Festival rumours round-up

25 January 2005

Coldplay are perhaps the surest bet for one of the three headline slots at Glastonbury 2005. The Sun newspaper this morning (Tuesday 25 January) reports that Coldplay will be headlining the Pyramid Stage on the Friday night, with Embrace not far behind them on the same bill. Michael Eavis dropped a big clue recently, describing one of this year's headliners as, 'the best songwriters in the world today'. Both him and daughter Emily are fans and friends of Chris Martin's. U2 are also at a loose end in their 'Vertigo' World Tour on the Saturday and Sunday.

CD:UK recently reported that Athlete have confided that they will be playing at Glastonbury. Also expect to see Doves and Brian Wilson high up the bill. 2005 hopefuls Kaiser Chiefs and Bloc Party will almost undoubtedly make their first appearances at the festival, while a few of last year's darlings - Razorlight, Snow Patrol, The Streets and Franz Ferdinand - have been identified by Eavis as personal favourites he wants to bring back. Gomez told a fan at a gig in Sheffield that they 'wouldn't miss it for the world', however it remains to be seen if anyone actually asks them! Finally, following John Peel's death, there was speculation that one of his favourite bands The Undertones would be performing in the new bands tent, which will now be named after the legendary BBC DJ.

Glastonbury aside, Foo Fighters are already confirmed to headline Ireland's Oxegen and are sure bets for more UK festivals following Dave Grohl's admission during a radio interview that the band would be playing 'everywhere this summer' to promote their forthcoming album. Given that it occurs over the same weekend, we wouldn't be too surprised to see The Prodigy and Ian Brown (both confirmed for Oxegen) at Scotland's T in the Park. Brown is also heavily rumoured for V Festival and Glastonbury.

Keeping on the revival theme, The Farm are strong contenders for an appearance at Get Loaded In The Park, following news of their reunion for two gigs with The Happy Mondays in March. New Order and Primal Scream could also be in the fray and are being talked about as possibles for Glastonbury too. The Who are tipped to be playing V Festival and Glastonbury.

In terms of the hot-tips for 2005, Hard-Fi, Editors, Nine Black Alps, and The Mystery Jets should be helping to fill all those new bands tents, and among those who've been around for a bit but haven't really made a massive impact at festivals yet, Art Brut, The Subways, The Others and Hal are bound to be coming to a festival near you this summer.  

Stay posted to Virtual Festivals tomorrow for the first major UK festival line-up announcement of the year, concerning the Isle Of Wight Festival, and for some very reliable whispers about the forthcoming Download Festival. System Of A Down have already revealed they will be playing, via their own website. Following their recent exalted sold-out UK shows, we expect Velvet Revolver to make good use of the UK festivals this summer to propel them into the rock stratosphere. Surely Download's Donington Park (the home of hard rock!) would be the most obvious venue for this band. Afterall, it put Guns N' Roses on the map back in '88.

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