Glastonbury 2022: Six of the biggest talking points from the Worthy Farm festival
US rapper Kendrick Lamar’s headline set closed an impressive weekend of live music
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The final day at Glastonbury ended with a jaw-dropping performance by American rapper Kendrick Lamar.
Over the course of five days, fans had danced to performances by top artists such as Paul McCartney, Little Simz, Pet Shop Boys, Sam Fender, and Billie Eilish.
On the last day of the festival, George Ezra turned up at the John Peel stage in what was possibly the worst-kept secret set in Glastonbury history, while jazz-fusion legend Herbie Hancock delighted crowds relaxing at the Pyramid stage with a virtuosic performance.
Here’s a look back at six of the biggest talking points from the entire Glastonbury 2022 festival...
Roe v Wade
News of the US Supreme Court’s highly controversial legal ruling broke on Friday, and it was clearly on a lot of people’s minds at Glastonbury. It certainly didn’t escape the attention of the artists, many of whom were American. From Billie Eilish, to Phoebe Bridgers, to Olivia Rodrigo, to Kendrick Lamar, lots of the performers included powerful statements about abortion rights in their sets.
From the youngest ever headliner…
Eilish made history with her Friday night headline slot, delighting fans with an intimate but lively set of songs from the 20-year-old’s two albums. As the festival’s youngest ever solo headliner, the pressure was certainly on Eilish’s shoulders, but as Mark Beaumont’s five-star review attests, she pulled it off with aplomb.
…to the oldest
On the other end of the spectrum, we had Paul McCartney, who delivered an absolute barnstormer of a set on Saturday. Performing a range of hits from his Beatles and Wings repertoires, as well as his solo career (and a couple of covers), Macca delivered a Glastonbury experience for the ages. At 80 years old, he became the festival’s oldest ever headliner.
Kendrick Lamar
Closing the festival on Sunday was Kendrick Lamar, who held the Pyramid Stage in the palm of his hand from the start of his electrifying, career-spanning set to the end. The stunning climax of his set – a rendition of “saviour” performed while blood dripped from his diamond crown of thorns, before he began a furious chant about women’s rights – was pure chills-down-the-spine stuff.
Ukraine
The ongoing war in Ukraine was also a core political issue for many of the festival’s acts and attendees. Ukrainian flags were spotted commonly around the festival site, with McCartney holding one aloft in solidarity as he took the stage for his encore. The Pyramid Stage also played host to Ukrainian band Dakhabrakha on Sunday, one of several Ukrainian artists the festival championed.
A little help from my friends…
While Kendrick’s set may have been all him, many of the festival’s other acts deployed some heavyweight guest stars. McCartney brought Bruce Springsteen and Dave Grohl on stage towards the end. Olivia Rodrigo welcomed Lily Allen for a duet of “F*** You”. Phoebe Bridges joined forces with Arlo Parks (who had her own full set at the festival) for a couple of numbers. Pete Doherty even showed up on stage during Hak Baker’s performance, having performed with the Libertines shortly before. It was a festival chock-full of unexpected – but thoroughly enjoyed – cameos.
Look back at our live blog below:
It’s the roundup you never knew you needed: the best flags spotted at Glastonbury 2022!
From banners mocking Partygate to ones referencing everything from Derry Girls to Tracy Beaker to Come Dine With Me...
Best flags at Glastonbury mock Partygate and celebrate Derry Girls
‘Tracy Beaker’ and ‘Come Dine With Me’ also featured on flags that have gone viral
It really is quite the extensive clean-up operation going on at Worthy Farm right now.
Here’s a picture of the scene:
There’s been a lot of grousing on social media about the mess left behind by festival-goers.
But look at it now!
A message to fans from Foals frontman Yannis Philippakis:
“We’ve been lucky enough to have had many life-affirming transcendent moments in this band & Friday’s headline set on the Other Stage was up there with the best of them.
“@glastonbury you healing beast we needed you. What magic to be part of that… foals forever. Life is yours.”
Speaking of Foals, here’s an interview Philippakis did with The Independent’s Roisin O’Connor shortly before the band’s Glasto set.
Foals’s latest album, Life is Yours, also got a glowing review from Helen Brown.
Foals’ Yannis Philippakis: ‘We were broke, we were having fun’
Roisin O'Connor shares a pint with the frontman as he talks about escaping the pandemic through nostalgia, swapping dysfunctional angst for jubilant optimism, and why Partygate does matter
Going to re-plug a few pieces in case anyone missed earlier.
Firstly, here’s our roundup of the entire weekend...
Glastonbury 2022 was the weekend we’d been waiting for
The biggest event in the UK music calendar returned for the first time in three years. Roisin O’Connor reflects on a spectacular, emotional weekend
Here’s Ben Bryant’s review of Kendrick Lamar’s stunning headline set last night...
“Billie Eilish had a wild light show. Paul McCartney had Bruce Springsteen and Dave Grohl. So how does Kendrick Lamar take to the stage? An understated setup, zero guest appearances, wearing a white shirt, black suit trousers and a crown of thorns. He’s half-dressed to his own wedding.
“But what a set. This is so heavy with bangers, it breathes life back into a crowd that’s straining to stay conscious.”
Kendrick Lamar’s Glastonbury set had the hits, the heritage and the humility – review
Anyone thinking this is going to be a set of reflective, conscious hip hop – like the bulk of his latest album – is in for a shock
The day before, we had Paul McCartney: a titan of the industry, delighting fans with a selection of some of the most beloved pop songs ever written.
Mark Beaumont could hardly have been more effusive in his review.
“By the time ‘Live and Let Die’ fills the sky with flames and drama, and ‘Let it Be’ and ‘Hey Jude’ have broken then repaired 100,000 hearts, the show is far and away the best this writer has seen on the Pyramid stage in 30 years of Glastonburies.
“When Macca returns to duet with the isolated Lennon vocal of ‘I’ve Got a Feeling’, creating the closest to a Beatles reunion we’re ever likely to see and giving Glastonbury all the feelings, it’s probably the best I’ve seen on any stage.”
Read the full thing here...
Paul McCartney’s Glastonbury 2022 show was possibly the best we’ve ever seen – review
McCartney’s available canon is the greatest in music by such a vast degree that any couple of hours plucked from it at random would be the best gig of any particular year
And on Friday, we had Billie Eilish, who *also* drew a five-star write-up from our reviewer.
“In its way, Eilish’s headline set is just as significant as Jay-Z’s or Stormzy’s,” writes Mark Beaumont. “Not because she’s the festival’s youngest ever bill-topper, although it certainly lifts the roof off every bedroom Tik-Tokker’s teenage dreams of glory. But because it marks the ascendence of alternative pop: a home-made, personalised imitation of the mainstream that speaks far closer to the actual teenage experience of 2022.
“Certainly more than any amount of ultraconfident, oversexualised break-up bird-flips written by long-in-the-tooth Swedish production teams.
“Alternative pop tones are dark and downbeat, its emotions raw and broken, its concerns doom-laden. Fame is wrought with insecurities, sex is regretful and drugs, when any are mentioned, are generally prescribed for anxiety.”
Read here:
Billie Eilish’s Glastonbury set was 90 minutes of noir-pop catharsis – review
Eilish’s headline set is just as significant as Jay-Z’s or Stormzy’s because it marks the ascendence of alternative pop
Another look at the festival site post-cleanup.
Picked clean like a turkey on Christmas...
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