2021 Headliners

[FloorFiller]

Just now, jparx said:

RW potentially announcing something today, so we may have more of an indication there.

Feels like we're just going round in circles with the potential headliner options, but maybe this is the time Pearl Jam are finally drafted in?

Yeah the pool is looking rather small and I’m kinda just waiting for a big name to come out of nowhere and seem like an obvious contender. Think so far Gorillaz have been the only new festival headliner to crop up who wasn’t on the 2020 festival scene, but at least there’s an instance of somebody gearing up to tour 2021 against all odds.

[jparx]

Just now, dentalplan said:

Did Mad Cool say that about Taylor Swift? Seems a strange thing to do. But yeah as far as I can see none have announced he isn’t playing. Wouldn’t take comfort in that at all however.

Yeah they outright confirmed she’s not returning on their Facebook. They were flooded with comments about her on their socials after the initial announcement so they didn’t really have a choice.

[FloorFiller]

1 minute ago, dentalplan said:

Did Mad Cool say that about Taylor Swift? Seems a strange thing to do. But yeah as far as I can see none have announced he isn’t playing. Wouldn’t take comfort in that at all however.

Yeah they were getting hounded with questions about her so just nipped it in the bud with a statement on how they tried to get her back but it just didn’t happen. No mention of the other missing headliners though.

[dentalplan]

4 minutes ago, jparx said:

Yeah they outright confirmed she’s not returning on their Facebook. They were flooded with comments about her on their socials after the initial announcement so they didn’t really have a choice.

 

3 minutes ago, FloorFiller said:

Yeah they were getting hounded with questions about her so just nipped it in the bud with a statement on how they tried to get her back but it just didn’t happen. No mention of the other missing headliners though.

Huh I’d have expected them to at least lie and say they’re trying their best or something.

No chance I see Swift doing Glastonbury then. Spain is a market where acts tend to do fests if anything so I don’t see anything in the ‘own shows + Glasto’ pipe.

[RarerThanDandyB]

So we need to flood it with Kendrick comments

[jparx]

8 minutes ago, FloorFiller said:

Yeah the pool is looking rather small and I’m kinda just waiting for a big name to come out of nowhere and seem like an obvious contender. Think so far Gorillaz have been the only new festival headliner to crop up who wasn’t on the 2020 festival scene, but at least there’s an instance of somebody gearing up to tour 2021 against all odds.

I guess it's still quite early for "new" acts to be announcing tours for next year, it just seems like festivals are quickly filling up their lineups with rebooked acts so hard to see where anyone new would fit in. I'm sure we'll get one or two more pop up but I don't expect anything earth shattering.

Pearl Jam / Gaga / Macca would be ace.

[RarerThanDandyB]

That would be perfect. Every time someone says Pearl Jam, I think how good that would be. Imagine there tunes on the pyramid. Black and Daughter would be sensational. 

[ghostdancer1]

20 minutes ago, dentalplan said:

 

Huh I’d have expected them to at least lie and say they’re trying their best or something.

No chance I see Swift doing Glastonbury then. Spain is a market where acts tend to do fests if anything so I don’t see anything in the ‘own shows + Glasto’ pipe.

I think it's highly likely Swift already had US Summer 2021 shows booked, hence not returning to Europe.

Question is if we could get a Glastonbury once-off in the middle of it, a la U2 and Sheeran.

[FloorFiller]

23 minutes ago, jparx said:

Pearl Jam / Gaga / Macca would be ace.

 

20 minutes ago, RarerThanDandyB said:

That would be perfect. Every time someone says Pearl Jam, I think how good that would be. Imagine there tunes on the pyramid. Black and Daughter would be sensational. 

Somehow I just don’t think Pearl Jam are on the festivals radar anymore. Whilst I wouldn’t hate it, I think by large their announcement with the general Glastonbury audience would be met with a bit of a ‘eh?’. Far more likely to just stick with their own shows in the UK like they have been for a while now.

[jparx]

Aye, don't disagree with you FF. I'd still have them on the list of potentials unless their dates rule them out, albeit fairly low on the list.

[CaledonianGonzo]

I think we've known for a while now that the only hope of Swizzle is as a one off, which she's commiting to cos she gets the significance of it.

Cons of that are that there's little concrete reason for her do so, no precedent for it, and it'll cost her a packet.

Pros are that she'll have the band and the show due to her spring dates, and her behaviour last year in the run up to the announcement indicates that it would have been a more meaningful, legacy-enhancing show than most.

Who knows... 

[PolygonWindow]

Really not sure why I think this however I have an inkling Kendrick will still do it? Don’t know why, maybe just being blindly positive however I just think he will.

[jparx]

Good point on Kendrick @Ddiamondd re: his album. Wouldn't surprise me if he's scrapped a chunk of it and gone right back to the drawing board, or looking to expand it or something. Album drop in 2021, a year for it to properly marinade and then a triumphant set in 2022 could actually be a better proposition.

Tickets, as always, the key issue though. 

Edited July 10, 2020 by jparx

[Hugh Jass]

16 minutes ago, Ddiamondd said:

I am going to play devils advocate here (as a Ken die-hard, fyi) – it might not be the worst thing in the world if he moves to headline in 2022.

Glasto/BST felt like the start of a whole cycle. He's teased at new projects to come. You can be sure that by now in a non-corona universe, there would have been a single, an album announcement, a surprise drop, something. As the de facto rap Poet Laureate, it's likely Ken has stalled all that and is writing fresh material or waiting to apply himself properly to this new moment.

America is in the throes of the virus and it will be squeaky bum time around the election with fear of interference or, god forbid, another Trump term. My guess would be that Kendrick holds back for a while yet. The urgency of what's going on, and what he is peerless at articulating, will keep shifting, and he will want to stay on top. And with Kendrick it's never going to be just a hit parade, which makes timing more critical than, say, Arctics or Macca who can post up any time and please the crowds. "Alright" felt like a highlight on TPAB, but took on generation gravitas in the 12-18 months after the fact as it became a protest anthem. His music travels into the wider culture like that.

If Kendrick did the show and it became more of an intermediary gig between phases of his career because of everything that's going on, it could be less the sum of its parts than a celebration of his (sure to be) six-album winning streak.

I'm desperately hoping he's in for 2021. But if 2021 is a drip-drip of album material and Glasto 2022 is a victory lap after we've had a year to drink it in, I'm beginning to get comfortable about that. Or at least trying to convince myself it's an alright outcome, because what else is there to do?

Great points well made... selfishly though, I know have a ticket for 21 and cannot guarantee I will for 22. So get him on next year!!!

[jparx]

1 minute ago, Hugh Jass said:

Great points well made... selfishly though, I know have a ticket for 21 and cannot guarantee I will for 22. So get him on next year!!!

Indeed. I'd rather a lesser set that I attend than a better one that I don't...😁

[Mattymooz]

2 hours ago, FloorFiller said:

 

Somehow I just don’t think Pearl Jam are on the festivals radar anymore. Whilst I wouldn’t hate it, I think by large their announcement with the general Glastonbury audience would be met with a bit of a ‘eh?’. Far more likely to just stick with their own shows in the UK like they have been for a while now.

Not too different in size to The Cure are they? I know they are probably not the top choice, but I reckon they could still be in with a shout if its a quieter year on the headliner front

[zeppelin]

3 minutes ago, Mattymooz said:

Not too different in size to The Cure are they? I know they are probably not the top choice, but I reckon they could still be in with a shout if its a quieter year on the headliner front

I could be way off here but I'd have thought PJ were bigger than The Cure? 

Regardless, PJ should be headlining headlining the Pyramid. Quiet year or not. 

[jparx]

I'd say The Cure and Pearl Jam are probably roughly comparable, especially in terms of having a really devoted fanbase, but I'd have though The Cure pip them in terms of UK popularity?

Either way I think Pearl Jam could headline without raising any eyebrows. Certainly less eyebrow raising than Arcade Fire, for instance.

[Euphoricape]

Any chance of Arcade Fire playing again next year? Would love to see them and didn't get tickets the year they headlined.

[Tuna]

The Cure are definitely more popular: your average sofa-sitter (WhatsApp yr ma, find out) will know a hell of a lot more of The Cure's greatest hits CD than Pearl Jam's.

[Hugh Jass]

16 minutes ago, Euphoricape said:

Any chance of Arcade Fire playing again next year? Would love to see them and didn't get tickets the year they headlined.

Probably not, I can’t see them headlining again any time soon but they haven’t dropped off to the point where they would be a sub or Other headliner.

If they are about next year I’d say they were more likely to pop up at somewhere like APE or Latitiude (assuming they haven’t just carried over their headliners).

[PolygonWindow]

Slight off topic, does anyone think fatboy slim will still headline the Other stage? 

[sisco]

1 minute ago, PolygonWindow said:

Slight off topic, does anyone think fatboy slim will still headline the Other stage? 

Yep

[Zacko]

On 7/9/2020 at 9:52 AM, st dan said:

Anybody think The xx could be in with a shout? 

With a new album hopefully coming before next year, and having already headlined the Other, I think they’re due a big slot - although headlining is probably too unlikely. 

As others have said, probably unlikely but they would honestly smash it.

I'm a huge fan (as you can probably tell from the photo) so probably biased, but their 2017 set universally went down as incredible amongst our big group who all have completely separate music tastes. I think that's a sign they would be well received.

Them incorporating more of Jamie's style/vibe/whatever has done wonders for the sets, so good.

[AlexOvd]

2 minutes ago, sisco said:

Yep

Dramatic.