2024 Headliners

[mnightjamalan]

2 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

I don't think Stevie Nicks is playing Cardiff. Chris Issak is supporting Billy Joel.

My bad, they're playing Chicago the week before, not Cardiff. So not in UK but she's over for BST after that and there's a gap

[gfa]

43 minutes ago, Hugh Jass II said:

Difference is that the crowd turnover at Reading is much greater than at Glastonbury. They can have an act headline every four years because in that time the majority of punters have aged out and moved on. Reading isnt really national news anymore so the general public barely register it's happening.

To be fair its not like the last 2 repeats they did had a small crowd, same with say AM last year.

Many people have clearly either not seen them, want to see them again or... just camp at the pyramid all day!!

[incident]

4 minutes ago, gfa said:

To be fair its not like the last 2 repeats they did had a small crowd, same with say AM last year.

Many people have clearly either not seen them, want to see them again or... just camp at the pyramid all day!!

That's the long and short of it.

Coldplay will get the largest headliner crowd of the weekend. By far. Probably the largest crowd overall across all slots unless there's a huge unexpected act in the daytime.

The reason for that can only be that people want to see them - and that probably applies to both the majority who weren't at the festival in 2016, and the minority who were.

[ghostdancer1]

45 minutes ago, Frankly Mr Shankly said:

If we’re going down the route of it being a ‘surprise’, Ariana Grande has to be in the conversation. New album out & she’s the sort of artist that could drop last minute tour plans and still sell them out instantly. 
 

(I think it’ll be SZA, just putting another name out there that is female & possible) 

I did think about Grande last week, but there's a few interviews where she doesn't seem to want to tour at the moment. You'd think if there were tour dates lined up, she'd give some positive inclination towards performing live, even without giving specifics.

 

Two others in the same vein that could drop in from nowhere:

Lady Gaga - no tour dates, but has plenty of hits and would probably put on a good show. Have a vague recollection she posted something in a studio a few months back, but pretty unlikely.

Katy Perry - has a random gig in Brazil in September, but nothing else for the year. Plenty of mainstream hits, and would probably do a good headline show, but played 3rd down in 2017 and hasn't done anything to get bumped up.

 

Another long-shot that is touring:

Pink - playing Liverpool on Friday and Saturday, but has no 3-night runs whatsoever on her tour, so pretty unlikely too.

 

[CaledonianGonzo]

Every one of these 'It could be artist A, B, C" post just builds the case more clearly that it's SZA.

[MEGABOWL]

2 hours ago, ace56blaa said:

Excuse me if it's been said but when people say that the Coldplay booking is fine because it's been 8 years since they headlined. It's only been 4 festivals since they headlined 

It’s 8 years though. Covid ruined the other calculation.

[northernangel]

3 hours ago, ace56blaa said:

Excuse me if it's been said but when people say that the Coldplay booking is fine because it's been 8 years since they headlined. It's only been 4 festivals since they headlined 

Technically 5 festivals, 1 year being off and 4 other years of festivals being 17, 19, 22 and 23.

[jarviscockerspaniel]

22 hours ago, Suprefan said:

Was never more clear then when I was in the will call line in 22 and just chatting to people about the weekend and who they were interested in seeing. I ring off a bunch of undercard names and they think Im like some guru.

[lendan]

3 hours ago, Chrisp1986 said:

Anyone else getting excited about the drop despite being ticketless?

Yep, don’t know why because I’m still fuming I didn’t get one!!

fingers crossed for the resale

[Watergirl]

Just saw a clip on Facebook from an American friend who saw Stevie Nicks last night. Her voice sounds absolutely fantastic.  I would really love if she was on the line-up.

[ace56blaa]

45 minutes ago, MEGABOWL said:

It’s 8 years though. Covid ruined the other calculation.

I mean I get why Glastonbury would book them and not arguing that they wouldn't it is just a shame that it's Coldplay headlining. I'm sure they'll smash it (I like some Coldplay stuff) and I know other festivals repeat headliners (often when constrained to certain genres) the same or more often. But even though it's because of pandemic/ fallow year not given the top slot to someone else considering there has only been four festivals since they last did it. Has there been any big Coldplay songs in the zeitgeist since then? Genuine question. There was 7 festivals between artic monkey appearances and people still thought that was a boring booking. 

But yeah I agree with all the arguments. it's been eight years I guess, Coldplay are safe n reliable. You don't have to watch pyramid headliners, I like seeing headliners on other stages just feel it's a shame because seeing a band headline pyramid is always a moment n I always rather them present something new or risky. Or at least a less beige safe option.

I guess I'm more a fan of fun choices n sza n dua lipa are so much more interesting to me even though I haven't listened that much to either. But if there's been loads of drop outs etc it's just again a shame how Coldplay is the go to safe bet in such an interesting festival

[danbailey80]

2 minutes ago, Watergirl said:

Just saw a clip on Facebook from an American friend who saw Stevie Nicks last night. Her voice sounds absolutely fantastic.  I would really love if she was on the line-up.

Yep. Voice is incredible and she sings each song like she wrote it yesterday, telling each story. She’s one of the best voices I’ve ever seen. 
 

she’s not the legend slot (that’s Shania) but I’m hoping for a subbing Pyramid one night. 

[ace56blaa]

Anyway overall not complaining and Glastonbury does take more risks than other festivals but just guess it's just Coldplay that irks me. I get they do it for free cause they love the fest but come on lads you've done it enough let someone else have a turn. Or if you really wanna play again this year do a churn ups 

[waltere]

39 minutes ago, ace56blaa said:

There was 7 festivals between artic monkey appearances and people still thought that was a boring booking. 

Huge part of the difference being that, even speaking as firmly not a Coldplay fan, they can be relied upon to play a big, joyous, crowd pleaser of a show in a way that the Arctics can't

[MEGABOWL]

40 minutes ago, ace56blaa said:

Anyway overall not complaining and Glastonbury does take more risks than other festivals but just guess it's just Coldplay that irks me. I get they do it for free cause they love the fest but come on lads you've done it enough let someone else have a turn. Or if you really wanna play again this year do a churn ups 

They’d be mad not to book Coldplay. They’re basically the most reliable stadium fillers in the world. They aren’t even doing another UK gig this year let alone a festival. It’s 8 years since they last played (even putting aside how entitled the repeat booking complaints sound) and there will be thousands and thousands of people at Glastonbury in 2024 who weren’t there in 2016 or were there but went to something else (waves). They’ll fill the field, play all the hits and everyone will have a great time. 

[al_coholic]

2 hours ago, Crazyfool01 said:

Coldplay Dua sza is most likely . Dua seems pretty likely for sat but the other 2 could be switched potentially 

Why Dua for Sat, I would have thought she was nailed on for Friday like Billie. Then Coldplay down for Saturday like 2016 and whoever else for Sunday

[Spindles]

9 minutes ago, al_coholic said:

Why Dua for Sat, I would have thought she was nailed on for Friday like Billie. Then Coldplay down for Saturday like 2016 and whoever else for Sunday

Coldplay played on Sunday in 2016.

[FloopFiller]

9 minutes ago, al_coholic said:

Why Dua for Sat, I would have thought she was nailed on for Friday like Billie. Then Coldplay down for Saturday like 2016 and whoever else for Sunday

Reliable poster on here has said she’s doing the Saturday.

[northernangel]

19 minutes ago, MEGABOWL said:

They’d be mad not to book Coldplay. They’re basically the most reliable stadium fillers in the world. They aren’t even doing another UK gig this year let alone a festival. It’s 8 years since they last played (even putting aside how entitled the repeat booking complaints sound) and there will be thousands and thousands of people at Glastonbury in 2024 who weren’t there in 2016 or were there but went to something else (waves). They’ll fill the field, play all the hits and everyone will have a great time. 

I do want to see Coldplay one last time and if they make a point of decent staging etc anywhere it'll be at Glastonbury.

[al_coholic]

2 minutes ago, Spindles said:

Coldplay played on Sunday in 2016.

Yep my bad, forgot Adele was on Saturday

[august1]

Would it be fair to say this a better and riskier booking than O-Rod who has cut through to the wider public more?

First G headliner I feel totally out of the loop with

[albinolove]

12 hours ago, clasher said:

I'd argue this largely depends on a number of different factors, including (but not limited to) the size, pull, relevance, experience, live show quality, and amount of good material of both potential artists; when they played last and in what spot,...

And then there's the question of "better" for whom?
The festival? Giving a lift might be more contemporary or more "Glasto" whatever that means, but might hurt sales and/or public perception.
The "new" artist? Headlining Glasto and the exposure that brings can certainly be a nice leg up and accelerate the career. It can also backfire if the artist isn't yet up for the task. Most likely though it ends up in an okayish headline set and realization that headlining a smaller stage or subbing would probably still be the better way to go.

My point being - it's not a straight and clear yes (in general, not specifically talking about SZA and Kylie).

Dont forget the BBC element of it too. The artist has to be willing to have their show going out live on national TV and the Beeb will want a recognised name for their investment.

[incident]

7 minutes ago, albinolove said:

Dont forget the BBC element of it too. The artist has to be willing to have their show going out live on national TV and the Beeb will want a recognised name for their investment.

I don't know whether this is still this case or not.

But reasonably recently (within the past 10 years) we've heard that an artists inclination towards TV coverage isn't something that the Festival take into account when booking headliners - and that the BBC don't have any say in the matter or even know who's been booked until the deal is already done.

Though the other side of the coin (and why it probably doesn't matter so much) is one of the main reasons that artists of that stature are prepared to accept 10-20% of their normal fee is precisely because of the TV coverage. They know that they're going to get some fantastic looking footage broadcast live(ish) on the BBC, and subsequently syndicated around the world and shared across social media that will help drive interest levels and demand for their own shows.

[Suprefan]

2 hours ago, incident said:

I don't know whether this is still this case or not.

But reasonably recently (within the past 10 years) we've heard that an artists inclination towards TV coverage isn't something that the Festival take into account when booking headliners - and that the BBC don't have any say in the matter or even know who's been booked until the deal is already done.

Though the other side of the coin (and why it probably doesn't matter so much) is one of the main reasons that artists of that stature are prepared to accept 10-20% of their normal fee is precisely because of the TV coverage. They know that they're going to get some fantastic looking footage broadcast live(ish) on the BBC, and subsequently syndicated around the world and shared across social media that will help drive interest levels and demand for their own shows.

But its tough to get more buzz than you think about the performances when 99% of anyone interested cant just turn on iPlayer and watch in real time. It was a nice change of pace over the weekend when 6 Music Fest was actually region free on iPlayer.  This sh*t aint global unless you allow it to be from the get go. The fest is still gatekeeping on some level even though they shouldnt. You think if Taylor Swift ended up at the fest that the fanbase was going to be cool with being locked out? Hell to the no. The fest and BBC can take advantage of online audiences but seemingly dont want to.  Hell, they could make it PPV and people would pay. Seemed obvious when they did the live film despite the hiccups. But they see the demand and could generate more income for themselves. Funds could easily go to the charities. Why turn down millions.

Edited March 12 by Suprefan

[-TLR-]

8 hours ago, incident said:

TV coverage isn't something that the Festival take into account when booking headliners - and that the BBC don't have any say in the matter 

i don't believe this for a second - it gets worse every year but these days it seems that the main stages are run almost as a BBC reality show. i don't know why they don't just rename it the "BBC Glastonbury Festival" and be done with it.

 

6 hours ago, Suprefan said:

Hell, they could make it PPV and people would pay. 

unfortunately, here in the UK, the BBC is already PPV - the only difference is you have no choice in the matter and you have to pay or you'll end up getting some enforcer banging on your door... whether you want to watch the f**king BBC or not.