Foals frontman Yannis Philippakis has attempted to soften the blow of his recent comments wherein the singer took aim at reformed ’90s acts, including The Stone Roses, for stealing headlining festivals slots from today’s emerging acts.
Philippakis took to his Twitter account and posted that Foals “have nothing but respect & love for the Stone Roses”. The 26-year-old musician also admitted he went too far with “the dungaree comment”, in which Philippakis criticised ‘old’ fans in their late 30s for trying to relive their youth by attending festivals to see acts like The Stone Roses.
However, Philippakis does stick to his guns in reasserting that a problem exists where today’s popular acts are being forced to take a backseat to the bands of yesteryear, writing, “yr mad in the head if you think there is no effect on young bands if they’re having to contend with heritage acts forever”.
The original comments from Philippakis occurred during an interview with the Daily Star, where the Foal’s frontman made no bones about the problem of ‘heritage’ acts:
“There’s a big problem with old bands who always occupy the top slots at festivals. More heritage names reform every year, which only makes it worse. It really limits bands of our generation,” Philippakis explained. “We don’t get a fair chance to headline, because the slots are reserved for the same old names.
“You get people in their late 30s going to festivals, in their dungarees with a couple of kids, wanting to relive their adolescence, pretending they’re baggy again by watching The Stone Roses,” added the singer. “They aren’t in touch with what’s going on now. I’m bored of seeing some dude from the ’90s headline. It means nothing to me.”
ok, for the last time we have nothing but respect & love for the Stone Roses
— Yannis Philippakis (@YnnsPhilippakis) March 21, 2013
i was trying to make a general point about Festivals, which has got contorted
— Yannis Philippakis (@YnnsPhilippakis) March 21, 2013
i think think i mmmmmaybe overstepped the mark with the dungaree comment
— Yannis Philippakis (@YnnsPhilippakis) March 21, 2013
but yr mad in the head if you think there is no effect on young bands if they’re having to contend with heritage acts forever
— Yannis Philippakis (@YnnsPhilippakis) March 21, 2013
ok, end of. i’m gonna go eat waffles
— Yannis Philippakis (@YnnsPhilippakis) March 21, 2013