Glastonbury loves a secret set. Lord knows why. To the outside observer they look far more trouble than they’re worth. There’s a tricky balance to maintain: underwhelm with your pick and that special guest isn’t looking that special. But land someone truly major, especially at a massive festival, and you have all manner of logistical problems to navigate: crowd crushes, staffing and so forth. Then there’s the small task of keeping the secret, erm, secret, festivals being the leakiest, most gossipy places on earth.
Certainly that is the case with Kasabian’s unannounced early evening set at Woodsies, which seemingly everyone and their cat has known about for weeks. You might think then that this will be a case of the not-so-special special guest: after all, aren’t Kasabian firmly on the slide in 2024? They’ve weathered the departure of Tom Meighan after his conviction for assaulting his partner in 2020 and it seems a long time ago that they were banging out dance-rock hits like it was the easiest thing in the world.
