ARCTIC MONKEYS Frontman Questions METALLICA As GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL Headliner

According to The Pulse Of Radio, ARCTIC MONKEYS frontman Alex Turner has wondered publicly whether METALLICA is a suitable headliner for the U.K.'s Glastonbury Festival. The five-day annual extravaganza features not only live music, but also dance, comedy, cabaret, theater and other arts.

Turner told Time Out that he's a fan of METALLICA, but continued, "I'm not sure it adds up. I know we'd buzz off it, but fundamentally could you have METALLICA in the hippy nucleus?"

METALLICA is the first metal act to headline Glastonbury in its 44-year history.

The quartet will headline the event on Saturday, June 28, with ARCADE FIRE in the slot the previous night (June 27) and KASABIAN starring on June 29.

ARCTIC MONKEYS headlined the festival for the second time in 2013.

METALLICA announced its Glastonbury gig with a statement saying, "We've made no secret that there was still one live music festival on our wish list that has eluded us . . . until now! It is with a great deal of pride that we announce that we have been tapped to headline the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival."

Asked how METALLICA will win over the doubters at Glastonbury who are not familiar with the band's work, drummer Lars Ulrich told The Guardian: "Listen, we just go out and do what we do. Isn't it wonderful, 33 years in, to be able to place yourself in situations where that's even a distinct possibility that you actually have to go and, like you say, win people over? I don't know if the competitive fire burns with quite the same spark as it did 20 years ago, so I don't know if we're as concerned about that stuff as we used to be. But obviously, playing to any people who may not be overly familiar with what you're doing is always interesting. Right now [my reaction] is one of jubilation and ecstasy and appreciation for being given a chance to be invited to the hallowed grounds of Glastonbury. So I'm not really looking at anything other than, fuck yeah, here we come!

"The one thing we've figured out along the way is that METALLICA have a tendency to get some fairly strong opinions out of people — which is a great thing, because nobody seems to just be neutral and dismissive. Everybody's always got an opinion about what we do, or what we're playing, or what we had for breakfast, or whatever. That's something you find the good in, because it means that people care. And it's better to have people care than not have anybody care. So we'll find the good in all of it, thank you very much for asking!"

Regarding the setlist for Glastonbury, Ulrich said: "It will be a straightforward set. With Glastonbury, we figured since all the people had bought the tickets and it's our first visit to the sacred, hallowed Glastonbury grounds that maybe we would be better off if I took charge of the setlist, like I have in the past, and write what I considered to be the most suitable setlist…"

He added: "We played a new song every night [on tour] in Latin America, and that was a lot of fun. And that's definitely what we're planning on doing in Europe. Whether it'll be the same new song from Latin America ['Lords Of Summer'] or not, I don't know yet. We still have about three weeks to tinker around and see what else we come up with."