Blur are not final Glastonbury headliner, drummer Dave Rowntree confirms

Band rule themselves out of third, and final, headline slot

Dave Rowntree has clarified that Blur are not going to headline Glastonbury this year.

The band will headline British Summer Time in London’s Hyde Park on June 20 and have also been announced as a headliner for this year’s Benicàssim festival in Spain.

However, they will not join Kanye West and Foo Fighters on the bill at Glastonbury this year according to drummer Rowntree. Blur last headlined Glastonbury in 2009, having also topped the bill in 1998.

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The Blur member confirmed they will not be at Worthy Farm this year in an interview with XFM that saw him complain that the music industry is not producing enough acts who can headline festivals. Asked for his thoughts on Kanye West headlining Glastonbury, Dave said the Eavis family “always try to be a bit left-field, do the unexpected thing”.

Explaining why he feels Glastonbury organisers have had “to think out the box a little bit” in booking West, Rowntree said: “I think there is a problem in that there aren’t that many bands who can headline big festivals at the moment. The music industry’s missing a middle roster, a middle section of artists who are big at the moment but have enough back catalogue to headline a big festival.”

He continued: “In the old days if you signed a record deal you wouldn’t be expected to have your first single a Number One and your first album to sell a million copies. You’d be allowed to develop for a little bit. You might be allowed to make some mistakes. All of that’s gone now. The record companies are looking for fully-established artists with a first album and a fanbase all intact and ready to go. The reality is that music doesn’t work that way.”

Kanye West will headline the Saturday night of Glastonbury with Foo Fighters performing on the Friday.

There is now one final headline slot to be announced for the festival. Neither Coldplay or Florence + The Machine will headline according to organiser Emily Eavis. Both artists had been linked to one of this year’s headline slots however, Eavis recently said officially that the rumours were unfounded.

On Friday (March 20), Blur played new album ‘The Magic Whip’ in full at tiny west London club Mode to an audience of 300 fans. After performing ‘The Magic Whip’ in full, they ended with an encore of ‘Trouble In The Message Centre’ from 1994’s ‘Parklife’.

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