As previously reported here, Prince was booked to play this weekend’s Coachella festival at very late notice for a remarkably hefty fee. As reported now, co-headliners Portishead are grumbling about the diminutive gazumper’s addition to the bill.

It doesn’t seem to be the estimated $4.8m (£2.4m) it took for event organisers to lure Prince to LA that’s irking the Bristolian band, though, Geoff Barrow explaining all to BBC 6Music.

“It was gonna be us and Kraftwerk, which was amazing for us to play with Kraftwerk,” Barrow began.

”Then I knew the tickets hadn't been selling well for the concert, so they put Prince in.

"Prince is gonna turn up with a forty person entourage,” continued the Portishead man. “With the sound men not allowing us to sound check, then you end up with this horrible situation where you're playing to a shed load of Americans without a sound check”.

Those Yanks can be ruthless oiks and Barrow’s worried that his band’s records – usually constructed in a studio environment – will stand even less of a chance of coming over well live if the soundmen are focusing on Prince.

The situation when the two take to the stage at Empire Polo Field in California tomorrow could be potentially “awful”, he reckons, so they’ve “hired another two people just to make sure the sound’s good… just to fight in our corner.”