Glastonbury viewers at home fume over sound issues during Blondie’s Pyramid Stage set
metro.co.uk
By Tori Brazier – 25th June 2023 6:23pm
Glastonbury viewers at home were unimpressed over sound issues at the beginning of Blondie’s set on the Pyramid Stage on Sunday afternoon at the famous music festival.
Several took to social media, complaining they were struggling to hear lead vocalist Debbie Harry as she whipped through a set of the band’s numerous hits including Atomic, Call Me, Maria and The Tide is High.
The US rockers launched their set with popular track One Way Or Another.
The rock band opened the performance with static buzzing across the back screen before taking to the stage, with frontwoman Debbie Harry in a black sequinned skirt and jacket paired with silver visor sunglasses.
After segueing into 1980 hit Call Me, Harry, 77, joked that they had to get the ‘phone songs out of the way’ at the beginning as they all no longer seemed ‘relevant’, given that mobile phones are carried in pockets now.
However, many fans were frustrated by the audio balance, blaming everything from the BBC to sound engineers.
‘Great to see Blondie – although the sound could be better!’ tweeted one viewer, while another complained: ‘Another headline set ruined with volume problems, do they even do sound checks #Glastonbury #blondie’
A different viewer then asked: ‘Can anyone at #Glastonbury confirm if the main singers vocals on the Pyramid stage are clearly audible? They sound crap at home! All the acts we have watched are shocking. #Blondie’
‘Blondie putting on a stellar performance as expected, any comments regarding age aside – the same cannot be said for the Glastonbury sound engineer,’ added another fan.
‘Drums overpowering and microphone far too quiet, not the first time that the sound has been poor over the weekend!’
Although some criticised Harry’s vocals, which were dubbed ‘actually painful’ at the start of the set, others were not here for it.
‘Debbie Harry is the epitome of cool & is absolutely rocking the pyramid stage at #Glastonbury,’ praised one audience member.
‘Before you criticise her voice remember that she is almost 78. I always wanted to be her when I grew up; still do!’
‘The woman is nearly 80 and she’s smashing it!! What an Icon!’ chimed in another fan.
Debbie Harry asked the thousands in the crowd: “Are you happy?”
Midway through playing Long Time later in the set, which Harry noted was written by Dev Hynes from Blood Orange, she also commented on the size of the audience, saying: ‘There’s an awful lot of you.’
Before launching into their track Maria, she shouted to the crowd: ‘All right, all you girls out there. All you girls who want to be girls, all you boys who want to be girls. Anyone who wants to be a f**king girl.’
