Foals ‘turned down Glastonbury spot which went to The Libertines’

Foals frontman Yannis Philippakis has said his band was offered the spare Glastonbury 2015 spot which eventually went to The Libertines last month.

A space immediately before the Friday night headliner became available after Florence & The Machine moved up one place to top the Pyramid Stage after Foo Fighters‘ late cancellation.

The replacement band remained a mystery until the day of the performance, when various Twitter rumours proved to be true once Pete Doherty, Carl Barat and co. appeared from behind the curtain.

But Philippakis has told Q Foals were approached first, yet felt unable to accept the invitation as they were still deep in rehearsals working out new material from ‘What Went Down’, and did not want to play only old material.

“I’d been smoking too much,” he added. “Our shows are so physical that I’d have been wheezing.”

Foals are due to release ‘What Went Down’ next month.