It's meant to be a place of peace, love and dubious personal hygiene, but The Who have sensationally claimed that there was skulduggery at work during this year's Glastonbury.
In a blog post on their website, they made the claim that someone had attempted to tamper with their equipment, with the author, believed to be a trusted member of their crew, writing: "as we began to prepare our coming changeover, we found someone had sabotaged the carefully-tested audio connections for much of our gear. We’ve never seen that before".
It didn't stop them rocking out their closing Sunday night headline slot though, adding, "we’re good at plugging things in, so all damage was repaired in time", although, while still praising the overall experience, insinuated that it had affected their performance. "Within a few songs, we knew something was wrong. The band were playing MORE than a little loose, rather sloppy in fact. Pete was growing angry right away, yelling at one point that the band ought to play “like we’re in the same f*ing band” and telling brother Simon to pay close attention to their sync together. Soon after, Pete’d decided the clear sound screens in front of Zak’s drums were in the way, and violently pulled them over onto his amps. It helped, though, and he was more happy for a bit."
A second revelation emerges in the same blogpost: "not many know that we were a last-months addition to the show, replacing Prince who decided not to come this year". Prince is, famously, rumoured to play the festival virtually every year and, still, has never made it down to Worthy Farm.
So, who was responsible for the sabotage? The Who seemed unsure. "Was it Mr. Weller or Lionel, no way. Dalai Lama – hmmm…. he did steal the show already. Well, so far…"
So who attacked The Who?
Kanye West
He'd proclaimed himself "the greatest living rock star on the planet" during his Saturday night show. Surely he wouldn't want to risk being upstaged by a group of 70 year-olds just one day later? A strong contender.
Likely sabotage rating: 9
Prince
The purple one is notoriously strange, constantly changing his mind about whether to reject or embrace the internet; often attacking his own fans in the process. Perhaps he decided at the last minute that he did quite fancy playing a few songs at Glasto and then got annoyed when he found out he couldn't. Plus, he's really small so no one would have noticed.
Likely sabotage rating: 6
Lionel Richie
Yes, he might look like a harmless, easy-going, joyful, happy entertainer who'd just played the gig of his life to over 100,000 people earlier in the day, but maybe he liked being the centre of attention too much and thwarted The Who's bid for Sunday supremacy. No, we're not convincing ourselves either.
Likely sabotage rating: 1
The Dalai Lama
It was his 80th birthday, the crowd had sung to him during Patti Smith's set early in the day. But perhaps he fancied celebrating his big day with a spot of practical joking? He looks the type. "Won't Get Fooled Again? Yeah, this'll fool you lads" is almost certainly what he was thinking between meditations.
Likely sabotage rating: 1
The Chemical Brothers
Headlining the Other Stage at the same time as The Who, they might have spied a chance to take down the opposition. Or, as the two stages back on to each other, they might simply have thought they were their wires by mistake. Or at least that's what they want you to think.
Likely sabotage rating: 3
Cows (assisted by Michael Eavis)
Those poor Worthy Farm cows get pushed out of their own fields once a year, stuck in a shed and forced to listen to loud music. Maybe they'd just had enough? And Michael Eavis is getting on these days - he turns 80 in October - and maybe he finally snapped and wanted a bit of peace and quiet after three days of raucous rock in his back garden. A dastardly team.
Likely sabotage rating: 7
(Images: Rex/Shutterstock)
