Kanye West

[Guest]

But surely the point of a headliner is to entertain the crowd? All of the crowd if possible.

I cant over exaggerate how many people left from the 30 minute point. Never seen anything like it.

And they were leaving from the front too. The Wateraid/Oxfam side, all I could see were endless heads moving in the opposite direction.

Maybe you're right, Kanye isn't suited to Glastonbury, it's only got the one stage after all.

[Mardy]

I didn't go on Saturday night, I was in the SE corner after overdoing it Saturday afternoon. I've just watched it on Iplayer. Fascinating. Sonically, the most extreme headliner there's ever been, some of was incredibly hardcore. Way more out-there musically than any other headliner (or indeed Pyramid act) I can recall. When it was good, it was fucking incredible. But for long periods it simply wasn't very good. But those high points? Oh my, they were something else.

[Mardy]

I'm curious about the supposed originality of what he does. There isn't anything new to my ears or eyes

 

 

Visually and in terms of stage set up stage set up, i don't think there had been anyone else alone there on the stage with that low down ceiling of lights. I'm not a fan of his by any stetch, but that lighting rig looked great. A real sense of claustrophobia and alienation.

 

Musically? there was some really odd, extreme noises coming out of those speakers in places. 

[Mardy]

I don't see anything wrong with him headlining. He has as much 'right' as anyone. I've seen plenty of supposedly suitable headliners be just as boring.... Oasis, Kings of Leon, Killers... Etc etc

 

 

I think that's the crux of it, and where he fell down. You can be anything you want up on that stage, but if you're headling, the golden rule is don't be boring. I'm not fussed if large swathes of the audience get it or not, great music is not neccesarily music with wide appeal, but just don't be boring.

[COPG]

I didn't go on Saturday night, I was in the SE corner after overdoing it Saturday afternoon. I've just watched it on Iplayer. Fascinating. Sonically, the most extreme headliner there's ever been, some of was incredibly hardcore. Way more out-there musically than any other headliner (or indeed Pyramid act) I can recall. When it was good, it was fucking incredible. But for long periods it simply wasn't very good. But those high points? Oh my, they were something else.

Spot on! I can't think of another headliner thats been so wildly different to any other headliner they've ever had, or so divisive, but I think thats a good thing.

Like I've said before, it didn't seem like he went out to win any new fans just to do what he does wether you like it or not. 

[eoJ]

or, countless thousands stayed and were right there

 

they were entertained

 

I dunno, I'm pretty tall and was in the 5-10th row, near centre, looked around at several points not able to even see any heads bobbing.

[Badlands]

But surely the point of a headliner is to entertain the crowd? All of the crowd if possible.

I cant over exaggerate how many people left from the 30 minute point. Never seen anything like it.

And they were leaving from the front too. The Wateraid/Oxfam side, all I could see were endless heads moving in the opposite direction.

I left, to go for a slash though. I did return however. So you can deduct one from your 'let's count how many scarpered at Kanye' obsession

[CaledonianGonzo]

I'm curious about the supposed originality of what he does. There isn't anything new to my ears or eyes

At the top end of the Pyramid bill, though?

As an album from a popular artist, Yeezus is a pretty bold statement of sonic intent. Some pretty incongruous noise and tempo switches on that, in amongst the Brenda Lee samples.

[Mash011]

Yeezus is a fantastic album, no doubt. If he'd performed them on the pyramid with the kind of ferocity he has on record it would've been a glorious moment,

[Bisque]

I was sceptical, but I really really enjoyed it. I got a tad too tipsy so cannot say if I loved it or not.

[august1]

is there a gallery of professional shots of him anywhere? cant find any photos got to be some crackers with those lights

[Pink_Tequila]

If only he had been allowed to arrive on the tank he asked for and no one would have dared leave.

[Platt073]

I now realise what all the commotion was about. I saw Suede in John Peel but watched a bit on I Player, wasn't impressed puts it mildly. I couldn't watch anymore Metallica was far better!,

[stimo]

But surely the point of a headliner is to entertain the crowd? All of the crowd if possible.

I cant over exaggerate how many people left from the 30 minute point. Never seen anything like it.

And they were leaving from the front too. The Wateraid/Oxfam side, all I could see were endless heads moving in the opposite direction.

Somebody I camped with told us they could barely get in the field and the hill was the only place for them to stand - your word against theirs. Who are you trying so hard to convince?

[Rose-Colored Boy]

I dunno, I'm pretty tall and was in the 5-10th row, near centre, looked around at several points not able to even see any heads bobbing.

Aye, I wish someone had told us layabouts towards the back of the pit that those further forward were streaming out, maybe then it could have got less cramped as the gig wore on not more.

[august1]

How did you get in the pit before Pharrell? I tried to get in afterwards to go to the back but noone left the pit at all. The crush of people trying to get in was quite bad so had to make do just behind it 

[Rose-Colored Boy]

At the time it felt like quite a lot of churn after Pharrell finished, the gaps were filled very quickly tho.

[ghostdancer1]

i was between 1/3rd and half way back the Pyramid field for Kanye, and it was still wedged when i went for a piss after Bohemian Rhapsody/Can't Tell Me Nothing. took me a couple of minutes to push through the crowds to get out to the right hand side walkway.

[Guest]

There's always loads of people leaving Pyramid headliners, people turn up to see what it's about, and to see if they like it. It stands to reason that with somebody as dividing as Kanye, at lot of people wouldn't like it and would leave. The mass exodus that some are describing on here is clearly fantasy, though.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Glastonbury had Weather Report back in the day. That's stretching the boundaries!

Yeah. Not knocking that. But the days of folk like Fela Kuti topping the bill are 30 years ago.

Not saying this was similar - but it was a step in the right direction.

[Adystar]

Would of said it was a lot quieter for the who,turned up half way through and could of got right into the middle.got bored and pissed off to the chems instead.by the way,loved kanye

[ghostdancer1]

was there for the first half hour of The Who (shit btw) and it was 100% less crowded than Kanye at the end in my experience. i was closer to the stage and still had more room for The Who.

[Gnomicide]

was there for the first half hour of The Who (shit btw) and it was 100% less crowded than Kanye at the end....

There was no-one there?

[Samsung34]

er, no it isn't. The field was comparatively empty. There were more people watching The Who, and that wasn't particularly busy.

That clearly isn't true. Kanye was by far the busiest of the headliners and the biggest crowd of the weekend apart from lionel.

[dentalplan]

Matters less how many people left than how many people stayed but were disinterested, which I think is gonna be a huge difference between Kanye's crowd and Florence and The Who's crowds. There weren't people hanging around to see if Flo did something crazy or Pete Townshend had a rant were there?

 

I didn't think it was a car crash as described early in the thread but I was underwhelmed with the whole thing. It felt really disconnected and muddled, allowing for periods where a large portion of the crowd got bored (Hold My Liquor, stretch of Cruel Summer and new material) and the gimmicks we were treated to were kind of shit. Might personally just be down to expecting something akin to the Yeezus tour setup rather than the Jonathan Ross show setup, but I'm in agreement that it's not one for the ages and very unspectacular, particularly for the greatest living rock star on the planet - something I don't disagree with but he hardly stepped up to the mantle on the night.

Edited July 4, 2015 by dentalplan