No Rock And Roll Fun

DARKNESS VERSUS GLASTO: The whole 'why aren't the Darkness at Glasto' row isn't going away, although it seems to be more a case of the press poking both sides with sticks to make them growl. Justin Hawkins is reported in The Sun [so approach with caution] as saying:

Eavis is a cock. We don't deal with fucking arseholes. We were speaking to all the big events before Christmas and Glastonbury was on the list.
But Eavis said he thought we wouldn't be around for the festival in June. It's his loss.
Hawkins denied rumours the group had asked for £1million to play the Somerset event. "Our decision not to play Glastonbury is nothing to do with cash. Of course we asked for a lot - we're the best band around.
Michael Eavis is just annoyed that he missed the boat. He came back to us after he realised his mistake. But it was too late. We'd already agreed to do the Carling Festival for a lot less money. So he's lost out."
"Glastonbury is all about sitting in a field and buying funny hats. When I go to a festival it's because I want to see bands and like the line-up. I never went to Glastonbury until we played there. But me and our drummer Ed Graham went to Reading for five years on the trot as fans.
"I would say go to Reading, which is about the music. Don't bother with Glastonbury unless you want to stand in a field and be healed. Reading is about the rock. It's been one of my ambitions to headline Reading. It's part of British musical history. It's legendary. It's the big one."

Hmmm. Well, not really, it's the second one and really doesn't have the same cachet as Glastonbury does. And something about this doesn't quite ring true - doesn't Emily Eavis do most of the booking now rather than Michael? And while this time last year it might have been 50-50 if there'd be a Darkness in summer 2004, surely nobody "before Christmas" would have thought it a risk to book the band?

Hello to everyone from the Darklings board, by the way.