Noel Gallagher This Years Glastonbury "a bit woke now."

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Noel Gallagher has taken aim at the current state of the Glastonbury festival, labeling it as "a bit woke now." The former Oasis guitarist, known for his candid remarks, expressed his dissatisfaction with the festival's increasing emphasis on political statements and activism. Speaking to the Sun, Gallagher remarked, “It’s getting a bit woke now, that place, and a bit kind of preachy and a bit virtue-signalling. I don’t like it in music – little fucking idiots waving flags around and making political statements and bands taking the stage and saying, ‘Hey guys, isn’t war terrible, yeah? Let’s all boo war. Fuck the Tories man,’ and all that. It’s like, look – play your fucking tunes and get off.”

 

Despite his critique, Gallagher still holds a fondness for the festival, describing it as “probably the best fucking thing about Britain apart from the Premier League.” However, he questioned the impact of political activism within the music scene. He elaborated, “Donate all your money to the cause – that’s it, stop yapping about it. Let’s just say for instance the world is in a bit of a fucked up place… what’s all the kids in a field at Glastonbury going to do about it? Everybody knows what’s going on in the fucking world, you’ve got a phone in your pocket that tells you anyway. What is the point of virtue-signalling?”

 

 

This year’s Glastonbury festival saw significant political statements, most notably from Banksy. The elusive artist launched an inflatable raft containing dummy migrants across the crowd during performances by Idles and Little Simz, a pointed comment on the English Channel immigration policy under the Rishi Sunak administration. Home Secretary James Cleverly criticized Banksy’s action, stating, “joking and celebrating about criminal actions which cost lives… this is not funny, it is vile… deeply distasteful… completely unacceptable.” In response, Banksy defended his stunt, explaining, “The home secretary called my Glastonbury boat ‘vile and unacceptable’, which seemed a bit over the top. The real boat I fund, the MV Louise Michel, rescued 17 unaccompanied children from the central Med on Monday night. As punishment, the Italian authorities have detained it – which seems vile and unacceptable to me.”

 

 

Idles, unaware of Banksy’s plans beforehand, made their own political statements during their set, leading the audience in a chant of “Fuck the king.” Other political expressions were seen with strong support for Palestine, particularly during the performance of 47Soul, a Palestinian-Jordanian alternative rap group. Blur’s frontman Damon Albarn also joined in, making an appearance during Bombay Bicycle Club’s set and asking the crowd, “Are you pro-Palestine? Do you feel that’s an unfair war?” He further commented on global leadership, saying, “Maybe it’s time we stop putting octogenarians in control over the whole world,” referring to the upcoming election battle between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

 

 

Glastonbury has a long-standing history of supporting leftwing political causes, especially environmental issues. Greenpeace has had a major presence at the festival each year, and the Left Field stage, curated by Billy Bragg, hosts annual political discussions. The 2024 lineup included panel debates on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the UK housing crisis. The festival’s longest-standing political partnership is with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), which began in 1981. Festival organizer Michael Eavis credited CND’s involvement with significantly boosting the festival’s popularity, stating, “It was of huge value for us. The whole success of the festival was actually down to that.”

 

Gallagher’s comments come amidst a broader debate about the intersection of politics and art. This year’s Eurovision song contest was marked by discord over the conflict in Gaza, and an artist-led boycott of Live Nation-promoted festivals, such as Download, led to the promoter suspending its sponsorship deal with Barclays. The bank faced criticism for its financial services to defense companies supplying Israel, to which it responded, “The protesters’ agenda is to have Barclays debank defense companies, which is a sector we remain committed to as an essential part of keeping this country and our allies safe.”

 

Furthermore, numerous writers and artists opposed arts sponsorship by investment firm Baillie Gifford due to its holdings in fossil fuel companies and links with Israel. This led to Hay Festival and Edinburgh International Book Festival ending sponsorship deals with the firm. Baillie Gifford refuted the claims, stating that it was “not a significant fossil fuel investor” and that suggestions it was “a large investor in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is seriously misleading.”

 

In his Sun interview, Gallagher also addressed Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, who had previously criticized the Gallagher brothers for not reuniting Oasis. Grohl had said in 2023, “To know that they’re out there somewhere, but they won’t come together to do the thing that everybody would love so much. I’m like: you assholes.” Gallagher retorted, advising Grohl to “wind his fucking neck in about Oasis.”

 

Credit: The Guardian 2024-07-08

 

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