Glastonbury on Saturday, as it happened: The Killers bring out Pet Shop Boys and Johnny Marr for guest appearances
Las Vegas rock band brought out a number of special guests as they returned to Worthy Farm
Sign up to Roisin O’Connor’s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music
Get our Now Hear This email for free
The Killers turned their headline set at Glastonbury 2019 into something of a karaoke session on the Saturday night (29 June), with guest appearances from the Pet Shop Boys and Johnny Marr.
The Las Vegas rock band raced through a string of hits including “The Man”, “Somebody Told Me” and “Mr Brightside”.
This was the second time The Killers have headlined Glastonbury, following a disastrous appearance in 2007.
This attempt seemed to be met with a much better reception, and frontman Brandon Flowers looked ecstatic as he bounded off the stage following a rousing rendition of “Mr Brightside” for their final song.
Across the fourth day of the music festival, fans also experienced sets from Janet Jackson, Johnny Marr, Maggie Rogers, Lewis Capaldi, Liam Gallagher, Sean Paul, Lizzo, Hozier, Slowthai and Hot Chip.
This was on another day where the sun blazed down on Worthy Farm amid reports of a water shortage, which Glastonbury organisers denied – although our team on the ground confirmed there were queues of up to an hour for water refills.
The liveblog has now closed
See the best pictures from Glastonbury here.
Since his 2014 breakthrough, Stormzy has blazed through barriers against UK rap and become the defining British artist of a generation. He is also the least boilerplate Glastonbury headliner in recent memory: a booking so off-the-wall that it didn’t trigger a backlash so much as a sceptical, “Let’s see what you’ve got then”.
Stormzy, it transpires, has it all. Sceptics point to his discography, with its sole full-length, as if he didn’t build his empire on a string of breathtaking singles – as if his legendary Brits performance didn’t have the charisma and vitriolic force of a thousand box-ticking headline sets.
But out of the blocks, the 25-year-old shines. He bounds out to “Know Me From” in a stab-proof vest. Riotous scenes erupt. Shrouded in smoke, he emerges for “First Things First” like a superhero stepping out of a mad scientist’s lab. When he fires up “One Take”, a minor, one-off single from 2016, the crowd unlocks levels of hysteria usually reserved for a Drake cameo.
– an excerpt from Jazz Monroe's outstanding Stormzy review from last night
From Alexandra Pollard:
It might be hard to believe, given the happy, broken, burnt state of festival-goers (myself included - this report comes to you from a two-hour-long shower queue), but technically, yesterday was only day one of Glastonbury.
Already, though, from Spanish singer Rosalía proving herself a worthy future headliner to Stormzy's electrifying set, there have been myriad “I was there” moments. The weather was balmy, the atmosphere barmy, and the entertainment on point.
There were celeb spots aplenty, too. Billie Piper, Emilia Clarke, Rupert Grint and Professor Green were spotted by the Independent's team on the ground. Most exciting by far, though, was the dad from My Parents Are Aliens having a whale of a time at King Princess.
Basically, it's been worth missing Love Island for. Here are some of the biggest talking points from day three:
Rosalía performing “Barefoot in the Park”
The searing Spanish singer, who puts a modern spin on old-school flamenco, proved that she's destined for greatness in the John Peel tent. Bringing the ancient sound of her homeland to a 21st-century audience, the 25-year-old sings mostly in Spanish, but there was a brief foray into the English language in the form of the woozy, off-kilter “Barefoot in the Park” – one of the standout tracks from James Blake’s latest album, Assume Form, to which Rosalia contributed vocals. Purple stars flickered behind her as she sang. Blake didn’t appear onstage, but it is no slight against him to say that Rosalía more than did the song justice on her own.
The most eco-conscious year yet
Beautifully decorated bins are generously scattered throughout the festival site, each clearly labelled to mark what you should recycle in it. Water bottles are banned from sale, so everyone has brought reusable containers to fill up, and even the toilets and showers are designed to be as environmentally friendly as possible. Though they attract those with hippy tendencies, festivals are generally no friend to the environment. It is galvanising to see the Eavis clan make such an effort to rectify that.
Sheryl Crow singing “All I Wanna Do is Have Some Fun”
Sheryl Crow spent very little time on the Pyramid Stage itself for her afternoon performance - the country pop singer chose instead to wade into the crowd for her euphoric old-school anthems. “All I Wanna Do is Have Some Fun” was the best of them, rallying us into the first mass singalong of the festival.
How do you solve a problem like George Ezra? George Ezra, weak of chat and strong of banger, George Ezra, with your terrible persona, tedious anecdotes and frankly silly voice. Why do I keep going back for more, chasing the cider-sweet hit of his summery pop? The utterly inexplicable presence of a gramophone crackling with deliberately frazzled vocals unfortunately emphasised the most twee and cringeworthy aspects of Brand Ezra – but for all my attempts at smug cynicism, his closing number, "Shotgun" – in all it’s brass-backed, lads-chanting glory – was impossible to resist.
- Highlight from Anna Leszkiewicz
Presented without comment, but just a tiny bit of applause
An art piece that's also a reminder that all single-use plastic bottles are banned from sale at the festival this year.
Overheard outside a burger stand: “HEY PETE! LOOK! It’s SEASICK STEVE. Oh, no it isn’t.” – Anna Leszkiewicz
This video was shown on the Pyramid Stage between acts, before the Proclaimers played
Vampire Weekend are covering Fleetwood Mac’s Everywhere rather anaemically over at the Park Stage for their “secret set” this morning. Not sure if it’s the hangovers or the performance but the response is lacklustre. “Are you guys hydrated? This guy just said no.” Top patter too. – Anna Leszkiewicz
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies