Noel Gallagher, former guitarist in the band Oasis, thinks that the Glastonbury festival "has started to become a bit woke now", according to an interview in The Sun.
The outspoken frontman of High Flying Birds has a history of left-wing views, such as opposition to nuclear power, but did not mince his words when it came to this year's edition of Glastonbury:
"It's starting to become a bit woke now. Preaching and virtue-signaling. I don't like it in music – little idiots waving flags and making political statements and bands standing on stage and saying 'listen, war is terrible, let's boo war. Go to hell, Tories', and all that. Play your music and get off", Gallagher said, among other things.
Glastonbury has a long tradition of left-wing political stances.
This year, there were several examples, from artist Banksy's rubber boat – which highlighted the treatment of refugees in England – to the band Idles leading the audience in a "fuck the king" chant.
Damon Albarn from Blur – Oasis' former rivals – appeared during Bombay Bicycle Club's performance and asked the audience "are you pro-Palestine? Do you think the war is unfair? Maybe it's time to stop letting 80-year-olds control the world", in reference to the election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Corrected version: In an earlier version, Noel Gallagher was given the wrong function in the band.