Five acts that could headline Glastonbury in the future

Photo: Foals Credit: Neil Krug

Without a doubt the biggest stage on the UK festival circuit, Glastonbury never fails to pull out the stops in regards to the unrivalled acts they manage to attract every year.

The sheer diversity of the festival means organisers always have to be perpetually looking forward in terms of possible future headliners. This involves deciding when a great band is ready to make that significant jump into headline material and take on all the responsibilities that come with it. Risky territory for bookers, career defining for bands. 

Mumford & Sons were probably the most recent 'up and coming' outfit to make that very jump, causing a huge stir when they were selected to headline the Pyramid stage back in 2013. And despite the scrutiny, they did a pretty fine job of the whole ordeal. And let's not forget Florence + The Machine's controversial promotion to top spot this year following Dave Grohl's untimely injury.

So who could be the next to join festival act royalty? Here's a few that would not be completely unreasonable choices in the coming years.

The Courteeners 

There's always a bit of prejudice towards The Courteeners. Any band with a cocky, outspoken frontman from a city with such illustrious history of cocky, outspoken frontmen such as Manchester will always run that risk.

Truth is though, despite maybe not yet being the most intricate of songwriters, The Courteeners have always been a band with a fearsome live reputation, tailoring their tunes to go down a storm with big crowds. Never more so than this summer where they followed in the footsteps of their Mancunian predecessors Oasis and The Stone Roses in selling out Heaton Park for the biggest show of their career to date. No doubt that gig was a turning point for the band.

Bring Me The Horizon

Alright, this will undoubtedly provoke a mixed reaction. Some will always see BMTH as 'that annoying emo band with shit haircuts'. But tossing aside those preconceptions, it's hard to ignore that the band have matured a lot since Oli Sykes' at times incomprehensible screams.

Developing a more measured level of artistry, growing up but importantly not abandoning their roots, this transition to a more radio friendly sound will undoubtedly have a greater appeal to those booking acts. That, combined with the fact they have been creeping towards the top end of UK festival bills for years now, scoring the second to top spot at this years Reading & Leeds suggests they could continue that climb.

Elbow

A bit of a strange one in regards to the fact the Mancunian outfit have probably been ready to make that step up for a long time now, but just haven't been given the chance. Which is a shame. We can't really label them as an 'up and coming' act, but they're certainly band that have nurtured a reputation as one of the most attractive festival bookings in recent memory.

Often taking the second spot on large scale UK festival bills and topping other festivals like this year's Kendal Calling suggests that they could be one more great release away from that coveted headline spot. With their new, incredible Lost Worker Bee EP they have once again shown how consistent an outfit they have become with top quality releases, surely they can only be overlooked for so long?

Alt-J

Starting out with a cult like following after their initial formation and debut album, the last year has seen Alt-J generate a mass admiration, aided by the release of their incredible second album This Is All Yours. The mixture of that release showed that there was a lot more substance to the group than the many stereotypical indie bands that would peter out into nothingness.

A series of hugely well received festival appearances this year, including a stand out performance at Glasto stands them in good stead to be right up at the top in the not so distant future.

Foals

Perhaps a bit of an obvious choice, given that the band already have some huge headline slots under their belt, most notably Bestival in 2014. Thanks to the resounding success of that appearance Foals catapulted themselves into the major festival headliner mix, taking the top spot pressure into their stride effortlessly and coming out the other side with a hugely enhanced reputation.

The lads also have their massively anticipated new record What Went Down coming out later this month, and from what's been released so far from it, there's a widespread feeling that it could be that next step forward for them. With no live appearances for over a year now, don't be surprised if their re-emergence will be at the peak of the Pyramid Stage. 

More like this? Try Five Acts To Enhance Your Experience at Reading and Leeds.