2025 Headliners

[WillyVWade]

What do people think about Tyler The Creator getting a shot?

 

Visa issues sorted, Flog Gnaw set looked wild last year, and strangely wide appeal.

 

I first saw him (with OF) 13 years ago as a 17 year old. He’s still popular with 17 year olds now.

 

 

[Rose-Colored Boy]

1 minute ago, WillyVWade said:

What do people think about Tyler The Creator getting a shot?

 

Visa issues sorted, Flog Gnaw set looked wild last year, and strangely wide appeal.

 

I first saw him (with OF) 13 years ago as a 17 year old. He’s still popular with 17 year olds now.

 

 

That’d be as bad as SZA lmao. No chance of them gambling on a headliner like that again over the next few years. Fine to sub though. 

[Charliehmiller]

Olivia Rodrigo 

Fred Again

Taylor Swift 

 

Legend 

Robbie Williams

[FrogLobster]

2 hours ago, Frankly Mr Shankly said:

They need to get more professional with the booking of pyramid headliners and have genuine back up plans. Every time they’ve gone hard after a white whale that’s failed they’ve been left scrambling around for a headliner…
 

2011: Failed to get Prince, ended up bumping up Beyoncé

2014: Failed to get Prince, ended up with Metallica 

2015: Failed to get Prince, ended up with the Who 

2019: Failed to get Fleetwood Mac, ended up with the Killers 

2023: Failed to get Rihanna, ended up with GnR 

2024: Failed to get Madonna, ended up bumping up SZA 

Obviously some of those worked out great, some were fine but uninspired, some flat out failed. 

Most festivals would make deals with the devil to have the likes of Beyonce, Metallica, GnR, The Who etc as their backup headliners. 😄

 

The last minute bump of Florence when Foos had to cancel was a success.

 

Only the SZA situation stands out from those as a mis step.

Edited July 1 by FrogLobster

[FrogLobster]

5 minutes ago, WillyVWade said:

What do people think about Tyler The Creator getting a shot?

 

Visa issues sorted, Flog Gnaw set looked wild last year, and strangely wide appeal.

 

I first saw him (with OF) 13 years ago as a 17 year old. He’s still popular with 17 year olds now.

 

 

Headlining Other I think.

Edited July 1 by FrogLobster

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

1 minute ago, FrogLobster said:

Most festivals would make deals with the devil to have the likes of Beyonce, Metallica, GnR, The Who etc as their backup headliners. 😄

 

Only the SZA situation stands out from those as an mis step.

They had to get the Who to cancel a show in Paris to play, lack of forward planning. 
 

Beyoncé in 2011 was not the same level as Beyoncé today. She was subbing festivals at that time. Yes it paid off, but it was a risk at the time. 
 

Metallica & GnR are huge acts, but they’re not the ones you think of when you think Glastonbury demographics are they. They were risks that paid off. 
 

None of that negates my point though. I wasn’t saying those examples were terrible headliners, I was saying that Emily in particular goes all in on trying to get one huge act & then scrambles around last minute when that falls through. Hence a more professional booking team would be better (and arguably balance the lineup across the site better as well, which is a separate issue altogether). 

[kh24]

I can't remember where I read it, but I was under the impression that there were meetings between main stage bookers at certain points in the year to discuss where they needed to make swaps and iron out problematic sequencing for things like crushing/movements between, or bearing in mind artist activity, or even planned releases and tours for the following year's bookings too. Hard to predict, and I think sometimes historically they have got it wrong (only occassionally), but problems post covid seem a bit more noticeable. Could be any number of reasons - changes to management of some stage areas maybe? Is it more complex now to gage as you are also second-guessing behaviours from elements like streaming/social media, and not just albums, tours and more traditional exposure? Has the general trajectory of some performers been a bit more unpredictable due to covid disruption? (e.g. delays to tours, changes, releases). Granted we are getting few years in from that, but to me it's felt like it has hung over the last 3 festivals a bit. Lots of people talk about shifting demographics too, but don't think I've seen data on that recently.    

Edited July 1 by kh24

[Rose-Colored Boy]

4 minutes ago, FrogLobster said:

Most festivals would make deals with the devil to have the likes of Beyonce, Metallica, GnR, The Who etc as their backup headliners. 😄

 

The last minute bump of Florence when Foos had to cancel was a success.

 

Only the SZA situation stands out from those as an mis step.

They got lucky with The Who agreeing to cancel a gig in fairness. God knows what they’d have done if that hadn’t been possible. In general the headliner strategy works fine but with the big acts getting more and more expensive you do wonder if SZA situations will happen more and more frequently. 

[FrogLobster]

Fred Again... / Kasabian

Noel Gallagher

 

Lady Gaga / Paramore

Tyler The Creator

 

Robbie Williams / Raye / Spice Girls (Legend)

The Prodigy

 

 

Tear it apart, folks.

Edited July 1 by FrogLobster

[foolee]

Just now, FrogLobster said:

Fred Again... / Kasabian

Noel Gallagher

 

Lady Gaga / Paramore

Tyler The Creator

 

Robbie Williams / Raye / Spice Girls (Legend)

The Prodigy

Lovely mix this. Would rather Olivia Rodrigo instead of Lady Gaga and probably more likely too. 

[foolee]

Gonna go

 

Dave / Raye

Olivia Rodrigo / Fred Again..

Bruce Springsteen / Kasabian / Robbie Williams (Legend)

[FrogLobster]

3 minutes ago, foolee said:

Lovely mix this. Would rather Olivia Rodrigo instead of Lady Gaga and probably more likely too. 

I'd love Olivia to do it; but my guess is she is on a break next year to do a new album then will headline when she is on the next tour cycle.

Edited July 1 by FrogLobster

[WillyVWade]

9 minutes ago, Rose-Colored Boy said:

That’d be as bad as SZA lmao. No chance of them gambling on a headliner like that again over the next few years. Fine to sub though. 

I thought the issue with SZA was that it was just boring?

 

His CFG, Coachella and Lollapalooza sets look like they should be measured in megatonnes.

 

 

[fraybentos1]

5 minutes ago, Frankly Mr Shankly said:

. Ironically last year when the same situation happened with Rihanna, they could and should have bumped Lizzo but chose not to. 

That's what annoys me too. Like Lizzo could easily have been bumped up and it wouldn't have looked too out of place and she obv puts on a good show. They did this weird thing tho when they were like 'aw she's basically a headliner' when she objectively wasn't.

[Rose-Colored Boy]

10 minutes ago, FrogLobster said:

Fred Again... / Kasabian

Noel Gallagher

 

Lady Gaga / Paramore

Tyler The Creator

 

Robbie Williams / Raye / Spice Girls (Legend)

The Prodigy

 

 

Tear it apart, folks.

Very IOW - would feel like an over correction after this year. and Fred Again and Noel Gallagher at the same time, popular as they are, would leave a lot of people with nothing to do.

 

Love the Saturday though. 

Edited July 1 by Rose-Colored Boy

[Rose-Colored Boy]

1 minute ago, WillyVWade said:

I thought the issue with SZA was that it was just boring?

 

His CFG, Coachella and Lollapalooza sets look like they should be measured in megatonnes.

 

 

That was the issue when it started. But she failed to draw a crowd in the first place because your average Capital FM or Absolute Radio listener doesn’t know any of her songs. TTC would be the same, sadly. 

[panda97]

25 minutes ago, kh24 said:

I can't remember where I read it, but I was under the impression that there were meetings between main stage bookers at certain points in the year to discuss where they needed to make swaps and iron out problematic sequencing for things like crushing/movements between, or bearing in mind artist activity, or even planned releases and tours for the following year's bookings too. Hard to predict, and I think sometimes historically they have got it wrong (only occassionally), but problems post covid seem a bit more noticeable. Could be any number of reasons - changes to management of some stage areas maybe? Is it more complex now to gage as you are also second-guessing behaviours from elements like streaming/social media, and not just albums, tours and more traditional exposure? Has the general trajectory of some performers been a bit more unpredictable due to covid disruption? (e.g. delays to tours, changes, releases). Granted we are getting few years in from that, but to me it's felt like it has hung over the last 3 festivals a bit. Lots of people talk about shifting demographics too, but don't think I've seen data on that recently.    

Surely there has to be some level of close cooperation and discussion between booking stages to avoid clashes, with a festival that covers a wide range of genres it wouldn't be wise to leave the chance of putting 2 artists with more niche appeals and overlapping fanbases against each other 

[jparx]

34 minutes ago, Charliehmiller said:

Olivia Rodrigo 

Fred Again

Taylor Swift 

 

Legend 

Robbie Williams

I really don't think it'll be Taylor. The tour is ending this year and she's significantly bigger than the festival at this point. Scaling down her shows for the Pyramid doesn't seem on the cards I don't think. Maybe she pops up with a surprise festival tour next year but it'd be incredibly surprising given how much money she'd leave on the table from just doing her own events and the creative control she'd give up.

[Rose-Colored Boy]

4 minutes ago, jparx said:

I really don't think it'll be Taylor. The tour is ending this year and she's significantly bigger than the festival at this point. Scaling down her shows for the Pyramid doesn't seem on the cards I don't think. Maybe she pops up with a surprise festival tour next year but it'd be incredibly surprising given how much money she'd leave on the table from just doing her own events and the creative control she'd give up.

Agree. The only way would be if Coachella pays her a f**k ton to design a set suitable for them and she’s able to transfer it to the Pyramid with minimal fuss. But it certainly sounds like 2027 will be the next time Taylor and Glastonbury’s windows overlap.

[jparx]

1 minute ago, Rose-Colored Boy said:

Agree. The only way would be if Coachella pays her a f**k ton to design a set suitable for them and she’s able to transfer it to the Pyramid with minimal fuss. But it certainly sounds like 2027 will be the next time Taylor and Glastonbury’s windows overlap.

If I were Taylor, I'd go back to the Lover Fest idea and do my own festival. She could easily get together a bill with the likes of LDR, HAIM, Phoebe Bridgers, Sabrina Carpenter, Paramore, even The National and Bon Iver could factor. Rent out Hyde Park for two days and a do a weekend job. She's her own event at this stage, why on earth would she go under someone else's banner..?

[FrogLobster]

I think TS said she is going to do try and do movies (Acting/directing) after the Eras tour is over? Thats a lengthy commitment.

Edited July 1 by FrogLobster

[Benjsh]

53 minutes ago, foolee said:

Lovely mix this. Would rather Olivia Rodrigo instead of Lady Gaga and probably more likely too. 

 

Olivia Rodrigo isn't likely at all next year. She's on a huge mammoth tour and is very unlikely to be back in Europe two summers running. 

She will 1 million percent headline one day but I reckon 2025 is highly unlikely.

 

Taylor Swift is exactly same. She likely won't be back in Europe next year with her massive crew. 

[FrogLobster]

2026 is a fallow year too(?) Plenty of time for Olivia to write another masterpiece and d@b up in 2027. Unless she wants to do a mini festival run next summer at Coachella, Glasto, Roskilde, etc to close out GUTS.

Edited July 1 by FrogLobster

[Rose-Colored Boy]

31 minutes ago, FrogLobster said:

I think TS said she is going to do try and do movies (Acting/directing) after the Eras tour is over? Thats a lengthy commitment.

Yes although it was also leaked the other day that she’s planning another album and tour for 2026. If that tour went on for 18 months ala Eras then June 2027 could be in play. 

[FrogLobster]

3 minutes ago, Rose-Colored Boy said:

Yes although it was also leaked the other day that she’s planning another album and tour for 2026. If that tour went on for 18 months ala Eras then June 2027 could be in play. 

Well, she is bound to have some kind of material to intentionally kneecap Sabrina Carpenter and Chapell Roan's careers. 😏

Edited July 1 by FrogLobster