Headliners 2023

[Padjeq]

28 minutes ago, JayDiesel said:

Went to Werchter in 2019 and this was my experience with every crowd for every show. Lovely fest, lovely location and lineup, but the Belgian (in your case German) crowds have put me off from ever wanting to attend again. People were clapping and swaying along to BMTH ffs

I was at Werchter 22 and during the Big Thief the crowd started clapping along. The singer told them to stop doing that because it's not a happy song. Was pretty funny.

Speaking of Werchter, their gate principal for the pit would solve a lot of these problems people are having with sitters, bargers and the people who put a 4 month old baby on a mat on the floor during Kylie and seem oblivious to all the people panicking as they flail to stop themselves falling onto it as they head for what appeared to be a clear space within the first fifth of the field.

[Hugh Jass II]

3 minutes ago, Padjeq said:

I was at Werchter 22 and during the Big Thief the crowd started clapping along. The singer told them to stop doing that because it's not a happy song. Was pretty funny.

Speaking of Werchter, their gate principal for the pit would solve a lot of these problems people are having with sitters, bargers and the people who put a 4 month old baby on a mat on the floor during Kylie and seem oblivious to all the people panicking as they flail to stop themselves falling onto it as they head for what appeared to be a clear space within the first fifth of the field.

Still to this today the most insane, reckless and irresponsible thing I've ever seen at the festival was the couple, about 15 minutes into the Stones trying to exit the pit with a child in a buggy.

[p.pete]

6 minutes ago, Padjeq said:

I was at Werchter 22 and during the Big Thief the crowd started clapping along. The singer told them to stop doing that because it's not a happy song. Was pretty funny.

Speaking of Werchter, their gate principal for the pit would solve a lot of these problems people are having with sitters, bargers and the people who put a 4 month old baby on a mat on the floor during Kylie and seem oblivious to all the people panicking as they flail to stop themselves falling onto it as they head for what appeared to be a clear space within the first fifth of the field.

which is?

[FrancisH]

9 minutes ago, Padjeq said:

I was at Werchter 22 and during the Big Thief the crowd started clapping along. The singer told them to stop doing that because it's not a happy song. Was pretty funny.

Speaking of Werchter, their gate principal for the pit would solve a lot of these problems people are having with sitters, bargers and the people who put a 4 month old baby on a mat on the floor during Kylie and seem oblivious to all the people panicking as they flail to stop themselves falling onto it as they head for what appeared to be a clear space within the first fifth of the field.

As much as I dislike the chair barrier crew have to disagree on "gate principal" if its what I think it is! - part of the joy of Glastonbury is not having areas policed like this.

[Alex DeLarge]

I think a few good rules are:

20/ 30 mins before the set or more - fine. 

10 minutes before they start and the crowd rushing in? Not fine.

Getting annoyed at people stepping near you - not fine.

Sitting on a camping chair in the pit - come on mate.

Blocking people walking - not just rude, but potentially dangerous.

 

 

Edited January 17, 2023 by Alex DeLarge

[fred quimby]

21 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

 

I'm already stressed about Elton to be honest as have never seen him, it'll be my last ever chance and if that goes "wrong" it'll end the festival on a bad note. It'll be so busy I'm not even sure hanging at the back makes any sense. But that's my stupid anxiety for you.

I hear you

[Padjeq]

3 minutes ago, Hugh Jass II said:

Still to this today the most insane, reckless and irresponsible thing I've ever seen at the festival was the couple, about 15 minutes into the Stones trying to exit the pit with a child in a buggy.

I think Glastonbury suffers most for having so many people going with different rules and expectations. I remember having to tell a colleague a decade or so ago that just because the gig is in Villa Park you can't actually take a blanket and picnic basket to watch Take That. She later tried for Glastonbury and failed to get tickets, but I do wonder what she would've been like there. Definitely a chair in the pit person. Every other gig or festival I go to, most people are on the same page (apart from Werchter where some people would stand in the middle of a massive blanket with a 20 man footprint, getting angry when other people would walk on it. Imagine if we all had our own one of those, we'd fill the whole of Belgium)

[Padjeq]

11 minutes ago, p.pete said:

which is?

They clear the pit inbetween sets on the main stage, then let people back in. It's a good environment in there because everyone really wants to watch the act that's on and you don't get people barrier hugging, or sitting waiting stone faced through your HAIM's and Yungblud's all day just cuz they want a good spot for Metallica that night. You can just come after the subheadliner and get in for the main event.

[p.pete]

1 minute ago, Padjeq said:

They clear the pit inbetween sets on the main stage, then let people back in. It's a good environment in there because everyone really wants to watch the act that's on and you don't get people barrier hugging, or sitting waiting stone faced through your HAIM's and Yungblud's all day just cuz they want a good spot for Metallica that night. You can just come after the subheadliner and get in for the main event.

ooh - interesting.  If you genuinely wanted to see two acts in a row would you get cleared out and then have to hope you can get back in again?  I do recall other festivals would only let people through the barriers (exiting was okay) into the pit after a set would finish.  All seems a lot of extra effort when there's another thread talking about Brixton and a general lack of security - I think it's (often) more of a profession in europe though, presumably they can demand higher wages and training.  Might be a bit stuffed trying to set something like that up here but does sound an interesting way forward

[DeanoL]

12 minutes ago, Padjeq said:

I think Glastonbury suffers most for having so many people going with different rules and expectations. I remember having to tell a colleague a decade or so ago that just because the gig is in Villa Park you can't actually take a blanket and picnic basket to watch Take That. She later tried for Glastonbury and failed to get tickets, but I do wonder what she would've been like there. Definitely a chair in the pit person. Every other gig or festival I go to, most people are on the same page (apart from Werchter where some people would stand in the middle of a massive blanket with a 20 man footprint, getting angry when other people would walk on it. Imagine if we all had our own one of those, we'd fill the whole of Belgium)

You also absolutely can take a picnic blanket and sit back by the sound desk at the Pyramid for the entire afternoon on a Friday/Saturday.

People going for the first time won't necessarily realise how much busier it'll get later on. Or indeed when as it's not entirely consistent. And won't necessarily even realise when it's filling up around them - few will be entirely sober even if they're massively aware of their surroundings normally.

The festival could bring in rules to set those expectations - no chairs in front of the barrier, no chairs in front of the sound desk after 7pm, all sorts of ways of "improving" it - but the festival ethos is to have as few rules as possible. That's meant to be the point, once you're in, you're in. You're not bound by many rules nor by other people's expectations of you.

And I'm sure some of the people that would love the festival to "rule" on one issue would get upset if they "ruled" on another like flags, or bringing your own alcohol, or clamping down on drug usage or whatever.

[Hugh Jass II]

8 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

You also absolutely can take a picnic blanket and sit back by the sound desk at the Pyramid for the entire afternoon on a Friday/Saturday.

People going for the first time won't necessarily realise how much busier it'll get later on. Or indeed when as it's not entirely consistent. And won't necessarily even realise when it's filling up around them - few will be entirely sober even if they're massively aware of their surroundings normally.

The festival could bring in rules to set those expectations - no chairs in front of the barrier, no chairs in front of the sound desk after 7pm, all sorts of ways of "improving" it - but the festival ethos is to have as few rules as possible. That's meant to be the point, once you're in, you're in. You're not bound by many rules nor by other people's expectations of you.

And I'm sure some of the people that would love the festival to "rule" on one issue would get upset if they "ruled" on another like flags, or bringing your own alcohol, or clamping down on drug usage or whatever.

The only reasonable expectation I have of anyone at Glastonbury is not to act like a twat.

[Brendan110_00]

15 minutes ago, p.pete said:

ooh - interesting.  If you genuinely wanted to see two acts in a row would you get cleared out and then have to hope you can get back in again?  I do recall other festivals would only let people through the barriers (exiting was okay) into the pit after a set would finish.  All seems a lot of extra effort when there's another thread talking about Brixton and a general lack of security - I think it's (often) more of a profession in europe though, presumably they can demand higher wages and training.  Might be a bit stuffed trying to set something like that up here but does sound an interesting way forward

Not when I've been in there, impossible task!

[nikkic]

1 hour ago, Hugh Jass II said:

When that happens I tend to step forward and let the stream go behind me.

Won't your huge ass block their path?

[incident]

2 hours ago, nikkic said:

I expect he earns enough from his current band to have to worry about reforming Oasis.

Never mind his current band - reportedly he earns still earns millions every year just from Oasis - between merch, sales/streaming, and PRS fees (some of which come from Liam performing Oasis tracks).

[DeanoL]

6 minutes ago, Hugh Jass II said:

The only reasonable expectation I have of anyone at Glastonbury is not to act like a twat.

If everyone could agree on what twattish behaviour was then the world would be a better place!

[Padjeq]

13 minutes ago, p.pete said:

ooh - interesting.  If you genuinely wanted to see two acts in a row would you get cleared out and then have to hope you can get back in again?  I do recall other festivals would only let people through the barriers (exiting was okay) into the pit after a set would finish.  All seems a lot of extra effort when there's another thread talking about Brixton and a general lack of security - I think it's (often) more of a profession in europe though, presumably they can demand higher wages and training.  Might be a bit stuffed trying to set something like that up here but does sound an interesting way forward

I didn't do the double for any act, but as we left each pit we'd see a mild group forming of people waiting at the gate to get in for the next band. Every pit I wanted to be in I got in about 5 minutes prior to the act taking the stage, including sub Turnstile, along with HAIM, Fontaines and IDLES.

[p.pete]

1 minute ago, Padjeq said:

I didn't do the double for any act, but as we left each pit we'd see a mild group forming of people waiting at the gate to get in for the next band. Every pit I wanted to be in I got in about 5 minutes prior to the act taking the stage, including sub Turnstile, along with HAIM, Fontaines and IDLES.

sounds great.  I'm not brilliant at squeezing my way forward through people, far too polite for that 🙂  At Glastonbury I've only properly tried to get a decent pit spot for one headliner and for that I went towards the end of two acts before (was Royal Blood, then watched XX before Radiohead came on).  Luckily I enjoyed each one, but that's a massive chunk of time and still wasn't 'that' close to the front (middle, but 10/15 rows of people ahead of mi I reckon).  If I could have been in a pit-queue area half-way through XX with assurances of getting into the pit that'd be a better use of everyone's time.  I assumed (correctly) that lots of people wanted to see both though, so forcing people to leave who were in the pit for XX could have been tricky.

[jannybruck]

Madonna greatest hits tour announcing today, kicking off in July in US with UK/Europe dates in autumn 2023. So she could potentially do this year or next.

I think her connection to the UK means she understands the significance of headlining, but the fact it's televised (which she's had big backlash over before if her performance isn't 100%, and probably doesn't want again) and she'll get no money for it is the sticking point.

[Hugh Jass II]

25 minutes ago, nikkic said:

Won't your huge ass block their path?

People tend to conga around it.

[Hugh Jass II]

1 minute ago, jannybruck said:

Madonna greatest hits tour announcing today, kicking off in July in US with UK/Europe dates in autumn 2023. So she could potentially do this year or next.

I think her connection to the UK means she understands the significance of headlining, but the fact it's televised (which she's had big backlash over before if her performance isn't 100%, and probably doesn't want again) and she'll get no money for it is the sticking point.

Surely she was aware of its significance when she turned in a quote for £5m?

[Suprefan]

[nikkic]

Wonder how much tickets for this would be?

Pretty tempted, even though she won't play the hits.

[jannybruck]

1 minute ago, nikkic said:

Wonder how much tickets for this would be?

Pretty tempted, even though she won't play the hits.

It's specifically a hits tour, so the setlist will be stacked. £100+ easily.

[BenG92]

1 minute ago, nikkic said:

Wonder how much tickets for this would be?

I don't even wanna begin to think about it. But we're not doing Leeds at all this year so we might see Madge instead, probably not many chances left. 

Surely "the celebration tour" indicates it's a hits tour? 

[nikkic]

2 minutes ago, jannybruck said:

It's specifically a hits tour, so the setlist will be stacked. £100+ easily.

 

4 minutes ago, BenG92 said:

I don't even wanna begin to think about it. But we're not doing Leeds at all this year so we might see Madge instead, probably not many chances left. 

Surely "the celebration tour" indicates it's a hits tour? 

It does indicate a hits tour, but can we be certain that she won't play a drum and bass version of Like A Prayer though a flute, instead of the actual classic itself?