It's been a week now, but I had to do it. I couldn't let Glastonbury 2022 pass without comment.
I love to see brilliant artists play top quality music at what is probably the best festival going; something about being on a Glastonbury stage seems to bring out the best in bands - you can see the way they literally breathe in that special energy (particularly in these days of multi-angled HD coverage), and feed off it.
But at the same time, there's always a tint of wistfulness and pain, because I wasn't able to be there myself this time around. (I'm reluctant to show my age by saying when I did go to Glastonbury, but suffice to say there was mud and Radiohead).
Anyhow, let's focus on the awesome music. Here are a few of the moments which particularly impacted me while watching and listening to this year's coverage. (I was, by the way, a little disappointed that some of the smaller stages weren't covered by the BBC, which means no way to witness YNES on Leftfield and Katherine Priddy on Acoustic, among many others. If you have any footage, feel free to share!)
IDLES, Other Stage, Friday 24th June The power, the fury, the joy. This was an utterly blazing set, even by IDLES' standards. A highlight has to be from very near the start, when after warming up the crowd with the first part of 'Colossus', Joe Talbot got the crowd to divide, neatly, all the way back to the sound stage. "Are you ready to collide? Are you ready for some love?" he says, before instigating a riotous mosh during the opening salvo of the closing section of the song. You can see that at around 05:45 of the BBC iPlayer recording, if it's still available at the time of reading this ... The NME have published a great write-up of the whole set which is worth a read.
Wolf Alice, Pyramid Stage, Friday 24th June My love for this band should be well known by now - their energy on stage is both endearing and awesome to witness, and they're one of those groups who clearly get on so well together. This matters: it translates to an ability to soak up the inevitable bumps in the road of live tours and performances, and what better example than the story of Wolf Alice's 2022 Glastonbury experience.
Stuck in Los Angeles the day before their Pyramid Stage slot after a flight cancellation; tweeting only half-jokingly about a search for a private jet; a last-minute arrangement to get them back to London, via Seattle, just hours before their stage time. And then a triumphant performance with no sign of jetlag, just relief and joy. Watch it on BBC iPlayer here.
First Aid Kit, Other Stage, Friday 24th June A band that genuinely helped me get through lockdown, First Aid Kit have something very special about them. There's a real warmth to their performances, a great chemistry between the sisters, and a knack of absolutely nailing the vibe, whatever the context. Magic.
The whole set was great - this band never disappoints, but there were a couple of moments which struck me in particular - one was during 'Emmylou', when the crowd sung along passionately to an acapella section, with sheer happiness on their faces as they spotted themselves caught on camera as the band looked on (watch from 44:20 here). The other was the performance of 'Fireworks'. This is one my favourite songs of all time, and hearing it performed so beautifully live is very special. The opening few bars are particularly captivating, and Klara's voice sounds gem like (check it out from 45:45 here)
Holly Humberstone, John Peel Stage, Saturday 25th June Holly is another Music Observer favourite. She has ridden a pretty strong wave of success over the past year, and has appeared to handle it coolly, with relative ease and an easy media-savvy outlook. But the Glastonbury energy, concentrated under the big top roof of the John Peel Stage slightly got the better of her. Her vocals dried up briefly at one point - that must have been a terrible moment for her. But, bravely, she admitted to her nerves, saying "I don't know really how I'm going to get through this set", and proceeded to use the positive energy of the crowd to build her and carry her, and pushed on through.
Rather than holding her back, the result was an even better set. By the time she got to 'Scarlett', a few songs from the end, she was on top form. Have a listen below - and also look out for the awesome drumming by Loda from Carpark.
Olivia Rodrigo, Other Stage, Saturday 25th June Another set from a young star ont he rise, for whom the legendary Glastonbury provided both nerves, and a wave to ride.
This was a set which made headlines for the surprise Lily Allen duet, calling out five Supreme Court justices by name and dedicating. That was a hugely powerful image: two amazing women singing without fear or pretension, and backed by an all-female band, too. (You can watch this iconic moment on YouTube here).
Some other parts of the set were a little over-scripted perhaps (the Guardian review is spot on here), but one spontaneous moment really moved me, slightly to my surprise, when watching the performance live on iPlayer. It came during Rodrigo's third song. After telling the huge crowd how nervous she was, she stepped up to her (mirrored) piano to play 'Driver's License'. Sitting side on to the audience, she could obviously hear their singing very clearly through her in-ear monitor. She began to glance over more frequently, and you could see a realisation dawning on her that this was a big moment, and she had thousands on her side in the sun and breeze. With a chuckle she seemed finally to give in and let the moment speak for itself. "Sing it for me Glastonbury", she implored, and boy did they sing, almost overwhelming Rodrigo as a result (the song starts at about 07:40 and the moment that struck me is at 11:25 in the BBC iPlayer footage).
Wet Leg, Park Stage, Friday 24th June This was a blazing set, and one which cemented Wet Leg's place on the UK music scene - it was their first Glastonbury appearance (unsurprisingly, given their first single, 'Chaise Longue', came out little over a year ago) and they owned it.
'Chaise Longue' might seem a cliched choice to feature here, but hey - it's a great song, and always has been. I've seen many clips of the band playing it live but here they played it just that little bit differently. The delivery from Rhian Teesdale was slightly slurred and more laid-back, verging on the dead pan in places; the guitars were a little more clamorous and dirty; the drumming a tad more frantic.
Sam Fender, Pyramid Stage, Saturday 25th June At the risk of being predictable, I had to pick out 'Seventeen Going Under' from Sam's set, mainly because of the sheer joy and genuine, lovable abandon with which he and his band performed it. The emotion was clear on his face from the moment he walked out on that famous stage and saw the size of the crown spread out in front of him, and by the time he got to 'Seventeen ...', the title track from his second album, that emotion had been translated into pure musical brilliance.
I can't really put it much better than Ben Beaumont-Thomas who wrote in the Guardian: "This is quite simply one of the most powerful performances ever on this stage: a massively populist, high speed song that prompts tens of thousands of people to sing about repressed trauma, the slow-release poison of anger, and the cruelty of our government against the poor it is mandated to care for"
Even watching this on TV or online, you get a real sense of the effect this song had on the band and the crowd - the volume and ubiquity of the singalong is just incredible.
Big Thief, Park Stage, Saturday 25th June I'd say that achieving a pin-drop moment, holding a crown rapt and attentive, is quite a hard thing to achieve on a large outdoor stage in a field in broad daylight. But that's what Big Thief did with their Glastonbury performance of 'Change'. It's a brilliant tune, and the way it's delivered here is remarkable.
Apparently, the set as a whole was a little hit and miss, and the NME didn't seem to think a lot of the quieter acoustic sections. But to me, this performance typifies what's special about this band: they do their thing, and do it very well, and if that doesn't always fit the mould, so be it.
You can find all the performances I've highlighted above on BBC iPlayer, but only for a limited time. There are lots of clips on the BBC's YouTube channel, and hopefully they will stick around a little longer.