Where Worlds Collide » Glastonbury

Glastonbury goes Beige

Tim Hall — Sat, 19 Mar 2016 19:45:47 +0000

Does this year’s Glastonbury main stage headliners of Muse, Coldplay and Adele represent the most corporate and beige lineup imaginable? I know Muse are a great live band, but they’re a very “safe” choice and have played Glastonbury many times. Nothing remotely out of Glastonbury’s comfort zone like Metallica or Kanye West this year.

Metallica at Glastonbury

Tim Hall — Mon, 12 May 2014 08:30:01 +0000

The much-leaked announcement that Metallica will be headlining Glastonbury has received predicably mixed reactions. There are indie kids terrified at the prospect of guitars being played loudly rather than strummed, and metal fans claiming Metallica would be wasted on Glastonbury’s audience. But while I have the greatest respect for Dom Lawson, I cannot agree with his assertion that it’s just another half-baked vanity project. If I didn’t know him better I’d have accused him of writing archetypcal Guardian clickbait.

Roskilde vs. Glastonbury

Tim Hall — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 19:10:29 +0000

The Glastonbury festival is one of those things that divides opinion amongst music fans. On one side there are those that complain that the bill is always far too corporate and indie-centric. On the other side there are those who dismiss the complainers as genre snobs, merely sneering at the mainstream from the sidelines.

The BBC have a lot to answer for. Their coverage always seems to contain far too much of the intensely annoying Jo Whiley fawning over the latest overrated three-chord wonder and far too little of the eclectic variety taking place across the many small stages. But it’s impossible to ignore the fact that rock and metal are very conspicuous by the absence from the festival.

So the bill of the Roskilde Festival in Denmark makes an interesting comparison with that of Glastonbury. There are many of the same names, but you’ll also see names like Iron Maiden, Mastodon, Slipknot and Judas Priest alongside the likes of Oasis and The Arctic Monkeys. It’s all but impossible to imagine any of the former making an appearance on the Glastonbury bill.

Does this reflect something fundamentally different about the music scene on the Continent?Â Are rock and metal seen as a part of the musical mainstream in a way they are not in Britain?Â Or does the British musical establishment of which Glastonbury is an important part just hate rock and metal?

The BBC and Festivals

Tim Hall — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:23:50 +0000

Since it’s that time of the year again, it’s time to ask that same old question. Why does the BBC always give blanket television coverage to the indie-dominated Glastonbury and Reading Festivals, yet completely ignores festivals like Download, Cropredy or High Voltage? Do they never realise that rock, metal and folk fans are TV licence payers as well?