the silent 100k or so) are way more in tune with what’s popular right now than some loud posters on the internet.

Edited April 30, 2022 by Matt42

[CaledonianGonzo]

10 minutes ago, Suprefan said:

Then its gonna get interesting when there are no more legends or legacy acts to book in about 5 - 10 years.  Cause its getting to the point where now its 1 big album to get you to the top. No more waiting til the 3rd album because they could flame out by then and the window closed to book Em.

 

You mean the Americas do. Dont ignore south America since thats where a lot reside also. Where do you think a lot of the high streaming numbers come from. Not just the u.s. Ya keep trying to find the acts that fit a certain criteria but they also cant sing in a different language for some reason. Yet thats the music that dominates the world. 

You're trying to fix something that isn't broken. 

Why would they book Bad Bunny to headline before they book the likes of Dave, Dua Lipa, Sam Fender or Wolf Alice? They'd even get on the phone to perpetual losers The Foals first.