2021 Headliners

[dentalplan]

7 hours ago, Suprefan said:

U2 are rumored to be planning at Zoo Tv anniversary tour for example  and thats going to likely do very well because of the success the Joshua Tree tour had.

This is interesting. A thirty year anniversary tour for a tour - or essentially its stage setup. If they can update it for present times, it could be really good.

Edited September 20, 2020 by dentalplan

[CaledonianGonzo]

Though does reverse banjax them bringing it back to Glastonbury as a one off in 2011. A bit.

[FloorFiller]

1 hour ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

Though does reverse banjax them bringing it back to Glastonbury as a one off in 2011. A bit.

Did they not just play a bunch of songs from the album to open the show rather than bringing the actual tour setup with them?

[CaledonianGonzo]

They added extra screens to the Pyramid Stage and used identical videos and imagery to the Zoo TV / Zooropa shows.

 

[nikkic]

I’d have them back.

I enjoyed them last time around, despite the atrocious weather. 

Wasn’t a classic by any means, but they’ve got all the ingredients there to have another pop. 

[dentalplan]

Well if they are doing that tour, it probably won't be until after that.

[dentalplan]

Obviously it’s at odds with the ‘stadium bands sticking to stadiums’ chat but I do wonder if Springsteen is gonna enter the fray with this new album what he has done with E Street.

[Hugh Jass]

3 hours ago, dentalplan said:

Obviously it’s at odds with the ‘stadium bands sticking to stadiums’ chat but I do wonder if Springsteen is gonna enter the fray with this new album what he has done with E Street.

Springsteen feels like a member of the “one and done” club to me.

[incident]

17 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

Springsteen feels like a member of the “one and done” club to me.

I definitely would have agreed with this at the time he played, but since that first detour on to the festival circuit in 2009, he's continued to include a few festival stops on each ESB tour since, including return visits to Pinkpop and Rick in Rio Lisboa. At this point I don't think it can be ruled out.

[Hugh Jass]

10 minutes ago, incident said:

I definitely would have agreed with this at the time he played, but since that first detour on to the festival circuit in 2009, he's continued to include a few festival stops on each ESB tour since, including return visits to Pinkpop and Rick in Rio Lisboa. At this point I don't think it can be ruled out.

Given the current strain on medical infrastructure I’m not sure the South West Emergency Services could handle 80,000 people dying of boredom in one go.

[Zacko]

1 hour ago, Hugh Jass said:

Given the current strain on medical infrastructure I’m not sure the South West Emergency Services could handle 80,000 people dying of boredom in one go.

🤣

i'll always have a soft spot for that set because it was my first Glasto, but yeah, long. 

Christ, that was a cracking year in retrospect. 

[dentalplan]

2 hours ago, Hugh Jass said:

Springsteen feels like a member of the “one and done” club to me.

Yeah I mean everyone says that but I don’t think either party would really have an issue with it happening again.

[Matt42]

16 minutes ago, dentalplan said:

Yeah I mean everyone says that but I don’t think either party would really have an issue with it happening again.

I feel like the one and done argument isn’t really an argument. People have come back that I didn’t think would come back and you never know what the circumstances are going to be one year and whether an artist will fall into Glasto’s lap again.

I think once an act has had at least 7/8years away from the fest they are fair game to be booked again. As they will probably be playing to a field mostly full of people who weren’t there last time.

edit: one and done imo only applies where an artist has got smaller since headlining Glastonbury, and I highly doubt they’d be big enough to headline again - ie acts like Arcade Fire

Edited September 20, 2020 by Matt42

[Hugh Jass]

14 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

I feel like the one and done argument isn’t really an argument. People have come back that I didn’t think would come back and you never know what the circumstances are going to be one year and whether an artist will fall into Glasto’s lap again.

I think once an act has had at least 7/8years away from the fest they are fair game to be booked again. As they will probably be playing to a field mostly full of people who weren’t there last time.

edit: one and done imo only applies where an artist has got smaller since headlining Glastonbury, and I highly doubt they’d be big enough to headline again - ie acts like Arcade Fire

I would say it applies mainly to older acts like Bruce, Stevie Wonder, the Stones, etc* who can come out and deliver a solid two hour set of stone cold hits and both sides can effectively tick the box. The Stones for example were fantastic, but is there really any need for them to do it again?

*Yes, yes, The Who... but they were a special case.

[Matt42]

5 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

I would say it applies mainly to older acts like Bruce, Stevie Wonder, the Stones, etc* who can come out and deliver a solid two hour set of stone cold hits and both sides can effectively tick the box. The Stones for example were fantastic, but is there really any need for them to do it again?

*Yes, yes, The Who... but they were a special case.

I think the stones logistically is hard to do again... but then again like the Who they are creatures of habit and like returning to places they’ve played before.

I doubt they’d play again as I doubt they will be going for much longer, but younger acts I don’t think play by the same rules.

[zero000]

38 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

I feel like the one and done argument isn’t really an argument. People have come back that I didn’t think would come back and you never know what the circumstances are going to be one year and whether an artist will fall into Glasto’s lap again.

I think once an act has had at least 7/8years away from the fest they are fair game to be booked again. As they will probably be playing to a field mostly full of people who weren’t there last time.

edit: one and done imo only applies where an artist has got smaller since headlining Glastonbury, and I highly doubt they’d be big enough to headline again - ie acts like Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire are still a big band. Why do you think they’re not big enough to headline? They still did a huge number of EU festivals last time around which they headlined. They’ve cemented their status imo. 

Edited September 20, 2020 by zero000

[FloorFiller]

8 hours ago, zero000 said:

Arcade Fire are still a big band. Why do you think they’re not big enough to headline? They still did a huge number of EU festivals last time around which they headlined. They’ve cemented their status imo. 

They’re no longer the cool up and comers but also haven’t really ascended to huge stadium filler either - kind of stuck in an in between stage which puts them at odds with the usual types of acts Glastonbury tends to book as headliners. Tbh a lot is resting on this new album of theirs. I don’t think they’ll be slipping down lineups or anything, but if it’s another disappointment like Everything Now then they’re gonna be seen as has beens by a lot of their older fans. Either way, at this point I struggle to see them being rebooked by Glastonbury.

[dentalplan]

Could still headline easily. Many had a problem seeing them as Pyramid headliners last time because they weren’t a household name, but they still occupy the same space in the market and will continue to do so.

Back to ‘once-and-done’, if the Stones, Stevie, etc. had more years in them I’d expect them back but obviously it’s hard to see it happening again.

Closing the door on any headliners that haven’t actively stopped taking headline positions would be silly though when we’re looking down the barrel of Muse every five years.

[FloorFiller]

10 minutes ago, dentalplan said:

Closing the door on any headliners that haven’t actively stopped taking headline positions would be silly though when we’re looking down the barrel of Muse every five years.

Difference with that is that Muse are lucky and probably very grateful to get the call these days/have a long history with the festival whereas those other big acts made the exception on cutting their pay once but may not be so keen to do so again, which I imagine is a big reason why we don’t see many of them returning. 

[lighthouse]

10 hours ago, Matt42 said:

- ie acts like Arcade Fire

They've had their biggest mainstream hit after they played Glasto 14. 

[dentalplan]

16 minutes ago, FloorFiller said:

Difference with that is that Muse are lucky and probably very grateful to get the call these days/have a long history with the festival whereas those other big acts made the exception on cutting their pay once but may not be so keen to do so again, which I imagine is a big reason why we don’t see many of them returning. 

That seems more of a sound case but still, we can only speculate on the acts’ willingness to return. It’s actually not that many bands now that The Who came back and McCartney was scheduled. Actual ‘once-and-done’ types seem more like the ones unlikely to tour much again like Adele, but if she was going to then I’m sure both parties would be interested.

13 minutes ago, lighthouse said:

They've had their biggest mainstream hit after they played Glasto 14. 

They did get their first critical panning and undersold tours globally, which is what people are referring to. However I think they’ve got enough of a core fan base and attract more new listeners because of their cherished old stuff that chart performance of new material won’t matter anymore and they could still headline festivals even in 15-20 years’ time. If they’re still going.

 

 

[SwedgeAntilles]

If The Killers can still headline, Arcade Fire can.

[FloorFiller]

12 minutes ago, SwedgeAntilles said:

If The Killers can still headline, Arcade Fire can.

Whilst I was one of the people ranting and raving that The Killers would never do it again only to be left with egg on my face a month later, surely you can see the huge difference in popularity between those two acts? The Killers have a stadium tour lined up and a ton of recognisable hits that anybody who’s ever turned on a radio knows - Arcade Fire struggled to fill their arena shows last time ‘round, haven’t gotten any bigger since, and are only really known by those who actively seek out to listen to that kind of stuff (I know Everything Now was a minor radio hit but that’s about as generous as I can be about that - your average Joe won’t know it). 

edit: not to say they could NEVER headline again - if they stick around long enough I could maybe see it - but they sure won’t be getting that call any time soon imo.

Edited September 21, 2020 by FloorFiller

[Matt42]

I don’t want to derail and talk about Arcade Fire but I think they’ve clearly gone past the point where they have wide appeal. I just can’t see it happening again, I think they will probably move to headlining mid sized festivals like APE. If they return to glasto I reckon it will be as a secret set.

3 minutes ago, SwedgeAntilles said:

If The Killers can still headline, Arcade Fire can.

Killers are mainstream though. I don’t see the parallel at all.

[Hugh Jass]

2 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

I don’t want to derail and talk about Arcade Fire but I think they’ve clearly gone past the point where they have wide appeal. I just can’t see it happening again, I think they will probably move to headlining mid sized festivals like APE. If they return to glasto I reckon it will be as a secret set.

Killers are mainstream though. I don’t see the parallel at all.

I’m inclined to agree with Matt. I think AF are on a knife edge between being a BST headliner and being an APE headliner. Their next record will be the tipping point.