Alex James Criticizes Glastonbury Festival as “Overrated”
Alex James, the bassist of the British band Blur, has publicly criticized the Glastonbury Festival, calling it “overrated” and claiming it receives more media attention than it deserves. The 57-year-old musician shared a series of strong opinions during an interview with The Times, including his controversial take on the Beach Boys’ iconic album Pet Sounds, which he described as “s***”.
James took aim at the festival’s media coverage, particularly from the BBC, which he believes gives it an overly positive portrayal. He remarked, “You’d think it’s the only festival in the world.” In contrast, he highlighted the Roskilde Festival in Denmark as an underrated alternative that takes place on the same weekend as Glastonbury.
“Glastonbury is a gory drugs bender,” James said. “Roskilde’s got amazing food because it’s Denmark, it’s just really civilised and the toilets are nice. It’s a wonderful, magical, Hans Christian Andersen fairytale of an event.”
Glastonbury’s Legacy and Impact
The Independent has reached out to both Glastonbury and the BBC for further comment. Over the years, Blur has performed at Glastonbury on four occasions, making their debut in 1992 and headlining twice—once in 1998 and again in 2009 on the Pyramid Stage.
Damon Albarn, the frontman of Blur, also leads the band Gorillaz. Gorillaz headlined the festival in 2010 after U2’s Bono was injured. Albarn made a surprise appearance in 2024 during Bombay Bicycle Club’s set, where he expressed support for Palestine and criticized “octogenarians” in power.
In 2023, Blur reunited for the release of their ninth studio album, The Ballad of Darren, and embarked on a tour to promote the new music. However, their latest hiatus, announced by Albarn in December 2023, was briefly interrupted when the band received a last-minute offer to perform at Coachella the following year.
The performance at Coachella made headlines after footage showed Albarn trying to lead a singalong of the band’s hit “Girls & Boys”. Frustrated by what he called a “lacklustre crowd”, he told the audience, “You’re never seeing us again so you might as well f***ing sing it. Know what I’m saying?”
In contrast, the band’s rendition of “Song 2” received a much stronger reaction. Albarn remarked, “This song has been so good to us. But I did get shown a TikTok of it being kind of performed by a vacuum cleaner which is you know…. It is humbling and inspiring at the same time.”
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