2019 Headliners

[mufcok]

Radiohead was early last time I think, October was it? 

[Hugh Jass]

I think we'll get one before Christmas.

[slash's hat]

Can't see any of the likely contenders going for any flashy or cryptic announcements this year. 

[mufcok]

If they want to announce someone who has zero worries about selling tickets, Macca's the man..

[Hugh Jass]

1 minute ago, mufcok said:

If they want to announce someone who has zero worries about selling tickets, Macca's the man..

Wouldn't shock me if he announced it at one of his Christmas gigs.

"See you at Glastonburger".

[kingcrawler]

25 minutes ago, slash's hat said:

Can't see any of the likely contenders going for any flashy or cryptic announcements this year. 

After the Radiohead bear logo in 2017 I can't wait for them to paint Robert Smith's face in the Pyramid field.

[Hugh Jass]

1 minute ago, kingcrawler said:

After the Radiohead bear logo in 2017 I can't wait for them to paint Robert Smith's face in the Pyramid field.

Is there enough white paint for that?

[DownboundTrain52]

2 hours ago, stuartbert two hats said:

I call bullshit on this setlist business.  I knew he'd be shit and boring within a month of him being announced. 

 

And he was.

*takes deep, deep, calming breaths*

[beau1]

1 hour ago, eFestivals said:

I very much doubt we'll get anything before ticket day.

And while it seems quite possible that The Cure are signed and sealed and could be announced at any time from now, my guess is that they'll be held back for a long while so that the festivals that need to sell tickets on their appearance get a good shot at it - possibly until April.

Glastonbury don't need to announce early, and most if not all of the earlier announcements are driven by the band's wishes.

Cheers, Neil. I can remember it happening in previous years (like the Radiohead reveal) but I couldn't remember how common it occurred.

Interesting points regarding The Cure, it looks like they might be playing one or two of their own shows  (such as this one in Dublin) as well as festivals so I would imagine they would want to tickets sold for those first.

Quite right that Glastonbury doesn't need to announce anyone but it's always interesting to see who gets announced early and how early.

[CaledonianGonzo]

2 hours ago, The Nal said:

Classic case of someone not getting the festival. Looking at the setlist, Badlands aside, the first 90 minutes is a total stinker. He had also just released his worst album ever which he was pushing heavily. The songs he didn't play though......?

I still dunno what he could have opened with other than Badlands. If noone knew or liked that he was fucked from the get go, regardless of what followed.  A field full of people who only wanted to hear Born In The USA isn't going to give much of a fiddlers even if he had played Backstreets and Rosalita.

Edited September 27, 2018 by CaledonianGonzo

[Hugh Jass]

2 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

I still dunno what he could have opened with other than Badlands. If noone knew or liked that he was fucked from the get go, regardless of what followed.  A field full of people who only wanted to hear Born In The USA isn't going to give much of a fiddlers even if he had played Backstreets and Rosalita.

The solution could have been to drop BITUSA early on (fourth or fifth song perhaps). That way the casuals have been satisfied and more inclined to stick around for more.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Just now, Hugh Jass said:

The solution could have been to drop BITUSA early on (fourth or fifth song perhaps). That way the casuals have been satisfied and more inclined to stick around for more.

Potentially....but maybe more likely that if it was the one song they wanted to hear live they'd just go 'Tick' and move on anyway.

[Hugh Jass]

8 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

Potentially....but maybe more likely that if it was the one song they wanted to hear live they'd just go 'Tick' and move on anyway.

Perhaps, but at least they’d leave with a better impression than the one they got.

[Bradders]

A better solution would be to not play for 2 and a half hours as he doesn’t have enough hits to entertain casuals that long? Almost nobody does, 90 minutes is more than enough for most artists. I actually enjoyed Bruce but that’s because we wandered off for an hour in the middle.

[Hugh Jass]

Ultimately though it was down to Bruce to ensure the crowd didn’t get bored and drift away. There are very few acts who can turn up at a festival and drop 20 consecutive bangers that the crowd all know (another reason Queen + AL would kill it). How you manage the spells where the majority of the audience aren’t familiar with what’s being played is what makes or breaks a headline set IMO (Adele nailed this). You either give the crowd what they want or the make the other stuff more interesting, Bruce did neither.

[CaledonianGonzo]

I hope Ian Cure is taking notes, cos he's potentially walking into the exact same situation.

[Chef]

I could see Macca doing a novelty announcement. James Cordon driving him around the field in a tractor playing air drums while Macca sings Come Together perhaps. 

[dentalplan]

I bet Little Steven was talking about his own band rather than E Street. I swear they get told about touring when everyone else does.

[Badlands]

Didn't he start with a Joe Strummer cover, to show how he ‘got’ the festival?

Wasnt my favourite gig of his, and it proved that he’s more suited to a stadium of fervent followers when he’s playing sets that length, but I’ve still fond memories of it. The River with steam floating off him, BTR, Thunder Road, Johnny 99, Because The Night - some of my favourite songs played at my favourite place!! 

[Zoo Music Girl]

It's perfectly possible for a headline set to be great even if you don't know the songs, there's a certain energy or something. Neil Young at BST was that for me. Went for The National, only knew one or two Young songs, and loved it. See also Jay Z, George Clinton, probably some more I can't think of... But Bruce was just dull to me. I think The Cure will have the same problem. I'm a much bigger fan of them but their set did say in the middle at Electric Picnic. Still want them to have a go though.

[henry bear]

10 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

It's perfectly possible for a headline set to be great even if you don't know the songs, there's a certain energy or something. Neil Young at BST was that for me. Went for The National, only knew one or two Young songs, and loved it. See also Jay Z, George Clinton, probably some more I can't think of... But Bruce was just dull to me. I think The Cure will have the same problem. I'm a much bigger fan of them but their set did say in the middle at Electric Picnic. Still want them to have a go though.

Neil Young knows what to play when. When he does festivals, chances are he’ll play his better known stuff. Go and see him at his own shows and anything goes - you’ll not just get deep cuts, but unreleased stuff too. Playing Glastonbury to a festival crowd, Bruce should’ve adjusted his set accordingly.

[CaledonianGonzo]

This doesn't chime what I heard about Neil Young in Hyde Park.  Didn't he alienate just about the whole crowd early doors with a 25 minute long version of something off of Are You Passionate?

[Wooderson]

Springsteen made a bags of his Glasters set. He has a dozen odd other tracks he could’ve front loaded the show with. 

[henry bear]

1 hour ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

This doesn't chime what I heard about Neil Young in Hyde Park.  Didn't he alienate just about the whole crowd early doors with a 25 minute long version of something off of Are You Passionate?

Just had a look at that setlist - granted not wall to wall hits, but more user friendly than last time I saw him. Those going to his concerts expecting loads from Harvest etc tend to be baffled when he does those lengthy jams. 

[Zoo Music Girl]

My point was really that I didn't know half of what Young played at Hyde Park and thought it was fucking ace. So it's possible to enjoy a set without knowing the back catalogue intimately, but for me that wasn't possible with Bruce.