Twenty-five years in the past this weekend, R.E.M. performed an excellent set at Glastonbury competition. It was once Michael Stipe, Peter Dollar and Mike Generators’ first seek advice from to Worthy Farm nevertheless it very just about didn’t occur, due to an over-eager safety guard who wouldn’t let Stipe onto the web site.
As reported by way of The Parent again in 2000, Stipe was once travelling to the competition by way of helicopter, with the chopper sporting him touchdown in a neighbouring farmer’s box and competition employee and native Robert Kearle passed the duty of going to pick out the star singer up. “They requested me to do it on account of my native wisdom,” Kearle instructed The Parent. “He was once the largest famous person of the competition so I didn’t wish to reduce to rubble.”
Kearle, in fact, wasn’t banking on a jobsworth safety guard virtually scuppering R.E.M.’s headline set. Choosing Stipe up and heading again to Worthy Farm, Kearle will have to have had the air of project completed en course with the R.E.M. guy in a talkative temper. “We had a in reality just right chat at the manner,” he stated. “He was once nice to speak to, very pleasant and all in favour of what was once taking place on the competition.”
Input Mr If You’re Title’s Now not Down You’re Now not Coming In, telling the pair after they arrived on the gate that in the event that they didn’t have tickets, they weren’t coming in. “I couldn’t consider what I used to be listening to, I stated, ‘I’ve were given Michael Stipe right here, Mr Eavis despatched me specifically to fetch him.” However the overzealous safety guard was once now not budging. “No price ticket, no access,” they have been instructed. “Michael Stipe? By no means heard of him.”
That is the place, Kearle recalled, Stipe took issues into his personal palms. Stepping out of the automobile, he stated, “I’m taking part in at the Pyramid Level in a couple of hours. When you don’t let me in now, I’m off. You’ll have numerous disenchanted folks for your palms.”
And so our antagonist relented, Michael Stipe was once allowed onto the competition web site, and R.E.M. carried out one of the crucial highest headline slots in Glastonbury’s prestigious historical past…
