Exclusive: Eavis Sets The Record Straight
Xfm spoke to Glastonbury's Michael Eavis to get his opinion on those Jay-Z quitting rumours and, as he puts it, "the best show in the country".
With only 100,000 of the quarter of a million Glasto registrars taking their opportunity to buy tickets, Glastonbury 2008 finds itself in a position it's not experienced for five years; Festival tickets are still available 24 hours after they go on sale.
So Xfm caught up with a defiant Michael Eavis as he defends his line-up, hits back at the rumours Jay-Z will pull out and promises the greatest Glastonbury ever.
But first up, those Jay-Z rumours. Exactly where did they come from?
"The Jay-Z thing? The Sun was carrying a story that he was pulling out... I'm not sure where they got from... probably from the people that were doing a show in London the following week because they were tying to sell tickets for their show...
"That didn't come from the Americans at all because we checked with them on Sunday and the Amercians confirmed with me on Sunday they were definitely doing it... It's nasty malicious rumours... that were totally unfounded as far as we know..."
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And what of the current ticket sales situation? Why is registration re-opening and how will that effect the Eavis' plans to sell out?
"We've sold 100,000 tickets... we've another 40,000 to go and so we're re-opening the registration lines today at 4pm and we hope to sell out within a week or so..."
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And with a line-up that still remains 99% unknown, Eavis exactly what to expect and exactly when ticket-holders will find out who's playing the annual Pilton bash,
"The line-up gets published on May 1... and when the public sees the line-up they'll be amazed at what's happening this year... It's seriously is the best show in the country and the best line-up we've ever had... We're trying to sell tickets without people even knowing who's playing so it's not bad really is it?"
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And finally, Eavis harks back to a time when the festival didn't sell out in two hous and attempts to pinpoint exactly why sales have been slower in 2008,
"This year our main competitors, your Vs and Reading & leeds and T In The Park went on sale before us so they had first bite of the cherry and I didn't know they were going to go on sale beforeus... But we'll recover don't you worry about that! For the last 38 years we've been selling out over a period of months which is much more sensible..." [Listen]