Arcade Fire

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

I think you can be a one and done headliner, but still be considered a headliner. That’s probably Arcade Fire. Glastonbury are making a bit of a thing with these secret sets similar to how they’ve built the legend slot up to be a particular type of act, so it’s a bit of a get out of jail free card for the one and done type headliners as it can almost be rationalised as the 5th headliner type spot.

[Florian Saucer Attack]

17 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

Hmm. Not sure about this. A few people in my group wouldn’t know a single song and if I tried to pull them to see them. I would say our group is pretty diverse.

The problem lies with them then. But you can rectify that. Send them a few songs they will probably love arcade fire 

[stuartbert two hats]

11 minutes ago, Deaf Nobby Burton said:

I think you can be a one and done headliner, but still be considered a headliner. That’s probably Arcade Fire. Glastonbury are making a bit of a thing with these secret sets similar to how they’ve built the legend slot up to be a particular type of act, so it’s a bit of a get out of jail free card for the one and done type headliners as it can almost be rationalised as the 5th headliner type spot.

It's certainly a way for an act that either is, or considers themselves to be a headliner to play a lower slot and save face. 

[the wonderwhy]

56 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

It's certainly a way for an act that either is, or considers themselves to be a headliner to play a lower slot and save face. 

Has it ever actually worked out like that though? The two biggest acts to ever do it as far as I can remember are Radiohead and The Killers and they’ve both come back and headlined 🤷

Then you’ve got acts like Vampire Weekend who were on the lineup already and Foals who were never really a serious headline contender anyway. 

[TheSheriff]

1 minute ago, the wonderwhy said:

Has it ever actually worked out like that though? The two biggest acts to ever do it as far as I can remember are Radiohead and The Killers and they’ve both come back and headlined 🤷

Then you’ve got acts like Vampire Weekend who were on the lineup already and Foals who were never really a serious headline contender anyway. 

Pulp could’ve headlined on their reunion run

[FloorFiller]

5 minutes ago, TheSheriff said:

Pulp could’ve headlined on their reunion run

Were headlining Reading/Leeds that year (better pay, probably?) so could only be a secret set for them at Glastonbury, or a lower non-headliner slot.

[wro_lap]

Just seen that according to the livestream Arcade Fire are 4th down at Coachella today. Feels weird seeing them not as headliners - are they billed as special guests or anything?

(I'm aware Coachella is totally irrelevant, but still)

[FloorFiller]

4 minutes ago, wro_lap said:

Just seen that according to the livestream Arcade Fire are 4th down at Coachella today. Feels weird seeing them not as headliners - are they billed as special guests or anything?

(I'm aware Coachella is totally irrelevant, but still)

They were announced yesterday unlike the rest of the lineup so yeah they’re a ‘special guest’. I’m guessing they haven’t made them a secret set so that thousands of people don’t turn up expecting Kanye or something and then AF walk out. 

[wro_lap]

1 minute ago, FloorFiller said:

They were announced yesterday unlike the rest of the lineup so yeah they’re a ‘special guest’. I’m guessing they haven’t made them a secret set so that thousands of people don’t turn up expecting Kanye or something and then AF walk out. 

Makes sense. Thanks for the reply!

[gfa]

8 minutes ago, wro_lap said:

Just seen that according to the livestream Arcade Fire are 4th down at Coachella today. Feels weird seeing them not as headliners - are they billed as special guests or anything?

(I'm aware Coachella is totally irrelevant, but still)

They are 4th down on a smaller stage too. its the 5th one along on the schedule but i don't think its in order of size.

[foolee]

As they’ve been announced so late it’s clearly something that they wanted to do rather than being a reflection of the size of the band. When they’re back in the UK they’ll headline Latitude, IOW or APE and do arena tours. 

[Suprefan]

1 hour ago, gfa said:

They are 4th down on a smaller stage too. its the 5th one along on the schedule but i don't think its in order of size.

Kind of sort of via size. But if you need the size comparison whats circled is the Mojave stage. It did get an upgrade in size this year, though. Aphex Twin was in there in 2019.

Edited April 15, 2022 by Suprefan

[Ashl]

Does anyone recall if Coachella have a delayed replay of them streams? Wouldn't mind watching but don't think I will be getting up at 3am or so!

[kaytee...]

4 minutes ago, Ashl said:

Does anyone recall if Coachella have a delayed replay of them streams? Wouldn't mind watching but don't think I will be getting up at 3am or so!

There's usually the option to rewind the live stream on YouTube

[charlierc]

3 hours ago, dotdash79 said:

Or the market is saturated, and there is a real cost of living crisis going on. I know my tax and bills have gone up by a couple of hundred a month. That’s a few gigs and nights out. 

Yeah lots of these shows would've been sell-outs in 2019 but with everyone touring just at the point the punters' wallets are being squeezed tight as fuck, it does make it difficult to justify booking another 47 concerts.

[gfa]

4 hours ago, dotdash79 said:

Or the market is saturated, and there is a real cost of living crisis going on. I know my tax and bills have gone up by a couple of hundred a month. That’s a few gigs and nights out. 

This is definitely true, but for next year's festival at least this makes it all the more important to have a strong lineup and not put Florence/Arcade Fire as headliners. Festivals do seem to be selling well in general though, most of the major UK festivals have sold out well in advance this year / last year

[blue6field]

Say they do appear as a special guest, I know the park has been mentioned, would this be realistic? I think it’s too small an area if, and realistically it would be, leaked out!

could they be a Pyramid special guest like Libertines?

[gfa]

16 minutes ago, blue6field said:

Say they do appear as a special guest, I know the park has been mentioned, would this be realistic? I think it’s too small an area if, and realistically it would be, leaked out!

could they be a Pyramid special guest like Libertines?

Bigger artists have been on smaller stages before (John Peel Killers the main example). I'm sure it would be ok

[FloorFiller]

1 hour ago, blue6field said:

Say they do appear as a special guest, I know the park has been mentioned, would this be realistic? I think it’s too small an area if, and realistically it would be, leaked out!

could they be a Pyramid special guest like Libertines?

They’ve had both Radiohead and Pulp on the Park before and it’s been fine - they just close off the entrances to the area when/if it gets too busy, but tbh considering how strong this years lineup already is I’m not sure it’ll be a problem as they’re sure to stick em up against somebody massive on the Pyramid and other stages as is usually the case with the secret sets.

[blue6field]

I was there for Radiohead and ended up on the hill unable to hear anything, that made the decision not to see Pulp the next day easy. John Peel seems a better option for these sets, purely a personal opinion

[FloorFiller]

4 minutes ago, blue6field said:

I was there for Radiohead and ended up on the hill unable to hear anything, that made the decision not to see Pulp the next day easy. John Peel seems a better option for these sets, purely a personal opinion

Yeah you’re probably right. John Peel being a tent means capacity being reached is more notable whereas the Park can have tons of people crammed in up the hill who can’t hear anything (not helped by the sound bleed from Stonebridge). The Park is certainly a better vibe and the idea of Arcade Fire there is the stuff of dreams, but John Peel just makes for a more suitable venue for this kind of stuff unless you’re willing to arrive to the Park mega early to get yourself a space.

[dotdash79]

1 hour ago, gfa said:

Festivals do seem to be selling well in general though, most of the major UK festivals have sold out well in advance this year / last year

I think festivals have done well this year as the holidaying aboard option was uncertain due to covid, as the picture is clearer expect the bump to be over. 
 

I expect a couple to sell out fast but the rest to struggle. 

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

Yeah the Park looks good visually when it’s crammed for a secret set, but it’s next to pointless bothering unless you’re in or close to the bit you would be for a normal performance. I got to vampire weekend bit too late (was my mates fault) and gave it 5 minutes before going elsewhere.

Edited April 15, 2022 by Deaf Nobby Burton

[the wonderwhy]

1 hour ago, blue6field said:

and realistically it would be, leaked out!

Would be more than that tbh, these guys are crap at keeping a secret. If it happens I’m expecting posters to be plastered round the site and those eye logo stickers everywhere. Be one of these easiest secret sets to find out about I reckon. 

[dotdash79]

Aren’t we missing an other stage headliner?

I would  say a secret set would work better for them, bbc would give it more coverage and it would generate more buzz.