Dear Emily.....

[guypjfreak]

great thread ..totally agree with op ..

BUT it is a lame headliner ......i personally love all the reaction lol its all part of the banter ...i agree it can go to far but thats life old sons .....yea Mr E and CO keep up the good work we do love the festi BUT can we PEARL JAM on sunday lol

and then people can moan about them lol

[Thrash D Garbage]

Am I disappointed with the gay fish oxygen thief being announced as a headliner?......Yes

Will it stop me going to the festival this year, and trying for tickets in the coming years?......No way

Will it ruin my festival in any way?......No, don't see any reason why it should.

As other people have already stated, there'll be a hell of a lot of other stuff going on that should be way better than Kanye West. If someone gives up their ticket on the back of the announcement of one headliner, they need their heads examined, and someone else will quite happily take your ticket whether they've any intention of watching the gay fish or not.

PS Hope I didn't upset Kanye and his ego by saying there'll be way better stuff going on at the same time

[Sawdusty surfer]

It won't be the first time, nor the last that I don't visit The Pyramid.

Always have a cracking time.

[DeanoL]

Am I disappointed with the gay fish oxygen thief being announced as a headliner?.....

Oxygen Thief is headlining? That is a brave booking!

Lots of people go to glastonbury just to see headliner / pyramid bands. We need those people or the rest of the site would be rammed...

[kalifire]

I for one cannot wait for Kanye. I'll be one of the 'minority' packing the Pyramid arena in the tens of thousands. I hope those who are unhappy with him have a great time at one of the other dozens of stages.

But yes, Emily and her team do an amazing job. My UK base is in Frome and last year I visited the festival office at around this time, just before I found employment elsewhere, to see if I could help in any way. The office crew were so incredibly lovely and accommodating, and even though they felt they had a great job for me, we mutually agreed that I should just enjoy the festival since it was my first. I left feeling confident that the positivity played out through the website and the projected ethos of the festival filtered down through its veins to the most grass roots of office staff, who were all no-nonsense gorgeous people.

I'm a savvy guy and have a good bullshit radar. If these were corporate types masquerading as hippies I'd have picked up on it. As it were, the entire team (that I met) were genuinely lovely, if busy, and that increased my appreciation of the festival ten-fold, to know it wasn't just an act for the sake of media identity, but an ethos that runs through the very heart of the thing.

In the context of that, the odd headliner that selfish people moan about - like him (as I do) or loathe him - means zero.

[Untz]

I am glad that a headliner has been booked that has annoyed a lot of people who put (too much) emphasis on the headliners and are returning their tickets. Means more tickets for those who appreciate the festival as a whole and will contribute to a great festival atmosphere.

[ghandi]

It's obviously crazy that people would want to return their ticket on the basis of Pyramid headliners, probably all of said people have not been before, personally i'll be elsewhere as I was last year when none of the headliners appealed to me.

[phillyfaddle]

Seems to me that those who are moaning about Kanye probably just don't 'get' Glastonbury. Hope they put their tickets back in the pot so they go to more deserving peeps. There's SO much on offer outside the main stages. I went to see Peatbog Faeries in Avalon one year, rather than the main headliners and they were bloody brilliant. Likewise, sacked off Springsteen in 09 (boring) and had a mental, random time in Shangri-La before the masses arrived.

[Winslow Leach]

I genuinely can't even comprehend the mindset of someone who would find out about a band/performer playing, and then think that they might change their mind about going to a festival.

To be fair, it's easy to laugh at those people...

Oh, were you expecting a punchline?

[Steveyett]

I'll be dancing to Wilko in the Acoustic, hopefully. There's always many other things to see and do.

[5co77ie]

Anybody who says that they are giving their ticket back because of one single headliner doesn't deserve it, there are many more deserving people who haven't got one, ban the lot of them from buying tickets in the future. I couldn't think of anyone I want to see less than Kanye but it doesn't matter one bit, it's an opportunity to see other things.

I don't think it's about the fact he's headlining to be honest. I do think a lot of principled people go to Glastonbury. I think there are some who are reviled by what the US face of capitalist celebrity that Kanye represents, and the way his wife uses sex to sell. I can see the argument that by booking Kanye they feel Glastonbury is giving creedence to America's breed of celebrity capitalism. I can see their point - but then they should have realised by now Glastonbury was never principled or adverse to the cult of celebrity, and neither does it attract an audience that aligns against it.

[Winslow Leach]

I don't think it's about the fact he's headlining to be honest. I do think a lot of principled people go to Glastonbury. I think there are some who are reviled by what the US face of capitalist celebrity that Kanye represents, and the way his wife uses sex to sell. I can see the argument that by booking Kanye they feel Glastonbury is giving creedence to America's breed of celebrity capitalism. I can see their point - but then they should have realised by now Glastonbury was never principled or adverse to the cult of celebrity, and neither does it attract an audience that aligns against it.

Hm, I don't buy this. Hardly any of the comments I've seen online have show anything like this level of depth of reasoning. They're mostly conservatism by any other name. "I like real music with passion and soul! Which obviously means 4 men playing guitars and drums."

As for his wife, I'm prepared to believe that there are legitimate criticisms of her, but I'm also happy to accuse 95% of the criticism she gets as thinly veiled contempt for women masquerading behind a variation of the 'nice guy' mask. "I like natural beauty, not fake plastic bitches!"

[5co77ie]

Hm, I don't buy this. Hardly any of the comments I've seen online have show anything like this level of depth of reasoning. They're mostly conservatism by any other name. "I like real music with passion and soul! Which obviously means 4 men playing guitars and drums."

As for his wife, I'm prepared to believe that there are legitimate criticisms of her, but I'm also happy to accuse 95% of the criticism she gets as thinly veiled contempt for women masquerading behind a variation of the 'nice guy' mask. "I like natural beauty, not fake plastic bitches!"

I'm not suggesting their the people who have signed the petition but I do know a few principled veterans who aren't going because of this. I see others making similar comments on their Facebook pages.

Edited to add: I guess have more principled hippy nutter friends than you do

Edited March 17, 2015 by 5co77ie

[Winslow Leach]

I'm not suggesting their the people who have signed the petition but I do know a few principled veterans who aren't going because of this. I see others making similar comments on their Facebook pages.

Edited to add: I guess have more principled hippy nutter friends than you do

Haha, might just be an age thing, it's the "How did Nixon win, no one I know voted for him" logic. People I know seem to fall into two categories: positive about Kanye West headlining Glastonbury, couldn't care less. I based my comment entirely on the media and social media response I'd seen. Baudrillard would be ashamed of me.

[5co77ie]

Haha, might just be an age thing, it's the "How did Nixon win, no one I know voted for him" logic. People I know seem to fall into two categories: positive about Kanye West headlining Glastonbury, couldn't care less. I based my comment entirely on the media and social media response I'd seen. Baudrillard would be ashamed of me.

I'd also qualify it by saying in the case above half the time they cancel because something unprincipled happens like a fence going up, and then happily turn up the following year.

[Keithy]

I think this year and perhaps last year, is the start of Glastonbury Festival moving into a different 'era'. The festival has been an ever changing beast since its inception and with the diminishing pool of 'big' headliners (the 'Stones being one of the last of the big beasts which perhaps Daft Punk and Prince the last remaining), the festival is naturally going to change and the other parts of it grow. The SE Corner has been getting bigger for a few years (not necessarily geographically but in the scale of what's there), Arcadia is now an area in it's own right. I'm sure there will still be some cracking headliners and you never know which band will suddenly explode over the next 2/3 years.

I think they were on a hiding to nothing this year in particular. As the headliner thread showed, there haven't been 3 obviously outstanding headliners out there.

[donthaveacoolname]

OP very well said, Emily and the gang put on a great show every year and GF would not be GF if they did not put on some "risky" headliners now and then great work!!!

[midnight]

Maybe she wants him to........

Ha ha, there's a thought - You know nothing, Russy Carps!

Anyway.

Dear Emily,

Don't worry, Im sure you are Save From Dave.

I, for one, shall enjoy seeing the Foo Fighters. I know this makes me a simple soul in some people's minds, but so be it.

And I shall probably give Kanye West a miss, but that's ok too, isn't it? Farcebook or not, there'll be enough other people there, and I'm sure you organisers have plenty of treats up your sleeves, so I won't be bored for a minute if I go elsewhere.

I am just thrilled that you all manage to keep the festival going (and even growing), and that I have a ticket this year. I am indeed a simple soul.

All the best for the future and the good work from

A happy Simpleton xx