Arcade Fire announced as Isle of Wight festival 2017 headliners after being recommended by David Bowie

The Canadian indie band are the first act to be confirmed for next year's festival 
Confirmed: Arcade Fire will headline Isle of Wight festival in 2017
Jennifer Ruby7 November 2016
The Weekender

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Arcade Fire are the first act to be announced as Isle of Wight headliners for 2017.

The Canadian indie band have been confirmed to headline the Saturday night of next year’s festival in what will be their only UK festival appearance.

According to the festival’s promoter John Giddings, the band had been recommended to organisers by David Bowie before his death.

“I'm so happy to have secured Arcade Fire as our first headliner. David Bowie recommended them and I've been a fan ever since,” he said.

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“Last year was incredible and I'm ready for us to come back even better."

The band, which is fronted by Win Butler, haven’t played a UK festival since 2014, following the release of their chart-topping Reflektor in 2013.

Hinting that they could be set to release new music next year, Butler recently told NME: “We're all itching to play music together and start recording things.

“We're basically in the demo and play together phase, and historically that's led to realising that, surprisingly, we're 30 per cent into a record, so we'll see if that happens.

“It's a bit different this time because everyone's older and fatter and lazier, so it might take longer, but we're playing music together.

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“Win and Regine got a place in New Orleans so I think we'll spend some time there, because why wouldn't you? But apart from that we're in the old HQ [in Montreal].”

Next year’s Isle of Wight Festival was at risk of being cancelled just last month because of the council’s hire fees.

Isle of Wight Festival will run from June 8-11 next year.

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