This weekend should have seen thousands set up home at Glastonbury Festival but 2020 had other plans. In the spirit of what should have been, check out our Top Glastonbury Last Minute Chops and Changes
Every year there is a last-minute band, a last-minute slot or a last-minute change or at the very least...some last-minute event that ranges from getting a backup guitar from Johnny Marr to grabbing a canoe to survive the rain.
We’re going to start with Number 1 to save you scrolling down and then back up again…;-)
1. Fontaines DC got the last minute call up.
In 2019 Fontaines DC got a last-minute slot at the legendary John Peel Stage. Described by many as “a Glastonbury moment” the lads from Dublin took it in their stride and Johnny Marr lent them a backup guitar to help that stride.
https://therecordhub.com/collections/all/fontaines-d-c
2. The Kinks pull out.
Imagine - it’s the first ever Glasto, it’s the day after Jimi Hendrix died and your Marc Bolan from T-Rex. You get the call that headliners The Kinks aren’t bothered, so you’re top slot. The beginning of the festival to change all festivals.
https://therecordhub.com/products/vinyl-arthur-or-the-decline-and-fall-of-the-british-empire-the-kinks
3. LCD Soundsystem
...get back together from their hiatus just in time for 2016, and while Coldplay headline the Pyramid Stage, Daft Punk Is Playing at My House is playing at Other Stage.
https://therecordhub.com/collections/all/lcd-soundsystem
4. Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse surprised one unlucky (or lucky depending on how you roll) festival-goer with a last minute elbow to the head while plunging into the crowd to sing her last song Rehab. Security guards hauled her off and she never finished her set. The elbow-in-the-head-receiver didn’t complain though and nothing came of the matter.
5. Gorillaz replace U2
After Bono’s life threatening bike accident in Central Park, U2 had to pull out of their headline set at Glastonbury. It’s not to say that Gorillaz were a better option then the Irish legends, it’s more to say that when U2 finally did get to headline what was not only their first ever Glastonbury, but their first ever festival appearance. A whole new audience type only served to make them even better than the real thing.
https://therecordhub.com/search?type=product&q=u2
https://therecordhub.com/search?q=gorillaz%20
6. Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue
In 2013, the diminutive in size but massive in stature, Kylie Minogue strolled on to join the legendary Nick Cave for their duet Where the Wild Roses Grow.
Kylie was due to headline Glastonbury in 2005 but had to pull out due to a breast cancer diagnosis. The crowd were delighted to see her in 2013 for the duet, but nothing like 2019 when she got to do her own ‘legends slot’ on the Pyramid Stage. It was her moment, her day and of course her singing partner Nick Cave who strolled on to her stage to sing the duet...again.
7. Bowie
In 1971 Bowie rocked up with the hair flowing and in full Hunky Dory garb. He opened with Oh You Pretty Things and closed with Song by Bob Dylan.
At the time he had just written Changes.
What a man.
Fast forward 29 years later and he’s back at Glasto this time with even better flowing locks and a no doubt, far more expensive outfit that harked back to his 1971 appearance.
The entire show is set to be on telly this weekend.
The entire show reminded the world who its real megastar is / was.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000kjlh
8. Macca show shows he still breaks boundaries
When the legendary Beatle played in 2004 complete in a Sgt Pepper style tunic you’d never have thought he’d have to cough up a grand to pay a fine for his set going on too long. But yes, as if to rubber stamp his rebel rock’n’roll chops the local council fined him for going past his curfew!
This year McCartney was on the bill to headline Glastonbury’s 50th anniversary festival but sadly due to COVID-19 we are all going to have to wait.
https://therecordhub.com/search?type=product&q=the+beatles
9. Jay Z brings Hip Hop to Glastonbury in 2008 and Beyoncé in 2011
The Glasto purists said it should never happen, Hip Hop was not a Glastonbury thing and should stick to its own. A state of mind championed at the time by Oasis legend Noel Gallagher.
Not much point in staying that to the giant that is Jay Z. He put his nerves where they belonged and opened with his own rendition of Wonderwall and Hip Hop took its rightful place in Glastonbury history.|
In 2011 his wife Beyoncé got everyone to dance to the hand when she became the first female to headline the Pyramid Stage in 20 years.
https://therecordhub.com/search?type=product&q=jay-z
https://therecordhub.com/products/vinyl-lemonade-beyonce
10. Pulp & The Stone Roses
Only Jarvis Cocker could pull off the greatest last minute stunt of all time...no it’s not the infamous bum waving move at Michael Jackon’s Brit Awards performance. It’s being called upon at the last moment to replace Manc favourites The Stone Roses headlining Pyramid Stage slot as John Squire had broken his collarbone.
Big shoes to fill, no problem to Jarvis and his own legendary band from Sheffield.
The Stone Roses, sadly, never played Glastonbury.
https://therecordhub.com/products/vinyl-the-stone-roses-the-stone-roses
11. Who outplayed them all?
Coldplay have headlined Glastonbury the most, The Killers are allegedly the band with the loudest ever set...but it's our own Van Morrison who has really notched up the appearances…
Van has played the festival a whopping seven times: 1982, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1997 and 2005!
https://therecordhub.com/search?type=product&q=coldplay
https://therecordhub.com/search?type=product&q=the+killers
https://therecordhub.com/search?q=van%20morrison
The Levellers
According to the NME it is The Levellers who, in 1994, had the biggest crowd come to see them. In their defences, no one is really sure how those numbers were counted but sure we’ll let them have the accolade anyway...
