Jump to content

The worst sets at Glastonbury


Leyrulion
 Share

Recommended Posts

9 minutes ago, sjseabass said:

I was there too (it was worth enduring for the outstanding Metronomy set after, one of my favourite gigs ever) and I agree they were abysmal and probably the worst full set I’ve seen at the festival.

One small point though - it wasn’t a drink that was thrown at him, it was a pen someone had used for the Musical Bingo that was on before! Unless there was more than one throwing incident?

Yes!! That’s what made it stick in my brain as one of the worst…. when a few mins later Metronomy come on and completely rip it up!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Toilet Duck said:

I reckon marmite as I thought they were fantastic…Let Down was just glorious! (but I loved the set from start to finish). 
 

@dirtysteve has nominated Arcade Fire on the other in ‘07. As Arcade Fire gigs go, it was pretty disappointing (I have 2 downvotes in my 15 years on the forum, both for saying I was disappointed with the AF headline set on the pyramid! (Mainly as I saw then at Primavera a few weeks prior and the set was note for note, word for word identical, even the patter between songs)).  Was going to say ‘07 was so miserable that it could ruin anything, but John Fogerty’s set on the Jazz World that year remains my all time favourite Glasto set (maybe Woodstock-like conditions suit him!)…so, I terms of disappointment (not necessarily bad), I’ll nominate my fellow countrymen U2…where weather was definitely a factor (it looked great on the BBC, but I was bloody miserable for the whole thing)…
 

 

A man of style and taste!

But seriously, I’d give my left leg to have been at that Fogerty show. He’s probably in my top three songwriters of all time. Feels like time is running out for a return to Glastonbury.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For me it was Gorillaz in 2010 and New Order in 2005. The latter redeemed themselves a bit with a great show in 2016.

I wouldn't say it was necessarily the worst I saw but (and probably a bit controversial on here) certainly disappointing was the Stones in 2013. Having seen them previously being fantastic I felt somewhat let down. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, reflekting said:

The Who 2015. Really disappointing headline set Townsend ending with a speech about how they didn't get to soundcheck was just odd. They should have stayed in Paris. 

 

They were awful.  Anyone else would have been better. 

All secret sets is my nomination for worst set. Wtaf. 1. They play to an audience who are either not fans or fools who look at social media more than enjoying life. 2. If you are a fan and miss it you're gutted. Throw them in the sea, it's not clever and massively disrespectful. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, hfuhruhurr said:

They were awful.  Anyone else would have been better. 

All secret sets is my nomination for worst set. Wtaf. 1. They play to an audience who are either not fans or fools who look at social media more than enjoying life. 2. If you are a fan and miss it you're gutted. Throw them in the sea, it's not clever and massively disrespectful. 

They really really really should have just booked Florence as the Sunday headliner. I don’t know why they went through all that effort to get the Who.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, incident said:

Radiohead 2017. I arrived about 20 minutes after it started, and should have taken note of the fact that there was a mass exodus from the stage going the opposite direction. They damn near sent me to sleep. Made even worse by it being a straight toss up between them and the Lips, and watching the coverage when I got home re-enforced how big a mistake a I'd made.

Wrong

8 hours ago, a6l6e6x said:

Possibly controversial on here but I completely agree with you 

Wrong

1 hour ago, Matt42 said:

Ignoring this as it was one of the best sets I’ve ever seen.

 

Right

1 hour ago, Toilet Duck said:

I reckon marmite as I thought they were fantastic…Let Down was just glorious! (but I loved the set from start to finish). 

 

Right

1 hour ago, jparx said:

A man of style and taste!

 

Right

  • Like 2
  • Upvote 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

They really really really should have just booked Florence as the Sunday headliner. I don’t know why they went through all that effort to get the Who.

Interesting parallel universe thought - had Flo been put on Sunday all along after they lost Prince, who would ultimately have stepped in to Foos slot? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got to agree with the Lauryn Hill mentions.

In the immortal words of someone on this forum shortly after that festival "I didn't realise Miss Lauryn Hill was an instruction".

Edited by waltere
Typos
  • Like 1
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, jparx said:

A man of style and taste!

But seriously, I’d give my left leg to have been at that Fogerty show. He’s probably in my top three songwriters of all time. Feels like time is running out for a return to Glastonbury.

Fogerty really was the perfect pick me up that night, one classic after another. One of my mates caught his Vegas show recently though (who was also at the JW set) and said it didn’t come close (so hopefully he still has it, haven’t seen him since but would love if he got another tilt!).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Punksnotdead said:

P J Harvey. Other 2016. This may not have been her fault. I was exhausted from trudging through mud for 5 days & the relentless drizzle was getting me down, but that was the only time I've ever fallen asleep standing up!

Yeah, agree with this. But it comes with a huge caveat of "outwith her control" for a number of reasons. As Punks said, most of the crowd were already dead on their feet given the conditions over the weekend. Secondly, the Other was a bad choice for that tour. It was clearly meant to be a dark, atmospheric, almost claustrophobic set and that was all lost in the relative soulessness of the Other. Lastly, as Polly mentioned herself, she was emotionally shattered (as many of us were that weekend) from the brexit vote.

It was a real physical and emotional slog to get through it, but we were ultimately rewarded with the LCD set which is the GOAT Glasto set for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, SwedgeAntilles said:

Yeah, agree with this. But it comes with a huge caveat of "outwith her control" for a number of reasons. As Punks said, most of the crowd were already dead on their feet given the conditions over the weekend. Secondly, the Other was a bad choice for that tour. It was clearly meant to be a dark, atmospheric, almost claustrophobic set and that was all lost in the relative soulessness of the Other. Lastly, as Polly mentioned herself, she was emotionally shattered (as many of us were that weekend) from the brexit vote.

It was a real physical and emotional slog to get through it, but we were ultimately rewarded with the LCD set which is the GOAT Glasto set for me.

Agree with all this.

And christ, just how fucking amazing were LCD to turn round that collective fatigue, final thing on a Sunday. I was up for Peej, but the tide was so strong against her. Then LCD blow it all away. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, jparx said:

Interesting parallel universe thought - had Flo been put on Sunday all along after they lost Prince, who would ultimately have stepped in to Foos slot? 

I wonder if the Libertines would have stepped up instead, I can can remember it was highly rumoured Taylor was going going do a surprise set as well so perhaps her 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Of sets Ive been there for, The Jacksons werent that great but I didnt have the highest expectations because you know what youre getting when its this type of act. The terrible sound did not help at all with that either. Plenty of people were bothered that their microphones were barely turned up and there was no bass. On iplayer is sounded just as bad. Kind of makes me wonder why anyone wants the Isleys to come back when its just 2 of them and theyre in their 80’s.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, jparx said:

Agree with all this.

And christ, just how fucking amazing were LCD to turn round that collective fatigue, final thing on a Sunday. I was up for Peej, but the tide was so strong against her. Then LCD blow it all away. 

I would happily continue on this theme all morning but I realise it's the direct opposite of the spirit of the thread 😂

With that in mind I'd also say that both Other stage openers I attended (Charlatans and James) were very disappointing. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, incident said:

Radiohead 2017. I arrived about 20 minutes after it started, and should have taken note of the fact that there was a mass exodus from the stage going the opposite direction. They damn near sent me to sleep. Made even worse by it being a straight toss up between them and the Lips, and watching the coverage when I got home re-enforced how big a mistake a I'd made.

My favourite set 🤷

3 hours ago, sisco said:

Kate Nash - if I remember rightly couldn’t sing and kept abusing he crowd

Ms Lauryn Hill - for the many reasons listed above

Kris Kristofferson - Felt so bad for him, looked like he had no clue what was going on

The correct answer. 2010. Crap. 

 

I hated father John misty in 2017. My least favourite set probably goes to The Jacksons just after that, absolute shite.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry to go all positive, but here (in chronological order) are my reactions to the terrible performances mentioned above:

Oasis 2004 - I'm not a megafan, but as a teenager in the 90s, I was very familiar with their early records. This was the first time I'd listened to a full set with Gem and Zac Starkey and Andy Bell and for my money they did a good rendition of the records. I was particularly pleased with the way that Ringo's lad played the drum parts properly rather than the embellished versions Alan White used to play. Didn't think they were amazing or anything, but our group enjoyed them and were surprised when the verdict around site the next day was generally negative.

Arcade Fire 2007 - I'd never seen them before, and whilst I appreciate they've probably put in better performances, Arcade Fire on a bad day are still really, really good. And it wasn't raining, which was really unusual for that year. I'd have enjoyed anything that evening to be honest. But it was good, I remember the drums pounding out across the field and looking at the beautiful colours in the sky as the sun started to go down. As ever with that field, the sound quality depends where you were stood. I was stood somewhere good.

Gorillaz 2010 - I love Gorillaz' music and they played music by Gorillaz. I enjoyed the slightly different arrangements, e.g. extra guitar in Stylo and the live strings+brass on Broken. Obviously Snoop was fantastic at the end. I'm sure for the casual fan it was a dull set, but I was very familiar with the three records, particularly the last two that received most attention. Worked for me.

Yoko Ono 2014 - Getting in before anyone mentions it. This was weird music, performed by a weird lady. I love it when music is extreme to the point where it feels like you shouldn't be allowed to listen to it. I guess that's why I've enjoyed so many of these sets that have gone down so badly with a large part of the crowd.

PJ Harvey 2016 - There was something beguiling about the intimate harmonies and something so reflective was just what I needed before diving into LCD next. It was kind of part of the appeal that this was clearly the wrong kind of music for this stage! The illicit nature added to the appeal somehow!

Kris Kristofferson 2017 - Country music was always about frailty as much as swagger and to see him in such a state was touching and felt like an intimate moment. I wasn't expecting showmanship, I was expecting to see someone using music and performance to anchor himself to his humanity. And that's what I got.

Radiohead 2017 - Enough has been said about this performance. I'm not a casual fan of the band and I was close enough to the stage to actually see them. I loved it all.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

54 minutes ago, SwedgeAntilles said:

I would happily continue on this theme all morning but I realise it's the direct opposite of the spirit of the thread 😂

With that in mind I'd also say that both Other stage openers I attended (Charlatans and James) were very disappointing. 

I didn’t mind James despite the weather and weird set list. I do remember wandering past the Other as Charlatans were playing that year and yeesh, not for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

Yoko Ono 2014 - Getting in before anyone mentions it. This was weird music, performed by a weird lady. I love it when music is extreme to the point where it feels like you shouldn't be allowed to listen to it. I guess that's why I've enjoyed so many of these sets that have gone down so badly with a large part of the crowd

I was about to mention it 🙂 .... ear splitting and painfull would be my description 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Suprefan said:

From somebody that cried at Radiohead, I strongly disagree. Wayne cant even sing anymore and its just a different variation of confetti and blow up animals theyve been doing for 20 years. If you wanted silliness during a set you shouldve gone to the Park, pure and simple.

I agree- I also cried but I guess it’s the emotional connection  of music and not everyone feels the same. Sometimes you want a good fun time and other times you want to connect in a different way? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, sisco said:

Kate Nash - if I remember rightly couldn’t sing and kept abusing he crowd

Ms Lauryn Hill - for the many reasons listed above

Kris Kristofferson - Felt so bad for him, looked like he had no clue what was going on

Kris Kristofferson definitely- I had to leave it was so bad - the highlight was Bradley Cooper filming for a Star is Born beforehand. And he was miming 😂

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, oneeye said:

Paul Simon 2011 was pretty piss poor

Definitely - the field was packed but it was like he didn’t really want to be there - granted he had a sore throat and was ill but still disappointing. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



×
×
  • Create New...