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Former Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher called out the Glastonbury Festival for being too 'woke' in his recent interview with The Sun. The Glastonbury Festival has made a reputation for being one of the most liberal carnivals in the world and has championed political left-wing causes over the years.
According to Noel Gallagher, 'virtue signaling' is unnecessary, and he thought that bands playing their music and getting off the stage was the best way for an event to function.
"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 [expletive] 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**k the Tories man,’ and all that. It’s like, look – play your [expletive] tunes and get off," commented Noel Gallagher.
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Noel Gallagher further said that a music festival isn't the place for voicing people's political opinions. He elaborated that everyone has their smartphones in hand and is aware of the adversities going on in the world without any need for virtue signaling.
“Let’s just say for instance the world is in a bit of a f**ked 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**king world, you’ve got a phone in your pocket that tells you anyway. What is the point of virtue-signalling?”
However, Noel Gallagher added that, despite the criticisms, he loves the Glastonbury Music Festival.
“Probably the best f**king thing about Britain apart from the Premier League.”
The Glastonbury Music Festival has always been known for political activism, which were heightened even further this time because of the general elections and the catastrophic Gaza war.
Noel Gallagher's comments come after several artists made political statements at Glastonbury Music Festival 2024
This year's Glastonbury Festival featured some high-profile political statements, especially from a political activist known as Banksy. He revealed a model of an inflatable canoe with dummy migrants during the show by IDLES and Little Simz. It was a protest against the new immigration policy of former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The demonstration was later classified as "vile and unacceptable" by the Home Secretary.
Many artists also joined in and made several political statements during their sets, including IDLES, Damon Albarn, PJ Harvey, Kneecap, etc. For instance, performance artist Marina Abramovic came to the stage with PJ Harvey and put across her thoughts to the Glastonbury crowd.
“The world is in a really sh**ty place… There is war, there is a hunger, there is a protest, there is a killing, there is a violence. But what is happening if we look into the big picture? Violence brings more violence. Killing brings more killing. Anger brings more anger. Demonstration brings more demonstration.”
Albarn used his stage presence to demonstrate his stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict that has seen the Gaza Strip reduced to smithereens.
“Are you pro-Palestine? Do you feel that’s an unfair war?”
Furthermore, the 56-year-old implored everyone in the crowd to vote for their candidate of choice in the then-upcoming elections.
“Maybe it’s time we stop putting octogenarians in control of the whole world.”
Furthermore, this year's Glastonbury Festival saw protests against sponsorship by investment firm Baillie Gifford. The firm is known to have links with Israel and has ties with companies that actively destroy fossil fuels and harm the environment. Noel Gallagher's comments point to the age-old question of art coalescing with politics and other worldly affairs.
