Why is everyone so obsessed about the headliners?

[BluesManP]

Seems to be a recurring topic. There are hundreds of artists playing at Glastonbury every year but most discussions focus on 3 slots/artists. Is Glastonbury for those people just 3 artists slots? I understand that the Pyramid stage tends to be for famous artists and with the largest of the followings, they attract more discussion than others. But it seems like 90% of the talk focuses on headliners at the Pyramid stage and with many treating it as proxy for the "value" or "worth" of an artist. This doesn't seem to happen at the other stages. And certainly, I am yet to hear people arguing this passionately about what thinker, writer, etc deserves a slot at the Leftfield or any of the other stages that are not solely musical.

 

What do you think?

[Suprefan]

Optics. You want to be going to a year that the top 3 or 4 names are ones that are pleasing to the eye and sets the tone for everyone else on the poster. I mean sure, the headliners could be trash and the undercard amazing but people never look at it that way.

 

And since the festival sells out with zero talent confirmations there might never be another time when people can show the organizers they dont like whats been booked by not buying tickets. I mean it was a whole controversy the Jay Z year. If they actually announced the lineup and then put tickets on sale you could get a better gauge of the current climate. But itll never happen. Knowing youre guaranteed to sell ~150,000 tickets in an hour every year is a good feeling for them. It shows people have trust that theyll do  them right. But theyve had shortcomings in other aspects which is not good.

[Ayrshire Chris]

It’s a media led obsession. If there’s no controversy then sure as there’s shite on a donkeys arse the press will create one. 

[Skip997]

90% of the Pyramid headliners ain’t worth your time.

 

They have no bearing on my attendance.

[O'Doyle Rules]

5 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

90% of the Pyramid headliners ain’t worth your time.

 

They have no bearing on my attendance.

 

As long we Kendrick and Elton are in the 10%, fine.

[charlierc]

Is this a new phenomenon? Feels like that's been the way for years.

 

I think it's different given this was a year where, if I was at Glastonbury, I'd have not seen any of the three, but it is what it is.

[Skip997]

Just now, charlierc said:

Is this a new phenomenon? Feels like that's been the way for years.

Used to be quite normal to go with no idea who was on the bill, never mind the headliners 

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

Because for any other festival that released the line-up before you buy tickets, they're the first names on the poster that everyone looks for.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Because the large majority of other acts on the bills are often ones who tour extensively in small venues so if you want to see them there are plenty of opportunities- whereas the headliners are usually acts that tour less frequently or do so with very expensive tickets - like the Stones or U2 or Elton; and so unless you're a fan you're maybe less likely to have seen them.

[LoraMaze]

Funny isn’t it, most of the time I’m more excited about the Other stage headliners, or one of the much smaller stages. I usually only see 1 headliner on the Pyramid each time I go, quite often I’ll watch the start then go to something else. You can watch it on tv anyway!

 

 

[BluesManP]

2 hours ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

Because the large majority of other acts on the bills are often ones who tour extensively in small venues so if you want to see them there are plenty of opportunities- whereas the headliners are usually acts that tour less frequently or do so with very expensive tickets - like the Stones or U2 or Elton; and so unless you're a fan you're maybe less likely to have seen them.

 are you saying that people use Glastonbury as a cheap way to see expensive artists? To me, it almost sounds like people only care about those 3 slots and everyone else is a pastime

Edited July 7 by BluesManP

[Sawdusty surfer]

The people, in my opinion, who are obsessed with the headliners either haven't been before or have only been two or three times and, quite frankly, don't yet quite 'get' the festival.

If they have been two or three times they probably haven't explored enough.

Edited July 7 by Sawdusty surfer

[MEGABOWL]

Same with most festivals. The biggest names on the bill are the best known and a highlight for a lot of people, so will get a fair bit of discussion. For some the quality of the headliners will feed into their perception of value for money. I’ve never got the impression on here or many other places come to think of it that people only care about the headliners though.

[CaledonianGonzo]

29 minutes ago, BluesManP said:

 are you saying that people use Glastonbury as a cheap way to see expensive artists? To me, it almost sounds like people only care about those 3 slots and everyone else is a pastime

It's not the only factor, but it can definitely be one.

[BluesManP]

13 minutes ago, MEGABOWL said:

Same with most festivals. The biggest names on the bill are the best known and a highlight for a lot of people, so will get a fair bit of discussion. For some the quality of the headliners will feed into their perception of value for money. I’ve never got the impression on here or many other places come to think of it that people only care about the headliners though.

 

In the FB groups, the talks are mostly about the headliners. Like 90%. And here, if you look at the new threads, the busiest one is the one about headliners for next year. I don't think I have seen a similar level of discussion about anything that is not headliners. Whether it is the political talks, literary talks, circus and theatre, etc, none of them have get anywhere close to the talks about headliners that is if they have any dedicated threads at all. Music and headliner music talk eclipses all. I wonder what it means for a festival that is about "Performing Arts" rather than just "Headliner music". Music seems to eclipse everything else. It really reminds me of this surfing festival in Newquay that got eclipsed by a music festival.

 

I would just assume that people not interested in headliners (and interested in other musical acts, wellbeing, circus acts, political talks, literature talks, craft workships) are simply not talking about topics they are interested as much as headliner driven people are, it is just something I noticed and thought I would see what other people think of it.

[FuzzyDunlop]

I had a run from Kasabian 2015 to McCartney 2022 without seeing a Pyramid headliner.

 

This year I wouldn't have watched 1 if I was there, but it is a special thing when you see one. 

[CaledonianGonzo]

4 minutes ago, FuzzyDunlop said:

I had a run from Kasabian 2015 to McCartney 2022 without seeing a Pyramid headliner.

 

This year I wouldn't have watched 1 if I was there, but it is a special thing when you see one. 

The one year I didn't catch a single one is probably somewhere near the bottom of the league table of the ones I've been at.

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

20 minutes ago, BluesManP said:

 

In the FB groups, the talks are mostly about the headliners. Like 90%. And here, if you look at the new threads, the busiest one is the one about headliners for next year. I don't think I have seen a similar level of discussion about anything that is not headliners. Whether it is the political talks, literary talks, circus and theatre, etc, none of them have get anywhere close to the talks about headliners that is if they have any dedicated threads at all. Music and headliner music talk eclipses all. I wonder what it means for a festival that is about "Performing Arts" rather than just "Headliner music". Music seems to eclipse everything else. It really reminds me of this surfing festival in Newquay that got eclipsed by a music festival.

 

I would just assume that people not interested in headliners (and interested in other musical acts, wellbeing, circus acts, political talks, literature talks, craft workships) are simply not talking about topics they are interested as much as headliner driven people are, it is just something I noticed and thought I would see what other people think of it.

 

Well, mostly people are more interested in the headliners, not just on forums, but in real life. Dua and Coldplay both had 60-80k people in their fields when they performed, maybe even more. How many people turned up for the "headliners" in the Theatre and Circus fields, or at Leftfield? A lot of the T&C stuff is recycled every year and the political debates stuff, I mean, how are you meant to have a lengthy forum thread about what questions they're going to ask? "I wonder if they'll talk about Israel/Palestine?!?!" - it's just not as exciting, not least because it's in the news every day and most people already have a fairly concrete notion of where they land on the subject.

 

But, it's also the easiest thing to talk about at such a distance from the next festival. They're also, normally, the first to get announced, perhaps one pre-Christmas, one in January, one in March maybe. Tours get announced too and it's like an investigation, finding out who could potentially do it - not that people are going to actually see all three headliners on the Pyramid. And yeah, the chance at being able to see Elton at Glastonbury was a huge factor if you couldn't afford his private shows. I've said this before in other threads, but GnR & Elton would've cost 300-500 quid to see them both individually, sitting or standing in the nosebleeds. But to see them at Glastonbury, with all the other stuff on, what an absolute steal. 

 

There's often other threads that spring up for individual stages throughout the year as well, but they're much harder to call because the pool is far bigger - I don't think anyone expected Gossip to headline this year, but also, I don't think that many people cared so much. They're more like a wishlist until crunch time and info starts filtering in who might be doing it.

 

But for the top three headliners of the whole festival, there's such a small pool to choose from.

[efcfanwirral]

1 hour ago, Sawdusty surfer said:

The people, in my opinion, who are obsessed with the headliners either haven't been before or have only been two or three times and, quite frankly, don't yet quite 'get' the festival.

If they have been two or three times they probably haven't explored enough.

I'm on my 11th and some of the best gigs I've ever seen have been Pyramid Headliners. There's just something really special about seeing someone you like on there.

 

I think the split is more people who like big commercial acts vs people who don't (or as many on here would think, people who have bad taste in music vs people who have good taste).

 

I like to think I get the festival, but the stuff on the main stages matches the music I like. There's plenty of time to do that alongside the other less commercial things 

[BluesManP]

6 minutes ago, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

 

Well, mostly people are more interested in the headliners, not just on forums, but in real life. Dua and Coldplay both had 60-80k people in their fields when they performed, maybe even more. How many people turned up for the "headliners" in the Theatre and Circus fields, or at Leftfield? A lot of the T&C stuff is recycled every year and the political debates stuff, I mean, how are you meant to have a lengthy forum thread about what questions they're going to ask? "I wonder if they'll talk about Israel/Palestine?!?!" - it's just not as exciting, not least because it's in the news every day and most people already have a fairly concrete notion of where they land on the subject.

 

But, it's also the easiest thing to talk about at such a distance from the next festival. They're also, normally, the first to get announced, perhaps one pre-Christmas, one in January, one in March maybe. Tours get announced too and it's like an investigation, finding out who could potentially do it - not that people are going to actually see all three headliners on the Pyramid. And yeah, the chance at being able to see Elton at Glastonbury was a huge factor if you couldn't afford his private shows. I've said this before in other threads, but GnR & Elton would've cost 300-500 quid to see them both individually, sitting or standing in the nosebleeds. But to see them at Glastonbury, with all the other stuff on, what an absolute steal. 

 

There's often other threads that spring up for individual stages throughout the year as well, but they're much harder to call because the pool is far bigger - I don't think anyone expected Gossip to headline this year, but also, I don't think that many people cared so much. They're more like a wishlist until crunch time and info starts filtering in who might be doing it.

 

But for the top three headliners of the whole festival, there's such a small pool to choose from.

 

Yeah, I understand that ultimately most people just come for the music and especifically the headliners and those numbers drive where money gets spent. I can't say much about the T&C stuff but the debates is not just international politics. A lot of it is real life stuff that affects everyone with actual politicians you don't normally get to talk to. Same thing about the green fields. But I understand now that most people don't really care about that. Mostly a cheap way to see expensive artists. I just wonder about the future of this festival where music has overtaken hippy politics and everything else. And big acts seem to be overtaking everything else. I wonder if things would be different if no lineup was released. I was seeing a small artist on Thursday and just the sound checks from the Pyramid (or the Stage) could be heard of the actual music the artist was playing. A sign of things to come? Who knows?

[BluesManP]

4 hours ago, Skip997 said:

90% of the Pyramid headliners ain’t worth your time.

 

They have no bearing on my attendance.

Can I ask what acts you have seen this year or the last time you were there? What do you do when you are at the festival?

[gigpusher]

55 minutes ago, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

 

Well, mostly people are more interested in the headliners, not just on forums, but in real life. Dua and Coldplay both had 60-80k people in their fields when they performed, maybe even more. How many people turned up for the "headliners" in the Theatre and Circus fields, or at Leftfield? A lot of the T&C stuff is recycled every year and the political debates stuff, I mean, how are you meant to have a lengthy forum thread about what questions they're going to ask? "I wonder if they'll talk about Israel/Palestine?!?!" - it's just not as exciting, not least because it's in the news every day and most people already have a fairly concrete notion of where they land on the subject.

 

But, it's also the easiest thing to talk about at such a distance from the next festival. They're also, normally, the first to get announced, perhaps one pre-Christmas, one in January, one in March maybe. Tours get announced too and it's like an investigation, finding out who could potentially do it - not that people are going to actually see all three headliners on the Pyramid. And yeah, the chance at being able to see Elton at Glastonbury was a huge factor if you couldn't afford his private shows. I've said this before in other threads, but GnR & Elton would've cost 300-500 quid to see them both individually, sitting or standing in the nosebleeds. But to see them at Glastonbury, with all the other stuff on, what an absolute steal. 

 

There's often other threads that spring up for individual stages throughout the year as well, but they're much harder to call because the pool is far bigger - I don't think anyone expected Gossip to headline this year, but also, I don't think that many people cared so much. They're more like a wishlist until crunch time and info starts filtering in who might be doing it.

 

But for the top three headliners of the whole festival, there's such a small pool to choose from.

I saw all 3 of the Leftfield headliners this year and 3 songs of SZA. 
 

I believe people care more about them when they have never been and people have more opinions about them because people have lots of opinions. The vast majority of people who have been going for a long time would not think Glastonbury wasn’t worth going to if they didn’t like the headliners but they are still full of opinions about them. 

[Skip997]

44 minutes ago, BluesManP said:

Can I ask what acts you have seen this year or the last time you were there? What do you do when you are at the festival?

I’ll be doing a review shortly 

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

11 hours ago, BluesManP said:

 

Yeah, I understand that ultimately most people just come for the music and especifically the headliners and those numbers drive where money gets spent. I can't say much about the T&C stuff but the debates is not just international politics. A lot of it is real life stuff that affects everyone with actual politicians you don't normally get to talk to. Same thing about the green fields. But I understand now that most people don't really care about that. Mostly a cheap way to see expensive artists. I just wonder about the future of this festival where music has overtaken hippy politics and everything else. And big acts seem to be overtaking everything else. I wonder if things would be different if no lineup was released. I was seeing a small artist on Thursday and just the sound checks from the Pyramid (or the Stage) could be heard of the actual music the artist was playing. A sign of things to come? Who knows?

 

The question about Israel/Palestine is just an example. This year they had panels about immigration, the postal scandal, the housing crisis, the 2024 election - plenty of stuff including international themes, UK themes, social themes, but again, how much debate about which panel questions they're going to discuss can there be? Politics changes on a monthly basis and if for example we get to May and suddenly there's a huge scandal or new pandemic, then likely that will be discussed. But how are you imagining a thread on here? You could start one and see how many people respond? "Leftfield Panels 2025"... see how many people reply? It's not that I don't think people care about these topics - like I said, most people have an opinion about the panels from this year - but I just don't think they're very conducive to a thread on eFestivals. And just because 80k people go to see Coldplay, doesn't mean they only care about Coldplay and nothing else; they might also have strong opinions about all the subjects I just mentioned above, they're not mutually exclusive, both things can be true at the same time.

 

Also, I would say, and this is just my personal opinion, the best politics the festival pushes are the ones you don't even really notice. Their refusal to limit commercialisation of the site - no Coca Cola Stage, no Amazon lock-ups, no Pixel 8 Pro bouncy castle. And then you have the connections to charities and ethos on having a clean site; WaterAid, Greenpeace, Oxfam, as well as their focus on making sure that people "Leave No Trace", etc etc. They have a commitment to those organisations and the mission statement you agree to when you buy a ticket. That's all very focused on this peace and love mentality, I don't think it's been overshadowed at all. Plus the Green Futures, Craft Fields, Greenpeace Field, Healing Fields etc. 

 

Plus, despite Leftfield being right slap bang in the middle of the festival, you can't force people to go there. It is a left-wing festival, but Glastonbury organisers can't force people to pop-in and listen to the debates, and even then, I don't think the original Glastonbury was all about the politics, it was about people who loved life and music and wanted to have a place to get together and celebrate those things - there was no Leftfield tent in 1970.

 

EDIT: Just had to quickly look it up. The first focus on politics I think was the CND festival in 1981. So, eleven years after it began, and I remember seeing stuff about CND when I first went in 2009 - and they've added to that with all the charities I mentioned above, plus even more around the site.

Edited July 8 by MEGATRONICMEATWAGON

[MEGABOWL]

12 hours ago, BluesManP said:

 

In the FB groups, the talks are mostly about the headliners. Like 90%. And here, if you look at the new threads, the busiest one is the one about headliners for next year. I don't think I have seen a similar level of discussion about anything that is not headliners. Whether it is the political talks, literary talks, circus and theatre, etc, none of them have get anywhere close to the talks about headliners that is if they have any dedicated threads at all. Music and headliner music talk eclipses all. I wonder what it means for a festival that is about "Performing Arts" rather than just "Headliner music". Music seems to eclipse everything else. It really reminds me of this surfing festival in Newquay that got eclipsed by a music festival.

 

I would just assume that people not interested in headliners (and interested in other musical acts, wellbeing, circus acts, political talks, literature talks, craft workships) are simply not talking about topics they are interested as much as headliner driven people are, it is just something I noticed and thought I would see what other people think of it.

The headliners and popular acts at the top of the bill will always attract more attention than stuff in the T&C fields, or political talks. I’m not convinced there was ever a halcyon day when that was any different. Yes it’s always been a Performing Arts festival but with the music the most significant part, which probably reflects society as a whole. I don’t know but I suspect in e.g. 1986 The Cure, Madness, Simply Red and Level 42 attracted more of a crowd than someone from Greenham Common or a talk about how Reagan bumbling Libya was an outrage. The political stuff, the circus performers, the Greenfields, the Acoustic stage, the Kidzfield etc  are a crucial part of the festival and it’s imperative they remain but they’re never going to get as much discussion as the headliners and I strongly doubt that they ever have.