Synth pop icons Depeche Mode won’t be playing Glastonbury this year, after claiming that the line up for this summer’s event wasn’t right for them.
Formed in early 80s Basildon, Depeche Mode are one of Britain’s most unlikely success stories. After a handful of singles and just one album creative lynch pin Vince Clarke left the group to form Yazoo, leaving Depeche Mode to re-group.
The band managed to prove the doubters wrong with a golden run of singles which soared up the charts. Expanding to take on board rock, industrial and electro influences Depeche Mode were music press whipping boys but balanced this was enormous global success.
Ironically, the band were to have the last laugh on their critics. Seminal Detroit producers such as Derrick May point to the group’s twelve inch mixes as forming the cornerstone of the formative techno sound.
Depeche Mode release their new album ‘Sounds Of The Universe’ later this year, and were widely rumoured to be set for a performance at Glastonbury. According to some reports, the band were only going to appear if the organisers secured hundreds of free tickets for their record label.
However it seems that the group will not now be performing. Keyboardist Andrew Fletcher told The Daily Star: “Glasto would be fun but the line-up didn’t quite work for us.”
“Getting the right bill is important.”
Not that Michael Eavis will be kept awake at night by the news – Glastonbury has already confirmed performances from Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Blur, Franz Ferdinand and more.
Depeche Mode are due to release their new album ‘Sounds Of The Universe’ on April 20th.
