- Arctic Monkeys Triumph at Glastonbury Despite Challenges
- Highlights and Surprises on the First Full Day of Music at Glastonbury
- Memorable Performances by Foo Fighters, Fred Again, and Wizkid
After a tenuous week, Arctic Monkeys triumphed at Glastonbury by delivering an exhilarating, if uneven, headlining performance.
Tuesday’s performance in Dublin was canceled due to Alex Turner’s laryngitis, putting the band’s performance in jeopardy.
However, he emerged sounding better than ever, high-kicking his way through a set of indie anthems that defined an era.
“The Monkeys are back on the farm,” he stated sarcastically as the program began.
It’s the band’s third time as headliners, following 2007 and 2013 performances.
Before the performance, percussionist Matt Helders told that the band was more prepared than ever for the festival.
“The first time, we felt the pressure intensely. The second time, it was at the start of a tour. So it was a lot of joy, but we hadn’t been performing beforehand.
This time, we’re prepared. We are in a favorable position amid a tour. We are operating at maximum capacity.”
They were undoubtedly physically fit, tearing up songs such as Crying Lightning and Fluorescent Adolescent while allowing the more experimental material from their most recent album, The Car, to breathe and develop.
It was a meticulously paced performance that never strayed too far from a chorus. However, some of the darker sections failed to resonate with a festival audience that only desired to hear the songs.
They began with Sculptures Of Anything Goes, a foreboding, apprehensive new song that seamlessly segued into Brianstorm’s dynamite riffs. At that time, the night’s first flare was ignited, and the crowd began to pogo.
Throughout the next 20 minutes, the band never slowed down as they played songs such as Snap Out Of It, Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I Moved Your Chair, Crying Lighting, and Teddy Picker, sending constant waves of energy across the pitch.
Turner is a charismatic, though somewhat distant, frontman. Unbuttoned at the wide collar, he rests his foot on the monitors and makes convincing rock star poses. However, he scarcely interacts with the audience beyond a Vegas-style “Thank you.”
A little more communication could have prevented the audience from dozing off during the slower-paced new tracks. But there is frequently a disconnect between the stage and the audience.
This is unfortunate, as songs like Four Out Of Five and There’d Better Be A Mirrorball add new dimensions to the Arctics’ sound, and Turner is visibly more comfortable singing these songs than the ones he wrote as an adolescent in Sheffield.
Body Paint – a swaggering, cinematic ballad from The Car whose protracted crescendo pushed Turner to greater and greater displays of guitar pyrotechnics – was, in my opinion, one of the night’s most memorable songs.
Despite the crowd’s frequent impatience, all was absolved when the Arctics concluded their performance with the double-whammy of I Bet You Look Good On The Dance and RU Mine.
Throughout the encore, Turner teased the audience with clever stop-start arrangements, so that suddenly 80,000 people could be heard chanting about “dancing like a robot from 1984.”
Which was, of course, what they had always desired.
Friday was the first full day of music at the location, and it was jam-packed with highlights and surprises.
Cate Blanchett recreated her interpretation in Sparks’ music video for The Girl is Crying in Her Latte onstage.
Despite his fans’ presence at Woodsies, Hozier performed a hidden show.
The largest (and worst-kept) secret belonged to the American rock band Foo Fighters.
They performed a brief but well-received set on the Pyramid Stage shortly after 18:00 BST, in a segment advertised as “The ChurnUps.”
During their brief performance, they ripped through Best Of You, The Pretender, and Everlong in classic garage punk style.
After their performance, frontman Dave Grohl seemed to imply that they would return next year with a bigger show.
“If you guys return, so will we,” he declared.
Fred Again, a dancing act on the Other Stage, capitalised on the day’s biggest throng.
“Let’s try to break the record for the most people on shoulders at a festival!” he yelled, and they complied, to the tune of his lockdown anthem Marea (We’ve Lost Dancing).
The London-born performer has quickly earned a reputation as one of dance music’s most captivating artists, creating live remixes of his tracks by layering samples, drum loops, live instruments, and even video clips.
His expressive music, with a delicacy and humanity rare in modern dance, draws listeners in. In a few years, he might be performing on the Pyramid Stage.
On the Other Stage, Nigerian superstar Wizkid, a one-man aphrodisiac who performed sensual Afrobeat songs, was equally as impressive.
“This is an Africa party tonight, baby,” he purred, open-shirted and wearing pitch-black sunglasses as he roamed the stage and couples danced in the audience.
Armed with hits such as “One Dance,” “True Love,” and “Essence” and supported by a funky eight-piece band, he simultaneously stole and broke hearts.
Kelis performed Milkshake for the Worthy Farm cattle while headlining the West Holts stage, incorporating elements of Wu-Tang Clan’s Gravel Pit and Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit.
Before her, the Scottish trio Young Fathers performed, dedicating their scathing polemic Shame to Home Secretary Suella Braverman and guiding the audience in chanting, “Say it loud and clear, refugees are welcome here.”
The band always communicates this message, but it seemed more poignant during Windrush’s 75th anniversary weekend.
Flo, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Texas played on the festival’s first full day.
Saturday’s festival lineup includes Lana Del Rey, Lizzo, Christine And The Queens, Maneskin, Rick Astley, and Guns N’ Roses.
