Glastonbury: A-list stars turn out for ‘awesome’ Coldplay show

Is there such a factor as a band that’s too massive for Glastonbury?

If that’s the case, Coldplay may be it.

Persons are climbing up scaffolding, safety guards are standing on emergency automobiles, precise Tom Cruise is watching from a viewing platform, accompanied by Gillian Anderson and Simon Pegg.

Michael J Fox even joins them to play guitar on Repair You.

At different phases round Worthy Farm, A-list artists floundered, with some fields barely at one-third capability.

Everybody, it appears, is straining for a glimpse of rock’s most generous-spirited band.

And Coldplay don’t disappoint.

Like Dua Lipa on Friday night time, they perceive the transient: You may’t flip as much as Glastonbury and play the identical outdated competition set. It has to really feel particular.

They begin with Yellow. Sure, Yellow. A music another band would save for the encore.

And for the subsequent hour, the hits don’t cease: Larger Energy, Paradise, The Scientist, Hymn For The Weekend, Viva La Vida. The setlist is stacked.

However it’s greater than that. Chris Martin makes it his mission to achieve each member of the viewers individually.

That’s why they provide out the wristbands that flip the entire discipline into a large LED display. That’s why there are and confetti cannons each 5 minutes. That’s why so a lot of their songs have a bit that goes “woaaaaah” – even essentially the most informal fan can sing alongside.

Throughout The Scientist, Martin thanks the individuals who’ve waited by the entrance boundaries all day.

“It’s wonderful that none of you needed to pee,” he laughs.

However he additionally thanks “everyone in the course of the sphere” and the latecomers “on the again, 5 time zones away, of their wellington boots”.

“Thanks for all of your flags and the singing and all the pieces. That is our favorite factor to do on earth, so thanks for letting us do it.”

The manufacturing is such an assault on the senses – with all its lasers and large balloons and confetti cannons – that experiencing it leaves you feeling barely dizzy.

However it’s precisely that largesse that units Coldplay aside.

Cynics would possibly dismiss it as pandering to the bottom widespread denominator. I want to think about it as generosity. An act of group.

It additionally helps that they’ve an impenetrable arsenal of hits.

Clocks, with its swirling piano hook, is a unusually paranoid stadium anthem (“am I a part of the remedy, or am I a part of the illness”), whereas Sky Full Of Stars is a pure sugar-rush of pop perfection.

The pressing, propulsive Viva La Vida would possibly inform the story of a deposed despot reminiscing about his glory days, however everybody is aware of it for the 5 observe “oh-ah-woah-oh-oh” hook, that rings across the Pyramid Stage lengthy after Coldplay have left.

However maybe essentially the most intriguing part got here in direction of the center of the set, when Coldplay briefly indulged in some new materials and deep cuts.

It featured the reside debut of the music We Pray, that includes Nigerian star Burna Boy and British rapper Little Simz; and a vibrant rendition Arabesque, from 2019’s underappreciated On a regular basis Life album, which included a blistering saxophone solo from African icon Femi Kuti.

The latter, particularly, provided a glimpse of how Coldplay may function outdoors the confines of stadium rock.

However earlier than lengthy, they have been again in crowd-pleasing mode, racing via the dance anthems One thing Simply Like This and My Universe, a collaboration with Ok-pop supergroup BTS.

For the encore, they emerged on a B-stage, the place Martin reminisced about their first ever go to to Glastonbury, 25 years in the past this month.

They performed the brand new band tent, they have been late, and so they have been “simply the worst” (his phrases, not mine).

To have a good time, they performed Sparks, a rarely-heard acoustic ballad from their debut album, Parachutes.

Then, one of the best second of the night time.

Turning the cameras on the viewers, Martin began improvising odes to particular person followers.

“5 good-looking males of their tracksuits / They’ve made it to the entrance of the entrance part,” he sang to at least one group.

“They didn’t come right now / Dressed as Coldplay.

“They got here dressed as One Path.”

After a couple of extra ditties, the cameras immediately reduce to Glastonbury co-founder Sir Michael Eavis, prompting a roar of approval from the viewers.

Once more, Martin started to sing.

“Sir Michael we simply wish to thanks

“As people go you’re one of the best of all types

“You’re a musical charmer

“You’re the world biggest farmer

“Whoever acquired knighted carrying shorts?”

And simply when it appeared like that might be the crowning glory, actor Michael J Fox appeared on display.

The actor, who not too long ago launched a documentary about dwelling with Parkinson’s, was in a wheelchair, however the viewers went wild.

Martin defined that the star’s 1985 movie Again To The Future had “impressed us to change into a band”. And Fox joined him onstage to play Repair You on a peach guitar.

Each Glastonbury wants a defining second – and this felt just like the one for 2024.

This was Coldplay’s fifth time headlining Glastonbury, after earlier stints on the prime of the invoice in 2002, 2005, 2011 and 2016.

Chris Martin beforehand instructed the BBC he was cautious about returning to the competition after folks complained about him making company appearances throughout different folks’s units – together with Stormzy and Kylie Minogue.

“I noticed a tweet afterwards which mentioned, ‘You may at all times depend on him to return on in a tracksuit and spoil all the pieces’,” he recalled.

Tonight, that felt like distant historical past.

Tom Cruise’s one-word overview? “Superior.”

Coldplay have been preceded on the Pyramid Stage by Little Simz, enjoying her solely UK present of the 12 months – but when she was rusty, it didn’t present.

The Londoner staged a hip-hop masterclass that highlighted each her lyrical flex and her magnetic stage presence.

She stood alone on stage for the opening salvo of Silhouette, No Merci and I Love You, I Hate You – every of which spotlight the unbiased artist’s hard-won success.

“Do not you understand I am God’s little one? Obtained right here by myself,” she rapped on Silhouette.

It’s a theme she returned to on the night time’s solely new music, The Code, which featured an excellent clap-back to her detractors: “You may transfer the goalposts and I’ll nonetheless preserve scoring.”

Having established her credentials, she relaxed slightly, bringing out Nigerian singer Obongjayar for the supple Level And Kill earlier than segueing into extra mellow songs like Girl and Egocentric.

The clamour and pleasure grew as her set continued. In direction of the top, the rapper eliminated her shades and surveyed the viewers, trying visibly moved.

“That is so mad for me,” she mentioned. “I’ve been doing music since I used to be knee excessive and that is by far the most individuals I’ve ever carried out in entrance of.

“It truly is a dream.”

Different units on the Pyramid Stage on Saturday got here from Cyndi Lauper – who suffered from technical points that affected her vocals – and indie band Keane, marking the twentieth anniversary of their chart-topping debut album Hopes and Fears.

“It modified our lives,” mentioned a frontman Tom Chaplin, main the viewers on a full-throated singalong via hits like Someplace Solely We Know, Bedshaped and All people’s Altering.

The Different Stage had an eclectic line-up that included pop star indie heroes Bloc Get together, newcomers The Final Dinner Get together and pop star Camila Cabello, whose quirky set noticed her using round on a BMX.

Kasabian performed a not-so-secret set on the Woodsies tent, which was stuffed to bursting level, whereas pop queen Jessie Ware headlined on West Holts – bringing feel-good disco anthems to a disappoingly small crowd. (Blame Coldplay).

She gave it her all, although, hot-stepping via the wonky disco groove of Freak Me Now, and brandishing a microphone stand that doubled as a dominatrix’s whip, to the delight of her diehard followers.

“I’m right here to have an excellent time, to not earn an excellent time,” mentioned one.

Elsewhere, Disclosure introduced out Sam Smith to play Latch as they headlined The Different Stage, and South Korean DJ Peggy Gou acquired festivalgoers prepared for the all-night dance arenas with an invigorating set on The Park Stage.

In different phrases, there was an excessive amount of music – and an excessive amount of selection – for anybody to eat in someday.

The leisure continues on Sunday with R&B star SZA headlining the Pyramid Stage and Shania Twain anticipated to attract the weekend’s largest viewers for her mid-afternoon efficiency within the legend slot.