Headliners 2015

[Matt - Ed Banger Records]

You would think that if McCartney turned up and said 'Mike, let me headline will you' then they would sign him straight up without too much thought.

[DomDom1984]

Anything is worth more time than reading something written by NME. Pulling my balls off with pliers is probably worth more time.

[Wooderson]

It is though! Theres a depressing lack of posts on the forum regarding - say - West Holts or Acoustic Tent acts for example. Such diverse stages. So many possibilities

No stage has regressed in quality quite like the Acoustic tent in recent years.

[Guest]

You would think that if McCartney turned up and said 'Mike, let me headline will you' then they would sign him straight up without too much thought.

They'd all hide under the desks and pretend nobody's home.

Paul going round, knocking on the windows of the farmhouse, guitar case with him, "guys, I'd like to play some of my songs at your festival this year, we're all going to have a really rocking time".

[Wooderson]

Can anyone hear that buzzing?

http://www.nme.com/blogs/festivals-blog/why-glastonbury-should-book-florence-the-machine-to-headline-the-festival-in-2015

Hmmm. They struggled to make the point to me mate. Wouldnt put it past Worthy HQ to "request" such an article.

Also, no mention of Coldplay in the piece.

[Wooderson]

Sound or lineup? Sound is rubbish at times but it took me years to actually venture there so don't know if it was ever thus or if it's a recent thing.

TinarIwen suffered for it last year.

Variety of things mate. Since they changed the orientation the place has lost a lot of its "energy" for me. Sound bleed, poor sightlines, general malaise around the place. I'm there so much in recent years with the kids field etc... its just shit now.

[michael eavis' beard]

Pish and nonsense! The Pyramid is the biggest stage at arguably the biggest festival in the world. This year they have booked arguably two of the biggest bands in the world and potentially have elevated a new act to big festi headliner status.

Three Points:

A: There seems to be two types of dissatisfied folks in this forum. The kind who want Zepplin, The Stones and AC/DC heading each year and the kind who want "interesting" or braver bookings whatever that means (Neil Young, Nick Cave and Bjork?). One is totally unrealistic and the other is not going to sustain a festival of Glastos size whatever you might like to think.

B: You think that Coldplay and Foos will attract a bland crowd (I assume you mean the V festival type)? I say that booking Metallica and Arcade Fire last year and not knowing the line up is more likely to put them off.

C: It's not the end of the world....the festival will continue....we'll all go and have an amazing time.

I know this wasn't aimed at me but still....

I wouldn't say they are 2 separate folks. There are 3 headline slots so why can't you have both each year?! I'd consider myself someone who's ideal headliners would include at least one massive act that seems almost unattainable and at least one brave booking. Glastonbury has had massive acts headline in the past that don't normally play festivals so why can't we dream that they might be able to convince AC/DC to reduce their asking price or convince Zeppelin to get the band back together (again). After all, for years it looked like the Stones would never happen.

Coldplay is a boring booking. Yes, they are successful etc and may be classed as a "big" band but have they done that much since the last time they played to merit another headlining slot?! Repetition of headliners is bland. A trio of Coldplay, Foos and Florence would be bland.

Oh, and one other thing - Neil Young a "brave" booking?! Give over! He's one of the greatest songwriters alive and his headline slot was way overdue!

[Wooderson]

Michael is on the record about headliners and the challenge that maintaining recent standards poses. Its probably accepted within Worthy HQ that Coldplay is merely a "banker" booking. Keeps the bland hordes happy. Like others on the forum, I agree that the headliners will always matter. 135,000 people book tickets and if the right headliner is in place 80,000+ can fill that field - bar a Knebworth or Heaton Park style show it is the biggest gig in the UK in any given year. Guaranteed wall to wall BBC coverage only enhances this.

The press will absolutely fawn over booking of Welch or Swift. This will be "the angle".

Expect loadsa sickening chat about "what they'll wear" however - something that has begun already in the NME today.

[dentalplan]

Hmmm. They struggled to make the point to me mate. Wouldnt put it past Worthy HQ to "request" such an article.

Also, no mention of Coldplay in the piece.

I was just posting it to point out that her comeback is getting chins wagging and it's not just on here that F+TM are being spoken of to head up the Pyramid. There aren't really any points that haven't been brought up dozens of times here.

I think it only mentioned the other prospects as macho ones that they can counterbalance. Coldplay wouldn't really fit.

[LaurieReid]

She has better tunes than Kasabian.

And the 3 acts above that Incident mentioned from 2003.

F off she has better Tunes than Kasabian.

I think there is a bit of snobbery around here. If there is a band that are relatively young and popular with a lot of the general public and young people (i.e. kasabian, coldplay, arctics) they often get shunned off as boring or

bland.

Anyone who has been around for 20 odd years automatically gets put ahead of them in the pecking order. In 10 years time are these going to be the people everyone is raving about? When AC/DC, Stones etc were young and popular with everyone were people saying they were boring and bland?

[LondonTom]

They'd all hide under the desks and pretend nobody's home.

Paul going round, knocking on the windows of the farmhouse, guitar case with him, "guys, I'd like to play some of my songs at your festival this year, we're all going to have a really rocking time".

This tickled me.

Hmmm. They struggled to make the point to me mate. Wouldnt put it past Worthy HQ to "request" such an article.

Also, no mention of Coldplay in the piece.

Nah the NME like to come on with shit "articles" based around any slight bit of music news that is getting wider coverage.

[CaledonianGonzo]

I think there is a bit of snobbery around here. If there is a band that are relatively young and popular with a lot of the general public and young people (i.e. kasabian, coldplay, arctics) they often get shunned off as boring or

bland.

Like the snobbery you're displaying towards K. Minogue?

[CaledonianGonzo]

Expect loadsa sickening chat about "what they'll wear" however - something that has begun already in the NME today.

As awful as that is, the fault lies squarely with the journos rather than the performers.

[LaurieReid]

Like the snobbery you're displaying towards K. Minogue?

Dislike** not snobbery at all

[CaledonianGonzo]

Dislike** not snobbery at all

Perhaps people just dislike Kasabian/Coldplay/Arctic Monkeys...

[Mezhyp1]

Perhaps people just dislike Kasabian/Coldplay/Arctic Monkeys...

I wouldn't argue the point about people disliking Arctics/Coldplay/Kasabian, but I do think they often can be too quickly shot down

Maybe if festival bookers didn't book them every other year for their festivals people wouldn't complain as much when they pop up

[Wooderson]

As awful as that is, the fault lies squarely with the journos rather than the performers.

Of course mate, yes.

[LaurieReid]

I wouldn't argue the point about people disliking Arctics/Coldplay/Kasabian, but I do think they often can be too quickly shot down

Maybe if festival bookers didn't book them every other year for their festivals people wouldn't complain as much when they pop up

Can see why they are booked regularly though...

If they are popular with festival goers and bringing out new albums ever 2/3 years they have clearly solid bookings for festivals.

[bennyhana22]

F off she has better Tunes than Kasabian.

I think there is a bit of snobbery around here. If there is a band that are relatively young and popular with a lot of the general public and young people (i.e. kasabian, coldplay, arctics) they often get shunned off as boring or

bland.

Anyone who has been around for 20 odd years automatically gets put ahead of them in the pecking order. In 10 years time are these going to be the people everyone is raving about? When AC/DC, Stones etc were young and popular with everyone were people saying they were boring and bland?

Laurie, of course there's a bit of snobbery around here - it's a self-selected group of people on a music festival website, for goodness' sake.

However, to suggest that acts are shunned off as boring or bland because they are young and relatively popular with the general public and young people is incorrect. Bottom line is, mass poularity is very often associated with a lack of complexity - it is 'less challenging', if you will. As such, it will often appeal to those with relatively little exposure to music in all its forms - e.g. 'young people'. A generalisation yes, but I think it's reasonable to say that one's interests become more sophisticated as one gets older - I have seen this in many young people, not least of all my kids and ME!

Add to that the fact that boring and bland tends to be the staple product of mass appeal media outlets (esp. commercial radio) and the public gets what the public gets. Therefore, they end up liking the stuff to which they are exposed. Many people on here spend a lot of time actively exploring new music, rather than having it spoon fed to them. The rise of the popularity in festivals in general, and GF in particular, will attract an increasing proportion of people for whom music happens to them, rather than they pursuing a passion for it. Nothing 'wrong' with that, but you do then end up thinking The Vaccines are ace. And they're not. They're really a bit sh*t, aren't they...?

Ben

Edited February 11, 2015 by bennyhana22

[DomDom1984]

Is it snobbery to suggest that people just go against bands because they're not 20+ years old? Of course it is. People may just dislike them. Music tastes and all of that.

[Matt - Ed Banger Records]

Yeah I think people just tend to think Kasabian are shite, nothing to do with snobbery.

[dentalplan]

Michael is on the record about headliners and the challenge that maintaining recent standards poses. Its probably accepted within Worthy HQ that Coldplay is merely a "banker" booking. Keeps the bland hordes happy. Like others on the forum, I agree that the headliners will always matter. 135,000 people book tickets and if the right headliner is in place 80,000+ can fill that field - bar a Knebworth or Heaton Park style show it is the biggest gig in the UK in any given year. Guaranteed wall to wall BBC coverage only enhances this.

The press will absolutely fawn over booking of Welch or Swift. This will be "the angle".

Expect loadsa sickening chat about "what they'll wear" however - something that has begun already in the NME today.

Gotta say Wooderson; this reads a lot like you reckon the only reason Swift or Florence and the Machine (two completely different artists) would get booked is, not because they can fill out the aforementioned massive crowds, but because they're women and the press will report on how they look.

[ICGenie]

lots is true, because there are lots of people at the festival. But in percentage terms thats bollocks. I would wager that less than 25% of the glasto audience don't go to any other festival in one summer.

But what sort of "other festivals"? I would expect the crossover between Glastonbury and the festivals Foo Fighters have played over recent years to be pretty small.

[LaurieReid]

I disagree, I think Kasabian are a good band. Yeah, they obviously have a few tunes that are poor (including Ee -Zeh (also don't know how to spell it) and a few others on their new album) but that's the same with all bands.

In 5-10 years time when they've released another 3-4 albums they will have a great back catalogue just like bands who have been around for that sort of time already and are ranked a lot higher than them. I must say I think they've got enough good songs already and put on a hell of a live show.

What has to be understood is that Festival organisers are obviously going to select bands that are relative at the moment, coldplay for example. YEah they're not the most inspiring but like them or not they are one of the biggest bands in the world who are about to release a new album andthey put on a good live show (saw them in '11 and thought they played alright).

[jonodillieono]

I disagree, I think Kasabian are a good band. Yeah, they obviously have a few tunes that are poor (including Ee -Zeh (also don't know how to spell it) and a few others on their new album) but that's the same with all bands.

In 5-10 years time when they've released another 3-4 albums they will have a great back catalogue just like bands who have been around for that sort of time already and are ranked a lot higher than them. I must say I think they've got enough good songs already and put on a hell of a live show.

What has to be understood is that Festival organisers are obviously going to select bands that are relative at the moment, coldplay for example. YEah they're not the most inspiring but like them or not they are one of the biggest bands in the world who are about to release a new album andthey put on a good live show (saw them in '11 and thought they played alright).

No they'll have another 3-4 bad albums if the first lot are to go by