SZA

[fraybentos1]

18 minutes ago, Rose-Colored Boy said:

Yep. And if expectations can be successfully lowered then it might mean the fest are less inclined to turn their noses up at solid British bands like Foals, which would be no bad thing. 

Foals headlined the Other stage which is a totally adequate slot for them. The festival will try to book the biggest artists possible on a given year. Bump ups get given due to desperation or to meet criteria they've imposed- this year that was 2 female headliners 

[glast0gal]

3 minutes ago, jparx said:

Yep, Friday night as "breakthrough headliner" night is a winner IMO. I fear they had the chance to do this and missed the boat though. It's now starting to look like they're struggling for headliners, rather than it being a pro active strategy.

Yeah I feel like they’ll try and fudge one more year before the fallow and then the line ups might start to look different after that break. A lot of emphasis is put on Glastonbury’s headliners (more so by the media and people who want tickets), when arguably their modern selling point is the breadth of what is on offer.

[dingbat2]

It think the legends slot is only referred to in the media/BBC, isnt is supposed to be the teatime slot. It needs to be a crowd-pleasing happy, familiar Sunday afternoon singalong slot, there are load of acts who could easily fill that slot now, and command big crowds. I think the slot has now become more/almost as important than the headlines - the amount of times over the years people ask me did I see Dolly or Lionel when I get back rather than did I see the headliner. Take That, Tears for Fears, Duran Duran, Deacon Blue, James, etc

[fraybentos1]

They'd be mad not to try for Madonna if they think they can get her though. The knock on effect of not getting her made the whole thing look weaker and led to daft clashes like Idles/ Fontaines.

 

It's the biggest festival in the world and while it doesn't pay much it can still get amazing lineups. Foo Fighters played 3rd down last year out of choice. Killers secret set the other year too. The pool of oldie mega stars may be drying up but there are still loads of big artists they can get and that's before you even mention repeats like getting Beyonce back for example.

 

I don't want them to purposefully lower expectations. I do think they need better contingency planning though.

[glast0gal]

8 minutes ago, fraybentos1 said:

Foals headlined the Other stage which is a totally adequate slot for them. The festival will try to book the biggest artists possible on a given year. Bump ups get given due to desperation or to meet criteria they've imposed- this year that was 2 female headliners 

Therein lies the ultimate gamble - had a band met their ceiling, will they grow to be a huge band/artist, do you bump them up to headliner? Ultimately, Emily has the highest level of influence over who headlines so it’s her calling the shots on this. Can’t blame her for sniffing around for the best offer, although I think it’s becoming a more high risk, high reward strategy.

[fraybentos1]

Just now, glast0gal said:

Therein lies the ultimate gamble - had a band met their ceiling, will they grow to be a huge band/artist, do you bump them up to headliner? Ultimately, Emily has the highest level of influence over who headlines so it’s her calling the shots on this. Can’t blame her for sniffing around for the best offer, although I think it’s becoming a more high risk, high reward strategy.

IMO they messed up by not having Florence as an outright headliner when she did it and also possibly Lizzo last year. Now they have overcorrected and SZA was a mistake. 

 

I don't see it changing tbh, if the debacle with The Who in 2015 didn't change it 

[st dan]

Just thinking, as the headline size acts have social media teams who’s job it is is to increase exposure to as big an audience as possible - and that  coupled with the fact that everybody has access to streaming these days, do acts still need to roll over to the festival and accept lesser fees in return for the exposure? Is that even still relevant a relevant angle in this day and age, or have the bookers now lost this bargaining chip, which has held them so dear over the years?

Edited July 1 by st dan

[Meerkat]

I still think Lana Del Rey was the one to bump up last year (albeit maybe wouldn’t have gone great with her being late).

 

A trio of Arctic Monkeys/Lana Del Rey/Elton John or Guns n Roses/Lana Del Rey/Elton John looks decent on paper to me and would have helped prevent them backing themselves in to the 2 female headliner corner this year.

 

Overall though, glad they took a risk on SZA, just unfortunately didn’t quite pan out 

[ghostdancer1]

1 hour ago, dingbat2 said:

It think the legends slot is only referred to in the media/BBC, isnt is supposed to be the teatime slot. It needs to be a crowd-pleasing happy, familiar Sunday afternoon singalong slot, there are load of acts who could easily fill that slot now, and command big crowds. I think the slot has now become more/almost as important than the headlines - the amount of times over the years people ask me did I see Dolly or Lionel when I get back rather than did I see the headliner. Take That, Tears for Fears, Duran Duran, Deacon Blue, James, etc

It used to be, but GFL/Emily have referred to it as the Legends slot/the act playing as the Legend in the last couple of years.

GFL/Emily bigging up the act as something special has also meant that expectations for a "legend" have increased.

There's been plenty of acts who could have been "Legends" that played Fridays/Saturdays and were just lumped into the lineup with no special fuss, eg Burt Bacharach.

There's nothing to stop GFL just putting out a poster in future with 3 headliners at the top and then a load of Pyramid acts, a few of them heritage acts, and no big special mention of a specific Legend/4th headliner/Teatime Slot act. I think everyone would forget/move on within a few days.

[Colorblindjames]

SZA was incredible. Better than her recent Porto set. Anyone saying she shouldn’t have headlined really needs to catch themselves on. Glastonbury needs to cover every demographic not just dad bands. 

[Colorblindjames]

1 hour ago, Meerkat said:

I still think Lana Del Rey was the one to bump up last year (albeit maybe wouldn’t have gone great with her being late).

 

A trio of Arctic Monkeys/Lana Del Rey/Elton John or Guns n Roses/Lana Del Rey/Elton John looks decent on paper to me and would have helped prevent them backing themselves in to the 2 female headliner corner this year.

 

Overall though, glad they took a risk on SZA, just unfortunately didn’t quite pan out 

What didn’t pan out about it? If it was a small crowd that means other bands elsewhere on site got lots of love. Thought it panned out great for me and for the first time I got really close to a headliner. 

[Drums Please Fab]

29 minutes ago, Colorblindjames said:

SZA was incredible. Better than her recent Porto set. Anyone saying she shouldn’t have headlined really needs to catch themselves on. Glastonbury needs to cover every demographic not just dad bands. 

 

Ah no.....she wasnt even singing half the time, as the video embedded in a previous post shows.

 

It was a clear swing and a miss as the reviews and posts online and on crowd size testify to.

 

To say she was incredible, is undermining what the word incredible means.

[matrainertje]

5 minutes ago, Drums Please Fab said:

 

Ah no.....she wasnt even singing half the time, as the video embedded in a previous post shows.

 

It was a clear swing and a miss as the reviews and posts online and on crowd size testify to.

 

To say she was incredible, is undermining what the word incredible means.

People are really obsessed with crowd sizes on here aren't they?

 

[fraybentos1]

36 minutes ago, Colorblindjames said:

set. Anyone saying she shouldn’t have headlined really needs to catch themselves on.

So everyone except you

 

37 minutes ago, Colorblindjames said:

Glastonbury needs to cover every demographic not just dad bands.

And it does… doesn’t stop sza from being an obvious bump up 

[Rose-Colored Boy]

Ye. There are certainly some genres that feel underrepresented at the top of the bill at Glastonbury, but R&B ain’t one of them. 

[Drums Please Fab]

9 minutes ago, matrainertje said:

People are really obsessed with crowd sizes on here aren't they?

 

 

Well it's essentially a demographic referendum on the quality of whats on at a given time. Vote with feet and all that.

 

It was a historically bad turn out.

 

To hand wave that away as people being obsessed with crowd sizes is disingenuous at best or an intentionally bad faith argument at worst.

[eddie_corrigan]

3 hours ago, fraybentos1 said:

They'd be mad not to try for Madonna if they think they can get her though. The knock on effect of not getting her made the whole thing look weaker and led to daft clashes like Idles/ Fontaines.

 

It's the biggest festival in the world and while it doesn't pay much it can still get amazing lineups. Foo Fighters played 3rd down last year out of choice. Killers secret set the other year too. The pool of oldie mega stars may be drying up but there are still loads of big artists they can get and that's before you even mention repeats like getting Beyonce back for example.

 

I don't want them to purposefully lower expectations. I do think they need better contingency planning though.

Agreed. There’s still big artists out there and regarding repeat headliners. If include those who a lot of people may have had a swing and missed (I know there’s not a lot of love for u2, gorillaz and to a lesser extent Springsteen’s sets) they are available you should at least try and see the lay of the land with them. 

[Rose-Colored Boy]

Springsteen and band have been in Europe at Glastonbury time for the last two summers in a row. Seems a fair assumption they’ll have asked and been knocked back. 

[Drums Please Fab]

2 minutes ago, Rose-Colored Boy said:

Springsteen and band have been in Europe at Glastonbury time for the last two summers in a row. Seems a fair assumption they’ll have asked and been knocked back. 

 

Kings of Leon did Hyde park last night. 70/80k people?

 

If Coldplay can do it 5 times.......

[Drums Please Fab]

Im biased (username), but the Strokes would be a great sing song.

[Drums Please Fab]

We need Radiohead to do a new album sharpish.

Edited July 1 by Drums Please Fab

[kugglaw]

Just now, Drums Please Fab said:

 

Well it's essentially a demographic referendum on the quality of whats on at a given time. Vote with feet and all that.

 

It was a historically bad turn out.

 

 

Lots of great artists play to tiny turnouts.
 

Transformers 3 made a billion dollars at the box office, does that make it a great movie? 
 

The National barely filled a quarter of the other stage, are they a bad band? 
 

Cyndi Lauper was packed to the rafters, she couldn’t carry a tune in a wheel barrow. 
 

I think everyone needs to get over the whole SZA situation. Maybe it was a misguided booking, but it’s happened now and it wasn’t exactly the Hiderburg Disaster, was it?

 

It’s not going to ruin the festival’s reputation as some catastrophists have suggested. 
 

The BBC aren’t committing nefarious acts of conspiracy or trying to pull the wool over your eyes when they refuse to pan their cameras to empty spots of the crowd. 
 

To do so would be distasteful, mean spirited and serve absolutely zero purpose - other than maybe embarrass a performer for having the temerity to….headline a music festival?

 

it’s over now, the sky hasn’t fallen. Some naff dad rock band or milquetoast novelty act will probably play next year and all will be forgotten. 

 

 

[Drums Please Fab]

Lot of ageist posts on the forum this week, disparaging both older fans and older musicians. Particularly male ones.

 

Bizarre.

[FuzzyDunlop]

5 minutes ago, Drums Please Fab said:

We need Radiohead to do a new album sharpish.

 

Nah. I am a fan, but watched The Flaming Lips in 2017.

 

Radiohead didnt pull that big of a crowd then & loads left it. Flaming Lips got really busy thanks to people leaving Radiohead.

 

If an a Band are gunna be on next year - Get Acdc on before it's too late.

[Drums Please Fab]

2 minutes ago, FuzzyDunlop said:

 

Nah. I am a fan, but watched The Flaming Lips in 2017.

 

Radiohead didnt pull that big of a crowd then & loads left it. Flaming Lips got really busy thanks to people leaving Radiohead.

 

If an a Band are gunna be on next year - Get Acdc on before it's too late.

 

Yeah no issue with that ACDC shout.....after Elton I do like the idea of giving the big bands a "send off" before they are gone.