Glastonbury don't have enough money to put on the "exact same show"

[found home in 2009]

23 minutes ago, incident said:

There are a small number of people who'll do that.

But moreso that if you see the same act playing 3 or 4 different smaller stages across the weekend - it might be that only one of those stages was able to offer them a wristband, or quite commonly where more than one wristband was needed then each stage chipped in to provide one or two of the total. So basically the gig on stage XYZ can't happen unless the one on ABC also does.

I know of a band who (many years ago) ended up having to take 3 different sets across the weekend to get the 5 wristbands they needed for 4 band members and their sound guy. It didn't help that they already had a gig on the Saturday in Oxford, so they had to leave and then come back for the final set. Two of the stages weren't even the smallest either - the (old) Left Field, and the short lived Late N Live Stage.

Frank Turner has spoke about the first time he played Glastonbury (think it was the Leftfield stage too) they gave him less complimentary tickets than there were people in the band and he actually got in hiding between amps in the back of the bands van.

[admscott]

On 3/3/2023 at 3:19 PM, DeanoL said:

Not even that a lot of the time. I remember Beans on Toast explaining it the one year - at his level (around five years ago) there were two types of gigs at the festival: those that come with a ticket, and those that don't. You need the first one to get in, before you can book in any others. If you take a look at wherever the likes of Beans or Mik play each year, it's much certain that only the biggest of those venues offers a ticket.

I'm currently booked on 4 stages for this year. 3 of them have no more Performer's Passes to give. A Performer's pass lasts all weekend, which is nice! The 4th stage, the one that usually gives me the pass to get in is a) under new management beginning this year, and b) has had their pass allowance cut too. 

If it turns out that they can't give me a pass this year, all 4 stages lose a performer! Stages at that smaller level rely on sharing artists. The only way I started reliably getting a pass each year was by playing on any stage that would have me during the years that I had already bought a ticket.

There is also a Friends and Family ticketing system, where people close to a performer can get a ticket if they are referred by the performer and the field that is giving the performer their pass. It's a guaranteed ticket, provided your application is accepted, but is full price. I know some bands who have 4 members but only got 2 Performer's Passes and needed to buy 2 Friends and Family tickets to play their shows. 

I'm a solo act, which means my free ticket footprint is small. When I see some of the 7-piece bands that play in the Green Fields, i marvel that any of them managed to get in at all! You'll often find that the drummer of a band playing on Toad Hall is the person who runs the sound at Small World or something. One stage fills their schedule by having about 6 bands that each have the same members in slightly different configurations. Kind of like a house band. 

[Zoo Music Girl]

2 minutes ago, admscott said:

I'm currently booked on 4 stages for this year. 3 of them have no more Performer's Passes to give. A Performer's pass lasts all weekend, which is nice! The 4th stage, the one that usually gives me the pass to get in is a) under new management beginning this year, and b) has had their pass allowance cut too. 

If it turns out that they can't give me a pass this year, all 4 stages lose a performer! Stages at that smaller level rely on sharing artists. The only way I started reliably getting a pass each year was by playing on any stage that would have me during the years that I had already bought a ticket.

There is also a Friends and Family ticketing system, where people close to a performer can get a ticket if they are referred by the performer and the field that is giving the performer their pass. It's a guaranteed ticket, provided your application is accepted, but is full price. I know some bands who have 4 members but only got 2 Performer's Passes and needed to buy 2 Friends and Family tickets to play their shows. 

I'm a solo act, which means my free ticket footprint is small. When I see some of the 7-piece bands that play in the Green Fields, i marvel that any of them managed to get in at all! You'll often find that the drummer of a band playing on Toad Hall is the person who runs the sound at Small World or something. One stage fills their schedule by having about 6 bands that each have the same members in slightly different configurations. Kind of like a house band. 

Thanks for sharing. Kind of mad how difficult it is for smaller performers! Especially when you hear about other types of wristband where people seem to be able to get their friends in relatively easily.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Sounds like there's a clampdown underway.

[admscott]

9 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

Thanks for sharing. Kind of mad how difficult it is for smaller performers! Especially when you hear about other types of wristband where people seem to be able to get their friends in relatively easily.

It can be kind of frustrating. Resigned to not going this year, i think. I certainly can't afford the £340 at the moment. 

It's definitely a different kind of festival. I'm playing at IoW for the first time this year and that has very much been "how many tickets do you need, let us get you a ferry pass, do you need any half-price friends tickets?" Even at my very, very low level. 

It's much more important to control space and number of people at Glasto, I suppose. But the difference between my IoW experience and the Glastonbury situation of some people needing to buy a ticket in order to play is remarkable. 

 

Edit: to clarify that i'm not frustrated by not getting to go. i don't feel entitled to it in any way and have been lucky to be consistently offered them. the frustration is on behalf of bands/artists who just have no other way in but to pay, and the system whereby I just don't know if i'm going and will feel like i'm letting down multiple people if i don't. 

Edited March 5, 2023 by admscott

[Alcatraz]

Let’s hope we’re not in the situation of a festival full of people who have built stages, but with no one to play on them

[Justcalledtosay]

Is it inconceivable that we might lose one act from each stage this year?

[Zoo Music Girl]

11 minutes ago, admscott said:

It can be kind of frustrating. Resigned to not going this year, i think. I certainly can't afford the £340 at the moment. 

It's definitely a different kind of festival. I'm playing at IoW for the first time this year and that has very much been "how many tickets do you need, let us get you a ferry pass, do you need any half-price friends tickets?" Even at my very, very low level. 

It's much more important to control space and number of people at Glasto, I suppose. But the difference between my IoW experience and the Glastonbury situation of some people needing to buy a ticket in order to play is remarkable. 

 

Edit: to clarify that i'm not frustrated by not getting to go. i don't feel entitled to it in any way and have been lucky to be consistently offered them. the frustration is on behalf of bands/artists who just have no other way in but to pay, and the system whereby I just don't know if i'm going and will feel like i'm letting down multiple people if i don't. 

Yeah I can understand that. I can't think kg anywhere else I've heard of where performers need to buy tickets.

[Ayrshire Chris]

On 3/3/2023 at 5:24 PM, gfa said:

I agree it does seem they overspent last year

Like everyone else the rapid rise in inflation, fuel costs, wage rises , band fees etc maybe caught the festival out. Next years ticket price will be up to reflect the general rise in prices. 

[Neil]

On 3/3/2023 at 10:06 AM, Alcatraz said:

I think people are mis-reading this.

She's suggesting that to pull off the exact same line up as last year, would cost 100 quid more a ticket.

if that's the case the bands budget has been cut significantly.

all the freelancers and contractors will be charging a little more right now because people are expecting to see price rises.

[Sawdusty surfer]

6 hours ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

 Especially when you hear about other types of wristband where people seem to be able to get their friends in relatively easily.

I think that you may be referring to the EPO wristbands (easy pass out) which were abolished a few years ago. They have, I believe, been replaced with wristbands with a QR  code which get scanned on entry/exit. 

I've never had an EPO myself. I heard that someone made some fake Epos a while back hence the change. 

[Watergirl]

On 3/4/2023 at 10:59 AM, Suprefan said:

But nobody is getting their full fee anyway at Glasto. Theyre not paying Arctics anything near what R/L gave them last year for example.

Exactly this.  I thought it was common knowledge that Glastonbury do not pay artists their usual asking price.  It is because of the festival's reputation that they can do this. It's an honour for artists to play.  Even U2 and the Rolling Stones eventually realized that.  I would have thought Emily is more talking about the technical and organizational side of things. Everything costs more these days. I don't think this is about artist's fees

[Zoo Music Girl]

1 hour ago, Sawdusty surfer said:

I think that you may be referring to the EPO wristbands (easy pass out) which were abolished a few years ago. They have, I believe, been replaced with wristbands with a QR  code which get scanned on entry/exit. 

I've never had an EPO myself. I heard that someone made some fake Epos a while back hence the change. 

Fair enough!

[gfa]

On 3/4/2023 at 9:59 AM, Suprefan said:

But nobody is getting their full fee anyway at Glasto. Theyre not paying Arctics anything near what R/L gave them last year for example. I think what will be really telling is if the next main poster ends up having maybe 100 names as opposed to last year which was 120+.

 

It already seemed that they cut back last year by having more stages with dj's instead of bands so if that stays the same this year then theyre still attempting to keep talent costs minimal. 
 

Emily also mentioned crowd control and it sounds like sort of getting rid of secret sets without straight out saying that? 

"We’re making sure that doesn’t happen this year by not having big surprises in small places."

What stages did they cut back last year and swap to djs? i can't think of any

8 hours ago, admscott said:

I'm currently booked on 4 stages for this year. 3 of them have no more Performer's Passes to give. A Performer's pass lasts all weekend, which is nice! The 4th stage, the one that usually gives me the pass to get in is a) under new management beginning this year, and b) has had their pass allowance cut too. 

If it turns out that they can't give me a pass this year, all 4 stages lose a performer! Stages at that smaller level rely on sharing artists. The only way I started reliably getting a pass each year was by playing on any stage that would have me during the years that I had already bought a ticket.

There is also a Friends and Family ticketing system, where people close to a performer can get a ticket if they are referred by the performer and the field that is giving the performer their pass. It's a guaranteed ticket, provided your application is accepted, but is full price. I know some bands who have 4 members but only got 2 Performer's Passes and needed to buy 2 Friends and Family tickets to play their shows. 

I'm a solo act, which means my free ticket footprint is small. When I see some of the 7-piece bands that play in the Green Fields, i marvel that any of them managed to get in at all! You'll often find that the drummer of a band playing on Toad Hall is the person who runs the sound at Small World or something. One stage fills their schedule by having about 6 bands that each have the same members in slightly different configurations. Kind of like a house band. 

while obviously a pain its cool the bit i bolded would never happen without this situation

[CaledonianGonzo]

1 minute ago, gfa said:

What stages did they cut back last year and swap to djs? i can't think of any

The Wormhole and Earache were both d@bbed down.

[Suprefan]

36 minutes ago, gfa said:

What stages did they cut back last year and swap to djs? i can't think of any

while obviously a pain its cool the bit i bolded would never happen without this situation

Silver Hayes had more band centric stages in 2017 when I went my first year compared to last year which was majority djs not including bbc intro. Lonely Hearts was a nice middle which had both but overall to me it seemed like it was always a dj on walking through there in 2022 compared to 5 years prior when I saw more bands happening. I went and checked so the 2017 artist  count was ~175 while 2022 artist count was ~140. Seems they did cut down a little on which equates to a full stage lineup right there. That was the clearest example from my experience.

 

This did come up last year in the lead up when all the stages got announced and schedules were planning by loads of people. And it was even mentioned that it was a pretty cost effective thing to have done since a dj doesnt require  much as opposed to a band.

Edited March 5, 2023 by Suprefan

[Avalon_Fields]

Silver Heyes had 4 stages last year (Sonic, Wow, Lonely Hearts, BBC), weren’t there about 6 or 7 stages in previous years?

[stuartbert two hats]

9 hours ago, Justcalledtosay said:

Is it inconceivable that we might lose one act from each stage this year?

If we had some longer sets, I wouldn't complain. Often a non-headliner festival set feels a bit like a sampler rather than a full performance.

[dotdash79]

Glade went from 4 to 2 area's

The woods used to have things on and that was cut or I don't remember seeing anything on there

[gfa]

1 hour ago, Avalon_Fields said:

Silver Heyes had 4 stages last year (Sonic, Wow, Lonely Hearts, BBC), weren’t there about 6 or 7 stages in previous years?

I mean when you can hardly get people to 4 stages with larger acts, you've got no chance if you have to split the money between 6/7

makes sense

[Neil]

10 hours ago, admscott said:

I'm currently booked on 4 stages for this year. 3 of them have no more Performer's Passes to give. A Performer's pass lasts all weekend, which is nice! The 4th stage, the one that usually gives me the pass to get in is a) under new management beginning this year, and b) has had their pass allowance cut too. 

If it turns out that they can't give me a pass this year, all 4 stages lose a performer! Stages at that smaller level rely on sharing artists. The only way I started reliably getting a pass each year was by playing on any stage that would have me during the years that I had already bought a ticket.

There is also a Friends and Family ticketing system, where people close to a performer can get a ticket if they are referred by the performer and the field that is giving the performer their pass. It's a guaranteed ticket, provided your application is accepted, but is full price. I know some bands who have 4 members but only got 2 Performer's Passes and needed to buy 2 Friends and Family tickets to play their shows. 

I'm a solo act, which means my free ticket footprint is small. When I see some of the 7-piece bands that play in the Green Fields, i marvel that any of them managed to get in at all! You'll often find that the drummer of a band playing on Toad Hall is the person who runs the sound at Small World or something. One stage fills their schedule by having about 6 bands that each have the same members in slightly different configurations. Kind of like a house band. 

sorry to hear that adam.

i know of a smaller act who bought punter tickets this year to get their normal bookings.

[duke88]

29 minutes ago, dotdash79 said:

Glade went from 4 to 2 area's

The woods used to have things on and that was cut or I don't remember seeing anything on there

The bar in the Woods disappeared last year, was nice having a pint there.

[stuartbert two hats]

39 minutes ago, dotdash79 said:

Glade went from 4 to 2 area's

The woods used to have things on and that was cut or I don't remember seeing anything on there

FWIW, I think the changes were for the better, Spaceport and Glade Lounge never really had a strong identity and Glade Dome is my favourite new venue in years.

[leath02]

Most interesting / insightful thread on here in a while 👍

Edited March 5, 2023 by leath02

[dotdash79]

Will be interesting when the map comes out, to see the changes, sounds like they will be a few this year.