The mystery band has finally been revealed!
Foo Fighters have taken to the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury 2023, finally confirming the endless speculation that they are indeed behind mystery band The Churnups.
The mysterious band had been the subject of countless rumours for weeks leading up to the event, though some fans seem to have spotted a trail of clues ahead of the big day.
line-up
Foos frontman Dave Grohl was spotted backstage on the Pyramid Stage earlier today, with eagled-eyed fans noticing Arctic Monkeys stage gear in the background – which appeared to confirm that the picture (shown below) is current.
👀🔎‼️… https://t.co/tMtP2YmRFL pic.twitter.com/VwBM9CEDyS
— Glasto Fest Feed (@GlastoFestFeed) June 23, 2023
The Foos performed on the Pyramid Stage for an hour and a quarter, from 6:15 PM to 7:30 PM, ahead of Royal Blood (8:15 PM – 9:15 PM) and headliners Arctic Monkeys (10:15 PM – 11:45 PM).
The band opened their set with ‘All My Life’, as Grohl told the crowd: “All right motherfuckers, let’s dance!” – We only have one hour, so we’re going to try to fit in as many songs as we can,”
Grohl also played a snippet of Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’, before launching into Black Sabbath‘s iconic ‘Paranoid’ riff and playing a raging rendition of ‘The Pretender’ – while saying: “Last time we played here was 2017, I don’t know how many of you were there but we sang that shit loud back then.”
As shown in the video below, Grohl joked about the much-talked-about mystery slot, saying: “You guys fuckin’ knew it was us this whole time, you knew it was us, right?” – before performing ‘My Hero’. “We’re not good at secrets.”
“there goes my heroooooo” what a blistering moment from @foofighters 🤟
listen on @bbcsounds | watch on @bbciplayer pic.twitter.com/kJVpr6PCoC
— BBC Radio 6 Music (@BBC6Music) June 23, 2023
When the full Glastonbury 2023 line-up including set times was released last month (Tuesday, 30th of May), among the known set times, the full breakdown also featured multiple TBA (To Be Announced) slots – leaving us guessing as to who may fill the coveted slits, with one of the main hot topics surrounding the extensive schedule being a slot occupied by an unknown act, who simply appears on the bill as ‘The Churnups’.
Even rock royalty knows that there is no better way to travel to Glastonbury than by train! 🤘
You never know who is going to churn up on board our trains!#FooFighters #Glastonbury23 #TheChurnups pic.twitter.com/z6uJxESRFT
— GWR (@GWRHelp) June 23, 2023
The mysterious band – had no online footprint when searching the internet and were right away presumed to be a high-profile secret act.
Seeing that Jarvis Cocker and co were free over the Glasto weekend, the initial speculation by many fans online was that the pseudonym belongs to Pulp – who recently began their 2023 reunion tour and have been strongly rumoured for a possible performance at this year’s Glastonbury Festival for quite some time.
However, since the widespread speculation began circulating, Pulp drummer Nick Banks has taken to social media to deny any link to the speculated slot, saying: “Though it’s very tempting to tease you lot again. I know nothing of the ‘Churnups’ band,” he tweeted. “Ok? Over and out. (For now).”
Here’s some clarifications
The Wednesday of which I speak is Sheffield Wednesday FC. League 1 play-off winners.
Though it’s very tempting to tease you lot again. I know nothing of the ‘Churnups’ band. Ok?
Over and out. (For now)
— Nick Banks (@therealnickbank) May 30, 2023
Desperately, trying to find any type of clues in Banks’ message, fans noticed that coincidently (or not?) ‘Over And Out’ is the title of a 2005 song by Foo Fighters, whose name has also been associated with The Churnups – as pointed out by an avid fan of the Festival on Twitter, and can be seen in a 2021 Seattle Times article (shown below), saying frontman Dave Grohl used to be in a band called ‘Churn’.
@foofighters you playing @glastonbury ? Come on say it’s you pic.twitter.com/cVr8ychtrB
— Crazyfool1 (@Crazyfool110) May 30, 2023
The plot then thickened further after another eagle-eyed Twitter user pointed out that there appears to be a hawk in the new Glastonbury 2023 official artwork – with the connection being that Foo Fighters’ late drummer Taylor Hawkins had a hawk tattoo on his arm, as ode to his surname, and recently a symbol used as a tribute to the musician by his fans and surviving bandmates.
Wait a minute… What’s this?! 🔎🤔💭#FooFighters #Glastonbury2023❓ https://t.co/V2P4u2Zt06 pic.twitter.com/TWzTC4Nv4r
— Glasto Fest Feed (@GlastoFestFeed) May 30, 2023
As if that wasn’t enough, Foo Fighters then poured even more fuel on the already strong rumour-fire of speculations after including the sentence “churning up these emotions” in a thank you note (shown below).
The new-look Foos, featuring new drummer Josh Freese, had been playing US shows in support of their newly-released album But Here We Are, with the positive feedback and support from the American rockers’ fans not going unnoticed by frontman Dave Grohl.
In a hand-written note, posted on the Foos’ social media channels this evening (Tuesday, 6th June), Grohl says: “Hey, it’s been a while, […] Now that we’ve returned from our first run of shows, I felt compelled to reach out and thank you all for being there for us.”
While adding: “Every night, when I see you singing, it makes me sing harder. When I see you screaming, it makes me scream louder. When I see your tears, it brings me to tears. And when I see your joy, it brings me joy. But, I see you… and it feels good to see you, churning up these emotions together.”
Foo Fighters have just poured a gallon of rumour-fuel on the already very strong speculations of them being the mysterious ‘Churnups’ band billed for this year’s #Glastonbury Festival – after including the sentence “churning up these emotions” in a new thank you letter… 🤔💌🔎🔥 https://t.co/LUoASerzAi pic.twitter.com/dq9EFMFkFb
— Glasto Fest Feed (@GlastoFestFeed) June 6, 2023
Another point of note was that 2023 marked 25 years since Foo Fighters first performed at Glastonbury Festival in 1998 – on the same day and in the same slot as The Churnups were billed.
The Foos last headlined the Worthy Farm event in 2017, after being forced to cancel their appearance two years prior due to frontman Dave Grohl breaking his leg – he was then replaced by Florence and the Machine for the 2015 Festival.
Prior to today, the last time Grohl stepped foot at Worthy Farm was just last year, at Glastonbury 2022, after making a special guest appearance during Paul McCartney’s memorable headline show on the Pyramid Stage along with Bruce Springsteen – shown in the video below.
Meanwhile, this morning (Friday 23rd June), Hozier also confirmed he will be playing at this year’s Glastonbury Festival – after being rumoured for a secret set at the Worthy Farm event since his interview with Jo Whiley earlier this year.
✅ CONFIRMED: Hozier will be playing the Woodsies Stage at #Glastonbury2023 this evening (Friday, 23rd June) from 7.30pm! 👀 https://t.co/SDcn1ifcq0
— Glasto Fest Feed (@GlastoFestFeed) June 23, 2023
Elsewhere, tomorrow, Blossoms and Rick Astley are said to play their own secret set while covering The Smiths (as per their 2021 tour). Although this has also been rumoured for quite some time, Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis all but confirmed it after seemingly letting it slip on air while speaking to Zoe Ball on BBC Radio 2 earlier this morning (Friday, 23rd June). The Woodsies TBA slot is scheduled to run from 6 PM to 7 PM on Saturday (24th June).
You can now stay up to date with all the latest secret set rumours and confirmations in our daily updated secret sets list, by clicking here.
Looking ahead to next year, as Glastonbury 2023 gets on, eyes are already strongly fixated on 2024, with the Glasto Rumour Mill already being kicked into gear, as speculation mounts over the possibility of Taylor Swift finally taking to the iconic Pyramid Stage – following confirmation of a new global tour which includes dates in the UK.
Although dates for next year’s Glastonbury have yet to be officially announced, going by previous years, the Festival usually takes place on the final full weekend of June – which for 2024 could likely mean the Worthy Farm-held event will most likely take place between the 26th and 30th of June.
