Gorillaz to replace U2 at Glastonbury Festival

Gorillaz will fill the Friday night headlining slot after U2 were forced to cancel their Friday night headlining Glastonbury Festival appearance following lead singer Bono's accident last week.

The band, created by Blur frontman Damon Albarn called offering their services once the news about U2 had broken. They are expected to bring their touring show which has performing live Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and the Gorillaz band, with animation, artwork and film designed by Jamie Hewlett.

Glastonbury Festival organiser Michael Eavis said, "This is going to be Gorilllaz' only UK festival appearance, and it'll be a massive audio visual spectacle which will really ignite the Pyramid on the Friday night, with Muse, then Stevie Wonder to follow. I'm very excited about Gorillaz' show coming here because they're so open to guests and collaborations. The alchemy of Friday's show is going to be astonishing: a perfect, contemporary way to kick off the 40th anniversary celebrations.

"I am so grateful for the enthusiasm of the media and the whole of the music industry for their willingness and eagerness to support us in what could have been a crisis."

Some of the collaborators on Gorillaz's latest album, 'Plastic Beach', are already announced to appear at this summer's Festival including Snoop Dogg, and Mos Def.

Said Murdoc from Gorillaz, "We're like some great big horrible warship pulling in to the Bay of Glastonbury to save the day. It was us or The Beatles and they split up years ago. The previous soldiers got pulled from duty last minute so it's up to my Plastic Beach naval cavalry to sail in and sort the battlefield out. I can assure you though, I'm bringing extra troops. Loads of them. Glastonbury will be ours…cutlasses drawn, trumpets ready. We're coming in..."

The headlining appearance of Damon Albarn's Gorillaz will mean that the Blur frontman becomes the first headliner to make back to back Glastonbury Festival appearances.

Gorillaz will headline Glastonbury Festival alongside Muse, and Stevie Wonder on a bill which also includes Dizzee Rascal, Vampire Weekend, Snoop Dogg, Willie Nelson, Orbital, Shakira, Pet Shop Boys, Scissor Sisters, Seasick Steve, Jackson Browne, Faithless, Jack Johnson, Ray Davies, Slash, The Flaming Lips, Hot Chip, Florence And The Machine, and many, many more.

To see the line-up in full, along with the latest rumours for some of the other stages, click here >> or to view it on as a list click here.

The SOLD OUT event will mark the 40th anniversary of the Music and Arts Festival at Worthy Farm, Somerset, where Michael Eavis first opened his gates for business in September 1970. Glastonbury Festival runs for five full days from Wednesday 23rd until Sunday 27th June 2010 across over a 1,000 acres of beautiful countryside.

eFestivals' Glastonbury World Cup 2010 in support of WaterAid

Once again this summer players, mainly members of the eFestivals forums, are coming together to be part of the England vs The Rest Of The World football match, which will be raising funds for WaterAid on Thursday 24th June at the Festival.

Festival organiser Michael Eavis has challenged the event to raise £6000 for WaterAid and thus provide enough money to provide the cost of building three water wells. Water is something that we all take for granted but other people aren't so lucky.

The event begins at 1pm at the Pyramid Stage field with prematch entertainment from Hobo Jones & the Junkyard Dogs who will be doing a 40 minute set with the World Cup match will start after that.

WaterAid will again be on hand with collection buckets at the game, and people who can't make it to the event can make an online donation at http://www.justgiving.com/glastoworldcup2010.

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