Ever since it was announced last month that Metallica would be Glastonbury’s third and final headliner, it’s becoming more and more evident that no one actually wants them there.
Arctic Monkeys, who headlined the UK festival last year, and Mogwai, who are set to play this year, have both said some not-so-nice things about the legendary metal band. “I’m not sure it adds up,” Arctic Monkeys singer Alex Turner told Time Out London of Metallica’s booking. “I know we’d buzz off it, but fundamentally could you have Metallica in the hippy [sic] nucleus?”. Meanwhile, Mogwai referred to Metallica as “shite”, adding that drummer Lars Ulrich is “unbelievably bad.”
Now, a group of Glastonbury attendees have started a Facebook page encouraging the festival to remove Metallica from the lineup. Launched in response to frontman James Hetfield’s involvement in a forthcoming film about bear hunting, the page has already garnered over 15,000 members. “Metallica’s lead singer James Hetfield is a big game hunter and promoter. This is incompatible with Glastonbury Festivals ideals,” the page’s mission statement reads.
For its part, the festival has defended the booking. “There’s a huge swathe of people who love Metallica to bits and just think they’re absolutely amazing,” Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis said in a recent interview. “They’re worthy headliners!” Meanwhile, Ulrich joked that the band may need to start their set by covering Oasis’ “Wonderwall”, a reference to Jay Z’s infamous scoffing in 2008.
