Glastonbury 2014 Secret Sets: 12 (Hopeful) Suggestions

Pulp, Radiohead, Alt-J... one of the legendary parts of Glastonbury Festival is the secret sets. As rumours fly, and bands' tour dates are pored over, here's a suggestion of 12 artists who might pop up at Glastonbury 2014, from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Prince
So heavily rumoured was Prince to headline that it came as a shock when he wasn’t announced. But The Sun has reported that Prince will play one of the secret shows. The ‘Purple Rain’ singer certainly developed a fondness for playing impromptu shows this past year but then Michael Eavis said Prince pulled out due to social media rumours. Putting us off the scent? We hope so.

The Libertines
This one could actually happen. With The Libertines now reformed and on tour this year, people got excited. Could they play the Somerset bash? Carl Barât even said to NME "I'd love to play Glastonbury as a warm up [before Hyde Park]” in an interview back in April. The desire is there, the guys are free that weekend. Keep an eye out.

Neil Young
He’s done it before and he could do it again. With his only UK live dates this year set in July, Mr Young may just be ready and available for a certain weekend in late June. As Young famously roared during his 2009 set, “YEAHHHHHH” after breaking every string on his guitar. We think that that quote summarises our thoughts on potential set perfectly.

Coldplay
The Eavis’ best mates Coldplay could well make an appearance this year. They’ve released another Number 1 album in 2014 and will surely be in the country at the time, with their London Royal Albert Hall dates falling on the 1st and 2nd of July. It would be rude of them not to make an appearance. At least show your faces, eh guys?

Alt-J
Dropping the superb comeback single ‘Hunger Of The Pine’ last week, and with no tour dates set until September, could Alt-J make a surprise appearance this year? All that time waiting for the tour, if anything they will be bored. Especially during the last weekend of July.

Noel Gallagher
Earlier in 2014, Liam sent Oasis fans into hysteria after tweeting 'Oasis', only for Emily Eavis to come out and categorically deny that Oasis were set to play. Hard luck. But fear not! Noel Gallagher has been working on his second solo album, and after we had Beady Eye play a secret show last year, it seems only fitting that Noel would us with his presence this year.

Fleetwood Mac
Frontrunners to headline Glastonbury 2013. No show. Frontrunners to headline Glastonbury 2014. No show. Now one of the frontrunners to headline next year. But, why wait, guys? Christine McVie confirmed a September tour, and that they're recording new material. McVie even went on to say, when speaking of Glastonbury, “If Michael Eavis provides the wellies I'll be there.”

The Cribs
One of the best live bands around, The Cribs are looking quite likely to surprise us this year. They’re playing a tonne of festivals and assorted shows this summer, but are free in June. It’s going to happen. Who wouldn’t salivate at the prospect of Ryan Jarman hurling a bass drum off of the Other Stage into the crowd? Nobody. That’s who.

Pharrell Williams
The ‘Happy’ singer has had a monster 12 months, and we couldn’t see a better way for him to cap that off than with a secret show at the biggest music festival in the world. He’ll be in the UK in early July to play Wireless festival, so who’s not to say that he might come over a little earlier to check out what’s going on in Somerset?

Courtney Love
Having already toured the UK earlier this year, and with no further dates planned until her Australian tour in August, the queen of Grunge may well make an appearance this year. We say: YES PLEASE. DO IT COURTNEY. DO IT.

Foo Fighters
Arguably the biggest rock band on the friggin’ planet, the Foos were initially strongly rumoured to headline this year. Nothing came to fruition, but a secret show could be the cards. The Foos have played a handful of gig this year, and have been teasing us with tidbits about their new album for a while now. Why not debut some of that new material at Glastonbury?

Mumford & Sons
The 2013 Sunday night headliners have been among the most strongly rumoured to play a secret show this year. Having been on a hiatus for a while now, the band, who openly declare their love of touring regularly, must be feeling the itch to get back on that stage again. And it's not unlike previous headliners to come back and play secret sets.