2027 Headliners

[rock_on]

On 27/10/2025 at 12:17, Euphoricape said:

Radiohead and foos both headlines the same year in 2017 though. Would they have 2 of the same headliners again? That's why I'm thinking only 1 of them for 2027.

 

No way we get three guitars bands in one year. These days there will be a mainstream pop artist as one of the other headliners if they book a guitar band. 

[CaledonianGonzo]

53 minutes ago, rock_on said:

 

No way we get three guitars bands in one year. These days there will be a mainstream pop artist as one of the other headliners if they book a guitar band. 

 

Three rock acts headlined in 2023.

[rock_on]

46 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

 

Three rock acts headlined in 2023.

 

Didn't realise Elton John was a 'guitar band'? 

[CaledonianGonzo]

1 hour ago, rock_on said:

 

Didn't realise Elton John was a 'guitar band'? 

 

I said rock act.  But Davey Johnstone's hardly some secondary sidekick. 

[rock_on]

20 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

 

I said rock act.  But Davey Johnstone's hardly some secondary sidekick. 

 

I said nothing about rock bands though - just guitar bands!!! Coldplay are an indie band anyway if were going down that route not a rock band, same for the Arctic Monkeys. Are you seriously trying to suggest Elton John isn't a 'mainstream pop star'? Come off it.

[CaledonianGonzo]

They're not mutually exclusive.  He's a mainstream pop star who largely owes his success to playing rock music.

[rock_on]

5 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

They're not mutually exclusive.  He's a mainstream pop star who largely owes his success to playing rock music.

 

I didn't say anything about rock music though - you've come up with that part, I just said we wouldn't get three guitar bands. Not all guitar bands are rock bands. There wasn't three guitar bands in 2023... and Elton John doesn't owe his success to rock unless you have a very broad definition of rock.

Edited November 2, 2025 by rock_on

[CaledonianGonzo]

Rock is a broad church, definitionally - and any survey of it certainly contains the likes of Pinball Wizard and Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting.

 

Besides, three guitar bands headlined the Pyramid this year.  I wouldn't call The 1975 a rock act, but they're certainly a guitar band.

[rock_on]

4 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

Rock is a broad church, definitionally - and any survey of it certainly contains the likes of Pinball Wizard and Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting.

 

Besides, three guitar bands headlined the Pyramid this year.  I wouldn't call The 1975 a rock act, but they're certainly a guitar band.

 

Elton's version of Pinball Wizard is pop as is Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting...

 

Olivia Rodrigo isn't a guitar band 🤣🤣 

Edited November 2, 2025 by rock_on

[CaledonianGonzo]

And yet when she headlined the Sunday she did it as part of a guitar bands.

[rock_on]

Just now, CaledonianGonzo said:

And yet when she headlined the Sunday she did it as part of a guitar bands.

 

Having guitarists doesn't make you a guitar band.... this isn't complicated and yet your somehow still missing the point...

[CaledonianGonzo]

 

[rock_on]

1 minute ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

 

 

And again... having guitarists does mean you're a guitar band!!!! I'm struggling with how else I can possibly phrase this...

 

Arctic  Monkeys, Coldplay, Biffy Clyro, Foo Fighters = guitar bands

Florence + The Machine, Olivia Rodrigo, Neil Young = performers who have guitarists

 

You get the idea... 

[CaledonianGonzo]

Crazy Horse aren't a guitar band?

[rock_on]

3 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

Crazy Horse aren't a guitar band?

 

They're a backing band for Neil Young who happen to use guitars not a "guitar band". This really isn't rocket science. 

[CaledonianGonzo]

Got it.  Crazy Horse are not a guitar band but Coldplay are.  The logic is watertight.

[rock_on]

7 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

Got it.  Crazy Horse are not a guitar band but Coldplay are.  The logic is watertight.

 

We're getting somewhere 🙂

[CaledonianGonzo]

And Crocodile Rock isn't rock.

[rock_on]

2 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

And Crocodile Rock isn't rock.

 

It's pop music, that's self-explanatory. Ask yourself whether an artists could headline or play at Download and then you can put them in the "is rock" category. Anything else is generally indie or pop music masquerading under the rock banner unjustifiably. 

Edited November 2, 2025 by rock_on

[CaledonianGonzo]

Are you sure you're not thinking of heavy metal? 

[rock_on]

2 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

Are you sure you're not thinking of heavy metal? 

 

Absolutely sure. Download isn't just heavy metal bands anyway, that's akin to saying only pop bands play at Glastonbury in terms of uninformed nonsense. The Hives, Reel Big Fish, QOTSA and Them Crooked Vultures have played Download - all rock bands not heavy metal bands - it's a broader church than you're giving it credit for. Coldplay and Arctic Monkeys as indie bands masquerading as rock will never play Download. 

[charlierc]

Pretty sure most people class indie as a form of rock music, no?

[CaledonianGonzo]

Wait - so rock music isn't just a homogeneous monolith?

[rock_on]

Just now, charlierc said:

Pretty sure most people class indie as a form of rock music, no?

 

Only uninformed people with poor taste in music and a lack of awareness around genres. Indie is a form of pop music. 

[clasher]

2 minutes ago, rock_on said:

 

Only uninformed people with poor taste in music and a lack of awareness around genres. Indie is a form of pop music. 

 

Of course, every informed person with good taste in music and an abundance of awareness around genres knows that inde rock bands playing guitar based music are the definition of pop. Duh. Do your own research.