Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine member Jim Bob has announced that he will be recreating their set from Glastonbury 1992 on YouTube.
The announcement was made last week by the band’s frontman, who reflected on the headline slot in celebration of its 31st anniversary.
In the Facebook update, he reflected on the chaotic nature of the infamous gig — which saw their set cut short, controversy from bandmate Les ‘Fruitbat’ Carter, and a subsequent ban from the festival — and explained how he is constantly expected to discuss the event each summer.
“Every year I do at least one short interview about how that all went. I talk about the foam balls and how we were going to drop them from helicopters but instead used cannons and how we ran out of time and didn’t play an encore,” he began. “[How] Fruitbat had a go at the whole festival because of that and then we swore a lot at Michael Eavis and were asked to leave immediately and then we were banned from playing there ever again.”
“Every June I’ll read at least three tweets from people who are furious that they watched Carter on the Pyramid Stage in 1992 when they could have been watching Primal Scream on the NME stage at the same time instead,” he continued. “Although maybe they won’t say that so much this year.”
He continued, explaining that for 2023 he will be taking a different approach to rehashing their headline set, and recreating the infamous moment in his home.
“To celebrate this momentous occasion I’ve built a life-size replica of the Pyramid Stage in the smallest room (excluding the toilet),” he confirmed. “I’m going to perform the 1992 Carter Glastonbury set live on YouTube. Balls and all.
The frontman also confirmed that he will be live streaming the recreated set on YouTube at 7:30pm this Friday (June 23) — the same time that the 2023 festival will be streamed on television, featuring performances from Royal Blood, Arctic Monkeys and mystery band The Churnups.
“I’ve just checked the festival website and at 7:30 you won’t miss much if you’re watching the festival on telly, apart from the beginning of Royal Blood (not the end bit when they have a go at you for not clapping) and somebody called TBA on the Woodsies formally John Peel, no comment, Stage.”
The comments regarding Royal Blood refer to the recent controversy the band faced during their set at BBC Radio One’s Big Weekend — when the band criticised the audience for not being enthusiastic enough, before Mike Kerr eventually threw down his guitar and walked off stage, giving the middle finger to the audience.
The latter part of the comment refers to the Woodsies stage at Glastonbury 2023, which was previously named the John Peel stage. This comes after the festival faced pressure to rename the stage in 2022 when some fans highlighted how Peel married a 15-year-old girl when he was 25. The marriage took place in Texas in 1965 and was legal at the time.
GLASTONBURY MESSAGE FROM JIM BOB (AND GO AND ORDER HIS NEW ABLUM)This June it will be the 31st anniversary of Carter…
Posted by Carter USM on Wednesday, June 14, 2023
A petition to rename the stage was launched that same year, although Eavis denied that the controversy surrounding Peel played a role in the decision to rebrand the area.
Elsewhere in the update, Jim Bob — whose real name is Jim Morrisson — explained that his manager Marc will be present in the comment section for the livestream, as he was also present at the 1992 set. He also added that Marc will be there to help sell his latest album, as he has run into financial difficulties.
“Marc will be there to answer any questions you have and to try to get you to buy a copy of my new album, which let’s face it is why I’m doing this,” he said. “I’ve now reached the point in the album PR campaign where I’m basically going to outright ask you to buy a cheap cassette or download a copy for 9 quid from Bandcamp just so I might make enough money to record another album in the future.
“I was awake at 3am this morning worrying about what a financial hole I’ve dug for myself. Listening to the album on Spotify is lovely but my granddaughter needs new shoes.”
At the end of the update, Jim Bob confirmed that the link for the YouTube livestream will be available at a later date, and shared the link to pre-order his new album ‘Thanks For Reaching Out’, which can be found here.
In other Carter USM news, back in 2020, Jim Bob spoke to NME as part of its Does Rock ‘n’ Roll Kill Braincells?! Series, and once again reflected on the now-notorious Glastonbury slot.
“Fruitbat says he’s got a letter saying he was banned, but I don’t know if we officially were,” he recalled. “I remember an atmosphere in the dressing room afterwards and Michael Eavis coming round and shouting and us being asked to leave. It wasn’t a great experience. We played Reading festival the year before and that’s a perfect memory, whereas Glastonbury was stressful. I didn’t enjoy it.”