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Story: Jack Foley
THE battle against touts at this year’s Glastonbury Festival
is to be stepped up, with personalised tickets set to be issued
for the first time this Summer.
Organiser, Michael Eavis, is determined to avoid a repeat of
last year’s situation, in which lots of tickets were sold
early, and subsequently offered all over the place, at three or
four times the face value. As such, sales could also be restricted
to two per person.
The 112,500 tickets, which cost £112 each, plus a fee and
postage costs, are due to go on sale on April 1, 2004, via a dedicated
telephone line and through a website, with Prince, Oasis and Sir
Paul McCartney rumoured to be appearing as part of this year’s
bill. The ‘godfather of soul’, James Brown has confirmed
he is to appear on the Sunday evening.
Last year, the festival's tickets sold out in a record 18 hours
- partly because some outlets weren’t supposed to be selling
them.
This year, however, the tickets will only be sold by the telephone
ticketline, 0870 830 2004 ,and through the website address, www.aloud.com
"All tickets will be personalised to prevent unauthorised
reselling and there will be checks at the gates," continued
Mr Eavis. "The measures we are taking this year will result
in a much fairer way to access the festival."
The festival takes place at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, and will
be held from June 25 to 27, 2004.
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POSTED EARLIER: BASEMENT Jxx have confirmed and The Cure
have hinted that they will be at Glastonbury next year, as the
hype builds towards the announcement of the line-up for 2004's
Summer spectacular.
In an interview with BBC Radio 1, Basement Jaxx duo, Simon Ratcliffe
and Felix Buxton, became the first band to confirm that they will
be playing the festival in June, while Robert Smith, lead singer
of The Cure, has hinted that they may play the prestigious event
as well.
In announcing their decision to play, Basement Jaxx told listeners
that they can expect a more ‘live band’-oriented performance.
Explained Felix: "We've got a drummer and Simon plays guitar
in most of the set and there's more vocalists. So it's less of
a show and more of a live band musical experience. And live, visually,
it's taking things to the next level as well."
As for The Cure’s possible appearance, Smith has dropped
a big hint that the ever-popular outfit will be taking the stage
at Micheal Eavis’ three day event.
The band last appeared there in 1995.
This year's festival has only just been granted a Public Entertainments
Licence, but will be taking place, as usual, from June 25-27.
There will be 112,500 three-day tickets available, and they are
expected to go on sale in March or April.
Basement Jaxx, meanwhile, have a mini UK tour lined up, the full
dates of which are:
Glasgow, Academy (March 12)
Manchester, Apollo (13)
Nottingham, Rock City (15)
Newport, Live Arena (16)
Brixton Academy, London (19)
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