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The Sunday Night Headliner Saga


Keithy
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Wasn't meant as bait folks.

2002 was fucking abysmal, an embarrassment frankly, particularly in hindsight...

But were Coldplay not a fairly substantive act in 2002? Biggest band in the UK of this "generation" just released their defining record etc?

 

they would've been just releasing their defining record, but it got pushed back and so released after the festival, and so half the set wasn't even known by the crowd making it a somewhat weaker headliner than it would've been. but even so, Stereophonics and Rod Stewart both cancel out any positives that years headliners had. appalling

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Anyone know if Lionel Richie and Prince are pals? A good word from Lionel (which would surely be forthcoming) may swing it (in the same way a good word from Kenny Rogers encouraged Lionel)

That said I'm not a fan of Prince and wouldn't be keen to see him play Glastonbury, though they are rather running out of THOSE acts (which were always going to be hard to top after the Stones)

With George Clinton, Mavis Staples and Lianne la Havas on site I dont think I'd be asking Lionel.

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The problem with using phrases like "respect it deserves" is that many artists simply don't view the festival the same way fans do. To them it's just business, just another gig, and if their price or conditions aren't met they'll take it elsewhere, as is their perogative.

 

I'd disagree. Everyone knows Glastonbury do not pay the same as elsewhere, and it's renowned as THE festival, and there is a lot of prestige and ultimately respect that comes with that. Just look at Lionel Richie's comments in the lead up to his set, and his reaction afterwards. It is a special festival, and I don't think there are any others that hold the same level of gravitas for both us punters and also artists. For someone like Lionel Richie, especially at this point in his career, to still recognise Glastonbury as 'the one' shows the festival far outreaches anything else.

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Why would they be friends? ya daft racist

I assume you didn't make it to Shrinel Richie? There were photos of Lionel with pretty much everyone in the business. Last time I checked Kenny Rogers isn't black, but is certainly chums with Lionel - both musicians you see.

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I'd disagree. Everyone knows Glastonbury do not pay the same as elsewhere, and it's renowned as THE festival, and there is a lot of prestige and ultimately respect that comes with that. Just look at Lionel Richie's comments in the lead up to his set, and his reaction afterwards. It is a special festival, and I don't think there are any others that hold the same level of gravitas for both us punters and also artists. For someone like Lionel Richie, especially at this point in his career, to still recognise Glastonbury as 'the one' shows the festival far outreaches anything else.

 

but obviously Prince just doesn't 'get' that or feel the same way, so as much as i think him headlining would be one of the greatest headline sets the festival has seen, and be one more legend to tick off that ever dwindling list, if he doesn't see the festival for what it is, fuck him - i'd rather have an act who does get it headlining (and this is coming from somebody who's really wanted Prince there the past two years)

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With George Clinton, Mavis Staples and Lianne la Havas on site I dont think I'd be asking Lionel.

Good point, though my main reason for being drawn to Lionel was seeing how effusively he's spoken about the festival since his set

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the bit around The Who was more accurately reported in The Sun.

But more than that, they didn't want to do it. It took severe arm twisting.

Financial arm twisting presumably?

Do you reckon they were the one and only choice when they needed the Sunday sorting or do you think they went through a few others to make the arm twisting necessary?

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Some acts Michael is prepared to wait until March to book if he thinks they are worth the wait. The big one that comes to mind recently is The Rolling Stones who despite much speculation only confirmed the morning of the line up announcement (I think the line up dropped around 6/7ish that night?). So maybe this was the case with Price but in this instance he backed out.

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but obviously Prince just doesn't 'get' that or feel the same way, so as much as i think him headlining would be one of the greatest headline sets the festival has seen, and be one more legend to tick off that ever dwindling list, if he doesn't see the festival for what it is, fuck him - i'd rather have an act who does get it headlining (and this is coming from somebody who's really wanted Prince there the past two years)

 

Exactly my point - if he cannot see the level of platform that Glastonbury offers, then sod him. I'd much rather see a smaller, lesser known headliner who understands what it means to headline the festival and ergo provides such a performance.

 

Without entering a Kanye debate, you could see in the way his set was under prepared that he saw it as just another gig - compare that to Lionel and heck even Libs on short notice did the best they could in the circumstances.

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By the time prince plays Glastonbury - he'll probably be doing the Sunday afternoon old-folks sing-along slot...

 

Having seen him at the NEC and see his security shining torches in the faces of anyone trying to take pictures and the way Prince controls his image - I can't see him doing Glastonbury ever...

 

I suppose a "secret set" is a possibility. 

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Exactly my point - if he cannot see the level of platform that Glastonbury offers, then sod him. I'd much rather see a smaller, lesser known headliner who understands what it means to headline the festival and ergo provides such a performance.

Without entering a Kanye debate, you could see in the way his set was under prepared that he saw it as just another gig - compare that to Lionel and heck even Libs on short notice did the best they could in the circumstances.

The Kanye thing is a weird one, he's mates with Chris Martin so you'd expect he'd have been enthusiastically told what a big deal it is...

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Wasn't meant as bait folks.

2002 was fucking abysmal, an embarrassment frankly, particularly in hindsight...

But were Coldplay not a fairly substantive act in 2002? Biggest band in the UK of this "generation" just released their defining record etc?

Friday night; a female, British act who has been on the up for years, given the push and made to a new headliner, set went down well.

Saturday night; one of the biggest, if not the biggest, stars of an underrepresented genre at the top of festival bills. One of the most talked-about people on the face of the planet. An outspoken, divisive figure who's set split opinion right down the middle and was a big talking point.

Sunday night; one of the most iconic and pioneering British rock legends, marking their 50 year anniversary.

It's at least equal to last year's if not better. The Rolling Stones were an enormous deal in 2013, but the other two were unexciting bookings.

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The headliners should have been

Foos

Kanye

Florence

Florence's widely applauded headline performance makes the decision to not book her initially more baffling in my opinion

Yeah I agree on that - they had the chance ages ago. Then they could've got someone like blur in friday, or even just had libertines as a secret headliner

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The headliners should have been

Foos

Kanye

Florence

Florence's widely applauded headline performance makes the decision to not book her initially more baffling in my opinion

 

It was madness not to have her headlining from the get-go, especially with them scrabbling round for a Sunday headliner in the end. However, it worked out well, if Florence had already been headlining, then the Libs would have headlined Friday, and going off consensus, I reckon the Foos put in a better turn than them.

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It's rare American acts 'get it' until they play there. Springsteen never had a clue what it was, even Lionel Richie recently stated the same. Of course opinions change once they actually make it to the place.

I'm sure I remember reading that GFL pulled together a dossier about the festival that persuaded him to play (or at least it persuaded his people). It did sound a little hollow when he came out and said he'd "heard about" us.

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Im not a florence fan, but she was always big enough and had history with the festival. She had already earned her stripes.

From what I have seen on TV since, it was better than I thought it would be too. Fair play.

And it would have been better if planned as a headline set. The setlist and the lightshow would likely have been diferent for instance.
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