The worst sets at Glastonbury

[found home in 2009]

Blondie in 2014 was easily the worst set I've experienced at Glastonbury. Debbie Harry was so out of tune it was painful.

Gorillaz was pretty boring as was Neil Young (though maybe my fault for going to artists my friends wanted to go to that I wasn't that into). Art Garfunkel the singing bits were good, but my god I could have done without the terrible poetry between songs. And despite being a fan of his radio show Zane Low dj set I saw at Glastonbury was really disappointing. He was clearly hungover and at one point pressed the wrong button and managed to turn off all the music. Wasn't even a good selection of records.

But overall I feel pretty lucky that I must have seen hundreds of sets at Glastonbury and been disappointed by very few of them. Controversially I even really enjoyed the Who set everyone else hated. Also quite enjoyed Beck thought did find the crowd reaction was a bit of a dampener on it.

[hfuhruhurr]

8 minutes ago, found home in 2009 said:

Blondie in 2014 was easily the worst set I've experienced at Glastonbury. Debbie Harry was so out of tune it was painful.

But the crowd bouncing up and down was brilliant 

[Hugh Jass]

1 hour ago, Hugh Jass said:

The crowd for Beck was shite. Which was a shame because he was ace, he tried gamely to win them over but was always on to a loser.

Just spotted that I punned without realising.

[dentalplan]

30 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

I think there’s a generational divide with some of these here.

Do you know the ages of everyone here?

[Hugh Jass]

13 minutes ago, hfuhruhurr said:

But the crowd bouncing up and down was brilliant 

Again, with older artists  it’s for the best not to expect perfect vocal performances and just bathe in the vibe and the tunes.

That said, she wasn’t very good.

[found home in 2009]

13 minutes ago, hfuhruhurr said:

But the crowd bouncing up and down was brilliant 

I was a bit towards the edge of the crowd and constantly having to move out of the way for people trying to leave early.

[Hugh Jass]

32 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

I think there’s a generational divide with some of these here.

 

In what way?

Wasn’t at Kanye, watched a bit of Moody Blues then went to Suede. As we walked along the back of the Pyramid to get to the JP we saw him come on stage and I had to admire the sheer brass balls of the man just out on stage alone under all those lights.

[dentalplan]

I don't think I have many particularly bad sets that I've seen.

Little Simz was one that jumps out. Stopping and starting every song demanding more crowd interaction. Feel like she must played about five songs in total.

Arctic Monkeys were dismal.

Kanye was more disappointing than bad, seeing as it was really good for a short while and then the energy escaped.

[Leyrulion]

3 hours ago, Tartan_Glasto said:

Billie Eilish - 2019. I feel like her set needed to be in the dark rather than daylight. There was just no atmosphere. 

Oh this. I'm not sure if the sound was off or the worst of my come down after chemical bros the night before was kicking in but it didn't vibe for me. Especially as I'd left Miley Cyrus early who had a cracking set.

[gooma]

I can't believe we are nearly 5 pages in and no one has mentioned Bright Eyes in 2005 a performance so bad that he had to issue an apology. I have never seen a full tent empty so quickly.

[Matt42]

14 minutes ago, dentalplan said:

Do you know the ages of everyone here?

 

11 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

In what way?

Wasn’t at Kanye, watched a bit of Moody Blues then went to Suede. As we walked along the back of the Pyramid to get to the JP we saw him come on stage and I had to admire the sheer brass balls of the man just out on stage alone under all those lights.

I do find that many of the older attendees who aren’t into hip hop or rap / know Kanye much saw the chaos and just dismissed the whole set.

I’m not saying they are wrong. As I know someone my age who hates Kanye who didn’t like it too. But it’s very much the inverse of someone like axel rose or Prince. In that attendees who are big fans know that (a) there’s a huge chance they may not even make it to the stage, or (b) could just pack it in halfway through. 

GNR fans would say “oh that’s just axel” the same way Kanye fans would say “typical Kanye”.

Edited June 27, 2021 by Matt42

[Toilet Duck]

15 minutes ago, gooma said:

I can't believe we are nearly 5 pages in and no one has mentioned Bright Eyes in 2005 a performance so bad that he had to issue an apology. I have never seen a full tent empty so quickly.

I was waiting for that one! To be fair, it was supposed to be Ryan Adams (so loads turned up for that not knowing he’d cancelled) and he was off his tits…so while he was obnoxious and faffed around for ages between songs, the performance was actually brilliant (only time I’ve ever seen him do Digital Ash live…lover I don’t have to love was a sublime end!)…

 

edit: maybe there was something in the air that night, Wasn’t Bobby Gillespie also in full flow insulting the crowd at the same time? 

Edited June 27, 2021 by Toilet Duck

[Hugh Jass]

Yeah speaking of Gillespie, Primal Scream 2013 needs a mention.

[Amy Lawn]

22 minutes ago, dentalplan said:

Arctic Monkeys were dismal.

They were p shit, but Dizzee Rascal right before them was a thousand times worse

Then after fucking off Radiohead the other year we went to see him on West Holts and he was bringing the house down. Weird how some people get on the Pyramid and decide it's not the time to give the crowd what they came to see.

[gooma]

18 minutes ago, Toilet Duck said:

I was waiting for that one! To be fair, it was supposed to be Ryan Adams (so loads turned up for that not knowing he’d cancelled) and he was off his tits…so while he was obnoxious and faffed around for ages between songs, the performance was actually brilliant (only time I’ve ever seen him do Digital Ash live…lover I don’t have to love was a sublime end!)…

 

edit: maybe there was something in the air that night, Wasn’t Bobby Gillespie also in full flow insulting the crowd at the same time? 

That is true it was suppose to be Ryan Adams so that would have accounted for some of the people leaving. I wasn't really a Bright Eyes fan but my sister was so I had gone along with her. Sadly it just seemed a shambles to me. 

Yes you are right Bobby Gillespie was that same evening, I'd forgotten that. 

[jparx]

1 hour ago, Matt42 said:

I think there’s a generational divide with some of these here.

Kanye was brilliant. It was absolutely chaotic. It had this kind of vibe like it was on a knife edge from suddenly ending. Hard to explain the exhilaration of it.

Not really. I’d seen Kanye before Glastonbury and went in with very high expectations. It was just a poorly structured set that fell apart massively after a hot start and struggled to really recover. 

First time I saw him, production was so tight and impressive. At Glastonbury it just seemed like he couldn’t be arsed and hadn’t given the show a seconds thought. 

[Chapple12345]

37 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

Yeah speaking of Gillespie, Primal Scream 2013 needs a mention.

I don't think the Scream are made for big outdoor gigs, their 2019 set headlining the tent at Latitude remains one of the best hours of music I've ever seen live 

[Hugh Jass]

37 minutes ago, GETOFFAMYLAWN said:

They were p shit, but Dizzee Rascal right before them was a thousand times worse

Then after fucking off Radiohead the other year we went to see him on West Holts and he was bringing the house down. Weird how some people get on the Pyramid and decide it's not the time to give the crowd what they came to see.

He played the Pyramid during the day in 2009, around the time that Bonkers was going huge, and absolutely smashed it.

13 wasn’t great though.

[Matt42]

Dizzie in 2013 was awful. The amount of times he went “hey DJ play some new shit” and the crowd booed straight after.

If you’re dizzie on the pyramid stage you need to play the hits.

[MrZigster]

Evan Dando '95 Acoustic Tent.

Yes. I was there for Portishead.

[Ryan1984]

1 hour ago, Toilet Duck said:

I was waiting for that one! To be fair, it was supposed to be Ryan Adams (so loads turned up for that not knowing he’d cancelled) and he was off his tits…so while he was obnoxious and faffed around for ages between songs, the performance was actually brilliant (only time I’ve ever seen him do Digital Ash live…lover I don’t have to love was a sublime end!)…

 

edit: maybe there was something in the air that night, Wasn’t Bobby Gillespie also in full flow insulting the crowd at the same time? 

I thought the Bright Eyes performance was captivating. Conor was being a knob but when the band played the songs, it was fantastic. Was there a streaker lady that Conor gave a big Hancock at one point?

Every BE performance there since has been perfect though. Didn’t they play the Other Stage in 2007 and he said something about not expecting that call?

[Toilet Duck]

1 hour ago, Ryan1984 said:

I thought the Bright Eyes performance was captivating. Conor was being a knob but when the band played the songs, it was fantastic. Was there a streaker lady that Conor gave a big Hancock at one point?

Every BE performance there since has been perfect though. Didn’t they play the Other Stage in 2007 and he said something about not expecting that call?

Yeah, they were great on the Other in 2007 as well (for such a miserable year weather-wise, there were phenomenal performances across the site).  I think I’m wide awake, it’s morning was such a popular album in ‘05 that not playing any of it contributed to the ill feeling for the JP set, but that’s Conor for you, he has such a vast catalogue to pick from, but he rarely does a greatest hits set, mainly sticks to what he is touring at the time and he was on a Digital Ash kick at that point. I loved it I have to say! 

[Zoo Music Girl]

3 hours ago, Hugh Jass said:

He played the Pyramid during the day in 2009, around the time that Bonkers was going huge, and absolutely smashed it.

13 wasn’t great though.

2010 surely? I remember his 2010 performance before Gorillaz being awesome. I also really enjoyed Gorillaz despite only being a casual fan, but that Friday in 2010 is up there with my favourite days at the festival ever so would probably have loved anything I watched.

I can't believe no one has mentioned Beady Eye yet. Maybe because no-one expected it to be good but distressingly bad stuff. Really regretted eating my breakfast there that morning.

Then for me:

Paul Simon 2011 - no interaction and boring.

Bruce Springsteen 2009 - I know people here loved it but as someone who wanted the hits it was unbearably dull

Radiohead 2011 - The secret Park gig. Got there late after trekking through mud. Couldn't hear, couldn't see, regretted leaving Morrissey for it.

The National 2017 (I think? The Pyramid set) - I used to be a huge fan but this is when I parted company with them really. They played a ton of new stuff and Turtle Neck is awful. Giving them another chance in Primavera next year...

Primal Scream 2013 - didn't see it all but seemed total shite. Second time I'd seen them in that state too.

I loved Amy Winehouse in 2008 but I was wrecked and it was my first Glastonbury and was so just excited to finally see her. If I watched it back now I think I'd be appalled.

Edited June 27, 2021 by Zoo Music Girl

[Zoo Music Girl]

I also didn't mind The Who! Certainly wasn't an amazing performance but we were sat at the back drinking port and looking at the pretty sky, shattered, so it fit our mood.

[Hugh Jass]

14 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

2010 surely? I remember his 2010 performance before Gorillaz being awesome. I also really enjoyed Gorillaz despite only being a casual fan, but that Friday in 2010 is up there with my favourite days at the festival ever so would probably have loved anything I watched.

 

Definitely 2009, he was on fourth down - after Spinal Tap but before Crosby, Stills & Nash.