Isle of Wight organiser: “Michael Eavis said, ‘How did you get Fleetwood Mac?’ I said, I paid them!”

Isle of Wight festival organiser John Giddings has spoken about how he managed to secure Fleetwood Mac’s only festival show of 2015.

Speaking to Music Week, Giddings spoke about his role in getting ahead of other festivals in getting Fleetwood Mac to play. “Michael Eavis said, ‘How did you get Fleetwood Mac?’ I said, I paid them!” he told the publication, adding: “Glastonbury are in a privileged position, whereby they sell out in advance. They could book my granny and still have a festival. The rest of us are still in the realms of having to book a decent line-up and make it attractive to people and want them to come.”

He went on to say: “The trouble is as soon as you finalise a line-up and see people’s reaction when they find out it’s incredible, you start stressing about what you’re going to book the following year and whether you can top it or not.”

Isle of Wight Festival runs from 11th-14th June, with Blur, The Black Keys and The Prodigy also headlining.