Headliners 2023

[Jose Pose]

2 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

Yeah but many years sub-level acts headline anyway. It's only the past few festivals that the headliners have been solid gold in terms of size.

Jack White / Foals / Killers - two of them may have been disappointing headliners but we wouldn't have immediately called it as someone else dropping out.

I do wonder if in 2016 Muse were down for a secret set and got the bump.

It also gives the option of bumping up a sub and fitting the secret set act in, or indeed it's a replacement option for the subs themselves.

George Ezra? Vampire Weekend? Bastille? Lloye Carner?

The Killers really are the exception rather than the rule, plus the Rolling Stones headlined a decade ago now. What is your classification of ‘recent’?

[Jose Pose]

8 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

The 1975 are right there!

But they’re probably already booked to do a secret set?

’big bands’ release albums, tour those albums and play festivals, they then have time off, before they repeat the process. If they haven’t got ‘the call’ from Glasto, it’s because they most likely aren’t active or have played recently, they aren’t just sitting round the phone desperately waiting for Emily to ring them up lol.

Edited January 27, 2023 by Jose Pose

[tigger123]

42 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

Yeah but many years sub-level acts headline anyway. It's only the past few festivals that the headliners have been solid gold in terms of size.

Jack White / Foals / Killers - two of them may have been disappointing headliners but we wouldn't have immediately called it as someone else dropping out.

I do wonder if in 2016 Muse were down for a secret set and got the bump.

It also gives the option of bumping up a sub and fitting the secret set act in, or indeed it's a replacement option for the subs themselves.

They were the second headliner announced though (after Coldplay and before Adele) so would be a bit weird for them to be not initially planned yet announced second, especially as Adele isn’t the most reliable 

[Hugh Jass II]

1 minute ago, tigger123 said:

They were the second headliner announced though (after Coldplay and before Adele) so would be a bit weird for them to be not initially planned yet announced second, especially as Adele isn’t the most reliable 

My suspicion is Muse and Coldplay were booked that year as a "safe" option in response the the Prince and Kanye issues the year before.

[GrumpyRaver]

46 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

I do wonder if in 2016 Muse were down for a secret set and got the bump.

They definitely weren’t 

[kalifire]

4 hours ago, Matt42 said:

It wouldn’t surprise me if Glasto speaks to 4 headliners a year and asks one (the one they are probably less precious about) to keep their dates free incase something happens…

They’ve already played that card. Why else are GnR playing?

[gfa]

Glasto have a fair few acts they can pull in at a moments notice anyway, Muse Coldplay etc as well as the potential for bump ups like Pulp this year

[BenG92]

The 1975 were that band last year for LnR and I imagine they'll be that band again this year. 

[DeanoL]

3 hours ago, Jose Pose said:

George Ezra? Vampire Weekend? Bastille? Lloye Carner?

The Killers really are the exception rather than the rule, plus the Rolling Stones headlined a decade ago now. What is your classification of ‘recent’?

Not every secret set is a reserve headliner. Some are just random undercard reserves if others drop out. 

Ezra year also had Jack White, Vampire Weekend year had Foals etc. 

I'm not sure what the Stones have to do with it.

Point is every year since 2015 (when the festival was caught with its pants down, and had to beg Melvin to drop The Libertines exclusivity clause so they could slot them in to sweeten the whole "bumping Flo up" thing, there's been a secret set by a headliner level act. If only at a push!

Except for 2016, which didn't really have any secret sets. Which is why I wonder if they actually used a reserve plan.

 

2 hours ago, GrumpyRaver said:

They definitely weren’t 

If you can share how you know that for sure, that'd be interesting.

[Freddyflintstonree]

If only 

[Jose Pose]

7 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

Not every secret set is a reserve headliner. Some are just random undercard reserves if others drop out. 

Ezra year also had Jack White, Vampire Weekend year had Foals etc. 

I'm not sure what the Stones have to do with it.

Point is every year since 2015 (when the festival was caught with its pants down, and had to beg Melvin to drop The Libertines exclusivity clause so they could slot them in to sweeten the whole "bumping Flo up" thing, there's been a secret set by a headliner level act. If only at a push!

Except for 2016, which didn't really have any secret sets. Which is why I wonder if they actually used a reserve plan.

 

If you can share how you know that for sure, that'd be interesting.

They weren't caught with their pants down at all, Dave Grohl broke his leg, it happens. And there really hasn’t been a headliner level secret set other than the killers since then, only in your head it seems.

Glastonbury has a long history of secret sets, they didn’t start in 2015.

Plus where is the evidence they had to go begging to Melvin Benn other than again, in your head? All reports at the time simply said they split the Foos fee between Flo and them. 

You know exactly what the Stones have to do with it, you said it’s only recently they started booking big acts, that make the secret sets look like sub level. We both know that’s utter nonsense and you’re trying to create an imaginary narrative to support your bizarre theory.

Edited January 27, 2023 by Jose Pose

[DeanoL]

Just now, Jose Pose said:

Plus where is the evidence they had to go begging to Melvin Benn other than in your head? All reports at the time simply said they split the Foos fee between Flo and them. 

I remember Michael talking about it - though I don't know it was in an article or at the festival Q&A that year. 

I don't think Foals or Jack White would have been any more disappointing a headliner than Mumfords, The Cure or Kasabian.

Half the debate on these forums used to be "are Foals big enough to headline"

[Jose Pose]

9 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

I remember Michael talking about it - though I don't know it was in an article or at the festival Q&A that year. 

I don't think Foals or Jack White would have been any more disappointing a headliner than Mumfords, The Cure or Kasabian.

Half the debate on these forums used to be "are Foals big enough to headline"

Neither would any of their subs, just like when Flo got bumped up.

Foals have subbed Pyramid and headlined other, George Ezra subbed Pyramid, they aren’t headliners which is why they were secret sets, not the other way round.

Killers were the exception, and got their headline slot off the back of it, not the other way round.

Secret sets have always happened, 9/10 times they aren’t headline level acts because it would be impossible and ridiculously inefficient budget wise to be booking one every year in a secret slot, especially just on the off chance someone breaks their leg on the day or a few weeks before, which might happen every 20 years or more.

Edited January 27, 2023 by Jose Pose

[DeanoL]

Just now, Jose Pose said:

Neither would any of their subs, just like when Flo got bumped up.

Foals have subbed Pyramid and headlined other, George Ezra subbed Pyramid, they aren’t headliners which is why they were secret sets, not the other way round.

Killers were the exception, and got their headline slot off the back of it, not the other way round.

Secret sets have always happened, 9/10 times they are headline level acts, because they’re not there in case someone breaks their leg on the day, or a few weeks before.

Yeah but in many cases you've already announced those acts. So the sub bump up feels bad. People were *really* pissed in 2015. Were saying they'd been cheated out of a headliner etc. Mostly they just thought the festival should have been able to book Prince at a week's notice. It feels worse than getting someone new.

Plus if it happens a few months out, before announcements, you can rejig that way anyway. Bump up a sub and slot your secret set in as sub anyway.

What you can't do is easily book an act at that sort of level with a lead time of less than three months. 

Why do you think we have secret sets then? Why do you think the festival paid Jack White to play unannounced on The Park instead of subbing the Pyramid? What is the point?

[Jose Pose]

1 minute ago, DeanoL said:

Yeah but in many cases you've already announced those acts. So the sub bump up feels bad. People were *really* pissed in 2015. Were saying they'd been cheated out of a headliner etc. Mostly they just thought the festival should have been able to book Prince at a week's notice. It feels worse than getting someone new.

Plus if it happens a few months out, before announcements, you can rejig that way anyway. Bump up a sub and slot your secret set in as sub anyway.

What you can't do is easily book an act at that sort of level with a lead time of less than three months. 

Why do you think we have secret sets then? Why do you think the festival paid Jack White to play unannounced on The Park instead of subbing the Pyramid? What is the point?

LOL, Who was?

You have an extremely overactive imagination.

[LoveAndTheft]

Seems my prediction of Peter Kay headlining Saturday may not come to fruition. Shame as to me that would have been another first for Glastonbury. 

[CaledonianGonzo]

Luckily you can cheer yourself up by revisiting his Live At The Top Of The Tower dvd.

[SighMo]

35 minutes ago, LoveAndTheft said:

Seems my prediction of Peter Kay headlining Saturday may not come to fruition. Shame as to me that would have been another first for Glastonbury. 

You were actually serious weren’t you. 

[CaledonianGonzo]

Or Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere.

[Suprefan]

9 hours ago, Matt42 said:

If I was a big band that wasn’t getting the call I’d keep my schedule free for your Glasto’s, Coachella’s whatever. Stepping in to save the day could be the gig of your career.

Except for one it would be publicized and actually matter while the other didnt. Plus one pays.

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

4 minutes ago, Suprefan said:

Except for one it would be publicized and actually matter while the other didnt. Plus one pays.

Bowie, Radiohead, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Kanye, Rolling Stones, McCartney, Kendrick, etc, etc didn't seem to mind too much...

[Suprefan]

Maybe Emily will figure out having Maty Healy doing a hitler salute on the tele is a bad idea. But wait, its ok, he is a white  rock star, he must not be cancelled.

 

 

[gfa]

Has anyone ever had the GNR media coverage and not just been confirmed a few days after?

[Matt42]

10 minutes ago, gfa said:

Has anyone ever had the GNR media coverage and not just been confirmed a few days after?

I don’t think it really got picked up tbh

[Neil]

11 hours ago, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

They were just R when I last saw them included in the running.

no they weren't they only got listed recently as that tbc