The Killers, Pyramid Stage
★★★★☆
The best thing about The Killers is that everyone knows all the words, and even when you don’t really know them, you still feel like you do. And so did every one of the tens of thousands of people who packed into the huge space in front of the Pyramid Stage to watch the Saturday night headliner, these days made up of Brandon Flowers, Mark Stoermer and Ronnie Vannucci Jr. As the light faded from a dusky sky, Flowers emerged from the misty misty depths of the stage. A consummate showman, he carried the performance, poised, self aware and radiating energy.
So many of The Killers songs sound utterly universal and poignant, even when they aren’t really about anything at all. “I’ve got soul but I’m not a soldier” means… what exactly? But there’s a timelessness to the band, which was nodded to with sepia screens and the cowboy hat Flowers sometimes put on, turning his look from svelte suited indie rock star to Nebraskan cowboy. After a slight lull at the beginning when they played The Way It Was and Shot At The Night, he built the energy up and up to dizzying levels with a phenomenal final half hour of hit after hit. Fireworks exploded, lights flashed and the field lit up with thousands of waving phone lights. To get a three day old crowd, all slightly frazzled and sunburnt, to reach such peaking excitement was an achievement. “We’re The Killers,” Flowers had said at the beginning, “which I guess makes you the victims.”
When the US band last performed at Glastonbury, in 2007, their set was all but ruined by problems with an underwhelming sound system. This time round, they had clearly done everything to avoid that. Flowers’ voice is magnificent and every word he sang was perfectly clear.
In Glamorous Indie Rock and Roll, now 15 years old, Flowers was almost drowned out by the crowd. Fireworks and confetti shot out of the stage and Flowers beamed out at the sea of people in front of him. Towards the end of the set, they brought on Pet Shop boys for a euphoric You Were Always On My Mind. The stage dipped to black and then they were onto Are We Human.
But the moment everyone was waiting for was when they could belt out “jealousy/Turning saints into the sea”. When The Killers finally got to it, bringing out Johnny Marr, the guitarist in the Smiths who had performed earlier in the day, the force of tens of thousands of voices reverberated across the reaches of the campsite in one of the most high-octane and spine-tingling moments of the festival. Mr Brightside, released in 2004, is the longest-charting song in UK history, having appeared in the top 100 for a total of 208 weeks, 42 more than its closest competitor – and in this euphoric moment it was easy to see why. PH
Saturday was the hottest day of the year, with temperature at Glastonbury reaching 31C. Instead of the usual sublime, Through the Looking Glass hippy playground the micro-city was more a Mad Max wasteland, as the beating sun meant tents became saunas, and showers in some areas of the site were switched off to preserve water . People waited for up to an hour to fill water bottles, but festival organisers denied there was a shortage of water, saying “our supply is running as normal.” Shade was extremely difficult to find – people were curled up in corners under trees and behind fences (after searching for two hours to find somewhere cool, one of The i’s writers was forced to sleep for a few hours by the side of the road in the tranquil Healing Fields, aptly under a dreamcatcher and a fence laced with feathers). Children with water pistols sprayed older festival-goers (after politely asking consent – though most were begging for it). It’s as close to a wash as most of them will get for some time.
Vampire Weekend opened the day’s music with a surpise set on the Park Stage. Alongside their own hits, the band played covers of Fleetwood Mac’s Everywhere and Chicago’s Summer In The Park. They took requests from the audience, performing Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa and Giant.
Lizzo, West Holts Stage
★★★★☆
Rapper Lizzo is such a proud proponent of self-love that at one moment in her Saturday afternoon show on the West Holts stage she put on a wedding veil and skipped across the stage, embracing herself. Born Melissa Viviane Jefferson, her verses are witty, playful, and earnest, celebrating womanhood, black womanhood, big womanhood, and her recent album Cuz I Love You became a number one.
In a lilac sequinned bodysuit, joined by dancers in matching lilac wigs, her hour-long set was a bombastic explosion of optimism, wild crowd screaming her catchphrase “bitch!” throughout, as well as every word, snap, and clap back at her. Lizzo’s body is as central to her performance as her voice: each step is a bounce as if sprung from the floor; she turns and twerks at the audience, tossing head over shoulder for a wink.
She smiled and giggled throughout, with charming (and probably well-rehearsed) chatter to introduce each song: stories about having her heart broken, about loving herself – “Ain’t nobody gonna feel me up like I feel myself up” she said, she urged people to love however they pleased – to “just taste the rainbow a little bit”. Her message of body positivity is irrepressible, joyful and unapologetic – and so passionate, and fervently received, it makes you believe she could help shift a culture that has warped women’s self image for decades. “Big girls need love too – big girls get love you know that?” she said. There was so much of this motivational speech a cynic might think it corny, if it weren’t all so, simply, nice – and if her album weren’t so full of solidly strong pop bangers. Here, highlights were the throbbing refrain to “Boys”, its shimmering ‘aah’s that had the audience wailing; “Tempo” that had dancers and fans squatting down on their knees to bounce with her; her woozy farewell to an unworthy ex-lover Jerome, the rapid Soulmate and the hit single Juice – on which she even played a flute interlude (she has a degree in classical flute).
Lizzo’s raps, commanding vocal strength, cackling screeches and infectious cheer mean this is a polished and quite breathless show. Its slot at 5.30pm felt like a misfire, though: this could have been a sunny midday opener to open the day’s music or an invigorating evening warm-up to a brilliant night out. From the dizzying excitement of Lizzo’s fans (and she will have gained many, who will have stumbled across her swarming crowd), this is a star that can get the party started, whatever the time of day. SC
Janet Jackson, Pyramid Stage
★★★☆☆
Janet Jackson is a consummate performer and 33 years after she released her breakthrough album Control, she still fiercely commands a crowd. On the hottest day of the year, she strode onto the Pyramid Stage in a thick black coat, black trousers and heavy boots, standing on a platform above her diverse throng of dancers all dressed in androgynous, industrial denim.
The US singer, who has 10 US number one hits, had taken a break from her Vegas residency for Glastonbury, where she gave one of the best-choreographed and energetic sets of the weekend.
It was visually stunning, but the sound was middling, with Jackson somehow managing to both appear to be lip-syncing and difficult to hear – which meant that moments that could have politically charged blended together. This performance designed for a more intimate Vegas venue didn’t quite translate into the huge open fields before the Pyramid Stage.
Her set was clearly to serve the fans, whizzing through hits like If I Was Your Girl, Control, All for You, The Best Things in Life Are Free and R&B Junkie within the first thirty minutes. There was a strong emphasis on her tunes from the ‘90s and early 2000s.
While most performers choose videos or visuals for the screens behind them, Jackson had a kaleidoscope of Janets behind her.
At some moments, she was intimate and erotic, glancing sideways as she lay down on the stage to sing Throb, “wrap yourself around me”. At others, she was powerful, celebratory and dictatorial, her whole body twisting and gesturing, drawing in her dancers with flicks of her arms.
Nonetheless, the crowd’s reaction was mixed. As she closed with a medley of Rhythm Nation, it was swaying and bouncing with her. But earlier, when she said “Glastonbury, I can’t hear you,” they shouted back, “we can’t hear you either.” PH
What to watch on Sunday
By Alex Nelson
Kylie and Miley Cyrus – 6:00pm – 8:00pm, BBC One
BBC One’s first coverage from the festival eases us in to Sunday night with pop royalty, with Kylie Minogue’s debut performance (she was booked to appear in 2005 but had to pull out due to health reasons) in the now-traditional ‘Legends’ slot, promising plenty of career-spanning bangers.
Jeff Goldblum and Mavis Staples – 7:00pm – 8:00pm, BBC Four
There was a time before you would’ve guessed actor Jeff Goldblum to be a Glasto highlight, but here we are. The movie star-turned-jazz pianist leads an orchestra with whom he performs regularly in Los Angeles, and there’ll also be highlights from soul-gospel singer Mavis Staples on the Pyramid Stage.
Billie Eilish and The Good, the Bad & The Queen – 8:00pm – 9:00pm, BBC Four
Damon Albarn’s indie supergroup are pulling out all the stops for their Glastonbury performance – they’ll be accompanied by a Welsh choir and strings – and there’s coverage of young pop superstar Billie Eilish on the Other Stage.
The Cure and The Streets – 9:00pm – 12:30am, BBC Two
Sunday’s headlines are perfect for anyone wrangling with the existential torment of five days of partying. The Cure are appearing at the festival for the fourth time and celebrating their 40th anniversary. Elsewhere, there are highlights from sets by The Streets and Rex Orange County.
Vampire Weekend – 9:00pm – 10:00pm, BBC Four
Highlights from the African-pop inflected set by Vampire Weekend – who recently released their fourth album, Father of the Bride – on the Pyramid Stage, and jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington’s performance on the West Holts Stage.
Janelle Monae and Christine & the Queens – 10:00pm – 12:30am, BBC Four
Still awake? Good.
Let some of the closing performances from this year’s festival send you off to sleep, featuring sets by Janelle Monae on the West Holts Stage, and Christine & the Queens on the Other Stage.
