Glastonbury boss: There's going to be a phoenix

From left to right, Ronnie Wood, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, and guest star Brad Paisley perform at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Photo / AP

Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis has denied that a large sum of money enticed the Rolling Stones to perform at the event and hinted that a giant metal phoenix could appear as part of the band's set.

The veteran rockers will be headlining the Pyramid Stage on Saturday.

Asked why the band had now agreed to perform at the famous festival, Eavis told the Radio Times: "It's supposed to be a big money thing. But in fact they weren't at all greedy."

"There's always a wishlist, and only the best bands are on it - about 20 of 'em. And we've been ticking 'em off and ticking 'em off. The Rolling Stones were the only ones that were left," he told the UK magazine.

Eavis is said to have revealed that the band's set will include a metal phoenix, thought to have hydraulic wings, affixed atop the Pyramid Stage.

Meanwhile, Jagger is said to have been studying DVDs of every main stage performance for the past four years.

"Festivals are great to be at, but not always the easiest things to play.... You've got to try and make sure that first number really cooks... That first number's got to be something you're super-confident with. It's no good doing a slightly unknown number that the audience isn't gonna deal with," he said.

The frontman, who picks new acts to duet with, said: "I like to be a bit more open-minded about things. I think Keith sees the Rolling Stones as very much a conservative rock band. As he's got older his ideas have become more conservative."

Eavis, who wants to continue running the festival for another seven years, said it was a good thing that the event had taken a break last year due to supplies being stretched by the Olympics.

"Three inches of rain that weekend! We would have had it - we would have gone completely bust. You can't run this show with three inches of rain. We were so lucky," he said.

- PAA