Headliners 2023

[MEGABOWL]

46 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

Flo would be a repeat but Artic Monkeys have headlines before and Flo only headline set was a substitute. Even still there’s plenty of female acts that could headline or they could take a risk on an act that isn’t massive.

I understand GF has done a lot for diversity but my original point was Emily essentially passing the blame onto the industry when they can book female headliners. The festival sells out in minutes anyway so they have the luxury of not having to worry too much about tickets being sold. It just seems a bit strange to me that’s all.

I don’t think that’s fair to Emily. And this applies to the general reaction as much as what you’re saying. Out of everybody in the entire industry, Emily seems to be one of the most aware of the imbalance and the most committed to fixing it. Despite that she’s being criticised more than others, and for something happening (all ‘male’ headliners) that she told us last year might happen, but nobody listened.

Also there’s a balance to be struck. She’s also in charge of a business that needs to sell tickets or the whole thing falls apart. Part of the attraction to many is that the festival constantly punches above its weight (financially speaking) in terms of headliners. As soon as she/GFL start to think ‘oh we sell out every year, we can book whoever we want, it doesn’t matter’ arrogance and complacency will set in and they’re in serious trouble. They simply can’t approach it that way.

[Crazyfool01]

15 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

She never is mentioned for the festival really is she, do you know why she isn’t?

she's got her pink lines that she doesnt break 

[MEGABOWL]

16 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

She never is mentioned for the festival really is she, do you know why she isn’t?

Fair play I didn’t know she was booked that weekend, I never thought she would be a serious shout though. 

I’m not a fan but she could definitely headline. I assume it’s 💴 💰 💵 

[maelzoid]

4 minutes ago, Suprefan said:

I guess outgrossing Ed Sheeran in touring revenue  last yearfor one thing means absolutely nothing. And half of  his tour was in arenas.

I didn't say it meant nothing, I just said he was not the biggest act in the world. And given he has barely played any gigs outside of the Americas and is not top 10 for spotify monthlys, I stand by it.

[henry bear]

34 minutes ago, Suprefan said:

And funny how Emily is talking about diversity when Coachella has 2 headliners that dont primarily sing in english at the top of of the bill 

Glastonbury did the same decades ago. 

[Hugh Jass II]

2 hours ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

I mean I really d@bbed them down for booking The Killers to headline but I didn't try to construe it as a signifier of the end times.

Your case wasn’t helped by them putting on an all-timer of a show.

[Justiceforcedave]

It must be a bit of a puzzle, lining up bands with available days, provisionally booking a few years ahead and making sure you have plenty of reserves incase the shit hits the fan! It’s not as simple ‘Replace band X with band Y’.

For example, why would you book Florence again so soon if you can book a big American band whose dates happen to line up with your Taylor shaped gap? Especially if this is potentially your only shot at booking them? Even more so if you know Flo and co are more likely to be available down the line if you need them to fill gap!

[Guest]

47 minutes ago, MEGABOWL said:

I don’t think that’s fair to Emily. And this applies to the general reaction as much as what you’re saying. Out of everybody in the entire industry, Emily seems to be one of the most aware of the imbalance and the most committed to fixing it. Despite that she’s being criticised more than others, and for something happening (all ‘male’ headliners) that she told us last year might happen, but nobody listened.

Also there’s a balance to be struck. She’s also in charge of a business that needs to sell tickets or the whole thing falls apart. Part of the attraction to many is that the festival constantly punches above its weight (financially speaking) in terms of headliners. As soon as she/GFL start to think ‘oh we sell out every year, we can book whoever we want, it doesn’t matter’ arrogance and complacency will set in and they’re in serious trouble. They simply can’t approach it that way.

I don’t think it’s being unfair on Emily to call out the optics on this and her comments. She right gets credit for all the good work that’s been done so she should take criticism when it’s not.

I get that the business side of things but the reality is that the festival will still sell out even if they have a headline 3 of Elton, GnR & Lizzo. Whilst it would be a risk of sorts to go for Lizzo, it would create such positivity and boost her career further so she can come back in years time to headline again. I really don’t think there’s a risk to the business if they went with an act like Lizzo.

[FloorFiller]

5 minutes ago, Justiceforcedave said:

It must be a bit of a puzzle, lining up bands with available days, provisionally booking a few years ahead and making sure you have plenty of reserves incase the shit hits the fan! It’s not as simple ‘Replace band X with band Y’.

For example, why would you book Florence again so soon if you can book a big American band whose dates happen to line up with your Taylor shaped gap? Especially if this is potentially your only shot at booking them? Even more so if you know Flo and co are more likely to be available down the line if you need them to fill gap!

Yeah, although I doubt GnR are on Emily’s fabled ‘list’, they’d be dumb as hell to turn down the chance of booking them given the opportunity, especially with them being notoriously all about the money which I assume they dropped for Glastonbury. 

[MEGABOWL]

29 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

I don’t think it’s being unfair on Emily to call out the optics on this and her comments. She right gets credit for all the good work that’s been done so she should take criticism when it’s not.

I get that the business side of things but the reality is that the festival will still sell out even if they have a headline 3 of Elton, GnR & Lizzo. Whilst it would be a risk of sorts to go for Lizzo, it would create such positivity and boost her career further so she can come back in years time to headline again. I really don’t think there’s a risk to the business if they went with an act like Lizzo.

It is unfair. She has said she aims for 50/50 across the line up, which she is more or less achieving. She has never made any promises about Female headliners but is being judged as if she did. She specifically said last June some years they will have all-Male headliners but nobody listened.

And yes it would be a risk to dump GNR for Lizzo. One is a stadium act, one is an Arena act. They had a choice of booking GNR or Lizzo or GNR *and* Lizzo. Nothing else other than the latter makes any sense. It’s easy for us playing games on an Internet forum but it’s not us who has to worry about GFLs financial costs or tickets selling or getting grief Online/from the Media.

[MEGABOWL]

35 minutes ago, FloorFiller said:

Yeah, although I doubt GnR are on Emily’s fabled ‘list’, they’d be dumb as hell to turn down the chance of booking them given the opportunity, especially with them being notoriously all about the money which I assume they dropped for Glastonbury. 

Or maybe they were

[FloorFiller]

3 minutes ago, MEGABOWL said:

Or maybe they were

Damn I’ve had it in my mind that that quote was from last year some time when GnR had already been drafted in to headline and she was just getting ahead of things by talking them up.

[Guest]

22 minutes ago, MEGABOWL said:

It is unfair. She has said she aims for 50/50 across the line up, which she is more or less achieving. She has never made any promises about Female headliners but is being judged as if she did. She specifically said last June some years they will have all-Male headliners but nobody listened.

And yes it would be a risk to dump GNR for Lizzo. One is a stadium act, one is an Arena act. They had a choice of booking GNR or Lizzo or GNR *and* Lizzo. Nothing else other than the latter makes any sense. It’s easy for us playing games on an Internet forum but it’s not us who has to worry about GFLs financial costs or tickets selling or getting grief Online/from the Media.

I don't recall reading her saying that last year but either way she knows the headliners are where the attention is mostly (otherwise she wouldn't have felt the need to mention it) so would know people will comment on an all male trio.

Bear in mind I don't know much about the booking logistics but I'm not suggesting we dump GnR for Lizzo (or Florence etc). As GnR are a massive band with limited time left to tour, it makes sense to grab them now whilst they can. I'm suggesting there's very little risk in having one of these female acts replace Artic Monkeys, if they want more diversity at the top of the billing that's where you do it. I bet you it would hardly impact ticket sales.

Also acts like Lizzo could potentially cost less to book which would help the festival as they are looking to save on costs and promote their diversity drive too.

[DJL]

42 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

I'm suggesting there's very little risk in having one of these female acts replace Artic Monkeys, if they want more diversity at the top of the billing that's where you do it. I bet you it would hardly impact ticket sales.

I respectfully disagree - I'm not sure it's a good idea to turn Arctic Monkeys away if you have the option (when they are talking about not being able to put on the same show as last year without hiking costs more than they already have). I don't like them, won't see them and would/will watch Lizzo either way but as has been said if, you can get them, having Lizzo + Arctic Monkeys (with a great undercard of female artists) is better for the festival than just Lizzo imo.

Edited March 4, 2023 by DJL

[Gregcharlie]

 

18 minutes ago, DJL said:

I respectfully disagree - I'm not sure it's a good idea to turn Arctic Monkeys away if you have the option (when they are talking about not being able to put on the same show as last year without hiking costs more than they already have). I don't like them, won't see them and would/will watch Lizzo either way but as has been said if, you can get them, having Lizzo + Arctic Monkeys (with a great undercard of female artists) is better for the festival than just Lizzo imo.

Exactly. Why would you deliberately book one less good act than you can afford to? 
 

Lizzo has agreed to play that slot and the festival’s lineup is a lot stronger for it. Everyone benefits. 

[Guest]

45 minutes ago, DJL said:

I respectfully disagree - I'm not sure it's a good idea to turn Arctic Monkeys away if you have the option (when they are talking about not being able to put on the same show as last year without hiking costs more than they already have). I don't like them, won't see them and would/will watch Lizzo either way but as has been said if, you can get them, having Lizzo + Arctic Monkeys (with a great undercard of female artists) is better for the festival than just Lizzo imo.

It's because the discourse is about lack of diversity with the headliners so considering Emily made the comments about not being able to book female headliners, I think it's fair to point out that she could've done especially when one of the headliners isn't as iconic as the others.

[Gregcharlie]

6 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

It's because the discourse is about lack of diversity with the headliners so considering Emily made the comments about not being able to book female headliners, I think it's fair to point out that she could've done especially when one of the headliners isn't as iconic as the others.

Would again respectfully disagree with that with regards to Arctic Monkeys, especially considering this is the UK’s biggest music festival. 

[DJL]

3 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

It's because the discourse is about lack of diversity with the headliners so considering Emily made the comments about not being able to book female headliners, I think it's fair to point out that she could've done especially when one of the headliners isn't as iconic as the others.

It’s absolutely fair to point out as part of the discourse. She made the comments ao is clearly aware of, and cares about, the issue - I’d just suggest she didn’t do it for a reason and, whilst not above criticism, she knows a lot more about running a festival than we do 🙂

[MEGABOWL]

2 hours ago, Ozanne said:

I don't recall reading her saying that last year but either way she knows the headliners are where the attention is mostly (otherwise she wouldn't have felt the need to mention it) so would know people will comment on an all male trio.

Bear in mind I don't know much about the booking logistics but I'm not suggesting we dump GnR for Lizzo (or Florence etc). As GnR are a massive band with limited time left to tour, it makes sense to grab them now whilst they can. I'm suggesting there's very little risk in having one of these female acts replace Artic Monkeys, if they want more diversity at the top of the billing that's where you do it. I bet you it would hardly impact ticket sales.

Also acts like Lizzo could potentially cost less to book which would help the festival as they are looking to save on costs and promote their diversity drive too.

Emily has made her targets around improving diversity in the festival line up pretty clear-she talks about it in this Podcast from 36:45 for a minute or so. She’s quite explicit about the possibility of all-Male headliners. I’m sure Emily is well used to the way it works where things said in public get twisted by traditional Media and misconstrued on Social Media but it still must be frustrating having to defend what are very logical decisions against others interpretations of what she said. 
 

I see the thinking in replacing Arctic Monkeys but I think that possibly only really makes sense through the prism of being a regular attendee and able to view them coming back as a bit uninspired. Looking at it objectively she has probably the biggest British Guitar band of the last 20 years so keen to play they’ve arranged their sold out stadium tour to play Glastonbury. They’re a huge booking and will get a massive crowd. So I circle back round to my point re.ultimately it’s a business. A very ethical one but a business.

 

 

 

[fraybentos1]

7 hours ago, clarkete said:

For some reason I value her opinion on this matter above yours 😉

It’s not her real opinion though she’s lying. They’ve booked her to sub cause she’s sub level. If she was headline level they’d have booked her to headline, it’s that simple. 

[clarkete]

1 hour ago, MEGABOWL said:

Emily has made her targets around improving diversity in the festival line up pretty clear-she talks about it in this Podcast from 36:45 for a minute or so. She’s quite explicit about the possibility of all-Male headliners. I’m sure Emily is well used to the way it works where things said in public get twisted by traditional Media and misconstrued on Social Media but it still must be frustrating having to defend what are very logical decisions against others interpretations of what she said. 
 

You mention it being misconstrued and I've seen you do it with that interview at least half a dozen times. 

It's not hard - just include the whole quote. 

"Some years where we'll have all male headliners, some years hopefully where you have all female headliners, it's not always gonna be 50/50, but the aim is that you're conscious of that when you're booking" 

[kalifire]

If GnR weren't headlining, they still wouldn't have given Lizzo a headline slot.

[MEGABOWL]

2 hours ago, clarkete said:

You mention it being misconstrued and I've seen you do it with that interview at least half a dozen times. 

It's not hard - just include the whole quote. 

"Some years where we'll have all male headliners, some years hopefully where you have all female headliners, it's not always gonna be 50/50, but the aim is that you're conscious of that when you're booking" 

How can I possibly be misconstruing something when I link to the actual interview so anybody can listen to it, pointing out where the relevant bit starts and how long the relevant bit lasts? 😆

 

As I have said many times she has never made a promise about Female headliners, as the bit you quote bears out. We know she would like more and when they’ve been available they’ve been booked. But the criticism is unfair.

Edited March 5, 2023 by MEGABOWL

[MEGABOWL]

7 hours ago, FloorFiller said:

Damn I’ve had it in my mind that that quote was from last year some time when GnR had already been drafted in to headline and she was just getting ahead of things by talking them up.

So did I! I was surprised when I saw how old it was. I’d remembered it exactly the same as you. 

[Guest]

8 hours ago, MEGABOWL said:

Emily has made her targets around improving diversity in the festival line up pretty clear-she talks about it in this Podcast from 36:45 for a minute or so. She’s quite explicit about the possibility of all-Male headliners. I’m sure Emily is well used to the way it works where things said in public get twisted by traditional Media and misconstrued on Social Media but it still must be frustrating having to defend what are very logical decisions against others interpretations of what she said. 
 

I see the thinking in replacing Arctic Monkeys but I think that possibly only really makes sense through the prism of being a regular attendee and able to view them coming back as a bit uninspired. Looking at it objectively she has probably the biggest British Guitar band of the last 20 years so keen to play they’ve arranged their sold out stadium tour to play Glastonbury. They’re a huge booking and will get a massive crowd. So I circle back round to my point re.ultimately it’s a business. A very ethical one but a business.

 

 

 

There’s an argument to be made that if diversity is one of their big aims then they should look to book a diverse set of headliners regardless of the circumstances instead of falling down on that when the original plans go awry and regardless of what male bands might be available. So in this case they could’ve passed on AM because the others are more iconic to book a female act.

Yes GFL are a business but they are a very fortunate one with a very dedicated, passionate fan base that will sell out the event pretty much regardless so in my view they should feel able to go with making these changes which then hopefully starts to set precedents for the industry.