Michael Eavis: 'Neil Diamond Is For The Older People'

After complaining in 2007 that Glastonbury was failing to attract a younger clientele, 72-year-old headman Michael Eavis has now set it in stone that Neil Diamond will perform at the festival.

The reason? Well, he explains: "Neil Diamond is for people closer to my age."

To be fair, one of the endearing qualities of Glastonbury is that it attracts people of all ages (and we don't doubt Diamond's musical pedigree), but it does seem a bit of a dramatic u-turn from his stance last year when he complained that revellers were getting too old - just two weeks after the festival finished.

He told the Metro at the time: “We’re trying to get the youngsters back – the 16, 17 and 18 year-olds - because numbers were down this year (2007). People say we’re getting middle class, which is stretching it a bit far, but we’re attracting a lot more people in their 30s and 40s.

“These kids add so much to the flavour of it and should have a lot of fun but we’re getting the 30 and 40-year-olds in, which changes the character of it.

"The demographic is changing and it’s slightly worrying. We might lose the fascination the show has for the public.”

Is this the same man talking?

Quite how he’s going to claw back these excitable 16/17/18 year-old youngsters we don’t know. Paramore? Klaxons?