Alex DeLarge

People moan about festival prices, but most headliners charge an absolute fortune to see them at their own shows.

Who would you book?

3-4 years ago we were still in lockdown. So they really started touring at the end of 21 to the beginning of 22. Loads of people still haven't seen them.

If someone didn't like Elton John, would that be a bad booking?

Sutton Coldfield represent.

This is the subjectivity/ objectivity argument though. Subjectively: Coldplay/ Lewis Capaldi/ Ed Sheeran are boring to me. But artists like that are always among the most popular at the festival. So objectively the festival is making good choices when booking these. Saying Kendrick Lamar isn't a good booking is just confusing to me. One of the biggest and most acclaimed artists on Earth.

In your opinion.

There's always something for my tastes, but even artists I like could make up a poor quality line-up. If the line-up was full of stuff I could see elsewhere for cheaper, then I'd consider it poor quality. Equally, there are acts I don't enjoy but can admit they're good quality bookings. Someone like Ed Sheeran in 2017 - the biggest pop star in the world at the time. I'm not a fan but I can't dispute he deserved that shot.

Maybe all the TikTok zoomers who like Fleetwood Mac now have given her a boost.

Unfortunately since coming back from lockdown the festival has had to book minnows like Paul McCartney, Elton John, Guns n Roses, Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, Diana Ross, Robert Plant, Sam Fender, Fred Again.., Rae, Arctic Monkeys, Lewis Capaldi, Lizzo, Blondie, Lana Del Rey and Queens of the Stone Age.

Feel like I've seen these names all over the place on the same line-ups over the past few years: Sugababes, Eliza Rose, Four Tet, Skream, Hybrid Minds, Nia Archives, Camelphat, Barry Can't Swim and Folamour. Maybe that's perfect for Parklife because it's everyone under 25 wants to see but it is a bit weird. @emily book Kaytranada you square.

We should just stop booking acts people want to see and pretend it's 2000 forever in my opinion, the days before smart phones. Back then they didn't book any pop or rap, except for Macy Gray, Pet Shop Boys, Cypress Hill. Back then you'd get upstanding citizens like The Bloodhound Gang and Tommy Lee, who didn't have obnoxious fanbases. The indie rock? Exciting and fresh, cutting-edge artists like Coldplay, Counting Crows, Reef, Ocean Colour Scene, Embrace, and Feeder. Real music.

What is the actual issue with social media/ Glastonbury I'm missing here? Coachella and a few other line-ups this year are full of stuff that seems to be big on TikTok and nowhere else. I don't think that's the case with Glastonbury, and if it does bother you - go see something on the acoustic stage or whatever where that won't be an issue.

The festival changes with the times. People post on here about the festival all year round, and have for years, of course young people are gonna post about it especially when they're spending so much on it these days.

James Arthur is such a w*nker. I remember him dating Rita Ora then calling her every misogynistic name under the sun and saying people only listen to her music because they want to sleep with her. He slept with a 17 year old fan. Called someone homophobic slurs. Now he's massive again. Weird.

I think we could do with more hip-hop tbh. I get why Glastonbury book Coldplay because they give mates rates, but boring shite that reminds me of the early 2010s (Goulding, James Bay, Jess Glynne etc) can get in the bin.

I know it's easy to give Coachella a hard time, but Lana, Tyler and Doja are an exciting trio.

Genuinely in contention for the worst band of all time. Misogynistic, generic, nepo-babies, shite, obnoxious.

If you're 20, you were 6 when Stevie last headlined. It is a bit weird when people compare about the line-ups being samey/ stale when they've gone every year for the past twenty.

Just get Dave to do it lol. (I know he's not on tour but would be great)

Just stick Doja/ Dua/ Tyler on the Pyramid, would be a laugh.

KoL would nail a secret slot the same way the Killers did. It's weird to think that 2008 slot was the perfect time for them to headline - they became a punchline just a year or two after which culminated in their terrible Reading slot. Looking at their recent sets, something Like: The Bucket Waste a Moment Molly's Chambers Radioactive On Call Closer Knocked Up Fans Use Somebody Sex On Fire Would go down well. They'd never headline again though.

I know this is turning into slagging off the chair brigade no. 2039383 but I'll never forget someone (sitting down) telling me to stop blocking their view at the Pyramid ffs.

The camping chairs were a lot better this year I thought than 2022. In 2022 it was people coming back to festivals post lockdown and thinking they were in their living rooms. It still is dangerous, selfish and stupid having a camp chair right up to the stage if it's even mildly busy. We don't need stewards kicking people off them, but screen reminders, and a campaign in the same way there was with the "don't pee on the land" thing would suffice. I was walking round Edinburgh during the Fringe this year and people had camping chairs out on the pavement during busy walking periods - and this is in a major city during the busiest period of the year. There are a group of people (and I'm gonna be honest, mostly middle aged and middle class) who seem to have come out of lockdown and the past few years with a massive sense of entitlement. I think a lot of them may be the "laptop class" that's often referred to - and they've forgotten the entire world isn't there to serve them.

"You walk around- you can't move for the people saying it. They say "Creeper on the Hell Stage at 4am" and it's a wonderful thing. Having Creeper, do you know how fantastic it is? And it's glorious. A glorious thing. We're gonna bring Glam Rock back folks, that 80s glam metal we loved so much- maybe too much."