Glastonbury’s Emily Eavis has assured festivalgoers that there are “back-up plans” in place should Arctic Monkeys have to pull out of their headline slot on Friday (23 June).
The band were forced to cancel their Dublin gig earlier this week after frontman Alex Turner was struck down with ‘acute laryngitis’ following their three-night residency at the Emirates stadium in London last week.
Acute laryngitis is a condition when your voice box or vocal cords in the throat become irritated or swollen. Typically, it goes away by itself within one to two weeks.
People who attended the final Emirates show on Sunday (June 18) noticed how Turner seemed to be struggling with some of his songs, such as Brianstorm, Cornerstone and The View from the Afternoon.
Despite concerns they’ll cancel, Eavis is confident the group will be “all right” to take to the Pyramid Stage on Friday.
As reported by The Times, the festival’s co-organiser told media: “I think we are going to be all right. They’ve cancelled that, he’s recovering. I’m sure we’re going to be all right.
“We’ve got a couple of back-up plans if not. We’ve always got back-up plans for everything.”
When asked about whether a rumoured appearance by Foo Fighters could turn into a headline slot should the Sheffield quartet have to cancel, she coyly responded: “I wouldn’t like to give anything away.
“You’ve got to allow the surprise to happen. It’s all about the surprise.”
The Sheffield quartet are halfway through a world tour and, following three days at London’s Emirates Stadium, were set to play Marlay Park in Dublin on Tuesday (June 20) but cancelled after Turner was struck down with the illness.
In light of the news, fans have been left fretting the singer’s inflammatory condition could leave them with no other choice than to cancel their slot on the Pyramid Stage this Friday.
Taking to Twitter to share their concerns, one fan recalled how Turner had previously suffered from laryngitis days before their 2013 headline slot at the Worthy Farm festival.
The fan shared: “Back in 2013, Alex Turner had to cancel shows due to laryngitis and was back on stage 5 days after the first cancellation.
“He has 4 days to get his voice ready for the Arctic Monkeys’ Glastonbury set on Friday... hopefully it won’t risk damage but that’s a bit touch and go.”
Another commented: “Woah what about Glastonbury? He’s not gonna properly recover for Glastonbury…”
“Will Glastonbury be cancelled acute laryngitis has at least a week to recover from?” a third mused.
A fourth feared: “If it’s acute laryngitis he’ll be out of action for a few weeks. So why isn’t Glastonbury gig cancelled?”
Aside from the Dublin gig, they have no more shows scheduled for this week until they are due to top the bill at Glastonbury on Friday and are also due to play Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park on Sunday.
This will mark their third time headlining the world-famous festival having previously done so in 2007 and 2013.
Guns N’ Roses are set to be the final performers on the Pyramid Stage on Saturday while Sir Elton John will close out the festival on Sunday.
