Glastonbury 2023 – latest: Elton John says thank-you to festival audience after farewell UK performance
Rocket Man bids farewell as he played what could be his final live show in the UK, with a jaw-dropping, career-spanning set of his greatest songs
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Elton John performed what will go down as one of the greatest headline shows in Glastonbury history last night (Sunday 25 June), to one of the biggest crowds the festival has seen in years.
Lil Nas X was the final artist to take to the main stage before the 76-year-old at Worthy Farm, Somerset, after a joyful Yusuf/Cat Stevens entertained fans with songs including “Wild World” and “Father and Son”.
The revered folk singer-songwriter performed with his band in the coveted Legends Slot, a gig previously handed to artists including Lionel Richie, Kylie Minogue and Dolly Parton. He also gave superfan/comedian Ricky Gervais a shout-out on his birthday, before playing his song “Tea for the Tillerman”.
At 9pm, John launched his performance with some of his best-known songs, including his 1975 cover of “Pinball Wizard” and “Benny and the Jets”. From the moment he sat down at the piano, the show was a pure blast of euphoria from one of the world’s greatest living entertainers, with surprise guests including The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers, and Gabriels singer Jacob Lusk.
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Look at the size of that crowd!
Jesus, that’s a lot of people. Lewis is handling it like a champ, though, opening with recent single “Forget Me” (banger, I love it).
Lewis Capaldi to play the Pyramid Stage ahead of Lizzo and Guns N’ Roses
Scotland’s finest, Lewis Capaldi, is about to take to the Pyramid Stage for the biggest show of his career to date. This slot comes after the release of his latest No 1 album, Broken By Desire to Be Heavenly Sent. His last Glastonbury appearance was a glorious riposte to some criticism from Noel Gallagher... what’s he going to do this time?
An interesting thread on Arctic Monkeys last night, and some additional thoughts from yours truly
Everyone’s still talking about that Arctics headline set last night, along with this thread, which many seem to think chimes in with why not everyone was happy about the performance.
While I’m pretty much 100% in agreement with the fact that most artists want to develop and change over time, and that often means changing up the live performances of their classic / best-known songs, I don’t believe that’s why last night didn’t go down so well with everyone.
I think the problem last night was the band seemed to suffer a palpable loss of energy about five songs in. There was a shift - you could see it on TV and there were mutterings in the audience at the same time. At points the band seemed to be going through the motions.
Maybe it was because Alex was still feeling under the weather, having only just recovered from acute laryngitist. As a longtime tonsillitis sufferer, I can sympathise with how unpleasant that is and guess that he wasn’t back to 100% by the time Arctics stepped onto the Pyramid Stage. Also, maybe it was because the band did the same set they’ve been doing on tour and so they treated it like another gig.
Either way, I think that’s the reason people felt let down and not because they didn’t play “Arabella” the way fans wanted. Artists also need to remember that only a fraction of people watching your festival set are diehard fans. The rest might know some of your music, others none at all. You need to work twice as hard to win them over, which includes playing “the hits”. Radiohead brought out “Creep” and “Paranoid Android” in 2017 (also their third time headlining). The Cure played “Lovecats” and “Friday I’m in Love” in 2019. And I don’t think that generosity and understanding that festivals are a unifying, community experience was quite there yesterday. That’s my two cents!
Too cool to love these acts 10 years ago? This year’s Glastonbury is for you
Adam White braves the festival crowds, toilets and ‘special guest’ rumours – Cate, Britney, Dua Lipa – for the first time since he was seven and finds Worthy Farm steeped in nostalgia
Too cool to love these acts 10 years ago? This year’s Glastonbury is for you
Adam White braves the festival crowds, toilets and ‘special guest’ rumours – Cate, Britney, Dua Lipa – for the first time since he was seven and finds Worthy Farm steeped in nostalgia
The full lineup and stage times for today
Glastonbury 2023: Full line up and stage times
Your full guide to the festival’s mammoth line up, including headliners Arctic Monkeys and Elton John, plus major draws such as Lizzo, Lewis Capaldi and Lana Del Rey
Amadou & Mariam are killing it on the Pyramid Stage
Married Mali music legends Amadou & Mariam are generating infinite good vibes on the Pyramid Stage right now.
One fan writes: “They need to be a staple at every festival, their vibes are stupid good.”
Billy Nomates asks BBC to take down Glastonbury footage after wave of ‘personal abuse’
Singer-songwriter Billy Nomates asked the BBC to remove footage of her Glastonbury 2023 set after being hit with a wave of online abuse.
The 33-year-old musician, real name Tor Maries, performed at the festival’s Park Stage on Friday afternoon (23 June).
However, after footage from her set was shared online, she was faced with a number of disparaging and abusive comments.
My colleague Louis Chilton reports:
Billy Nomates asks BBC to take down Glastonbury footage after ‘personal abuse’
Revelation prompted an outpouring of support on social media
A guide to the most brutal set clashes this year – and some possible workarounds.
Of course, there’s always BBC iPlayer.
Just heard in the circus tent, per The Independent’s Jacob Stolworthy...
Compère: “Who here was at the Arctic Monkeys last night?”
*Crowd cheers*
Compère: “Were they good?”
*Deathly silence*
Seems like the set was just as divisive in person as it was on TV...
Arctic Monkeys accused of ‘butchering’ Glastonbury set
Sheffield rock band played a number of popular hits from their back catalogue, but many in the audience at Worthy Farm and fans watching from home were left feeling unsatisfied