Glastonbury 2022: Six of the biggest talking points from the Worthy Farm festival
US rapper Kendrick Lamar’s headline set closed an impressive weekend of live music
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Your support makes all the difference.The final day at Glastonbury ended with a jaw-dropping performance by American rapper Kendrick Lamar.
Over the course of five days, fans had danced to performances by top artists such as Paul McCartney, Little Simz, Pet Shop Boys, Sam Fender, and Billie Eilish.
On the last day of the festival, George Ezra turned up at the John Peel stage in what was possibly the worst-kept secret set in Glastonbury history, while jazz-fusion legend Herbie Hancock delighted crowds relaxing at the Pyramid stage with a virtuosic performance.
Here’s a look back at six of the biggest talking points from the entire Glastonbury 2022 festival...
Roe v Wade
News of the US Supreme Court’s highly controversial legal ruling broke on Friday, and it was clearly on a lot of people’s minds at Glastonbury. It certainly didn’t escape the attention of the artists, many of whom were American. From Billie Eilish, to Phoebe Bridgers, to Olivia Rodrigo, to Kendrick Lamar, lots of the performers included powerful statements about abortion rights in their sets.
From the youngest ever headliner…
Eilish made history with her Friday night headline slot, delighting fans with an intimate but lively set of songs from the 20-year-old’s two albums. As the festival’s youngest ever solo headliner, the pressure was certainly on Eilish’s shoulders, but as Mark Beaumont’s five-star review attests, she pulled it off with aplomb.
…to the oldest
On the other end of the spectrum, we had Paul McCartney, who delivered an absolute barnstormer of a set on Saturday. Performing a range of hits from his Beatles and Wings repertoires, as well as his solo career (and a couple of covers), Macca delivered a Glastonbury experience for the ages. At 80 years old, he became the festival’s oldest ever headliner.
Kendrick Lamar
Closing the festival on Sunday was Kendrick Lamar, who held the Pyramid Stage in the palm of his hand from the start of his electrifying, career-spanning set to the end. The stunning climax of his set – a rendition of “saviour” performed while blood dripped from his diamond crown of thorns, before he began a furious chant about women’s rights – was pure chills-down-the-spine stuff.
Ukraine
The ongoing war in Ukraine was also a core political issue for many of the festival’s acts and attendees. Ukrainian flags were spotted commonly around the festival site, with McCartney holding one aloft in solidarity as he took the stage for his encore. The Pyramid Stage also played host to Ukrainian band Dakhabrakha on Sunday, one of several Ukrainian artists the festival championed.
A little help from my friends…
While Kendrick’s set may have been all him, many of the festival’s other acts deployed some heavyweight guest stars. McCartney brought Bruce Springsteen and Dave Grohl on stage towards the end. Olivia Rodrigo welcomed Lily Allen for a duet of “F*** You”. Phoebe Bridges joined forces with Arlo Parks (who had her own full set at the festival) for a couple of numbers. Pete Doherty even showed up on stage during Hak Baker’s performance, having performed with the Libertines shortly before. It was a festival chock-full of unexpected – but thoroughly enjoyed – cameos.
Look back at our live blog below:
Diana Ross fans defend singer after viewers complain she’s ‘off-key’ during Glastonbury set
How dare they???
Diana Ross fans defend singer after viewers complain Glastonbury set is ‘off-key’
Soul singer drew huge crowds for her Legends Slot at Worthy Farm
George Ezra – John Peel Stage
★★★☆☆
“I asked them, ‘can it not be completely secret? Can we tell them at some point?’,” George Ezra tells a crowd stretching several football-pitch lengths outside the John Peel tent.
Secret? Until the Avalon stage makes a big deal of having booked The Joshua Trees, there can’t be a more obvious secret set than Gold Rush Kid on the John Peel Stage. His official announcement a few hours ago was a bit like a governmental press release declaring Brexit rubbish – the Ezra-ites have been camping out all morning for a set of sun-kissed Sunday vibes that, considering the crush, is about as laid-back as the only sunny lockdown bank holiday on Bournemouth beach.
Ezra – an unpretentious and genuinely endearing purveyor of vaguely soulful and tropical Radio 2 pleasantness – nonetheless makes the entire field, inside and out, feel part of his beach-side barbecue of song. “Cassy O” is a hearty country pop jig, “Listen to the Man” the softest of soft reggae and “Hold My Girl” a stirring glower ballad. The shimmer of “Barcelona” sounds like Hertford flesh sizzling gently in the Catalonian sun, while “Green Green Grass” even comes with a story of stumbling across a funeral party in St Lucia, so close is Ezra to becoming the soft pop Judith Chalmers.
The much anticipated party really kicks off with “Paradise” and the crowd groove gently through the closing third, relishing the steel drum carnival that breaks out during “Blame it on Me” – otherwise a less corny Mumford & Sons – and probably breaking records for mass yodelling on “Budapest”.
“Shotgun”, dedicated to the people under rocks on Mars who “didn’t get the memo” about Ezra’s appearance, sends us drifting cheerily off towards Diana Ross feeling, a little smugly, like someones.
Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar makes his Glastonbury debut tonight!
This evening will see Kendrick Lamar make his Glastonbury debut following the release of his critically acclaimed, and highly anticipated album Mr Morale & the Big Steppers. Check out our five-star review of the record ahead of tonight’s set below...
Kendrick Lamar’s Mr Morale and the Big Steppers is a tender, delicate opus – review
Rapper’s first album in five years is a haunting and surprising meditation on fatherhood and family
Aussie pub rock band Amyl and the Sniffers are tearing up the John Peel Stage
Aussie rock band Amyl and the Sniffers are delivering a brilliantly rambunctious set over at the John Peel Stage with frontwoman Amy Taylor decked out in gold.
She’s whipping up the crowd as she bounces across the stage and dances with security guards.
Elbow are transcendent on the Pyramid Stage
It’s Guy Garvey and the gang! The Brummie wonderboys are Glastonbury favourites, having serenaded revellers at Worthy Farm on a number of occasions. Garvey has just removed his jacket (I imagine it’s hot on the Pyramid Stage), but before he did, I noticed it has “Jack’s Dad” sewn onto the back – Jack is the name of his young son with actor Rachael Stirling.
As ever, Elbow have brought out the big guns, including a string section, backing dancers and the full band. Garvey, the closest you’ll ever see to a talking bear, is in a particularly affectionate mood, announcing that Glastonbury is “the place where love was invented”. Then he gets everyone to chant “love” out ahead of a rendition of the slow-burning “Kindling”.
This is gonna be a good one, lads.
Aww – Elbow singer Guy Garvey has “Jack’s Dad” sewn onto the back of his jacket
Elbow are delighting fans with their set on the Pyramid Stage! Yes the music’s great and all – but did anyone else see Guy Garvey has his son’s name sewn onto his jacket?
Cowboy hats at the ready – it’s time for Kacey Musgraves!
Now up on Other Stage is country pop icon Kacey Musgraves...!
Highlights from Saturday at Worthy Farm
Here’s our low-down on the highlights from yesterday night. From Paul McCartney’s very, very special guests to Olivia Rodrigo joining forces with Lily Allen over Roe v Wade, “eventful” doesn’t quite cover it.
The biggest highlights from Saturday at Glastonbury 2022
Paul McCartney brought out Bruce Springsteen and Dave Grohl in an epic surprise
Diana Ross review – Sunday Legends slot
★★★☆☆
Come back Paul McCartney’s voice, all is forgiven. In the weekend’s grand parade of Sixties hitmakers, Diana Ross’s pipes are most definitely the rustier. “There’s a great power in determination,” she wisely imparts, speaking of her struggles to make her Thank You tour and this Legends slot appearance happen, but also of her great epiglottal strain.
The Queen of Motown might appear from the wings in a flume of bubbles to a fanfare of “I’m Coming Out” – looking like she’s materialised direct from a dimension populated by glamorous snowflake people – but at times, over the coming 75 minutes, she sounds as though she’s doing disco karaoke after four heavy nights at Shangri-La. “Chain Reaction”, in particular, is flatter than a landslide hitting Ian Brown’s house.
The effect is a set that’s as much a 100,000-strong support group as celebratory sing-along. There’s still a magical frisson to being in the presence of such a supernaturally famous and universally beloved pop icon, and Glastonbury’s perm-wigged masses are not letting this one get away without a fight. They help carry her initial rush of Supremes hits – “Baby Love”, “Stop! In The Name of Love” and “You Can’t Hurry Love” – which are chucked away early like a Legends slot death-wish. They even will on Ross’s failed attempt to start a singalong coda to gentle soul ballad “I’m Still Waiting”. The star and her songs get all the love; the performance itself is of secondary concern.
Until, that is, Ross commits the cardinal Legends slot sin and plugs her new album Thank You too hard to the watching wallets at home. “Tomorrow” is lively disco fare and the title track a marvellous throwback to her Seventies disco soul period, but the last thing we’re here for is a sales pitch, no matter how sweet. The tropical modern pop of “If the World Just Danced” suggests that all of our problems might be solved with a vigorous conga. Presumably down Club ExxonMobile.
From there it takes a cry of “I feel 47!” midway through a fabulous “Upside Down”, with the front-row security doing their customary dance routine, and her Dolly Parton country pop moment “Ease on Down the Road” to claw the set back, despite a frankly awful “Why Do Fools Fall in Love”. It’s something of a shame that Ross feels that songs like “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “I Will Survive” are her go-to showstoppers, tracks she’s had hits with but doesn’t entirely own. “I Will Survive” even gets segued into “Billie Jean” and DJ Khaled’s “All I Do is Win”. But by now the crowd are singing for themselves, just happy to have such a ravishing ringleader.
In case you missed it, this is what happened at George Ezra’s secret set...
The rumours turned out to be true. This afternoon, George Ezra took the John Peel tent by surprise(ish).
It was a predictably crowded affair but Mark Beaumont managed to get within listening distance of Gold Rush Kid. Here’s what you missed...
George Ezra gave beachside BBQ vibes at his not-so secret Glastonbury set – review
Until the Avalon stage makes a big deal of having booked The Joshua Trees, there can’t be a more obvious secret set than Gold Rush Kid on the John Peel Stage
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