LAWKS! It's the next announcement thread

[Memory Man]

It may be a bit flat for now but as the first few areas drop and the resale nears it will warm up again

the resale will still be the hardest ever, despite the average lineup. So many regulars have missed out on tickets (me included) so i expect the resale to be extremely hotly contested

Even getting a volunteering place as someone who has never (had to) do it before has been impossible

Final point, it was always going to be a bit of a rubbish lineup, just look at every other festival in the UK and most of them in europe. Its the whatever the opposite of a vintage year for festivals is! 

[Memory Man]

The main area of issue is the sheer number of boring repeat bookings, but also these are “friends of the festival” ie those that will do it for 4 cans and a bag of crisps - ie those you need to lean on when budgets are tight.

and as has rightly been said, this is only an issue for regulars.

Edited March 26 by Memory Man

[gherkin8r]

Will be my tenth festival this year. Got engaged at Glastonbury, married in a hand fasting ceremony at glastonbury, youngest child was conceived at Glastonbury. Brought the kids in 2022 for the first time and they will be going with us again this year along with my in-laws and another couple we used to go with years ago and their kids. I absolutely love the place. Lineups are a bit of a bonus for me these days rather than a key component and I'm sure there will be one or two things every day I want to see which is perfect. I'm more concerned that weather akin to 2016 would make navigating the site with 3 kids for 5 days a nightmare. But there's no chance it's going to rain.

[clarkete]

2 hours ago, Memory Man said:

The main area of issue is the sheer number of boring repeat bookings, but also these are “friends of the festival” ie those that will do it for 4 cans and a bag of crisps - ie those you need to lean on when budgets are tight.

and as has rightly been said, this is only an issue for regulars.

As above, that only bothers some regulars.

This is my 31st in a row and it's not a concern to me, as it never has been for earlier decades whenever it's happened.

A quick and dirty count there are what 85ish places listed in the 2023 Clashfinder, so always plenty on to suit even my aged and ill informed tastes at any time 🙂 

[assorted]

I don’t agree that the lack of buzz is the repeat bookings so much as it’s the lackluster pyramid stage lineup. 

I actually think the other stages did pretty great this year, considering budget limitations and other festival lineups - it’s the pyramid that’s seriously lacking and not just the top line.

How much more popular is Janelle Monae since she headlined west holts? Same for Little Simz? Or Burna Boy since he was mid-afternoon Other stage? Or LCD since they headlined Other? Keane last headlined acoustic. Same for Paul Heaton. I think Cyndi Lauper’s last appearance was acoustic as well. And Shania Twain only had one hit album in the 90s making her an underwhelming Legend choice. PJ Harvey with her newer material would be better as a Woodsies headliner at this point.

We lost no one from our group because of the lineup, but most of our group spent all of last Glastonbury Sunday at the Pyramid. This year we just have some scattered acts we want to see there, like any other stage. 

It’s the pyramid acts that usually give that kind of excitement and spectacle, and it’s very much missing this year versus previous years. 

I do wonder if a less attended pyramid stage all weekend is going to lead to even more overcrowding than we normally have seen the last 2 years in the other areas. And if there will be much lower BBC ratings for their festival broadcasts.   

[DareToDibble]

On first viewing I was disappointed with the poster but the more I look at it the more I think they've done incredibly well.

Love them or hate them, Coldplay are selling out stadiums globally. Arguably the biggest band in the world
Dua Lipa has a huge following, load of massively popular songs, massive globally and after seeing her Instagram post about headlining clearly loves the festival.
SZA - not for me but after seeing her streaming numbers and how big her following is I totally get why she got the bump up after others dropped out.

As for the rest of the poster, I'll be honest I knew about 5 which was disappointing but also exciting as I've not got to learn loads of new acts. For example I had no idea who Black Pumas were but my best mate did, is really excited to see them and as a result I've been listening to them loads.

I get why some people might be underwhelmed by the 3 (6 including Other) headliners) but let be honest, we all know we'll be here on 1st July saying how incredible our weekends were and talking about new acts we discovered over the weekend.

Whether you like the lineup poster or hate it lets not lose sight of the fact that every single one of us will come away from the festival having had the best weekend ever.

 

PS - Avalon poster will be first and it will be Tuesday 2nd April - and Busted will be Sunday headliner*

 

*Let a man dream

[BigMarv]

While I’m not concerned about the lineup and the impact on my having a great festival. I just got a Facebook reminder of me posting the poster drop 11 years ago for the 2013 festival. The difference in quality is astounding. Admittedly, I’m now looking at it through 2024 eyes, but the depth is truly amazing of the acts.

[mouserat]

Agree that Pyramid is where the lineup feels most weak. What I find really interesting is that it had felt (for better or worse) that the Pyramid was trending in the direction of being a 'Radio 2 at Hyde Park' stage full of pop nostalgia aimed at an older generation (Rick Astley, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Texas). Now this year it's suddenly full of critically acclaimed acts with few if any well-known radio hits (LCD Soundsystem, PJ Harvey). 

[CharlotteB]

9 hours ago, assorted said:

I don’t agree that the lack of buzz is the repeat bookings so much as it’s the lackluster pyramid stage lineup. 

I actually think the other stages did pretty great this year, considering budget limitations and other festival lineups - it’s the pyramid that’s seriously lacking and not just the top line.

How much more popular is Janelle Monae since she headlined west holts? Same for Little Simz? Or Burna Boy since he was mid-afternoon Other stage? Or LCD since they headlined Other? Keane last headlined acoustic. Same for Paul Heaton. I think Cyndi Lauper’s last appearance was acoustic as well. And Shania Twain only had one hit album in the 90s making her an underwhelming Legend choice. PJ Harvey with her newer material would be better as a Woodsies headliner at this point.

We lost no one from our group because of the lineup, but most of our group spent all of last Glastonbury Sunday at the Pyramid. This year we just have some scattered acts we want to see there, like any other stage. 

It’s the pyramid acts that usually give that kind of excitement and spectacle, and it’s very much missing this year versus previous years. 

I do wonder if a less attended pyramid stage all weekend is going to lead to even more overcrowding than we normally have seen the last 2 years in the other areas. And if there will be much lower BBC ratings for their festival broadcasts.   

I think the lack of buzz is the way that the festival is presenting things this year. Even the poster drop had the vibe of an apology, and just seemed downbeat.

But yeah, I agree about the overcrowding issue. Last year the Pyramid soaked up a lot of people. Maybe not so much this year.

[Justcalledtosay]

18 minutes ago, CharlotteB said:

I think the lack of buzz is the way that the festival is presenting things this year. Even the poster drop had the vibe of an apology, and just seemed downbeat.

But yeah, I agree about the overcrowding issue. Last year the Pyramid soaked up a lot of people. Maybe not so much this year.

That's an interesting point.

[Physical_graffiti]

To add yet another two penneth, personally the top half of the lineup doesn't look inspiring, but when I delve into the bottom half there's some of my favourite acts, and I've counted a higher than average amount I want to see for a first poster drop. So I guess that means I think the lineup is good?

But the general public will just look at the poster at a glance (so the three headliners plus a few more near the top) and think it's sh*t. But you know what, great, I want people to think that, any marginal gains I can take on ticket day if a few hundred thousand less try for tickets next year 😛 

I don't think there's anything Glastonbury/Emily aren't doing that they should be, I think it's just got slightly lower hype because this year there's no Elton or Macca. Imagine the exact same lineup with Stevie W instead of SZA - I think we'd be seeing similar excitement levels to the last 2 years.

I do wonder if dividing by stages has a negative impact on the perceived poster quality? IMO the Pyramid stage lineup on its own never really 'inspires', so grouping them all together right at the top might make the whole thing look worse.

And I know this doesn't sound believable but I sometimes actively hope for bad lineups so I can enjoy all the other glasto delights without silly bands getting in the way....

Man i do like to write essays on the rare occasions I post. In conclusion I can't wait and I wake up every day looking forward to another great glasto 😄 

 

[Scrump]

3 minutes ago, Physical_graffiti said:

And I know this doesn't sound believable but I sometimes actively hope for bad lineups so I can enjoy all the other glasto delights without silly bands getting in the way.

Totally get this!

[Memory Man]

Definitely agree about the pyramid not being able to hoover up as much of the crowd and possibly making everywhere else busier

i would be very keen to see LCD and PJ Harvey but also feel like they are being wasted on the pyramid which is huge and hard to get a decent atmosphere going on.

they would both have been much better placed headlining somewhere else. LCD should be headlining west holts and PJ harvey literally anywhere else. Her set will go down like a lead balloon on the pyramid im afraid. Both great bookings but placed awfully by agents / the festival bookers imo

lcd will be full of people waiting for dua

[stuie]

3 minutes ago, Memory Man said:

Definitely agree about the pyramid not being able to hoover up as much of the crowd and possibly making everywhere else busier

I don’t think that’s always a bad thing - for example, Elton left half the site empty last year. 

[Memory Man]

There was about 500 people watching amadou & mariam

the rest of the site must have been heaving

[bennyhana22]

Nah, the Beautiful People were in Woodies having an amazing time watching Phoenix. It was half full and the atmosphere was fantastic!

Ben

[Pipine]

6 minutes ago, bennyhana22 said:

Nah, the Beautiful People were in Woodies having an amazing time watching Phoenix. It was half full and the atmosphere was fantastic!

Ben

Phoenix were amazing and the highlight of my festival but I wish the tent had been full.  I prefer it when the pyramid doesn’t suck the life out of the rest of the festival. 

[CaledonianGonzo]

8 minutes ago, Pipine said:

Phoenix were amazing and the highlight of my festival but I wish the tent had been full.  I prefer it when the pyramid doesn’t suck the life out of the rest of the festival. 

Might have the opposite problem this year when the Pyramid isn't acting as a huge population sink and suddenly everywhere else feels abnormally busy.

[Acid_Haze]

7 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

Might have the opposite problem this year when the Pyramid isn't acting as a huge population sink and suddenly everywhere else feels abnormally busy.

Yeah that's probably gonna be worse. Pyramid stage can withstand the large crowds unlike the dance areas and smaller stages.

[Ayrshire Chris]

20 minutes ago, Acid_Haze said:

Yeah that's probably gonna be worse. Pyramid stage can withstand the large crowds unlike the dance areas and smaller stages.

Avalon has been really busy in recent times. Tends to attract a certain age demographic. 

[Chip Batch]

The Pyramid will be pretty similar to usual I expect, though it might be a bit quieter for SZA. Lots of people congragate and sit there all day whatever is on stage. I mean, Texas were there last year.

It's nice to see it move slightly away from MOR this year if anything.

 

Edited March 27 by Chip Batch

[CharlotteB]

35 minutes ago, Ayrshire Chris said:

Avalon has been really busy in recent times. Tends to attract a certain age demographic. 

[CaledonianGonzo]

29 minutes ago, Chip Batch said:

The Pyramid will be pretty similar to usual I expect, though it might be a bit quieter for SZA. Lots of people congragate and sit there all day whatever is on stage. I mean, Texas were there last year.

It's nice to see it move slightly away from MOR this year if anything.

 

There's very little chance of, say, PJ Harvey attracting similar sized crowds to the likes of Blondie or Lewis Capaldi.

[Toilet Duck]

As first poster drops go, there’s loads I’m looking forward to! The Park in particular has knocked it out of the…er, Park!

[Crazyfool01]

Well the balance payment email drops … ok it’s not really an announcement but it’s forward momentum. Also the competition to win tickets ends Thurs lunchtime so maybe a Fri announcement ?