Glastonbury

As this year’s Glastonbury festival comes to a close, here is a look back at some of the weekend’s most memorable moments.McCartney’s surprise appearancesPaul McCartney, who headlined the Pyramid stage at the festival last year, made an unexpected appearance midway through Saturday night’s performance by the Pretenders.This time around, his appearance was a brief one, coming on stage to give the audience a thumbs up before exiting a moment later.Foo Fighters revealed as ‘mystery’ actMany had speculated that the mystery…

On the surface, Yusuf/Cat Stevens might seem an unlikely booking for the Sunday ‘legends’ slot. He’s an artist who changed his name and stopped making mainstream music entirely in 1979 as a result of his conversion to Islam, and didn’t resume performing secular material until 2006. His profile in the intervening years was confined to the news, where he regularly appeared as a spokesperson on matters pertaining to the Muslim community. In the interim, his vast-selling 70s albums receded a little into history and now,…

The chief grumble about Pyramid stage sets is about artists who aren’t perceived to have enough hits to play it (Stormzy and Billie Eilish have been the chief recent targets of this opprobrium, each with an undercurrent of prejudice). Of all the bands to play this weekend, the one least burdened by this problem has to be Blondie.It’s easy to forget just how broad and deep their discography goes, until you’re socked again and again with hit after hit; even with 75 minutes to play with there’s no room for Union City Blue,…

Elton John’s debut at Glastonbury is also meant to be his last ever performance in the UK – though it’s by far not the first time he has sworn he’s retiring only to make a subsequent return. True to form, when the 76-year-old performer addresses the crowd at the Pyramid stage – surely one of the busiest ever – it is with subtle caveats. “I never thought I’d play Glastonbury and here I am,” he says. “It’s a very special and emotional night for me as it may be my last ever show in England, so I better play well and…

Lydia Tár probably would have detested Cate Blanchett‘s unexpected performance at this year’s Glastonbury music festival — but the crowd absolutely ate it up.The “Tár” star made a cameo this weekend at the English event, joining eclectic-pop sibling duo Sparks onstage for a live performance of “The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte.” Her Day-Glo yellow pantsuit and quirky dance moves were a far cry from her Oscar-nominated, no-nonsense portrayal of fictional maestro Lydia Tár.“We have a super special treat tonight,” singer…

Key eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureOn the Park, Belgian duo Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pulpul are getting their outsider electropop thing on. One song just seems to be Adigéry maniacally cackling over a thudding beat … and I must say, I’m into it.Dark clouds over Worthy Farm: are we finally going to experience the first rain of the weekend? Whisper it, but a few of us wouldn’t mind a bit of the clear stuff to break up this stiflingly humid weather a bit.Over on the West Holts,…

There were few sets at this year’s Glastonbury festival more anticipated than Lana Del Rey’s Saturday night Other stage headline slot. It’s been nearly 10 years since the cult American singer-songwriter last played on Worthy Farm; in that time, she’s released six albums and established herself as one of pop music’s greatest living songwriters, period – a bold and experimental musician whose renown only seems to grow as her music becomes more introspective and self-referential. Her latest record, Did You Know That There’s…

Saturday started off on a bum note as a streaker protested at the Park stage during Tilda Swinton’s spoken word appearance with modern classical composer Max Richter. Meanwhile, opening up the Pyramid, Rick Astley brought Harry Styles covers, self-deprecating humour and that big hit.A man is removed from the pit area during a performance by Max Richter on the Park stage. Photograph: Yui Mok/PARaye performing on the Pyramid stage. Photograph: Dave Hogan/ShutterstockRaye followed Rick on the Pyramid, graduating to pop’s big…

There’s a real ease to this year’s Glastonbury and many of its bookings have a feelgood theme, leaning on nostalgia, familiarity and affirmation – there’s Rick Astley on the Pyramid (and playing Smiths covers with Blossoms earlier today), Sophie Ellis-Bextor on the Pyramid tomorrow, Spice Girl Melanie C whacking out the greatest hits later on on the Avalon stage. Lizzo’s set fits squarely in this bracket, and is in many ways well timed: Saturday afternoon at the festival can sometimes feel a little mortal, so what better…

‘We don’t have to get fat / We don’t have to get old / We don’t have to fade to black,” Chrissie Hynde told the crowd in her idiosyncratic smooth roar. It’s off the new album, Relentless. “I like the definition,” she told NME last month, “showing no abatement of intensity. It’s the life of the artist. You never retire. You become relentless.” While this is very much the spirit of the 2023 line-up – never retire, never surrender – Hynde is peculiarly unchanged in her every particular, from the sinewy rock sprite look to…