Glastonbury - A missed opportunity?
 

Just a few musings after watching the Foo Fighters on Saturday and Barry Gibb on Sunday, I was thinking about the fact that BJ have never played Glastonbury.

It must have come on the agenda at some point - Jovi have always tended to be over here in June, and more than one BJ concert I've been to has clashed with Glastonbury and been mentioned by Jon (Hyde Park 03 being one). I think it's a shame, as I wouldn't want JBJ in his current vocal state up there on the Pyramid Stage, but I could just imagine the many thousands there belting out Prayer for example.

Much as I loved going to the 2011 Hyde Park gig, and is pretty much my favourite BJ gig I've done, if that exact gig had taken place at Glasto it would have been a triumph. The exposure would have been immense. I know Jon has said he doesn't need the festival, but he's done others (Rock In Rio, Hard Rock Calling etc..). I wonder if they had ever been mooted to play at some point?

It was nice to see the Foo's bringing the much needed rock to the main stage, especially in contrast to Radiohead and Ed Sheeran. Between that and the recent GnR gigs, it evoked memories of what a Bon Jovi show used to be. Not that the current iteration isn't a pleasant experience, it's just not as intense as it was.

And yet, it still wouldn't make me go to the festival, being the grumpy old man that I am! I couldn't think of anything worse to actually go for a weekend, but it's hard not to get caught up in the weekend- I watched a lot of sets for artists I wouldn't normally care for. I even cleared my Sunday afternoon after the F1 to watch a terrible set from Shaggy!

I'd still love to see Bon Jovi do it though, only if Jon's vocals improve dramatically (Pre-2015 levels). Image in 2019 (as Glasto is off next year), Jon in decent voice, Phil X off the leash a bit bringing the on-stage bravado with a 2 hour set of Greatest Hits (no LH, Crash, ILTT etc..) with a couple of new songs off a hopefully killer new album and ending with hundreds of thousands singing Prayer.

Surely no one can befit the legends slot more than that?

Given the attention and coverage that being a Glastonbury headliner brings, it is unfortunate that our band, despite all their success, were never in their spot, but it's not so much a "missed opportunity", since it was probably never offered to them as I just can't see Jon, given his ego, turning it down. Hell, artists like U2, Beyonce and Stones are known for NOT doing festivals, all did Glastonbury, so Jon would've done it in a heartbeat.

Obviously, in a perfect world 2011 was the year to do it, considering Glastonbury wasn't such a big deal in the 90s as it is today. But I think the reason is somewhat similar to them not being in a R&R HOF - they are never acclaimed, not cool, not "influential" (again, the "Tom Cruise of the music business" argument). If you look at headliners from the past 10 years, they are all either biggest stars in the world at a given moment (Adele, Ed Sheeran), established but still cool not yet washed-up rock bands (Muse, Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys), pop icons (Beyonce, Kanye) or absolute legends (Stones, The Who, U2). Realistically, Bon Jovi is neither of those things - "legends" category is the closest, but perhaps they still need a few more years to get there. So it kind of does make sense, because they don't neccessarily fit what Glastonbury is. Bryan Adams, Def Leppard, KISS, Robbie Williams, Take That - all of whom never headlined probably for the same reasons.

Now I hope they never do it. I've said this a million times, but ever since Jon's voice got flushed down the toilet, the less mainstream exposure they get as far as live performances are concerned, the better. Hell, even as a fan, I watched yesterday's Ed Sheeran set (didn't watch Foo Fighters on purpose, as I'm about to see them in a few days), which was great and I just can't see Bon Jovi delivering a show as good as that one in their current state. They should be as protective as their legacy as possible.