Glastonbury have revealed the first of this year’s area-specific line-up posters. West Holts is one of the most diverse and eclectic stages at Worthy Farm. The stage will feature a mix of global grooves, cutting-edge R&B, folk-metal, reggae legends and more.
The headliners for the West Holts stage are Kelis, Rudimental and Loyle Carner. Kelis is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter who has been releasing hits for over two decades, from Milkshake to Bossy. Rudimental are a drum and bass band who have collaborated with artists like Ed Sheeran, Emeli Sandé and Anne-Marie. Loyle Carner is a Mercury Prize-nominated rapper who has won acclaim for his honest and poetic lyrics.
Other highlights on the West Holts stage include Young Fathers, a Scottish trio who blend hip hop, indie and soul; Jacob Collier, a musical prodigy who can play over 30 instruments; Mahalia, a rising star of British R&B who has worked with Burna Boy and Ella Mai; The Hu, a Mongolian band who combine traditional throat-singing with heavy metal; and Candi Staton, a soul legend who will perform as part of her farewell tour.
The West Holts stage will also showcase some of the best talent from Africa, such as Kanda Bongo Man, a pioneer of Congolese soukous music; Star Feminine Band, a group of teenage girls from Benin who sing about women’s rights; Sudan Archives, an experimental violinist and singer who draws inspiration from Sudanese fiddlers; and Yaya Bey, an Afrofuturist artist who blends jazz, soul and hip hop.
The stage will also host some exciting collaborations, such as Speakers Corner Quartet featuring Kae Tempest, Tirzah, Shabaka Hutchings and more; Gabriels with golden leopards; ADG7 with shamanism and exotic instruments; and Third World with Barrington Levy.
The West Holts stage is known for its vibrant atmosphere and its quality food stalls. It is also home to some of the best DJs on site, such as Dave Smeaton, Ben Dubuisson and Radio 1’s Arielle Free. The stage promises to deliver an unforgettable musical experience for Glastonbury goers this year.
Alongside the announcement, an official West Holts Spotify playlist has been released which you can access here or below:
Back at the start of the month, the first main line-up poster was revealed confirming 53 major artists in addition to already announced Elton John, who will headline the iconic Pyramid Stage on the Sunday night of the festival. It will be his last-ever gig in the UK. Lil Nas X will appear on the stage immediately before Elton’s set.
Arctic Monkeys will headline the Friday night while Guns N’ Roses will headline on Saturday, preceded by Lizzo‘s first appearance on the Pyramid. Cat Stevens will play the Sunday afternoon ‘Legends Slot’.
Guns N’ Roses were booked after a previously arranged female headline act dropped out, which many think could have been Taylor Swift.
Queens of the Stone Age featured in the list upon publication but were removed shortly afterwards – and they’re also missing from the line-up poster. Lana Del Rey complained about her position on the poster and was today moved up to the second line, along with Lil Nas X, Wizkit and Cat Stevens, when the poster was refreshed with the West Holts announcement. Many of the artists announced for the West Holts have been added to the main poster, shown below. All lines below the second remain alphabetical.
Glastonbury have also confirmed that The John Peel Stage will be renamed Woodsies ahead of this summer’s festival. It’s part of a push to name stages after the fields they’re in, as is already the case with the West Holts and Silver Hayes stages – which could make it slightly easier for first-timers to navigate the enormous festival.
Emily Eavis told the Guardian the renaming has nothing to do with a petition which called for the stage to be renamed following a series of allegations about the former BBC Radio 1 presenter, who was also part of the BBC’s Glastonbury coverage in the years before his death. She said: “I haven’t got involved in that because it’s not our area. We’ve had 20 years of John Peel and it’s been an honour to use his name. We’ve had a really good relationship with the Peel family and everyone’s on board.”
Despite this, the petition’s creator Jack Owens posted a short update, saying: “We won. Thank you.”
The Daily Mail reported that in 1989, John Peel told The Sunday Correspondent: “Girls used to queue up outside. By and large not usually for shagging. Oral sex they were particularly keen on, I remember. One of my, er, regular customers, as it were, turned out to be 13, though she looked older.”
And back in 1975, he said in an interview with The Guardian: “All they wanted me to do was abuse them, sexually, which, of course, I was only too happy to do.”
As recently as 2004, he told The Herald he’d had sexual contact with “an awful lot” of underage girls. John Peel died of a heart attack later that same year and Glastonbury’s New Bands Tent was renamed The John Peel Stage the following summer.
Emily Eavis has also confirmed the often-rumoured Spice Girls appearance will not be happening, at least this year, saying it’s “not a conversation we are having”. She revealed there could be two female headliners next year with one of them already being booked.
Tickets sold out within minutes when they went on sale back in November but resales of cancelled tickets are expected later this spring. A raffle is currently taking place to raise money for the DEC’s Turkey-Syria earthquake appeal with 10 pairs of tickets up for grabs, each with a “once-in-a-lifetime” Glastonbury experience attached like watching a set from the Pyramid Stage viewing platform.
Glastonbury Festival 2023 will take place from Wednesday 21st to Sunday 25th June at Worthy Farm, Pilton.
Image credits:
Anna Barclay
Rachel D / (CC BY 2.0 )
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