Noel Gallagher recently criticized the Glastonbury festival for getting too political and ‘woke.’ He explained to The Sun (via The Guardian):
“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 f*cking 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. F*ck the Tories man,’ and all that. It’s like, look – play your f*cking tunes and get off.”
The singer added:
“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 f*cked 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 f*cking world, you’ve got a phone in your pocket that tells you anyway. What is the point of virtue-signalling?”
The Political Debates At This Year’s Event
Glastonbury embraced a left-wing political stance through its history, especially on environmental issues. The stage hosted discussions about the Israel-Palestine conflict, the UK housing crisis, and more at this year’s event.
Blur’s Damon Albarn touched on the ongoing Israel-Palestine situation during his performance with Bombay Bicycle Club on the festival stage last month. He asked the crowd:
“Are you pro-Palestine? Do you feel that’s an unfair war? Maybe it’s time we stop putting octogenarians in control over the whole world.”
Some Statements Received Criticism
Meanwhile, Banksy highlighted issues about Rishi Sunak’s immigration policies by launching an inflatable raft carrying ‘dummy migrants’ during performances by Idles and Little Simz. The raft referenced the small boats passing through the English Channel, which Sunak wanted to shut down.
Home secretary James Cleverly later called the action ‘vile’ and ‘deeply distasteful,’ to which Banksy replied:
“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.”
Despite his dislike for the political environment, Noel Gallagher admitted to loving the Glastonbury festival. He said the event was ‘probably the best f*cking thing about Britain apart from the Premier League.’