Blur rocker Alex James is convinced the U.K. has too many summer rock festivals and blames the glut for turning the once-special events into "gap year culture".

The bassist insists Britain's two biggest outdoor gigs - Glastonbury and Reading/Leeds - have been diluted by too many other events offering the same experience.

He tells U.K. newspaper the Daily Star, "When Blur started there were only two festivals - Glastonbury and Reading. They were part of a threatening counter-culture, and my mum looked really concerned when I first told her Blur were playing at Glastonbury. But now festivals are the acceptable face of gap year culture. There are too many of them, and a lot of them don't stand for anything."