Glastonbury Festival Publishes New Poster After Lana Del Rey Criticism, But Where Are the Aussies?

UPDATE: Glastonbury Festival’s second wave of artist announcements featured a string of Australian acts, including spots for The Teskey Brothers, Fanny Lumsden, Xavier Rudd and a DJ set from Confidence Man.

Glastonbury Festival’s 2023 line-up has, like most years, something for most tastes. But when Lana Del Rey pointed out her lowly spot on the bill, highlighter pens were drawn.

If you want indie, hip-hop, pop, rock, country, Afrobeats or Italian champs of Eurovision, you’ve got it. But its first-drop program noticeably lacked in female talent, particularly at the top end of the bill.

What it doesn’t feature at all is an Australian act.

The grandaddy of European music festivals, Glastonbury is a handy measuring stick of the world’s biggest contemporary music acts, from across all genres.

In a typical year, at least one act from the land Down Under could be expected to make the long haul to the Eavis’ dairy farm in Somerset, south west England.

Last year was something of an embarrassment of riches for Aussie flag-wavers, with ARIA Hall of Famers Crowded House, two-time Australian Music Prize winner Sampa The Great, Courtney Barnett, Confidence Man, Amyl and the Sniffers and Kiwi superstar Lorde getting the nod.

This year, nowt.

Organisers in recent days published a refreshed poster, with Lana Del Rey listed in a loftier spot than in the original version.

Lizzo, who will also booked to headline Splendour In The Grass in late July, appears on line one of a Glasto bill that’s led by Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses, and Elton John.

Earlier, with the initial release of the lineup, social media sleuths questioned why Lana Del Rey wasn’t up higher.

The message included criticism from the “Video Games” star herself, who left a salty comment under the image on Glasto’s Instagram: “Thanks for announcing that I was headlining the Other Stage. Thumbs up.”

At the time, co-organiser Emily Eavis attempted to avert criticism on the lack of headline diversity, blaming “pipeline” problem.

Perhaps Australia’s paddock of Glasto-quality acts got stuck in that pipeline.

According to Glastonbury’s organising team, “more artists, performers and attractions” will be announced in due course.

If the rumours are true, Pnau could reunite with Elton for a performance of their global smash “Cold Heart,” a collaboration with Dua Lipa, giving Australia a brief on-stage presence at the five-day fest, set for July 21-25.