(07-26-2005) Eavis vs. U2 -- Launch*

[dsmith2904]

Eavis vs. U2

Michael Eavis has labelled U2 "blighters" and revealed it's unlikely they'll ever play the Glastonbury Festival.

The festival head honcho is said to have spoken about the ongoing discussions he held with the Irish rock legends about playing last month's event at the Port Eliot literary festival recently.

Eavis apparently claimed Bono and co, who were on a world tour at the time of this year's Glastonbury, "really mucked me about", as he sought to finalise the bill, reports Playlouder.

Eavis also revealed that in the days before the ring of steel that now circles the Somerset site, he used to let people into the festival for free, rather than see them locked out.

He explained: "I used to go round the festival in the middle of the night and remove panels to let people in. Better in than out, I thought we had loads of space. I did it at 2am."

The Glastonbury Festival takes a year off in 2006.

--Launch

More on Eavis, U2 and Glastonbury available from XFM.

 

[Nube Gris]

i dont fucking care about that festival

 

[Mullen4Prez]

I do!

 

[matt76]

i dont fucking care about that festival

Language!!!

 

[DPrinceNY]

whats so special about this festival?

 

[corner]

That sounds harsh...I wonder what Bono and co. did (or didn't do) to piss Eavis off. He makes it sound like U2 have taken a collective dump in his coffee. It's a shame really cos U2 @ Glastonbury would be

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

whats so special about this festival?

Are you that ignorant??

 

[corner]

whats so special about this festival?

Exactly!!!! Especially if U2 won't be playing......

Just in case you're not taking the piss though, Glastonbury is one of the biggest, if not THE biggest and best festivals in the world.


Ooooh.....maybe I shouldn't have posted that

 

[dsmith2904]

Are you that ignorant??

Please be nice.

 

[dsmith2904]

whats so special about this festival?

It's like the biggest music festival in the UK, pretty much every band/artist of merit has played at it--from Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson to The Killers and The White Stripes. Kylie was supposed to headline this year but had to pull out because of her battle with breast cancer.

 

[ShellBeThere]

I know next to nothing about the Glastonbury Festival, and don't doubt it's great...but doesn't this little blurb make it sound like this organizer guy is pissed because he feels like U2 strung him along? That they said they'd do it, seemed they were going to, then changed their mind last minute?
Is this guy always so....unmeasured...in his response? Or is he usually cool but U2 really pissed him off. I don't imagine they'd be going out their way to accomodate him if he goes around calling em names and all, so either he's a bit of a blowhard or he has decided to burn a bridge bigtime or (it feels like this is the less likely given that he implies they mucked him about last minute) they said nevermind we never ever ever want to play in your sandbox.

 

[Diane L]

Michael Eavis sounds like a sorehead.

 

[corner]

Well it's his loss...

oh...and the 150,000 or so punters who'll be going.

 

[nbcrusader]

Eavis and his sour grapes

 

[U2FanPeter]

I have a feeling Clear Channel wouldn't "let" u2 perform at Glastonbury. It would be problematic to CC bottom line in several different ways. Glasto headliners only get 100,000 pounds for full sets - given the nature of the event - and u2 make many times that on solo gigs.

CC then slated them to be in Dublin the same weekend as Glastonbury to stop any plans for Glasto - The Dublin dates were finalised after it was confirmed Glasto was a pass.

Other problems include TV rights. They also may not have controls over film angles.

Lastly, U2 have not performed a full set without their own stage since 1985?

u2fp

BTW, Adam has attended Glastonbury many times - why is he not returned the favour?

 

[Bono's shades]

Does Clear Channel have THAT much control over where U2 plays? That's a little scary.

 

[Jamila]

I hope not, Bono's Shades.

Still, another "much ado about nothing" piece of journalism.

Glastonbury is the big loser in this battle.

 

[u2girlcj]

^ditto.
It just sounds as though they (U2) were trying to make something work, and it ended up that it couldn't. I mean, they're on their tour for God's sake! Perhaps Eavis shouldn't have put all his eggs in one basket and then he wouldn't be so stressed about it not working out. No need to make such a stink.

 

[kimby]

This is old news...another article about this subject was posted here on June 26!

 

[ShellBeThere]

yeah, sounds like major sour grapes, to the detriment of everyone.
Did this Eavis guy have a shit festival this year and he's "blaming" it on U2 not being able to play it? Again, its perhaps unfair of me because what the hell do I know but he sounds just sort of nastily impatient with the oh-yeah-well-you're-not-invited-after-all drama that it musn't be very fun to work with him. And the little i'm-assuming-pretend populist coda of removing the fences to let the folk in feels ego-feeding crap too somehow...maybe he's truly a man of the people but the 'rampage' feels like a powertrip to me..
cheers!

 

[adam's_mistress]

A lot of you are making it sound like organizing the biggest festival in the world (that also donates a lot of money to charity) is a simple thing to do. A lot of acts have to be booked and there's a lot of red tape that has to be gone through. Eavis has a business to run and a lot of acts to book, just as much as U2 have a business to run with a lot of shows to play around the world.

It wasn't right for Eavis to slag the band off like he did, and I'm sure there's a lot more to this story than we know. Think how much it would suck if getting a bad like U2 was nearly a done deal, you have hundreds and thousands of fans eagerly awaiting to see U2 at Glasto, then things fell through. Can't blame the man for having sour grapes but I think this isn't necessarily the sole fault of U2.

Needless to say, one of the greatest festivals went on quite happily without U2, and will continute to do so as they've always done ever since the days when the fences were broke to let people in for free. Rain or shine, and plenty of mud and windstorms to boot. It's really too bad U2 couldn't play at Glasto this year. Neither party is really known for holding a grudge. Perhaps another year.

 

[Lo-Fi]

I was never a fan of the idea of u2 playing Glasto, I've never liked it as a festival. I prefer them playing their own shows and doing their own thing than have to play it down to do a festival.

 

[U2FanPeter]

U2 isone of the few contempory group that have yet to play this festival.

Eavis has likely wanted to get them for 25 years.

U2 members have attended the shows, they want to play the show - why have they not?

u2fp

 

[blueeyedgirl]

I like how everyone automatically takes U2's side and dumps on MIchael Eavis.

Eavis has built Glastonbury from being a folkie festival into the most important music festival in the world, in many people's opinions, not just mine. Many bands have taken the jump from "indie" to major by playing Glastonbury. I actually think U2 shouldn't play Glastonbury because they are too big now. And I don't think Glastonbury needs U2. It would ruin Glastonbury's current ethos. Actually having Kylie would've sucked.

 

[corner]

Why should the suitabilty of a band depend on its size? The very nature of Glastonbury attracts and thrives on HUGE acts playing there.

 

[beau2ifulday]

I like how everyone automatically takes U2's side and dumps on MIchael Eavis.

Yeah, i'm inclined to feel that way after reading the responses.
There's probably fault on both parts here, but Eavis has been trying to secure U2 for so long now - years and years. If they've messed him around as much as they seem to have, then I think his pissed off-ness is pretty justified

 

[sue4u2]

Yeah, i'm inclined to feel that way after reading the responses.
There's probably fault on both parts here, but Eavis has been trying to secure U2 for so long now - years and years. If they've messed him around as much as they seem to have, then I think his pissed off-ness is pretty justified

True, if that indeed is what happened.
In any respect, why would you want to burn that (U2) bridge, ever?