Paul Heaton recalls “mind-blowing” first experience of playing Glastonbury in 1986

Paul Heaton has looked back on his first-ever festival experience, and described what it was like to perform at Glastonbury before The Housemartins had their huge breakthrough with 1986 single ‘Happy Hour’.

The frontman spoke to The Glastonbury Free Press following the gates opening for the 2024 edition yesterday (June 26). In the interview, he reflected on what it was like to perform at the Worthy Park site at the start of his career, and named the newer artists he would enlist for his dream festival line-up.

“The Housemartins did Glastonbury back in 1986. Even though I’d read about it, I had no idea how massive it was until I got there,” he explained, recalling how his first experience of a festival was playing at the site nearly four decades ago.

“We were about to have our first hit with ‘Happy Hour’, so the only people who knew about us were people who had heard us on John Peel and Janice Long’s shows. We played around midday I think.

“You could see people waking up and coming down the hill towards the stage while we were on. It was dead exciting,” he added. “It went from 500 to a few thousand [which was] quite mind-blowing”.

In the interview, Heaton also recalled the close rapport that he has gathered with his fans over the past 30 years, and explained that he puts the bond down to not taking himself too seriously – particularly when on stage.

“A bit of cheekiness goes far. If I started to go ‘You’re the best crowd I’ve ever played to,’ people would see it’s not genuine,” he said. “I think people like to have their leg pulled – especially by some cheeky old codger at 4pm”.

While going on to praise Glastonbury for its diversity when it comes to the line-ups, describing it as “a real music fan’s festival” – Heaton also revealed which newer artists he would enlist if he were to curate his own stage.

“I’d ask for the smaller stage because I remember when we played the Left Field stage back in 2010, we really loved it. It felt like it was genuinely handpicked,” he began.

“Al Green would be top of the list. Corb Lund is another one of my favourite artists, especially with his lyrics. I’d have The Avett Brothers [and] I’m also very keen on Soft Play and Big Special… There’s a hip-hop artist too, Brother Ali.”

Heaton is set to perform on the Pyramid Stage tomorrow (June 28) at 4:15pm. Soft Play will take to the Other Stage on Sunday (June 30) for a slot at 1:45pm, while Big Special will take to the Left Field stage tomorrow for a performance at 5:35pm.

Earlier this month, the singer announced a new Ian Broudie-produced album titled ‘The Mighty Several’ and confirmed a run of upcoming tour dates with The Zutons. Visit here for tickets.

This year’s edition of the legendary festival will take place between today (June 27) and Sunday (30), with the Pyramid Stage headliners being, Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA. Other confirmed acts include Shania Twain, LCD Soundsystem, Little Simz, Jungle, Justice, Bloc Party, Yard Act, Arlo Parks and Gossip.

The merchandise for the artists has also been spotted around the site, with the majority of designs currently being for Twain – who will be filling this year’s Legend’s slot.

At the start of the month, organisers revealed the full line-up, stage splits and timings for the sold-out bash – including some new names and various ‘TBA’ secret slots. The BBC has also shared its extensive coverage plans for the huge weekend of music.

As for the weather, the BBC Weather website forecast for the full five days shows temperatures ranging from the high-10s to the mid-20s, with sunny intervals, light winds and broadly dry conditions. It’s also looking likely that the entire duration will remain rain-free for punters.

Meanwhile, the bookies’ odds have been published for who might be playing a secret set at Worthy Farm this year – and bets have been suspended on one huge artist already.

Visit here for the full line-up, stage splits and schedule. Check out the new Glastonbury site map here, revealing some key changes for 2024.

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