Photo: Splash
So, after a year of speculation leading into excitement into celebration, Glastonbury is over for another year. There was rain, mud, sunshine and four incredible days that added up to one of the greatest weeknds of 2014 so far.
With hundreds of acts across countless stages and dotted between the many astounding and iconic attractions dotted across the vast Glasto Worthy Farm site, it can be easy to get lost in a world of overwhelming music, art, culture and insanity.
But we were there too, and we lived through it - here are the 20 best things we saw at Glastonbury 2014.
Despacio
James Murphy and 2ManyDJ's ultimate disco extravaganza has already proven to be one of the finest musical innovations of recent memory - and at Glastonbury, it was only going to be more special. Queuing outside their very own in Silver Hayes was more than worth it. What followed was hours of crystal clear sound, with classics and modern gems mixed to perfection for the ultimate ecstatic love-in - culminating in a mind-bending wonderful climax of 'Here Comes The Sun'. It was pretty tempting to go back each and every night. Here's hoping they're back next year - and every year thereafter.
Credit: Babycakes Romero
Interpol
Taking to the stage later than planned due to adverse weather conditions, the NYC rockers were greeted on stage by a magnificent sunset - as they tore through a collection of their finest moments from their first two albums Turn On The Bright Lights and Antics, as well as cuts from their exquisite upcoming record, El Pintor.
Opening up with 'Say Hello To The Angels', Paul Banks and co barely had a moment to breathe as they proved the highlight of the day - showing why they matter more in 2014 than ever.
The crowd were singing, pumping fists and jumping in full force as Interpol dazzled with a showcase of their finest material. Not only was Paul Banks in full voice, but Dan Kessler proved himself to be the most eye-catching and talented guitarist on the circuit while Sam Fogarino kept a flawless beat and the rest of the band held pace. Carlos D may be gone, but as the airing of new tracks 'Anywhere' and 'All The Rage Back Home' proved that Interpol are on the finest form of their career. It has never felt better to have them back.
The view from the top of The Park
Simply stunning. It makes that aching pain that we aren't still at Glastonbury only more painful. Makings friends, getting drunk and heading up there should be on everyone's to do list - day or night. Hurry up please, next year.
Manic Street Preachers
Reminding Glastonbury why they're one of the most important bands of our time, our Manics played a textbook perfect festival slot on the Other Stage on Saturday. There was some anticipation as to whether the band would play their seminal 1994 album The Holy Bible in full - 20 years after the band made their Glasto debut with a legendary performance. Bassist and lyricist Nicky Wire expressed a desire to play the iconic LP at Glasto last year, but the band then told Gigwise that they would not be doing so, but would honour it.
And honour it they did, - but while celebrating the full breadth and calibre of their career. After the opening tracks of the flawless classics of 'Motorcycle Emptiness' and 'Your Love Alone Is Not Enough', the band tore into recent single 'Walk Me To The Bridge'.
What followed was a riotously received rendition of 'You Love Us' followed by the first Holy Bible of the evening 'PCP', it was totally incredible. Then came the stuff of festival dreams, performing the huge 'You Stole The Sun From My Heart', 'Everything Must Go', and they invited the annoyingly underrated German actress Nina Hoss on stage to perform Futurology highlight 'Europa Geht Durch Mich'.
Then came, the surprisingly early but utterly magnificent outing of No.1 single 'If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next' before Wire laid into bands who 'hit floor toms at the front of the stage' and ultimately sing about nothing - while noting that here stand a band who got to the top of the charts with a song about the Spanish Civil War.
They've never performed with this much power or conviction - showing Glasto that while they celebrate the past, they still have a bright future. The Manics have always mattered, and always will.
Kelis
We challenge you to find a more perfect act for a sun-drenched Saturday afternoon Pyramid Stage slot. You'd struggle to have more fun with your clothes on - and the sight of thousands of blissed-out Glasto fans twerking and losing their minds to 'Milkshake', 'Trick Me' and 'Friday Fish Fry' is a memory that will last with us. All together now: "I need ICE. COLD. WATER"
The Black Keys
Clearly in high spirits and pumped by the sense of occasion behind being the penultimate band on the Pyramid Stage at Glasto 2014, Dan and Patrick's set of filthy and fun blues rock prowess marked them as a band worthy of a higher slot in years to come. The reaction reserved for 'Fever', 'Lonely Boy', 'Money Maker' and 'Next Girl' left us in no doubt that they'll prove themselves to be worthy headliners at Latitude 2014 - with much bigger things destined from then on.
Metallica
Metallica faced their critics head on with a blistering headline set - pulling a relatively sparse crowd but absolutely dominating the Pyramid Stage. The hard rock icons faced much controversy when they were first announced as headliners - drawing criticism for their apparent support of bear hunting and with many arguing that heavy metal had no place at Glastonbury.
However, James Hetfield and co squared up to the cynics - selling an official t-shirt with quotes from the stars who slagged them off, as well as coming on to a stage to a comedy video of the band dressed as bears and killing hunters in a traditional British fox hunt. It was ace.
The crowd paled in comparison to the masses who gathered for Kelis, Lana Del Rey and Jack White earlier in the day as thousands flocked to see Jake Bugg on the Other Stage. It's a shame, because Metallica then proceeded to be totally bloody brilliant. Opening with 'Creeping Death', the band tore through a set of hard rock classics than transcend genre due to their sheer class. An anthem is an anthem, a great song is a great song, and Metallica deserve to headline Glastonbury.
"All music is represented here at Glastonbury," said a clearly moved James Hetfield, "so why not heavy metal?" Why not indeed. Let's have some more please.
Arcade Fire
You can always tell a truly great band by whether their fans sing their backing vocals as loud as the chorus - and that is exactly what you have in Arcade Fire. Opening with 'Reflektor', the Canadian indie heroes brought a real carnival atmosphere to Glasto, more than fulfilling the requirements of being a headliner to remember.
Frequently taking photos of the crowd, frontman Win Butler was clearly humbled by the mass of fans that gathered - as wife Regine Chassagne proved a real spectacle in herself with stunning vocals and a bewitching stage presence. Pumped by the dance-fuelled elements of recent album Reflektor, the band played with an unmatched energy and sense of purpose - and we weren't alone in being overcome with glee for for 'Rebellion #3 (Power Out'), 'Ready To Start', 'Keep The Car Running' and a tear-inducing rendition of 'Afterlife'.
Returning for an encore with a stage filled with dancers in their now iconic bobblehead masks, a glitterball covered DJ (rumoured to be Jarvis Cocker) thrilled the crowd with a medley of Oasis, Pulp, Jay Z, Beyonce and other classic Glasto headliners before the band ended with the glorious combo of 'Normal Person', 'Here Comes The Night Time', and 'Wake Up'. Make no mistake: Arcade Fire can now count themselves among Bowie and Pulp as one of the greatest Glastonbury headline shows of all time.
Dolly Parton
Was she miming? We strongly doubt it and we don't care. She was simply perfect. All hail the queen of everything. Not only did she pull one of the hugest crowds of the weekend (really, it was rammed - moreso than Metallica, Arcade Fire and Lana Del Rey combined), but she pulled off a set that will certainly go down in Glastonbury history.
"Howdy you guys", beamed Parton, clearly humbled by the near-religious reception she received. "You sound fine and you're looking mighty fine too."
Thanks! There are very few words for how special her set was - and we can't help but question why she wasn't headlining.
"I've been waiting a lifetime for this," said Dolly, staring out at the vast crowd that stood before her in the sunset. So have we Dolly, do have we. Paying tribute to God as well the original Jolene who attempted to pull her husband once, Parton made the vast fields of Worthy Farm seem the most intimate place on the planet with a motherly banter - paying tribute to her momma, daddy, family, and everyone here. Turns out she's pretty bloody amazing on the saxophone too - treating the crowd to a rendition of the Benny Hill theme tune. You couldn't make it up.
She also penned and performed a brand new song for the occasion - called 'Glastonbury mud'. Altogether now: "Mud, mud, mud, mud mud mud mud mud mud".
Lana Del Rey
Whether or not her elegiac pop-noir was best-suited to an afternoon slot on the Pyramid Stage is still up for debate - but it was definitely the only place to meet the demand for the thousands of Del Rey devotees that flocked to see her.
Taking to the stage after a lengthy introduction, Del Rey expectedly brought her ethereal ambience in spades.
Kicking off with ‘Cola’, an older track from her repertoire that perhaps perfectly encapsulates the controversial charm she has capitalised on throughout her career to date, she contrasted swoon-worthy instrumental foundations with adult lyrical grit to cultivate a mesmeric ambience that washed over the audience, a confusing progression for a mid-afternoon slot.
“It’s an honour to play at such a legendary place” gushed the singer towards the end of the performance, a genuine sense of gratitude in her voice after an overwhelmingly positive, sway-inducing response to breakthrough single ‘Video Games’.
Needless to say, this perhaps wasn’t the show-stopping performance it could have been, but Del Rey’s stunning talent isn’t something that should be dismissed by one poorly scheduled performance.
Providing minimal stage banter (with the exception of reciprocating to a fan’s professions of love), Del Rey instead opted to maintain a sense of allure throughout the set, playing heavily off 2012’s ‘Born To Die’ with tracks including ‘Young and Beautiful’, ‘Body Electric’ and ‘Summertime Sadness’ resonating well with the large audience, as she traipsed around the stage unassumingly.
Metronomy
A surprise Thursday night set of idiosyncratic Sunday pop from a band worthy of headlining major festivals in the years to come. What more could you ask for? Well, how about a show-stopping set on the Park Stage that looked a little something like this:
Royal Blood
Taking to the stage at 2pm, sandwiched between Fat White Family and Hozier, the hotly-tipped south coast two piece brought an effortless sense of intensity to their early afternoon slot, roaring through recent single ‘Come On Over’ and free download ‘Hole’ with vigour.
“This is fucking mad, where did you all come from?” laughed frontman Mike Kerr before rattling off more tracks from their long awaited forthcoming debut album, due out in August on Black Mammoth Records. As expected, ‘Little Monster’, the pair’s most successful single to date packed the biggest punch of the set and saw a rapturous reception, along with breakthrough track ‘Out of the Black’ which was given an even more visceral sense of urgency in the tightly crafted, no frills performance from the duo.
With a bigger slot no doubt on the horizon for these two next year, we have a feeling this album will be nothing short of incredible, much like the summer ahead of them.
Hozier
When it comes to emerging artists, few have as much justified hype as Hozier - with his tender and romantic blues-tinged folk given a much harder and grittier edge when played live. Catch him on a smaller stage while you still can. He's going to be massive very, very soon.
The War on Drugs
Despite releasing what many are already calling ‘the album of the year’ with their third record Lost In The Dream, The War on Drugs still had a lot to prove when playing The Pyramid early on Friday afternoon, and beforehand we were wondering how their intricate sound would translate to such a huge stage.
Thankfully, we needn’t have worried, as the four piece effortlessly conquered in front of a large, receptive audience. Playing mostly new material, tracks like ‘Red Eyes’, ‘Under The Pressure’ and ‘An Ocean In Between The Waves’ sounded unrelentingly massive in a live setting, a glorious flurry of modern-tinged Americana washing over the crowd to warm up the weekend perfectly.
Massive Attack
For some, choosing the group that defined a generation of electronic music over a certain Leicester band whose current single includes the lyrics “we’re being watched by google” is, let’s say an 'eez-eh' decision, yet one can’t the deny the crowd was still relatively sparse for Massive Attack’s Sunday night headline slot on The Other Stage.
Nevertheless, the iconic Bristol collective brought their all to amaze as the festival came to a close, fusing live-remixes and stunning, politically charged visuals with all the necessary hits (‘Inertia Creeps’, ‘Safe From Harm’, ‘Teardrop’) to create an ethereal, immersive atmosphere. The simply phenomenal ending of ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ will be something that sits with us for a long time as well, truly stunning.
Jack White
A man who has such an illustrious career to his name, Jack White’s performance was always going to be nothing short of incredible, and boy did he deliver in his packed-out Pyramid Stage slot on Saturday evening.
Bringing new album Lazaretto along with a whole host of older White Stripes material in tow, White’s set was a celebration of his work to date as well as a look to the future. The likes of new record opener ‘Three Women’ sat comfortably alongside classics such as ‘We’re Gonna Be Friends’ and ‘Hotel Yorba’ and got everyone suitably amped up for Metallica who dominated later that evening. Ending with a visceral, eruptive version of ‘Seven Nation Army’, the frontman effortlessly proved his worth as a solo act and a firm festival favourite.
Arcadia
If you were to tell someone that “you’ll meet them by the giant mechanical spider playing dubstep and shooting flames high into the sky”, they might just question your sanity, but at Glastonbury this is perfectly normal conversation, with Arcadia becoming a festival institution in the last few years. Now taking over an entire field near between The Park and The Other Stage, this weekend saw the feat of mechanical engineering host some of the biggest acts in dance music at the moment, from Disclosure to Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs via Seth Troxler and er-Craig Charles (who clearly missed an opportunity by not bringing ‘Sir Killalot’ with him).
You could easily spend the whole weekend in this confusing industrial wonderland, but luckily we didn’t.
The 1975
Few artists have seen an ascent quite like The 1975 over the last two years, and it perhaps says a lot for their future potential when a slot on The Pyramid Stage seemed like a completely natural move for the Manchester four piece.
Drawing a huge crowd before Dolly Parton on the Sunday afternoon, the boys’ 50 minute set saw highlights from their acclaimed debut album played with gusto, frontman Matt Healy clearly enamored by the atmosphere and repeatedly delving into the crowd to take selfies with the audience between countless cigarettes and intermittent gulps from a bottle of red wine.
Will they be headlining festivals in a few years time? Almost definitely.
Marika Hackman
As well as hosting some of the biggest acts in the world over the weekend (did we mention that DOLLY BLOODY PARTON was there?) Glastonbury is as much about catching new talent in the furthest corners of the gargantuan site. It is in that spirit that made a set from upcoming alternative folk star Marika Hackman on the Avalon stage on Saturday morning so special. Her first Glastonbury in the wake of the stunning EP’s she has released over the last year, Hackman took to the stage with ease to astound the fragile crowd. Now backed by a two piece band (affectionately called “tits and teeth”) she politely stormed through hits-in-waiting including ‘Cinnamon’, ‘Bath Is Black’ and ‘Itchy Teeth’, providing some much needed serenity in an otherwise intense weekend.
Shangri-La
Perhaps the perfect embodiment of Glastonbury’s sheer vastness, the Shangri-La area is basically the home of performance art and general eccentricity, soundtracked by life affirming music and the go-to location after dark. Reggae inside an ominous grey building with a train through the wall? Sure thing. Different areas of the site dedicated to heaven and hell? Of course. An attack on the senses, it’s hard to articulate how intriguing the area as a whole is, but needless to say it’s one of the many things that makes Glastonbury different to every other festival in the world.
Below: 12 things we already miss about Glastonbury
