Headliners 2023

[clarkete]

2 hours ago, mjfiddy said:

Shout out to the June 24th birthday homies! See you at 5am by the truth stage ✊

Yay I've found a club I want to belong to. 

Is that staying up until 5am on 25th then? 

That's not something I've accomplished there for a year or two 😉

[BenG92]

GNR is gonna be a 3 hour show anyway. My plan right now is to watch the first 10 tracks which will include Welcome to the Jungle and Live & Let Die then bugger off elsewhere. Best of both worlds. 

[Zoo Music Girl]

8 minutes ago, Hugh Jass II said:

I've been so many times now that I'm always happy to see a headliner I haven't seen before.

Would much rather take a chance on GnR potentially smashing it or being shite than stand through Coldplay/Muse/Arctic Monkeys yet again.

I've successfully avoided the three house bands this far, so no reason to stop now!

[Skip997]

37 minutes ago, kalifire said:

 Where do GnR stand on that, @Skip997? 

Certainly were a dangerous bunch in their youth.

[Neil]

4 minutes ago, BenG92 said:

GNR is gonna be a 3 hour show anyway.

slow torture 😛

 

 

[Hugh Jass II]

5 minutes ago, BenG92 said:

GNR is gonna be a 3 hour show anyway. 

Is that how long it takes Axl to get on stage these days?

[Neil]

1 minute ago, Hugh Jass II said:

Is that how long it takes Axl to get on stage these days?

the long set is to cover the over-run.

[BenG92]

2 minutes ago, Hugh Jass II said:

Is that how long it takes Axl to get on stage these days?

6 covers and at least as many guitar solos while Axl has a sit down. 

[DeanoL]

36 minutes ago, Neil said:

 

not correct, the viewing ramps are not particularly accessible.

I meant the arenas were more accessible than the festival.

28 minutes ago, BenG92 said:

1 support act total for those particular gigs actually, but of course that's going to fluctuate all over the place. Could do a day festival for £90 and see 8 bands. Thing is, so is Glasto, the 21 was just someone sitting at the Pyramid all day Fri-Sun and then going to bed. Could be twice that if you've got the stomach. 

Obviously it's never gonna be possible to calculate that value precisely when you factor every other expense in, but I think when you really look at what gigs are going to cost moving forward, festivals are looking better and better value. AM / GNR / Elton alone will run you £320 without breaking a sweat, and yes, those acts aren't for everyone, but even one of them plus another ~20 acts?

Well yeah, that's exact reason I'm going this year. One of them (Elton for me) plus the rest of the line-up brings the value in. But the point being if you're not interested in any of the three, it's a lot tougher. And if this was AM/GNR/Taylor we'd be putting our tickets back in the pot for Matt.

Because the festival prices have shot up, and the cost of seeing those headliners elsewhere has shot up, but the cost of gigs in the middle hasn't had quite such a hike, and at the low end, and in comedy/circus, barely gone up at all.

I dunno, I've been on this forum since Glastonbury was always without fail the best weekend of my year. It's not any more. I enjoy it. Last year was good, but honestly, I enjoyed my weekend at Machynlleth Comedy Festival even more. 

(Also worth noting: I don't really drink, so the other big cost saver for Glastonbury - cheaper booze - doesn't factor in for me)

Edited January 5, 2023 by DeanoL

[SpencerF]

AM and GnR are incredibly uninspired and underwhelming, I'm shocked we don't have at least one female headliner - I agree with the sentiment that they really must have ran out of options this year. While AM are GnR are undoubtedly big names, stature alone doesn't warrant a place headlining the pyramid.

Genuinely believe AM might be one of the most overrated acts ever,  they had a certain 'cool, nostalgic' indie vibe that most teenagers can relate to/want to be able to relate to in some way and have literally produced no album of any real top quality since 'FWN'. Their last couple have been nothing short of poor, pretentious bores and their recent setlists don't look much better. 

GnR are again huge, but I genuinely think if you ask the majority of the population to name more than a handful of their songs, most couldn't do it. Obviously they've got hits, but recent poor performances and lack of a fleshed out, widely known setlist that everyone can get excited about indicates to me that it's clearly a poor choice. I like some of their songs, but not enough to justify standing there for hours getting through loads of back catalogue I - and I'm assuming the majority - have no interest in. 

Will happily be elsewhere, but it's always nice to be excited by the main 3 which unfortunately isn't the case this year. More time for beer runs though!

[Hugh Jass II]

4 minutes ago, SpencerF said:

 

GnR are again huge, but I genuinely think if you ask the majority of the population to name more than a handful of their songs, most couldn't do it.

How many Billie/Stormzy/Kendrick songs do you think they could name?

[Joshuwarr]

4 minutes ago, SpencerF said:

AM and GnR are incredibly uninspired and underwhelming, I'm shocked we don't have at least one female headliner - I agree with the sentiment that they really must have ran out of options this year. While AM are GnR are undoubtedly big names, stature alone doesn't warrant a place headlining the pyramid.

Genuinely believe AM might be one of the most overrated acts ever,  they had a certain 'cool, nostalgic' indie vibe that most teenagers can relate to/want to be able to relate to in some way and have literally produced no album of any real top quality since 'FWN'. Their last couple have been nothing short of poor, pretentious bores and their recent setlists don't look much better. 

GnR are again huge, but I genuinely think if you ask the majority of the population to name more than a handful of their songs, most couldn't do it. Obviously they've got hits, but recent poor performances and lack of a fleshed out, widely known setlist that everyone can get excited about indicates to me that it's clearly a poor choice. I like some of their songs, but not enough to justify standing there for hours getting through loads of back catalogue I - and I'm assuming the majority - have no interest in. 

Will happily be elsewhere, but it's always nice to be excited by the main 3 which unfortunately isn't the case this year. More time for beer runs though!

This feels a bit harsh on AM. I can probably agree with you that its an uninspired choice and whilst you might not enjoy the two latest records, many of us still do (both were received very positive by critics too, not that it makes a difference). And the latest setlists seem to suggest only around a quarter of the songs even feature songs from those two albums.

[FloorFiller]

2 minutes ago, SpencerF said:

AM and GnR are incredibly uninspired and underwhelming, I'm shocked we don't have at least one female headliner - I agree with the sentiment that they really must have ran out of options this year. 

The pool of female acts who could headline is unfortunately pretty small, and of that pool I don’t think m/any are touring at all this year. Unfortunately just how it’s fallen and Glastonbury has had to look for other options, but I’d be shocked if Taylor, or failing that, Dua aren’t lined up for next year. 

[SpencerF]

4 minutes ago, Hugh Jass II said:

How many Billie/Stormzy/Kendrick songs do you think they could name?

Very dependent on age groups, I'm just assuming that festival goers are generally of a younger demographic and the older demographic are more likely to know modern acts due to radio time/being introduced to them by kids and such. To know much of GnR outside the big hitters, you'd actively have to go out of your way to dig into their discography

[Neil]

2 minutes ago, FloorFiller said:

The pool of female acts who could headline is unfortunately pretty small, and of that pool I don’t think m/any are touring at all this year.

not quite true as florence is doing some shows.

[SpencerF]

4 minutes ago, Joshuwarr said:

This feels a bit harsh on AM. I can probably agree with you that its an uninspired choice and whilst you might not enjoy the two latest records, many of us still do (both were received very positive by critics too, not that it makes a difference). And the latest setlists seem to suggest only around a quarter of the songs even feature songs from those two albums.

Yeah, I agree it's all subjective - I haven't liked much that they've released from Humbug onwards. The fact they've done the festival a couple times before, have only released poorer stuff since (imo) and STILL get booked to headline just makes it all the more disappointing personally.

[mjfiddy]

23 minutes ago, clarkete said:

Yay I've found a club I want to belong to. 

Is that staying up until 5am on 25th then? 

That's not something I've accomplished there for a year or two 😉

Please don’t make me follow through with this, it was all bluster to appear the big man… the definition of toxic masculinity

more than likely the same thing will happen as last year, I’ll get over excited early, be absolutely spangled by headliner time (to keep it on topic likely being away from the pyramid stage) and a complete body by 1am

saying that last Glasto Friday was my best ❤️

[SpencerF]

5 minutes ago, FloorFiller said:

The pool of female acts who could headline is unfortunately pretty small, and of that pool I don’t think m/any are touring at all this year. Unfortunately just how it’s fallen and Glastonbury has had to look for other options, but I’d be shocked if Taylor, or failing that, Dua aren’t lined up for next year. 

Yeah, it makes sense - it's a shame how it has timed itself. Still though, I would have expected Emily to try and pull something out of the hat considering how much she's brought up that issue before, I'm sure there would have been someone willing to do a one off show/touring around that time that would want to headline the biggest show of their career. 

Just makes 2024 look all the more promising from my point of view, I guess.

[incident]

1 minute ago, SpencerF said:

Very dependent on age groups, I'm just assuming that festival goers are generally of a younger demographic and the older demographic are more likely to know modern acts due to radio time/being introduced to them by kids and such.

The demographic at Glastonbury skews a lot older than at say Reading/Leeds/Boardmasters. I'd be pretty confident in saying that on balance average Glastonbury attendees will be more familiar with more GnR tunes than Billie or Kendrick tunes - whether that means they actually like them or want to see them or not is a whole different conversation though.

2 minutes ago, SpencerF said:

To know much of GnR outside the big hitters, you'd actively have to go out of your way to dig into their discography

It's very, very rare you couldn't say this about any headliner though.

[Gnomicide]

3 minutes ago, SpencerF said:

Very dependent on age groups, I'm just assuming that festival goers are generally of a younger demographic and the older demographic are more likely to know modern acts due to radio time/being introduced to them by kids and such. To know much of GnR outside the big hitters, you'd actively have to go out of your way to dig into their discography

The average age of Glastonbury attendees is 39.

[Supermerv]

8 minutes ago, FloorFiller said:

The pool of female acts who could headline is unfortunately pretty small, and of that pool I don’t think m/any are touring at all this year. Unfortunately just how it’s fallen and Glastonbury has had to look for other options, but I’d be shocked if Taylor, or failing that, Dua aren’t lined up for next year. 

Wasnt there also some speculation about Madonna touring this year?

[Jose Pose]

39 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

She'd be keen as mustard, just the festival have cold feet for some reason.

Sorry if I’m being whooshed here, but exactly about about her behaviour over the past couple of decades remotely suggests that? Unless of course you know her personally? 

[BenG92]

Pink would have been such a better Friday headliner. Was a possibility too before she added a second BST date but I don't think she plays 3 on the trot. 

[Florian Saucer Attack]

10 minutes ago, SpencerF said:

 To know much of GnR outside the big hitters, you'd actively have to go out of your way to dig into their discography

this is true for every recording artist ever

guns n roses only have 6 albums. You could easily listen to them all in a weekend

 

As I've mentioned before to really get into them, to be a Guns N Roses equivalent of a Swiftie all you have to to is listen to all of use your illusion 1 and 2 on repeat for 7 hours and then you will be all in

[mjfiddy]

3 minutes ago, SpencerF said:

Yeah, I agree it's all subjective - I haven't liked much that they've released from Humbug onwards. The fact they've done the festival a couple times before, have only released poorer stuff since (imo) and STILL get booked to headline just makes it all the more disappointing personally.

Selling out the emirates 3 days in a row and a bunch of other stadium dates show they still are a massive draw

Can argue that they’ve played before etc so uninspired, but then you’ve had Coldplay and Muse do the same, I’d take an AM booking over giving a leg up headline slot to the 1975.. there will always be these British bands who get the multiple headline sets in relatively close proximity.

but they still are a massive band by all metrics so it’s expected they’d be back this or in the next few years, and it’s impossible to know what went on behind the scenes with any of these bookings, well until we get to read Emily’s memoir!