Glastonbury 25

[Beedster]

This ^

[Beedster]

27 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

No, but if you walked into a pub today and heard him, you would laugh and walk out and wonder why they were paying him, you would only stay because he was someone, back in the day, not because of how he is now.

I don't know if him selling slightly more records than Nicki Minaj and slighly fewer than Maroon 5 means that he is someone to put on the main stage at a place like glastonbury, especially when most of those records were decades ago. 

 

I was never a fan of 'aren't they doing well considering'. You get it a lot, for a lot of artists, I remember the cindi lauper one last time, 'oh she is doing well considering', no, she was f'ing terrible. Maybe it is because I take a performance on merit, not 'considering'. I am a huge rush fan and had a chance to see them at their final tour, but didn't, because Geddy Lee simply can't sing his stuff any more, so I am better off listing to the record, rather than going and thinking 'oh they did well considering'.

This ^

[Mickeyboro]

1 hour ago, casapete said:

One of them still touring I think? 

Woody Wood… if he wasn’t dead!

 

Actually, he aint!😂

[SteveXFR]

59 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

I don't know if him selling slightly more records than Nicki Minaj and slighly fewer than Maroon 5 means that he is someone to put on the main stage at a place like glastonbury, especially when most of those records were decades ago. 

 

 

Please don't bring Maroon 5 in to this. They really are the absolute worst. I'd honestly rather listen to Imagine Dragons or Kid Rock and I'd rather eat a fresh dog egg than listen to either of them.

[MichaelDean]

23 hours ago, Buddster said:

Question to anyone who's been, and been to one of the main stages. How annoying are the flags? It just looks like, in some places all you'll see is the back of a flag, or sea of poles. 

Suuuuuper annoying when they're in front of the stage. If you're up the hill on Pyramid, you can't see anything happening on stage.

 

Conversely, they're also super helpful when trying to find crowd as a landmark. 

[SteveXFR]

They never used to bother me but I always avoided the Pyramid stage which is located in front of a hill so they probably are more of a distraction there. 

 

[Woodinblack]

23 minutes ago, SteveXFR said:

Please don't bring Maroon 5 in to this. They really are the absolute worst.

 

Honestly I couldn't point to one Maroon 5 song, I just noticed in the list of most albums sold, they were above rod stewart (and fleetwood mac - colour me surprised).

[MichaelDean]

I'm still so tired. Only one day where I did less than 30,000 steps. Drove home after Olivia Rodrigo last night, in bed after a shower by 2am, then the cat was yelling in my face for breakfast by 8am 😴

 

I think all of the best performances were from bands who really wanted to be there. Those that seemed indifferent were just putting in sub-par performances.

 

DISCLAIMER: All views are mine and are not an attack on your musical tastes!

 

Friday

Super grass

Fine. They played well, but never got anyone really going. I think most people in the crowd (including myself) only know their chart hits rather than anything else, and the material wasn't exciting enough to draw people in. 

 

CMAT

She brought it! I hadn't heard her previously, but her and the band were putting out fun vibes that had everyone moving. 

 

Wet Leg

Didn't think they did that well to be honest. Seemed a bit boring. Just didn't draw me in, didn't seem that excited to be there or were too cool for school. I was so drawn in by their 2022 performance. This left me cold and I wish I'd gone up to The Park to see English Teacher instead. 

 

Lewis Capaldi

Saw him in 2023 when he had to finish early. Didn't realise at the time, but it was a good performance. Have since watched the documentary and he seems like a lovely bloke. Very emotional set on a pretty packed pyramid field. 

 

Alanis Morrisette 

Banger after banger. Loved that Les Paul bass too. 

 

Biffy Clyro

It was a really good performance. Would hate to be their guitar tech though. Changing out lots of sweaty guitars wouldn't be my idea of a fun Friday night! 

 

Maribou State 

Really interesting to watch. They had loved instruments to replace samples from their songs, great singer they brought in. Really surprised me how much I enjoyed their set. Chilled but upbeat. No notes. 

[SteveXFR]

7 minutes ago, MichaelDean said:

Biffy Clyro

It was a really good performance. Would hate to be their guitar tech though. Changing out lots of sweaty guitars wouldn't be my idea of a fun Friday night! 

 

They were excellent. I saw them about 15 years ago and it looks like they've lost none of their energy. 

I'd take being their guitar tech over being Matt Pikes, scraping the gut sweat of his guitars every night. 

[MichaelDean]

Saturday

The Amazons

I heard one track that I thought might be cool, so thought I'd check them out. 90% there on being great, but there's just an element missing. The songs had good elements, but perhaps needed a bit of producing to smoothing things out. Wouldn't watch again. Nice custom Jag bass with a wide range humbucker in the p position and a great tone. Also used a bass VI for a while, but I'm not sure why. 

 

Bess Atwell

She's popped up on lots of playlists of mine. I really enjoyed her, but you won't find it on iPlayer because she was on Avalon. 

 

Japanese Breakfast 

Enjoyed this lot. There were a few songs in the middle that were a bit samey, but they came out the other end. The singer had a gong that she used for one song, and liked so pleased to be using it. 

 

Weezer

These guys know how to do a festival slot. Play all of the hits, I was singing along to everything. 10/10 for me!

 

John Fogerty 

We caught the end of his set after Weezer. For an 80 year old, he's great. Was so happy to be there, cracking band too. Blue checked Les Paul was on point. 

 

TV On The Radio

I've been listening to this lot for 15-ish years, which is about when they stopped performing.oved seeing them live. Much heavier in person than on record. Lovely stuff. 

 

Father John Misty

Oooof. You stepped into his world for that performance. He stayed in character for the whole gig. Top quote: 

"Is anybody here spiralling? Can I give you some advice? Disassociate completely. Works for me."

😂

 

Neil Young

We knew his set was going to be self indulgent, but fu*king hell. Not every song needs a 3-5 minute jam on it. It was the quietest I've seen the pyramid all weekend. Really didn't work. 

 

Doechi

Energetic performance. It was good, but not my cup of hip hop tea. A bit too over sexualised for me. 

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, Woodinblack said:

I am better off listing to the record, rather than going and thinking 'oh they did well considering'.

 

I thought that about Neil Young.

 

I was wrong .  

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, Woodinblack said:

I am better off listing to the record, rather than going and thinking 'oh they did well considering'.

 

I thought that about Neil Young.

 

I was wrong .  

[la bam]

Rod was OK to be fair. I thought he did well and he looked like he enjoyed it which rubbed off on the crowd.

 

I can't understand with a catalogue as big as his why he started with 3 ones that nearly lost everyone?? Then kicked into gear... 

 

Also, the interludes were confusing to say the least. Songs written and performed by other people originally now being sung by female singers whilst he was off stage?? 

 

And to bring on help when he needed a rest - 65 year old mick hucknell and 70 odd year old lulu!

 

I thought Ronnie did great and he looked like he was loving it! 

[MichaelDean]

Sunday 

Celeste

Good but she was a bit peeved that she hadn't been asked to play before. Came off as a bit arrogant. 

 

The Libertines 

Fine. Not that exciting. Left to see...

 

Sprints

A ruddy good band. Their set was energetic and tight. No notes. Brought in Kate Nash for a cover. Excellent tone from a Hagstrom Viking bass. Might have been my favourite bass tone of the weekend. 

 

Rod Stewart 

Bad. Really bad. Had to leave. He wasn't in tune, neither were his backing singers most of the time. Though I do wonder if their singing ability was the reason that they were hired. 

 

Goat

Good at what they do, but after I think three songs and 20 minutes, I was bored. Not for me.

 

St Vincent

Wow. She really goes for it. A big performance, all executed perfectly too. Big stage persona compared to when I played on the same lineup 16ish years ago. 

 

Wolf Alice 

I really enjoyed them. I was looking forward to their set and they didn't disappoint. 

 

Olivia Rodrigo 

My wife really wanted to see her and I'm glad we did. She really put on a great show and it was a lot heavier than I as expecting. 

 

[Misdee]

Everyone, especially the BBC, keeps going on about how"emotional" Lewis Capaldi's set was. Of course he was emotional! He'd  just had his kebab wrestled away, been dragged out of the catering tent and forced to perform.

[stingrayPete1977]

2 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Geddy Lee simply can't sing

For me he never could.

[Woodinblack]

Just now, stingrayPete1977 said:

For me he never could.

 

In which case its easy, but for me it was my favourite group, so the change is not something I can put up with. Same reason I didn't go to see the last genesis gig.

[casapete]

My take on the Rod Stewart set.

 

Agree lots of vocal stuff wasn’t in tune, and he’s certainly showing his age now. He’s been a bit

embarrassing in his performances for a few years, and I have no idea why ( with such a wide

back catalogue ) he decided to do stuff like ‘Love Train’. Re the girl singers doing a song mid-set,

that was probably to facilitate him changing and having a blast of oxygen or whatever he takes

to do a 90 min set! Also I certainly don’t agree with his recent political comments in the press,

or many of his other views TBH. Plus all the Celtic / Scottish stuff gets a bit tiresome from

someone born in London, albeit with a Scottish father. 

BUT! 
I’ve seen worse Glastonbury ‘Legend’ sets over the years by other artists who proved to be as

disappointing, including one or two who mimed / used backing tracks. Rod’s band were 

pretty good ( despite all the bass and guitar changes etc ), and more importantly were all

playing live. Too many girl singers maybe, to help cover his now limited range, but this is

how he works these days - if it seemed a bit Vegas it’s because that’s what he’s been doing recently.

Past years have seen others doing this - Dolly, Barry Gibb, Shania etc etc. It’s meant to be 

cheesy and nostalgic, a gentle piss take maybe but most of all FUN. On that basis, it was okay! 

 

Edited 4 hours ago by casapete

[stingrayPete1977]

The massive crowd appeared to enjoy it and that's what counts over a few grumpy bass players.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

8 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

Someone advised me to watch the turnstile set. Future of metal apparently. All excited I put it on expecting some aggressive guitars, heavy drumming and angry vocals. What I heard is what I would imagine the elevator music at the Kerrang offices sounds like.

I've never heard of Turnstile but, considering the last two "future of metal" bands I was told about were Linkin Park and Sleep Token, I reckon I'll give them a miss 😆

[Bluewine]

On 25/06/2025 at 10:34, KK Jale said:

I think I went about 12 years in total spread between 1985 and 2002. Good times.
 

This won't be news to anyone on here, but the Independent has an informative article about how Glasto is squeezing artists and workers.

 

https://archive.ph/e8ump

 

We have Summerfest here in Milwaukee, world's largest music festival. 

 

The music industry has changed a lot since 1985. Summerfest is not the festival it used to be. 

 

How has Glastonbury changed since it started.

 

Daryl