Former Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher doesn’t agree with Guns N’ Roses being the main stage headliner for the penultimate night of this year’s Glastonbury Festival on Saturday (June 24), suggesting a British band should’ve got that slot instead.
Always outspoken, Gallagher, now of his group Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, recently made his case against Guns N’ Roses. He also explained why he’ll be absent from this year’s Glastonbury.
Speaking to the U.K. tabloid the Daily Star’s “Wired” column, as NME and Yahoo! News subsequently reported, Gallagher said of his reaction to Guns N’ Roses’ headlining Glastonbury spot, “I thought, ‘What? Are you being serious? That’s crazy shit.'”
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He continued, “When you think of all the huge British artists who’ve had albums out this past year, having Guns N’ Roses headlining the Saturday is mad.”
To wit, the British rock band Arctic Monkeys are headlining the Glastonbury main stage on Friday (June 23). The British singer Elton John is the final main headliner on Sunday (June 25). And as it is a British-based festival, there have frequently been major British acts headlining.
But Gallagher has done this before. Over a decade ago now, he said that “people [weren’t] going to go” when the hip-hop artist Jay-Z headlined Glastonbury 2008. Jay-Z then trolled him by playing Oasis’ “Wonderwall” at the fest.
So Where Are the Birds This Year?
As for his solo act’s absence from the 2023 English music festival, Gallagher laid out, “I would have been smart to play Glastonbury this year. But I played it last year because I’d been booked to do it in 2020, and everything got pushed back.”
Alas, “There’s always next year to go back to Glastonbury,” he added. “I’m not going anywhere.”
How About an Oasis Gig at Glastonbury?
Perhaps a reunited Oasis could headline Glastonbury were they to get back together.
At one time the kings of Britpop, these days the Gallagher brothers — Noel and his Oasis lead vocalist brother, Liam — seem to have trouble even getting each other on the phone.
Earlier this month, reacting to things Liam has said, Noel put it all on the line in a radio interview, addressing his brother directly.
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“I fucking dare you to call me,” Noel said, as if speaking to Liam. “I dare you to call me. And you won’t call me because if you do call me, and I go, ‘Actually that’s a good idea, actually that might work,’ then the ass falls out of his trousers. Because then you’ve got to be in the same room with me. And we both know how that ends up.”
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