Not, that I’ll be going, but I can’t see much to set the pulse racing here. Anyone you’ll make the effort for, or at least check out on iPlayer? I suspect that a s usual it will be the acts I had never heard of before that I enjoy the most.
Glastonbury acts announced
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FRED AGAIN
FRED AGAIN
FRED AGAIN
FRED AGAIN
If anyone goes to the festival and doesn’t see Fred Again, they’re dead to me.
(The headliners also look pretty dope).
That name did pop out after I heard his Frank Ocean remix. Any chance you could you go and report back?
I am sorely tempted, but regrettably I’m out of the country that weekend. Will have to settle for watching it on iPlayer and seething with jealousy.
Here’s a great clip of Fred x Frank x Moderat x Sabrina. So good.
That was the only act that I saw in the list and thought I would be sure to see if I were going – largely due to your reports from his live shows and the accompanying video clips
Cat Stevens. I’ve never seen him live, although I did the sound when he came to my uni (when he was Yusuf) about the evils of the West.
I must surely have told this tale on here before… when I pulled out my Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat LP sleeves and asked him to sign them, he told me to F*** off and stormed out.
Did you expect anything else?
Not really, which is why I waited until he’d finished telling us all how we were hell-bound, he was putting his coat on, and I was breaking the rig down. This was around 1990, give or take a year. I did start with “I think it’s a shame you won’t be doing Cat Stevens songs again, because I think these are brilliant.”
From the fact that he has been performing as Cat Stevens again for a few years, I’m guessing he needs more than his pension and the lecture circuit fees to live on.
Yes the /Cat Stevens add on is a bit lame. Decide who you are!
Schrödinger’s Legend.
I also bumped into him doing a lecture at university, didn’t have the courage to talk to him or ask for an autograph!
Nice Cat.
I think Elton could be pretty good actually.
Ahm Dill Dandin!!
He could form a supergroup with Axl and Slash –
Gums and Thromboses
I’ve just seen the poster but I’m trying to guess which one is the legend act!
Cat Stephens, according to a Twitter account called TheGlastoThingy , though I would have said he lacks the necessary element of cheese/camp for the role. The same Tweet suggested that G’n’R are substitutes for Taylor Swift who dropped out.
Blondie would be the obvious choice, Shirley..?
That was my first guess.
She hasn’t really ‘dropped out’, she’s smack in the middle of a humongous US stadium tour. I doubt that she would have committed to Glastonbury before the tour was announced last autumn.
Was just thinking that @johnw The usual format is the three headliners plus the Kylie/Barry Gibb and the rest in alphabetical order. Here, it looks like Elton is in the legend slot. This is important, not just for prestige – as Chart Music would have it, he is Elton F**king John – but also as a headliner you get to dig into your catalogue (witness Macca last year), whereas the Sunday evening slot has strong singalonga expectations – no deep cuts please..
My first guess was that it might be Sparks…. but in my mind they should be headlining!
Quite right! They would be ace.
Breaking news: They’ve apparently renamed the John Peel stage
Now ‘Woodsies’ https://www.nme.com/news/music/glastonbury-renames-john-peel-stage-ahead-of-2023-festival-3407694
The Vernon Kaye Stage?
Our survey said … err
Kowtowing to the morons. Obviously not decided by an enormous man in a black coat.
I fucking give up.
Sparks, Lizzo, and Thundercat would suit me.
Prepare yourselves for “epoch making historical performances” even if they did the exact same show a week earlier at the Syracuse Carrier Dome (other venues are available) 😉
Jo Whiley has Chat GBT working 24/7 on new superlatives as we speak..
I saw Blondie at Glasto 25 years ago and thought they looked old then. They must be ancient now
Best thing I saw all weekend mind you
Will Axl Rose manage to turn up on time for Guns?
Debbie Harry is 3 years older than my mum.
There’s no way my mum’s going to get up the steps to the main stage.
Born less then 2 months after VE Day, as I have just looked up.
They probably have lifts ….
One of my favourite pop facts is that Debbie Harry is older than Sandie Shaw.
Sandie Shaw still looks good. Work done or good genes?
Sandie Shaw has been a Buddhist since the mid-70s, so I think she’s looked after herself. Plus, never worn bad shoes.
I remember seeing this from 2012, and thinking “she’s looking well for someone a year older than my mum”.
What are you talking about? Your mum looks fabulous. Her perfect complexion and glossy hair take years off her.
😉
To be honest, it was Sandie’s pins which drew most of my attention.
My mum has never been a Buddhist, nor a pop star, has always worn shoes, and subsequently looks quite unlike Ms Shaw.
Gary Coleman out of Different Strokes also looks quite unlike Ms Shaw. Coincidence?
The first rule of holes…
Whatchu talkin’’bout, Gary?
@fentonsteve
Which is why you are fentonsrteve rather than Oedipussteve
Blondie are also playing Coachella in a little over 4 weeks’ time.
They felt impossibly old when they released Maria, and that was very nearly a quarter of a century ago. Reckon they’ll be a hugely fun act to watch though, with lots of crowd goodwill. Every halfway sane person loves Blondie.
Some good ‘uns in that lineup. Late nights expected. Last time I thought I’d started dreaming when I saw Idris on the decks, but he’s back again..
I’m actually going again, so have been making a careful study of the lineup.
Particular excitement for Boygenius, Bakar, Tale of Us, Underworld, Charlie XCX, Stick Figure, Los Bitchos, Weyes Blood, Christine & The Queens, actual Jai Paul (what a get!), 2manyDJs, Srae Sremmurd, Bjork, The Blaze, Soul Glo, Yves Tumour, Maceo Plex, Pusha T, Chemical Bros, Bad Bunny, Boris Brejcha, Frank Ocean and the Eric Prydz Holo show.
The latter looks completely insane.
Good man! Hope you have a blast, sir..
Cheers! Will of course report back if I see anything really good.
I saw Soul Glo last year in a small place in Bristol. I am pleased to report that it went off. Came home with some enormous bruises, and I would do it all again in a heartbeat.
Oh, excellent! They are super high on my list – the name alone would probably have made them worth a look, but the Bad Brains vibes had me utterly sold even before reading the above.
There was something very strange and unique to Blondie going on when they hit their straps in the late 70s. When they appeared on TV, with the exception of Clem Burke, the band would show off, do silly dances, pull faces and try to move into Debbie’s spotlight and so on.
Yes, Blondie is a BAND and all that palaver but they had a very special singer and there’s no point in undermining her presence (dear). She’s bloody Debbie Harry and you guys are not. Having said that, watching Clem Burke play was always fascinating too.
Jimmy Destri was cool for a while.
11.59.
And Clem Burke is the best rock drummer ever!
After Chris Sharrock from the Icies.
I love the Icicle Works the drumming was never part of the appreciation.
Which tracks illustrate his genius?
Pretty much anything in the first three albums.
Saw them about 7 or 8 years ago and they were fine. That’s a long time in your seventies though….
I saw them last year…a real pleasure to see genuine legends, albeit with a few ringers in for fallen comrades. Debbie’s voice certainly isn’t what it was, but she gets away with it through sheer chutzpah and Noo Yawk cool and will always be an iconic presence. Clem was reliably great, but the band were a bit ham-fisted to be honest, with too many songs being bludgeoned I to submission and too many needless and tedious rawk-out solos.
I’m seeing Clem a week tomorrow at the Lexington so good to hear he’s in good form.
I’m assuming this is what auto tune was really invented for.
This made me chuckle.
UFO for next years Sunday Classic slot
Phil mogg is 74!
74!!
Who knew!
I remember him as the young lead singer with Pete Way as the pissed up go to rock stars.
Makes the old Sounds buying days in Great Yarmouth seem like a couple of generations ago!
It does!
That is only 17 years older than us!
If I can do that at 74 I will be a happy man!
Qabout 50% of the acts could have been and perhaps were on the bill 20 years ago. Whether or not that is a good thing is a matter of opinion.
Nowt I would pay for, but a fair bit of “seeing as I am here” type stuff Hoping for more of interest further down the bill. There 3,462 stages, you know.
Ottawa Bluesfest line-up has also been announced. Some pretty big acts this year
https://ottawabluesfest.ca/artists/#/lineup/headliners
Black Deer much better and deer morons.
Just added Pretenders and Steve Earle.
I really watch any of it, mainly because the gurgling presenters are annoying and the shots of that huge crowd make me a bit anxious. Kylie was good.
… rarely….
The lineup is not listed alphabetically , so is it standing/ cred or drawing power?
If that be the case , why are the pedestrian Amadou and Mariam up near the top and Tinariwen near the bottom?
I am confuse.
It’s alphabetical below the top line.
And Lizzo is presumably listed with the headliners because otherwise it’s the dreaded all male panel.
Barbara Ellen has a wee rant about the sausagefest at the top of the Glastonbury bill in the Guardian today:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/05/glastonburys-blokefest-of-headliners-is-sloppy-slapdash-and-very-off-brand?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
She neglects to make the point that the bulk of the ace music of the last decade was made by women and liderally none of it was made by Guns & Roses..
Looking at the big names touring in 2023 it’s an all male list, apart from Taylor Swift. It’s not like they can just pick who they want, there are limited options. It could be worse, it could be the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. 😳
Er – Beyonce, Madonna… 🤔
BIG names, dude – like Benedict Volpeliere-Pierrot..
I have to make a terrible confession: I don’t really care if the top of the bill is all male.
It’s clear that Glastonbury, as an organisation, are alive to this stuff. They’re not just out there booking purely dudes as a matter of choice. If they went for Taylor Swift and it fell through then fair enough. I’m sure it will balance out reasonably well over a longer period.
The Ellen article above strikes me as a bit performative. “If a major female headliner drops out, then get another major female headliner” – I’m really not sure these bookings work that way, it’s not a trip to the supermarket. Plus, if Lizzo is the answer, you’re almost certainly asking the wrong questions.
I’ll be interested to see how Guns N Roses get on. It feels like they haven’t been particularly relevant for a long time, and I have no idea how they are live in 2023.
But the Glastonbury headline slot very often isn’t about relevance – it’s about finding acts who are used to playing to very large crowds and who have the necessary material to destroy. I can see it working out pretty well from that perspective – besides which, it seems a relatively iron law that every year people cast doubt on at least one Glastonbury headliner, and every year they seem to pull it off regardless.
But it is already sold out. They could have made Lizzo a headliner and she would do fine in that position. Seems to be more about media publicity (why?) and ego of people like Reg. Who I am sure will perform a fine, relatively perfunctory set and then bask in the glory of a “legendary performance” and “one of the greatest ever headliners”.
I’m sure people will have a great time listening to Elton. Equally sure a few will get carried away with the quality/significance of the headline performance, much as last year. It’s all part of the fun.
Globally, the TV stream of Elton’s spot is going to get massive numbers.
I suspect they are looking just as much to the streaming figures as the actual live performances when it comes to choosing headliners, if not more
Is it shown outside the UK? Not over here I don’t think
And Lizzo would be the bigger worldwide act these days anyway. Not sure the order in which they go on stage would make much difference anyway
I guess it really depends on how one interprets “bigger”.
Oh no, you went there.
Sausagefest on three quarters of the top line, but I counted 15 female*, or female-fronted acts (and quite a few I’m not sure of – I am 53, you know). I think Texas played the last time I went in… 2000. Crikey.
The only thing I’d say is, having gone for more than a decade, I rarely ever watched anything on the two listed main stages – always something better going on on one of the multitude of smaller stages.
(*) is Christine & The Queens / Redcar now considered to be a female act? I find modern life very confusing.
Never been. Never watched. From hippies to bien pensants in what seems like the flash of vegan friendly buckskin tassle. Eurgh.
If nothing takes your fancy at the festival 9or with the BBC coverage) Jim Bob will be recreating his Carter USM’s 1992 headlining set-
https://www.nme.com/news/music/carter-the-unstoppable-sex-machine-to-recreate-infamous-glastonbury-1992-headline-set-on-youtube-3457949
I remember nothing about the controversy at the time, was this the same year they rushed Philip Schofield at the Brits?