Glastonbury 2023 daily: Saturday — Guns N’ Roses light it up, Lana is switched off and Tilda Swinton performs
Welcome to Glastonbury 2023 with the Evening Standard team! Read on for the second of our daily round-ups as we roam Britain’s biggest music festival
The next big things don’t disappoint
Glam-rock queens The Last Dinner Party packed the stage at Woodsies for their Saturday morning set. Despite not even having released their debut album, and with just one single to their name, the hype around these guys is strong – and they did not disappoint. Lead singer Abigail Morris vamped around the stage in a white dress and corset, waving her arms and (when the occasion demanded) dropping prone to the floor to roar her lines. Accompanied as she was by her four po-faced bandmates (also all in white), the effect was striking – and as they belted out songs from their upcoming album (including the grungy, guitar-heavy Sinner, their new single, which is due to be released this week) it was impossible not to be swept away in their enthusiasm. By the end, the crowd was clapping along cheerfully: we’ll definitely be seeing more of this lot. VJ
Still not giving us up
Over on the Pyramid Stage, the day started with the Star Wars theme. Who could be coming on? Rick Astley, of course, in the baking sun. “Put your hand up if you only came to see me sing Never Gonna Give You Up”, he joked, winning the big crowds over with likeable good humour about being the butt of the internet’s oldest joke. Astley took the anti-Alex Turner approach, crowd pleasing at every turn – with a cover of Harry Styles’s As It Was, and a stint behind the drums for AC/DC’s Highway to Hell – and a smooth crooning voice. Then it was time for his biggest hit, which sparked a mass singalong, and even got the stewards dancing at the front. RG
Spotted
The Crown star Emma Corrin was in the hospitality area on Friday night, while Game of Thrones’ Isaac Hempstead Wright was seen queueing for the showers in the hospitality camping area the following day. Stormzy, who gave a Glastonbury performance for the ages in 2019, was also milling about in the VIP section.
Succession comes to Worthy Farm
Theme tunes became a recurring theme of this baking-hot day, with Jockstrap blaring out Succession’s opening melody at rib-shuddering volumes from the Park Stage. It’s difficult to pin down the duo’s oddball take on genre, with their music shapeshifting from the Screamadelica house piano of Greatest Hits, to synthesised, Walt Disney orchestral arrangements (the pair both studied at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and combine their classical grounding with the spirit of dance music). Best of all was a rousing singalong for Glasgow, an understanded anthem about following your own route in life. EH
Maverick violinist thrills
As ever, there was massive variety around the site. On the West Holts stage, genre-bending US star Sudan Archives, a maverick violinist, saw off early technical issues to play a thrilling set in her red Power Ranger-esque outfit. Back at the Pyramid, Malian music legends Amadou and Mariam played a joyful hour in the blazing sun on the Pyramid Stage; their final driving dance tune La Réalité got the in the know crowd on their feet. RG
Spotted
The spotter becomes spottee as train enthusiast Francis Bourgeois was seen getting water in the hospitality area. Laura Whitmore was in the Vodafone Retreat, while Rami Malek at the Park Stage Bar (though he didn’t reprise his Oscar winning role as Freddie Mercury to bang out any Queen classics) and we brushed shoulders with Annie Mac on the way down from the Park Stage area. Paul McCartney was at the side of stage for Foo Fighters on Friday and was at it again on Saturday, this time in the wings of the Park stage for the Pretenders. The much rumoured appearance during Guns N’ Roses headline set to play Live and Let Die did not materialise however.
The Pretenders’ set went down a storm up on the hill with elated audience members including Lily James and Billie Piper. Frontwoman Chrissie Hynde brought on her “guitar hero” Johnny Marr for the second half, and joyful versions of Back on the Chain Gang and Don’t Get Me Wrong as the sun went down were great fun. David Grohl came on for a storming cameo on drums at the end. RG
Celebrity cameo of the day
Tilda Swinton herself took to the Park Stage on Saturday morning for one of the more out-there Glastonbury sets. Joining composer Max Richter and a string quartet, Swinton (clad in a rather excellent powder blue suit) read extracts from Kafka’s The Blue Octavo Notebooks and Polish poet CzesÅaw MiÅosz’s works against a background of hypnotic, lulling music. Is there nothing this woman cannot do? VJ
Emotional scenes at the Pyramid Stage
You have to feel for Lewis Capaldi. The singer-songwriter took a much-publicised break from the limelight in the weeks leading up to Glastonbury for mental health reasons. Saturday at the Pyramid Stage was supposed to be his big comeback – but the strain was evident from the start. Emotions ran high as he launched into the weepy fare he does so well against a pared-down, subdued backdrop. Cue many tears in the crowd.
Sadly, the stress got to him. The singer – who was diagnosed with Tourette’s last year – was ticcing heavily by the end of the set, and his voice started to go. By the end, it had almost gone completely, but (cue a fresh round of tears) the crowd stepped up, singing Capaldi’s megahit Someone You Loved back to him as he stood on the stage, clearly overwhelmed. “I feel like I’ll be taking another wee break for the next few weeks,” he said as the set wrapped up. “So you might not see that much of me. To the end of the year, even.” Heartbreaking stuff. VJ
Also on the Pyramid stage, Lizzo put on one of the shows of the festival, surely confirming that it’s only a matter of time before she loses the ‘co’ and becomes a headliner in her own right. What a performance... Read our review here.
Did anybody else see…
...the Red Arrows flying over Glastonbury on Saturday afternoon? Bizarrely, they made a non-publicised appearance, soaring in formation across the festival ground and leaving white smoke in their wake as Capaldi geared up to start his set. Were they keen to get in on the action too? VJ
Golden oldies
Beyond Guns N’ Roses’ headline set on the Pyramid Stage, older rockers also had a good showing on the Other Stage on Saturday afternoon. First, Generation Sex, a supergroup that ex-Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook, who have signed up singer Billy Idol in place of Johnny Rotten, played a sweaty well-attended slot, with a searing rendition of God Save the Queen that reverberated around the site, the closest any of us are likely to get to Never Mind The Bollocks these days. HM
Later on, Manic Street Preachers did a tight hour of mostly hits. Frontman James Dean Bradfield didn’t say much, but anthems such as A Design For Life and If You Tolerate This… cheered a loyal audience. Introducing a track from their highly-rated early album The Holy Bible, bassist Nicky Wire movingly remembered a fun trip to the festival almost 30 years before with their sadly long-departed guitarist Richey Edwards. RG
Guns N’ Roses won a few new fans with classics including Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City and Sweet Child O’ Mine enthusiastically embraced by many who weren’t even born when the LA hard rockers were in their pomp. The biggest surpsise of the night? That they turned up on time. Read our review here.
The plug is pulled on Lana
One act who didn’t turn up on time was Lana Del Rey, which meant that towards the end of her massive hit Video Games, organisers unceremoniously turned off the power, leaving the US singer unable to finish the set. What should have been a wonderful Glastonbury moment was ruined. Here’s hoping for a redemptive arc at a future festival.
Elton speculation reaches fever pitch
Who, oh who will make the much-speculated list of secret special guests for Elton John’s farewell gig later? Rumours were rife – Twitter account @Secretglasto even suggested Prince Harry might make an appearance, but the gossip in other circles is rather different. John is rumoured to be bringing on up to 12 artists, including Dua Lipa (with whom he collaborated on his Rocket Man remix, Cold Heart). That one is par for the course: other rumoured stars include Kylie Minogue, Britney (who has not performed in public for years but who was spotted at Bristol Airport yesterday) and even Eminem, whom eagle-eyed Glasto watchers might remember for his last-minute aborted gig at 2022’s festival. Watch this space… VJ
Rina on the rise
Rising star Rina Sawayama made Glastonbury the latest stop on her world tour, and her set in Woodsies on Saturday night was suitably polished – despite crowd numbers suffering slightly as the set ran at the same time as Guns N’ Roses. Agile and poised, Sawayama slunk across the stage and into several different costumes over the course of the hour to deliver a line-up of her biggest hits, including Comme des Garçons, Charli XCX collab Beg For You and Hold the Girl. Keeping the banter to a minimum, except for shouted instructions ("I want to hear you beg for this Glastonbury!") it was simply impossible not to dance along. By the time Sawayama closed out, the mood was jubilant. Now that’s how you party. VJ
A powerful tribute
The UK rapper made his Glastonbury debut on the Other Stage opening with a powerful tribute to his friend, the rapper F Dot, a huge influence on Central Cee, who was shot dead earlier this year. “This is my brother’s dream and he’s gonna be living through me now,” he told the audience.
Fred... again
Fresh from Fred Again’s triumphant performance on Friday night, rumours of a secret set began floating around the festival. It was duly confirmed that Fred would be playing Temple in Shangri La alongside the Blessed Madonna at midnight. Cue a stampede that left the venue rammed and hundreds of fans stranded outside, while stressed staff tried their best to move them on. By all accounts, the set was incredible, too. Some you win… VJ
