Glastonbury chief Michael Eavis has declared today (June 28) that this year’s festival will never be beaten.
Speaking at his traditional Sunday morning press conference, the farmer thanked this year’s headliners, suggesting they have been the best Worthy Farm has ever seen.
“I’ve always said this, but this really must be the best one [festival] ever, surely? Do you believe me? Having Neil Young, who I’ve been waiting for for 39 years, and Bruce Springsteen just appear out of the blue – and of course Blur tonight – we’ve got three major, major headliners,” he said.
“Neil Young pleased all the old hippie types and Springsteen pleased everyone else. He did a hell of a show, what energy he has at 58 years of age is amazing. What a show! It was probably the best show he’s done in his life. What a starting point, and you have everything else as well, of course!”
Eavis said he was so impressed by The Boss he is more than happy to pay the fine, after the New Jersey legend went past the curfew on the Pyramid Stage last night.
“I gave him ten extra minutes but he took nine, which is good going,” he explained. “I’m going to pay the fine, it’s about £3000. It’s not a lot of money for all that, the last ten [or] nine minutes were absolutely spectacular, so, for three grand, come on!”
The festival chief, who spent last night at the Shangri-La field – “I was there till four o’clock this morning so I’ve only had three hours sleep.
“I’ve never done that before but I wanted to see what people did in the night,” he said.
He also praised the crowd, thanking one of last year’s headliners for ensuring there was a mix of fans at the event.
“Last year, Jay-Z came which turned out to be a hugely successful year and it brought all the younger people back,” he explained. “We had a younger audience again this year because of what happened again last year because they thought this is a great place to be.
“They were all here in their thousands which was strange because the headliners weren’t Jay-Z, but then there’s Dizzee Rascal, fantastic! He’s probably on a par with Jay-Z, Dizzee Rascal.”
Eavis said he is already talking to headliners for next year’s festival, which will mark the event’s 40th anniversary.
“We can’t do better [for the 40th anniversary festival] next year. We’ve got three or four headliners lining up for next year, but seriously we will not do any better than what we got this year, but don’t lose interest though, it will be a good show,” he joked.
“40 years is not bad going, is it? We’ve got some headliners who haven’t played for a few years and some who have never played here. I’m not saying names, it will be the same old guessing game. But they’re all on the phone at the moment so it will be special, but it will not be better than this year, it was just fantastic!”
Blog – Bruce Springsteen at Glastonbury was hard work, but brilliant
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