May 26, 2010 14:31

Gorillaz to replace U2 as Glastonbury headliners

Damon Albarn is expected to bring an array of guests to festival

Photo: Andy Willsher

Gorillaz have been confirmed as the replacement headliners for U2 at this year's Glastonbury festival.

The announcement follows yesterday's (May 25) news that the Irish band have pulled out because of frontman Bono having back surgery.

Damon Albarn's band will play on the Pyramid Stage on June 25, a booking that was apparently secured after the band phoned organisers to offer their services.

The news was confirmed on Glastonburyfestivals.co.uk, with organiser Michael Eavis saying, "This is going to be Gorillaz' only UK festival appearance, and it'll be a massive audio-visual spectacle which will really ignite the Pyramid on the Friday night, with Muse then Stevie Wonder to follow."

He added: "I'm very excited about Gorillaz' show coming here because they're so open to guests and collaborations. The alchemy of Friday's show is going to be astonishing: a perfect, contemporary way to kick off the 40th anniversary celebrations. I am so grateful for the enthusiasm of the media and the whole of the music industry for their willingness and eagerness to support us in what could have been a crisis."

Gorillaz' cartoon frontman Murdoc Niccals also spoke about the booking, likening the band to "some great big horrible warship pulling in to the Bay of Glastonbury to save the day".

He also hinted that Gorillaz are likely to bring a host of special guests with them for their performance.

"It was us or The Beatles and they split up years ago," he said. "The previous soldiers got pulled from duty last minute so it's up to my 'Plastic Beach' naval cavalry to sail in and sort the battlefield out. I can assure you though, I'm bringing extra troops. Loads of them. Glastonbury will be ours... cutlasses drawn, trumpets ready. We're coming..."

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