Beaver89 Posted 6 hours ago Report Share Posted 6 hours ago I've been wanting to raise this topic on here for a long time but didn't want it to get lost in the fray of festival season. I cannot be the only one to notice that electronic dance music - in the vein of Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, Disclosure, Bicep, Orbital etc. etc. - is all but completely absent from the Pyramid and has been for 13-14 years now bar some heavily caveated exceptions like Hacienda Classical. I'm aware that Chemical Brothers choose to play Other as they simply prefer it but I was wondering if this decision by them has caused this exclusion of the genre from the main stage even when notable players have the mainstream appeal to command that stage either as headliner or further down the bill. Do artists in this genre now see Other as the pinnacle rather than the Pyramid? Are the festival in denial of the mainstream appeal of the genre? Is it that the artists prefer playing to smaller crowds or after dark? Am I just delusional that such artists could play on the main stage? Or am I missing something? I'm not even that much of an evangelist for the genre, it has just struck me as very odd that none of them ever play there given, for example, the crowd at Justice this year, the demand for Fred Again.. tickets and the mainstream reach of Disclosure. To save you lineup digging yourself: 2000 - Chems (Headline) 2002 - Faithless (Sunset) 2003 - Moby (Headline) 2004 - Groove Armada 2005 - Basement Jaxx (Headline step in for Kylie) 2010 - Faithless (Sunset) 2011 - Pendulum (Sunset) not quite within definition) 2017 - Hacienda Classical (Open) definitely not within definition) 2024 - LCD Soundsystem (Sunset) and really stretching definitions but putting here in case someone thinks they should be - I don't) Will we ever see EDM of any kind on the Pyramid again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaledonianGonzo Posted 6 hours ago Report Share Posted 6 hours ago It's a near certainty Fred Again will headline next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giantkatestacks Posted 6 hours ago Report Share Posted 6 hours ago The young 'uns themselves far prefer their EDM to be in a big tent though so that may well be in play. 'Its weird' outdoors apparently. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaledonianGonzo Posted 6 hours ago Report Share Posted 6 hours ago (edited) Isn't the main reason that the Pyramid used to run later (at lower volume) so they did a trade off for more volume but an earlier curfew? So subs used to also perform in the dark to a large degree, whereas now it's a daylight slot - and dance music tends to work best in the dark. Which explains the lack of a sub set by say e.g. Bicep - and there just hasn't been a popular enough dance act in the last 20 years to justify a headliner booking. Edited 5 hours ago by CaledonianGonzo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
incident Posted 6 hours ago Report Share Posted 6 hours ago 5 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said: Isn't the main reason that the Pyramid used to run later (at lower volume) so they did a trade off for more volume but an earlier curfew? So subs used to also perform in the dark to a large degree, whereas now it's a daylight slot - and dance music tends to work best in the dark. Which explains the lack of a sub set by say e.g. Bicep - and there just hasn't been a popular enough dance act in the last 20 years to justify the booking. They traded half an hour on the (major stages) curfew for a few decibels in the late 00s, yes. They also used to have much shorter changeovers, and now schedule in a 15 minute buffer at the end in case acts overrun. - it used to be pretty normal for subs to start at about 9pm, so starting in the daylight and finishing in the dark, but the combined effect of all those changes means that they're now usually starting a full hour or more earlier than they used to and finishing whilst it's still daylight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaver89 Posted 5 hours ago Author Report Share Posted 5 hours ago 12 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said: It's a near certainty Fred Again will headline next year. Seems on brand for me to sit on a topic for years only for it to become redundant almost immediately. Not been following headliner chat - are we hearing reliable rumblings already? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaledonianGonzo Posted 5 hours ago Report Share Posted 5 hours ago 2 minutes ago, Beaver89 said: Seems on brand for me to sit on a topic for years only for it to become redundant almost immediately. Not been following headliner chat - are we hearing reliable rumblings already? Maybe 'near certainty' is a bit strong, but it's looking pretty likely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlotteB Posted 5 hours ago Report Share Posted 5 hours ago I think maybe the absence of dancey stuff on the Pyramid Stage is down to the amount of it elsewhere. I do t think Glastonbury has betrayed the genre one bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaledonianGonzo Posted 5 hours ago Report Share Posted 5 hours ago Is it because of Woke? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suprefan Posted 4 hours ago Report Share Posted 4 hours ago 1 hour ago, CharlotteB said: I think maybe the absence of dancey stuff on the Pyramid Stage is down to the amount of it elsewhere. I do t think Glastonbury has betrayed the genre one bit. except theyve just tried to put it at night time only. Theres been plenty of dance centric artists like Becky Hill last year which would go down well on Pyramid but you just havent had anyone play there proper. Yeah, bring it back. f**k the curfew. You can easily have a dance act go on with the dark and have a headliner follow. Dance act at 8:45 that goes til 10 and a headliner at 10:30 who goes til midnight. Done and done. You could even bring out Calvin Harris to do something that easy and the production wouldnt be insane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben7amin_ Posted 3 hours ago Report Share Posted 3 hours ago For reasons already discussed it obviously can not happen - But it would be fantastic if they could get an hour or so DJ set on after the headliner. Help that slow shuffle exit from the area if kept some people hanging around. Sure some DJ would be cool with people tidying up the stage around them for a shot on the Pyramid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quark Posted 3 hours ago Report Share Posted 3 hours ago 2 hours ago, Beaver89 said: Seems on brand for me to sit on a topic for years only for it to become redundant almost immediately. That genuinely made me chortle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaver89 Posted 2 hours ago Author Report Share Posted 2 hours ago Oh I would love for an extra DJ set post headliner on one of the main stages even if it were on a reduced sound system basis. It would absorb numbers from the other areas and give an option to those who would like a bit of dance music after headliners but don't want to be out all night or battling the crowds. I know it won't and can't happen but one can hope. ( I still don't really understand how IICON can operate but you can't keep Woodsies going for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
incident Posted 1 hour ago Report Share Posted 1 hour ago 51 minutes ago, Beaver89 said: Oh I would love for an extra DJ set post headliner on one of the main stages even if it were on a reduced sound system basis. It would absorb numbers from the other areas and give an option to those who would like a bit of dance music after headliners but don't want to be out all night or battling the crowds. I know it won't and can't happen but one can hope. ( I still don't really understand how IICON can operate but you can't keep Woodsies going for example. A problem is that a reduced sound system basis is incredibly difficult to make work. The noise restrictions are measured off-site at various points, most of them in or around Pilton Village. As well as cumulative limits (below), there's also a requirement that no individual stage should be discernable outside of these hours - ie that past 00:30, Pilton village should only be getting general festival background noise. Due to their power and locations, even if you turned them down substantially the sound systems in places like Woodsies, or the Pyramid would probably still reach the village out of hours (and if the sound system didn't - the crowd noise would). The SE Corner (and other carefully selected locations) can get away with it mainly because (by design) the noise won't usually reach a monitoring point. I believe the festival has a specific agreement regarding noise with the (relatively few) people who live near the SE Corner (and who mostly tend to be landowners directly benefitting from the festival), hence no monitoring point out that way. I think there's a strong case to be made that there should be a large dual purpose stage, hosting bands during the day and dance at night, not least because it'd be more efficient use of both space and money, but it would have to be carefully sited and would probably need to use a field in the southern half of the site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuie Posted 59 minutes ago Report Share Posted 59 minutes ago 1 hour ago, Beaver89 said: I know it won't and can't happen but one can hope. ( I still don't really understand how IICON can operate but you can't keep Woodsies going for example. iicon and woodsies are as far apart as you can get and woodsies is right next to Pilton! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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