Glastonbury’s greatest unsolved mysteries.

[grumpyhack]

No one has mentioned the Monorail.  Surely still one of the best kept secrets of Glastonbury.

[tevaburger]

On 5/12/2020 at 9:54 AM, Matt42 said:

 

What happened with that year where they ‘booked prince’ and he backed out?

 

Other miscellaneous ones which I can vaguely remember include that year where there was information about a secret Park headliner, that year where members of Pink Floyd asked to play and were turned down, and Coldplay being a “fourth” headliner for one year?

 

Going back to the Prince thing, obviously he was rumoured almost on an annual basis for many years prior to the 2015/16 Who/Metallica thing, but some of us older ones might recall that 2003 was the first year that it seemed it was happening, and while it didn't that year, MEavis was then quoted in the sunday issue of the 2003 Glastonbury Daily (which I realize I have the Fri, Sat, and Sun issues still) as saying he was booked for 2004, for the Sunday. Oasis, Macca, Prince...on paper that would have looked like quite a trio if we didn't realize how mediocre Oasis would be on the night. 

On Coldplay and the pre-Springsteen sub slot for 2009. One of the Eavis' had hinted that it was such a big act that it was worthy of a 4th headliner, but I think when it became obvious to them that it wasn't happening, Emily whispered (to Neil specifically among others if I recall?) that they should water down the expectations since it wasn't happening. Neil always knew who the 4th headliner was but for some sworn reason to a source, he kept it secret from us for about 5 to 8 years. Chris Martin had written the letter to Springsteen explaining why Glastonbury was so special and how the EFestivals site founder/curator was a massive fan, especially of his newer 'Outlaw Pete' stuff...

 

[morph100]

12 hours ago, dentalplan said:

This isn’t real. Tell me this isn’t real.

I was stood next to Wayne and his gang for this, middle of Pyramid stage. He was drinking and smoking fags and he was a nob. Asked my mate for his baseball cap and said he was having it, my mate stupidly said ok.

[Neil]

19 hours ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

Emily definitely thought they had him for 2014.  She writes about it in the 50th anniversary book, saying they got a confirmation email in late 2013.

From where I'm sat the story seems to have changed a bit as the years have passed.

[Ayrshire Chris]

6 hours ago, grumpyhack said:

No one has mentioned the Monorail.  Surely still one of the best kept secrets of Glastonbury.

It was ditched and replaced by the network of secret tunnels😉

[Crazyfool01]

10 minutes ago, Ayrshire Chris said:

It was ditched and replaced by the network of secret tunnels😉

If you know of one that goes under the fence and aren’t telling the resale team  

[Superunknown]

16 hours ago, Bisque said:

Didn’t he get in a bit of crowd trouble for using a disabled toilet.

This is incredible.

[Matt42]

7 hours ago, tevaburger said:

Going back to the Prince thing, obviously he was rumoured almost on an annual basis for many years prior to the 2015/16 Who/Metallica thing, but some of us older ones might recall that 2003 was the first year that it seemed it was happening, and while it didn't that year, MEavis was then quoted in the sunday issue of the 2003 Glastonbury Daily (which I realize I have the Fri, Sat, and Sun issues still) as saying he was booked for 2004, for the Sunday. Oasis, Macca, Prince...on paper that would have looked like quite a trio if we didn't realize how mediocre Oasis would be on the night. 

On Coldplay and the pre-Springsteen sub slot for 2009. One of the Eavis' had hinted that it was such a big act that it was worthy of a 4th headliner, but I think when it became obvious to them that it wasn't happening, Emily whispered (to Neil specifically among others if I recall?) that they should water down the expectations since it wasn't happening. Neil always knew who the 4th headliner was but for some sworn reason to a source, he kept it secret from us for about 5 to 8 years. Chris Martin had written the letter to Springsteen explaining why Glastonbury was so special and how the EFestivals site founder/curator was a massive fan, especially of his newer 'Outlaw Pete' stuff...

 

This is a great response. Thank you. 
 

I do wonder how on earth anyone managed to book prince. Glastonbury isn’t the only place he seems to have done this to. Festivals which managed to book him seem to have received an outright rejection and then after that Prince pops up and plays.

Maybe he liked to keep agents on their toes and keep things secret, but to me, it seems like him and his team just had no clue how things worked and didn’t like the idea of signing a contract.

[ivan]

Why the huge gap between Faithless going down a storm in 02 and not returning until 2010 ?

[dotdash79]

1 minute ago, ivan said:

Why the huge gap between Faithless going down a storm in 02 and not returning until 2010 ?

Because they had 7 farewell tours to do. 

[ivan]

9 hours ago, grumpyhack said:

No one has mentioned the Monorail.  Surely still one of the best kept secrets of Glastonbury.

That still makes me chuckle.

The year they had the badges " I rode the mono rail "  .

I had gone to see my friends band ( she played bass ) at the Queens Head,  i had got in the mood with an earlier pill but then decided it best to go and stand by the exit to get some fresh air.  Anyways a girl came up to me and kept asking me about the mono rail , forgetting that i had the badge on.  

"Where it was , where does it go ? etc.  

I just stood there and sorted of replied "that there was not one "  

To be then given a lecuture about well you have a badge so you must have rode it and i think she thought i was keeping the mono rail secret like the Rabbit Hole.

So she is ranting on and i am just trying to avoid a trip to the medical tent !

[ivan]

Why did we lose the 24 hour Reggae Tent that was in Big Ground near Muddy Lane ?

 

 

[Ayrshire Chris]

3 hours ago, crazyfool1 said:

If you know of one that goes under the fence and aren’t telling the resale team  

Don’t know how wide it is, don’t want anyone getting stuck if you know what I mean! 😉

[Johnnyseven]

On 5/12/2020 at 8:46 PM, dentalplan said:

Pink Floyd approached the festival weeks before that year’s event wanting to headline the Pyramid. Of course the festival couldn’t accommodate them.

Where did this information come from? Pink Floyd haven't played any shows in any form since 2007. The suggestion they they were rehearsed and prepared enough to headline Glastonbury weeks before the event is doubtful. If they were in state of readiness they must have been rehearsing for sometime which would indicate there would have been other shows or a tour that would have been paid for, what happened to them?

Edited May 14, 2020 by Johnnyseven

[Matt42]

5 hours ago, Johnnyseven said:

Where did this information come from? Pink Floyd haven't played any shows in any form since 2007. The suggestion they they were rehearsed and prepared enough to headline Glastonbury weeks before the event is doubtful. If they were in state of readiness they must have been rehearsing for sometime which would indicate there would have been other shows or a tour that would have been paid for, what happened to them?

AFAIK it was two members of the band, not the full shebang. Right?

[Andy0808 v5]

Had to watch the Beyonce video to believe that.. Amazing. 😂

[dentalplan]

5 hours ago, Johnnyseven said:

Where did this information come from? Pink Floyd haven't played any shows in any form since 2007. The suggestion they they were rehearsed and prepared enough to headline Glastonbury weeks before the event is doubtful. If they were in state of readiness they must have been rehearsing for sometime which would indicate there would have been other shows or a tour that would have been paid for, what happened to them?

David Gilmour said it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/news/20081006_gilmour.shtml

I do find it interesting that he says Wright’s dream was to play a big outdoor festival “such as Glastonbury” but didn’t get on the blower to any other fests.

[dentalplan]

1 minute ago, Andy0808 v5 said:

Had to watch the Beyonce video to believe that.. Amazing. 😂

Colleagues keep asking why my Zoom background is two Wayne Rooneys.

[Johnnyseven]

23 minutes ago, dentalplan said:

David Gilmour said it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/news/20081006_gilmour.shtml

I do find it interesting that he says Wright’s dream was to play a big outdoor festival “such as Glastonbury” but didn’t get on the blower to any other fests.

I was misled by the Pink Floyd tag, reading the article it seems it would have been a David Gilmour gig featuring Rick Wright but playing a Pink Floyd set that's not Pink Floyd.

[dentalplan]

10 minutes ago, Johnnyseven said:

I was misled by the Pink Floyd tag, reading the article it seems it would have been a David Gilmour gig featuring Rick Wright but playing a Pink Floyd set that's not Pink Floyd.

It would have been Pink Floyd. Dave, Nick and Rick would have been the lineup as they were for a long time.

But with or without Roger, they have no right to demand a headline slot be taken from another act and given to them. Probably wasn’t even that big a deal - just Gilmour being a prick.

[Johnnyseven]

19 minutes ago, dentalplan said:

It would have been Pink Floyd. Dave, Nick and Rick would have been the lineup as they were for a long time.

There's no mention of Nick playing in that article.

[Crazyfool01]

In Nov 2014 I asked Michael if they had booked Prince at a question and answer session .... his response was he couldnt talk about Prince or words similar ...Im convinced they thought they had him at that point ... body language reading ..

[dentalplan]

13 minutes ago, Johnnyseven said:

There's no mention of Nick playing in that article.

There’s no mention of Roger not playing either. But it can be assumed that Nick would be there seeing as he was the only constant of Pink Floyd and has remained on good terms with David Gilmour throughout.

[Neil]

20 hours ago, ivan said:

That still makes me chuckle.

The year they had the badges " I rode the mono rail "  .

I had gone to see my friends band ( she played bass ) at the Queens Head,  i had got in the mood with an earlier pill but then decided it best to go and stand by the exit to get some fresh air.  Anyways a girl came up to me and kept asking me about the mono rail , forgetting that i had the badge on.  

"Where it was , where does it go ? etc.  

I just stood there and sorted of replied "that there was not one "  

To be then given a lecuture about well you have a badge so you must have rode it and i think she thought i was keeping the mono rail secret like the Rabbit Hole.

So she is ranting on and i am just trying to avoid a trip to the medical tent !

the monrail was one of my better idiot ideas.  

[eastynh]

Did the Fall, Happy Mondays and James really get banned from playing again?

Did Depeche Mode really turn down the chance to headline because they did not think the rest of the line up was their thing.

Did the Stone Roses turn down the opportunity to play, as part of their comeback, due to the money not being worth getting out of bed for?