2025 Headliners

[jj200]

1 hour ago, itschris said:

Nick Grimshaw on todays sidetracked episode "i was told in November the headliners were going to be The 1975, Neil Young and Stevie Wonder and that it would be announced before X date, when X date came and went with no announcement I asked what was going on and was told "we are figuring things out with Stevie""

Perhaps Stevie wonder dropped out

[Suprefan]

On 18/03/2025 at 11:44, charlierc said:

So has Lollaplooza fully followed Coachella in becoming a post-rock festival?

 

Reminds me this with the way the Paris & Berlin line-ups of this festival have also given up on having rock on their bills.

 

Lolla is all about the money. They know how to spread out the big names to force you to go multiple days. They sold out of 4 day tickets already in an hour and now theres only singles left which have mostly sold out. Booking a K Pop act sells tons of tickets for them. Getting pop acts which have over priced solo tour tickets gets people

there. People do the math and see its cheaper to go to Lolla than seeing others solo. And city festivals allow a younger demo to attend. Its gonna be full of teenagers this year and its not gonna be pretty if the weather isnt pleasant.

[NorthernSoul52]

23 hours ago, Superscally said:

I like it when the gorilla plays it

There's a Hi-De-Hi! episode that ends with an animatronic gorilla in a cage, and this was all I could think of for a moment.

[NorthernSoul52]

18 hours ago, itschris said:

Nick Grimshaw on todays sidetracked episode "i was told in November the headliners were going to be The 1975, Neil Young and Stevie Wonder and that it would be announced before X date, when X date came and went with no announcement I asked what was going on and was told "we are figuring things out with Stevie""

Bloody hell. Two heritage acts and no female bill toppers? There would have been a lot of hand-wringing.

 

Kind of mad that's what he heard though. As far as I'm concerned, we all thought Rodrigo was locked in pretty early, no?

[jonnytee1]

30 minutes ago, NorthernSoul52 said:

Bloody hell. Two heritage acts and no female bill toppers? There would have been a lot of hand-wringing.

 

Kind of mad that's what he heard though. As far as I'm concerned, we all thought Rodrigo was locked in pretty early, no?

My thoughts exactly,  i just cant see that line up ever being true.

[northernangel]

46 minutes ago, NorthernSoul52 said:

Bloody hell. Two heritage acts and no female bill toppers? There would have been a lot of hand-wringing.

 

Kind of mad that's what he heard though. As far as I'm concerned, we all thought Rodrigo was locked in pretty early, no?

 

I don't think she was, we heard before Neil Youngs forced announcement that she wasn't locked in. And without Neil's day being confirmed, you never know how things might turn out. I think Neil and The 1975 were the only confirmed one's. 

 

16 hours ago, Suprefan said:

 

Lolla is all about the money. They know how to spread out the big names to force you to go multiple days. They sold out of 4 day tickets already in an hour and now theres only singles left which have mostly sold out. Booking a K Pop act sells tons of tickets for them. Getting pop acts which have over priced solo tour tickets gets people

there. People do the math and see its cheaper to go to Lolla than seeing others solo. And city festivals allow a younger demo to attend. Its gonna be full of teenagers this year and its not gonna be pretty if the weather isnt pleasant.

 

It always sells well though, as it's the Chicago festival. No other day aoart from Friday does any lifting there, but I appreciate I'm not 20 anymore either. An American festival though that is also 4 days again without Korn having the top main stage billing. There is definitely a pattern of festivals this year whereby some festivals have more options to go for because it doesn't stick to a certain genre. Others struggled and booked them higher....even delaying announcing them with no reason for it.

Edited March 21, 2025 by northernangel

[NorthernSoul52]

Ehhhhh, the Neil Young info kind of came out of nowhere. We had a few sources loosely mention it. Olivia Rodrigo was expected way before Christmas, if I remember correctly. There were double Rod jokes about it after the Legends Slot was announced.

[Skip997]

18 minutes ago, jonnytee1 said:

My thoughts exactly,  i just cant see that line up ever being true.

Having those three as headliners in 2025 would have warranted having the license withdrawn 

[incident]

5 minutes ago, NorthernSoul52 said:

Ehhhhh, the Neil Young info kind of came out of nowhere. We had a few sources loosely mention it. Olivia Rodrigo was expected way before Christmas, if I remember correctly. There were double Rod jokes about it after the Legends Slot was announced.

 

Yeah, absolutely, it looks extremely likely that she was at minimum pencilled in at least a year ahead given the way the Manchester dates were rescheduled. There may have been subsequent wrangling over the specifics of which day, and there may even have been a possibility that it could fall through due to something or other, but I absolutely don't buy that she replaced Stevie Wonder.

[northernangel]

4 minutes ago, NorthernSoul52 said:

Ehhhhh, the Neil Young info kind of came out of nowhere. We had a few sources loosely mention it. Olivia Rodrigo was expected way before Christmas, if I remember correctly. There were double Rod jokes about it after the Legends Slot was announced.

It depends where you were looking pal. Aside from efestivals and even infor mufcok had, there was reason to believe Neil was in the mix much earlier that that he's out/he's in phase.

 

The O-Rod being expected because of her tour dates is much different to ITK sources with information actually coming in much later for her. As I say, just going by efestivals you wouldn't hear so much about Neil. Even there, there was mention of what was actually got as clarifying information on Olivia then more came.

[NorthernSoul52]

I still just think Stevie wasn't interested. Seems perfectly reasonable.

[Superscally]

2 hours ago, NorthernSoul52 said:

There's a Hi-De-Hi! episode that ends with an animatronic gorilla in a cage, and this was all I could think of for a moment.

He was great in Trading Places too

[NorthernSoul52]

1 hour ago, Superscally said:

He was great in Trading Places too

That gorilla sure does get around.

[fraybentos1]

O Rod was clearly in from the get go imo.

 

the first Neil young info came from @mufcok regarding the legend slot. I wonder if they initially had bold hopes of securing that then getting Stevie to headline but that never happened. 

[northernangel]

5 hours ago, NorthernSoul52 said:

I still just think Stevie wasn't interested. Seems perfectly reasonable.

I don't either, one and done.

[CaledonianGonzo]

2 hours ago, fraybentos1 said:

O Rod was clearly in from the get go imo.

 

the first Neil young info came from @mufcok regarding the legend slot. I wonder if they initially had bold hopes of securing that then getting Stevie to headline but that never happened. 

 

Rod was announced more or less immediately after that so I doubt it.

[NorthernSoul52]

I mean, let's be fair - if Stevie is playing Lytham, I doubt he was ever in the conversation, as much as some might wish he was.

[Superscally]

33 minutes ago, NorthernSoul52 said:

I mean, let's be fair - if Stevie is playing Lytham, I doubt he was ever in the conversation, as much as some might wish he was.

I don't think that's relevant. He is also doing BST and in recent years the Strokes and George Ezra have both done it, both of whom could headline. This year they have KoL too. Along with the likes of Kylie, Rod and DiRo...

[NorthernSoul52]

9 minutes ago, Superscally said:

I don't think that's relevant. He is also doing BST and in recent years the Strokes and George Ezra have both done it, both of whom could headline. This year they have KoL too. Along with the likes of Kylie, Rod and DiRo...

I think you'd be pushing it to suggest The Strokes have been a Glastonbury headline-level band for a while there. And let us not forget there was plenty of hand-wringing over Kings of Leon potentially being a pick last year.

 

I'd argue that Lytham offers a step down for a certain calibre of act - certainly, we see Stevie Wonder as one hell of a coup for the festival - but I'd also argue it can make for a strange barometer. Glastonbury will likely be alert to other movements made by artists on their schedules - I cannot imagine they use Lytham as the obvious gauge.

 

It is so strange Wonder is doing Lytham and Manchester though. No stranger than Springsteen doing Liverpool and Manchester, perhaps, but still.

[Superscally]

2 minutes ago, NorthernSoul52 said:

I think you'd be pushing it to suggest The Strokes have been a Glastonbury headline-level band for a while there. And let us not forget there was plenty of hand-wringing over Kings of Leon potentially being a pick last year.

 

I'd argue that Lytham offers a step down for a certain calibre of act - certainly, we see Stevie Wonder as one hell of a coup for the festival - but I'd also argue it can make for a strange barometer. Glastonbury will likely be alert to other movements made by artists on their schedules - I cannot imagine they use Lytham as the obvious gauge.

 

It is so strange Wonder is doing Lytham and Manchester though. No stranger than Springsteen doing Liverpool and Manchester, perhaps, but still.

Strokes are deffo headline level and KoL are a bigger deal than the 1975...

[Suprefan]

9 hours ago, northernangel said:

 

I don't think she was, we heard before Neil Youngs forced announcement that she wasn't locked in. And without Neil's day being confirmed, you never know how things might turn out. I think Neil and The 1975 were the only confirmed one's. 

 

 

It always sells well though, as it's the Chicago festival. No other day aoart from Friday does any lifting there, but I appreciate I'm not 20 anymore either. An American festival though that is also 4 days again without Korn having the top main stage billing. There is definitely a pattern of festivals this year whereby some festivals have more options to go for because it doesn't stick to a certain genre. Others struggled and booked them higher....even delaying announcing them with no reason for it.

 

You dont just add 15,000 in capacity for shits and giggles. Youre trying to wring every cent out of people. And there were 3 festivals in Chicago and they all served their purpose. Now theyres essentially 2 if you dont want to include the genre niche ones.

[Suprefan]

9 hours ago, jonnytee1 said:

My thoughts exactly,  i just cant see that line up ever being true.

 

Considering who is in charge, yes, it wouldnt surprise me at all if this was the trio. They mustve sweetened the pot on Olivia. Its hilarious that they probably wouldve had 2 female headliners if Neil Young wasnt even a thought in their brain cause you easily could have Charli on Saturday night and nobody bats an eye. Or offer the slot to Sabrina. Theyll have some options in 2 years but its all about timing anyway.

[NorthernSoul52]

7 minutes ago, Superscally said:

Strokes are deffo headline level and KoL are a bigger deal than the 1975...

With the best will in the world, their last two London shows for The Strokes have been APE-level events rather than BST. They're topping the Other Stage at best, save on a poor year.

 

Kings of Leon, as a heritage headliner pick? Absolutely. On currency right now? Absolutely not. Last single to be certified was a 2016 release, and Can We Please Have Fun hasn't even been certified yet as an album.

 

Now, let me stress, people turning up for the older tunes is absolutely legitimate, and I do think they're still at the headline level. But that's aided as much by them being former headliners. I'm not sure if, in the current landscape and despite their massive success at the peak of their powers, they would get the first time nod now. The same goes for Stereophonics.

 

Saw KOL last year. Very much enjoyed it, would have been very happy to see them among the headline options this year. But not sure I can say they are a bigger deal as a going concern right now than The 1975 are.

[NorthernSoul52]

12 minutes ago, Suprefan said:

Or offer the slot to Sabrina. Theyll have some options in 2 years but its all about timing anyway.

She can go fight the SAW brigade again.

[northernangel]

26 minutes ago, Suprefan said:

 

You dont just add 15,000 in capacity for shits and giggles. Youre trying to wring every cent out of people. And there were 3 festivals in Chicago and they all served their purpose. Now theyres essentially 2 if you dont want to include the genre niche ones.

 

I forgot about Riot Fest but it's 40k, not 100k= daily so the difference between them is chalk and cheese!

43 minutes ago, Superscally said:

I don't think that's relevant. He is also doing BST and in recent years the Strokes and George Ezra have both done it, both of whom could headline. This year they have KoL too. Along with the likes of Kylie, Rod and DiRo...

 

Yeah I gotta agree with NorthernSoul here, The Strokes are far past being considered a Glastonbury headliner and I also think George Ezra is a struggle for one too. I like him and would be disappointed that they needed to stretch to him. The 1975 who I'm not that bothered about are a bigger deal now than all of KOL, George Ezra and The Strokes.