Welcome back to Pilton Farm with the Evening Standard. Here’s the second of our daily round-ups from Britain’s biggest festival.
Knees up
First thing up at dependable new music spot Woodies, Belfast rap trio Kneecap drew the biggest early-doors crowd of the festival so far, playing to a sea of Irish and Palestinian flags. Summoning a particularly hectic variety of chaos, inside the tent felt more like an early-hours party in the heart of Shangri-La than a pre-lunchtime show. El Hunt
Family affair
A few brave souls faced their hangovers and the hot sun to see afrobeat star Femi Kuti first up on the Pyramid stage. Like his dad, he mixed undeniable rhythms with political messages — decrying corruption in Nigeria and pain around the world. Femi kept it in the family, recalling how his dad brought him out on the stage 40 years ago, before welcoming his own son Made out for a stirring sax solo.The outfits were strong: Femi in striking blue, his dancers in yellow tassels skirts, and the band in a lime green that brought to mind Charli XCX and her Brats era — she gets everywhere this Glastonbury. Femi popped up again later during Coldplay’s set to bookend the day. There was excitement straight afterwards as a huge bag of helium balloons that had been hidden for a later act’s show blew away, causing a minor dust storm as it crashed into tents nearby. Robbie Griffiths
Keir we go
It’s hard to believe, but in the world outside Pilton farm, there’s a general election campaign going on. Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner had been due to speak, but pulled out for more serious things, so it was left to Manchester mayor Andy Burnham to talk at the Left Field stage. He bigged up the chances of more devolution in a Keir Starmer Government, and said people should make sure to go out and vote. Defending his decision to come to the festival instead of knocking on doors, he said: “I’m here to do a job that perhaps the the Shadow Cabinet can’t do – as well as maybe have the odd beer while I’m here.” The day before, Professor Brian Cox had reunited with his band D:Ream to play New Labour anthem Things Can Only Get Better — it felt like 1997 all over again. RG
She don't need no other body
Tems knocked the hangover out of festival goers at the Other stage on Saturday afternoon, opening boldly with Crazy Tings. At the barrier, fans flew the Nigerian flag, where the singer herself is from. Her powerhouse energy stayed consistent throughout, despite several impressive dance breaks while demanding that the crowd ‘whine [their] waist!’ Love Me Jeje, her most recent single and one dedicated to all the lovers, was the highlight of the set — a blissful, romantic track that was amplified by glorious sunshine. Isobel Van Dyke
True colours shining
Down the hill, Cyndi Lauper pulled a huge audience at the Pyramid ahead of next year’s supposed farewell tour. At times, she appeared frustrated by technical issues, while her vocal performance was rocky and uneven. She also suffered from poor sound. Still, the sun-drenched crowd didn’t seem to mind, and belted it out to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. The US singer used the song to segue into a call for women’s rights, speaking about how moved she was to see the song title adopted as a slogan during 2017’s Women’s March. “I saw the signs that said Girls Just Want To Have Fundamental Rights, that’s right,” she said.
“It is time that the world leaders understand that women are half the population of the world and we deserve to be treated equally, no matter where we’re from or what we look like,” she said. EH
A fresh faced Caity Baser took to the Lonely Hearts Club mid-afternoon before diving into a short and punchy half hour set of anecdotal pop fuelled-tunes about her love life. “Glastonbury I’m in love with you”, she shouted before diving into rebel anthem I’m A Problem. Baser offered backstory for each of her hits, offering humorous quips in between songs. Katrina Mirpuri
Back to the start
She’s come a long way – but bestselling artist Arlo Parks returned to the BBC Introducing stage on Saturday afternoon (after playing the considerably larger Woodsies the previous night) for a kind-of-surprise set that saw her break out hits Caroline and Eugene to a swaying crowd, before finishing with heavy hitter Devotion. Vicky Jessop
Getting political
One of the festival’s most anticipated sets came courtesy of The Last Dinner Party, levelling up to Glastonbury’s second biggest stage after making an impressive debut at Woodsies last year. Channelling Renaissance glam rock, vocalist Abigail Morris twirled and danced her way through a flawless airing of their debut album Prelude to Ecstasy, plus a preview of the choral-tinged new song Second Best. Before closing out with the ABBA-flavoured banger Nothing Matters, she reminded punters that a potential change of government at the next election is not an end goal, and more needs to be done. “Keep boycotting the right things,” she added, being tactfully vague on account of the TV cameras. “Barclays pulled out.” She was referring to a wave of bands pulling out of festivals with the bank as a sponsor, as part of a wider Palestinian solidarity boycott.
Cate Blanchett has clearly heard the buzz around the band, too – we spotted her headbanging to Caesar on a TV Screen. EH
A well deserved break
After a well-received headline slot on Friday, Dua Lipa had a deserved rest in the hospitality bar, lounging around with her actor boyfriend Callum Turner on the grass, and having a cigarette or two. Given her exhausting dance routines, the Houdini singer looked remarkably sprightly, taking selfies with fans and chatting to friends, before wandering off to have some fun. She’s a pro. Elsewhere, young Nigerian popstar Ayra Starr was giving as many interviews as she could in the press tent, taking up her chances of headlining one day. RG
Lighting up Silver Hayes
Not in the mood for mainstream pop? Electronic music up and comers HAAi and Saoirse lit things up with a b2b set at the area’s tiny Assembly venue that brought the heavy partygoers running from around the festival. In addition to the standard fare of hard-hitting beats, they fed fans with a rendition of The Real Thing by Tony Di Bart, and a fun remix of Gorillaz’ song Dare: we’re hoping Damon Albarn (who popped up as a surprise guest with Bombay Bicycle Club earlier in the festival) was in the crowd to hear it. VJ
Heading to the block party
Alexa Chung, Greg James and Matt Smith were all spotted heading into the crowd for Bloc Party at The Other Stage. The London-based band are seasoned Glastonbury performers, and had the crowd worked up and moshing within 10 minutes of their set. Silent Alarm classics Banquet, Helicopter and This Modern Love all came in quick succession – soon enough it felt like 2005 all over again. “We’ve got one more rocket in our pocket” stated lead singer Kele before storming into explosive closer Flux. KM
Señorita gets on her bike
Camila Cabello took to The Other Stage in true pop star fashion, kitted out in a full metallic silver look, and playing to a small but engaged crowd. On stage with her was a full skate park half-pipe, swings, and dancers wearing robot dog costumes. She delivered a headline-worthy performance, singing Señorita from the handlebars of a BMX as it raced around the stage, and at one point dousing herself in water while spinning around on a roundabout. Impressive. KM
As ever, plenty of rumours did the rounds all weekend, but in the end the not-very-secret-set on Woodsies was taken by rockers Kasabian — no one seemed very surprised. In a year somewhat lacking big names, the band drew a huge crowd. Despite having a new album out soon, they pulled no punches, playing Club Foot and Underdog early, to get the crowd shouting at a volume that could be heard across the site. The band booted out their lead singer Tom Meighan in 2020, leaving songwriter Serge Pizzorno as the sole frontman. He did a fine job, performing in a fringed outfit which made him look a bit like a giant mop. The band finished with chrome-plated banger Fire. RG
Lock down your aerials
One of the best sets of the weekend so far came from The Streets on the Other Stage as the sun went down. Frontman Mike Skinner lost no time getting into the crowd, elbowing his way into the throngs to tell them they were the true stars of proceedings, and carried on from there. He did a running joke throughout about people leaving early to go “up on the hill” to watch other bands, but played such a tight hour that only fools would have gone prematurely. Skinner’s great skill is relatability — he kept returning into the crowd to let them know he was one of them. When he said he’d be at the Temple Bar in the Dance area at 5am, you believed him. As a closer, he walked out miles to wave a flag with his own face on, before crowd surfing back to the stage. The steward who’d helped him stand up straight said “they’ll be talking about that set for years”. RG
Another memorable set came courtesy of Little Simz, who – to be frank – could headline the entire thing with another album under her belt. Read our five star review here. EH
Look at the stars
In a year without as many huge stars was a lot of pressure on headliners Coldplay. They rose to the occasion, starting with Yellow, as the crowd of thousands waved special light wristbands created for the night. The set lost its way a little in the middle, as the band brought on guests including Laura Mvula and Little Simz without announcing who they were, before fun cameos from Michael Eavis and Michael J. Fox. Stars came out in support to watch: Chris Martin’s close friend Simon Pegg was seen chatting with Gillian Anderson and Pegg’s Mission Impossible mate Tom Cruise, who is practically an honorary Brit these days. Read our full review here.
Escaping Coldplay
While Coldplay played to the masses on the Pyramid stage dance music pioneers Orbital took over the Park stage on the hill as headliners. They were joined by acting royalty Tilda Swinton, who opened and closed their set with her commanding voice. “Focus on a spot and when that spot has your full and complete attention, take a deep breath,” she told the audience, who couldn’t be 100 per cent sure they weren’t hallucinating. Not to be outdone, Spice Girl Mel C also turned up for a cameo. Peggy Gou rounded off a good night for the park. Down at the Other Stage, Disclosure came on to a wave of smoke. They brought on Sam Smith for Latch, too. RG
Dancing shoes
Crowds dispersed after the various headliners finished, and Saturday night at Glastonbury took full form. Over towards Arcadia, party people enjoyed a DJ set from Hot Chip, while HMS Sweet Charity hosted London-based band Flamingods. They played a vibrant set that fused psychedelia, rock and electrica. KM
Glastonbury’s designated LGBTQ+ spot NYC Downlow holds mythological status as one of the greatest clubs around – and the once-a-year nightclub, inspired by the now-legendary New York clubs of the Eighties, was the place to be for Saturday’s Pride celebrations. Even Cyndi Lauper (and her troupe of around 20 drag queens and kings) got the memo; she rocked up as a surprise performer during the night. EH
In need of something a little more low key? Not to worry: over by Woodsies, electronic artist Jon Hopkins took to the festival’s brand new Tree Stage for the premiere of his ambient music album Ritual. No raving here: just the soothing music of wind chimes, being played to a crowd lying on their backs and looking at the stars. Ahhh. VJ
