Glastonbury is one week away and speculation is a-rising about which acts will be playing secret gigs at the festival.
The full lineup and stage splits have been announced, and the eagle-eyed will have noticed some tell-tale signs that a secret set is in the offing. There is a mysterious group called ‘Patchwork’ that will be playing the Pyramid Stage on Saturday.
The day before there is a whopping great ‘TBA’ on before Alanis Morrissette on the same stage and a glaring gap on the Park Stage lineup for Saturday between Gary Numan and Beth Gibbons.
So who will fill those slots? Apparently you can get 1/2 odds on Pulp. They do have a new album out, of course, and have a long association with the festival, having headlined in 1995 and 1998 and indeed played a secret gig in 2011.
Lorde might be a good bet too, at 3/ 1. Again, she has a new album (Virgin) out – on the Friday of the festival and in an interview with Radio 2’s Jo Whiley a week ago certainly seemed up for it, saying: “I’m pretty keen, honestly… We’ll see if I can pull some strings and get there.”
Then there’s Haim who are listed as having a 4/9 chance of playing a secret set. They’re promoting a new album – I Quit, which is out this coming Friday – and, crucially, will be in the country. The band are playing a one-off show at Margate Dreamland on the Friday of the festival so a Saturday slot would fit with their schedule.
The trio also dropped a heavy hint in their own Radio 2 interview last week, telling Jo Whiley that they’d be “in the area” and adding that “We love The Park Stage. The Park Stage is our favourite, ’cause that was like the first time we came to Glastonbury, we got to play The Park Stage. It felt like a movie… it’s the best festival in the world.”
There are others that are rumoured to be making surprise appearances. Both Ed Sheeran at 1/ 2 and Mumford And Sons at 4/ 7 reside in the ‘well, you never know’ category. Meanwhile with Elton John (who has officially retired from touring, lest us forget) at 3/ 1 and Radiohead (6/1) who are all currently busy on solo projects, you’d be well advised not to waste your money.
