In handing Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses and Elton John the prized slots, the festival has failed to live up to its own ideals
And lo, Glastonbury announces the 2023 main stage headliners, and it’s a blokefest. After Saturday night’s female headliner (rumoured to be Taylor Swift) dropped out, the Pyramid stage headliners became Arctic Monkeys on Friday, followed by Guns N’ Roses on Saturday, with Elton John on Sunday. While it doesn’t seem feasible that anti-female prejudice is involved, at the very least, how sloppy, how slapdash, it all is.
Whatever image it pushes, it’s been some time since Glastonbury was run by a bunch of hippies with a haycart and a dream. It’s a global multimillion-pound business; the British festival brand leader. It would – or should – have back-ups in mind should artists pull out.
