Arctic Monkeys at Glastonbury: A tale of two halves

After a touch-and-go week, Arctic Monkeys pulled done to present a thrilling, if uneven, header acceptable astatine the Glastonbury festival.

The band's acceptable was hanging successful the equilibrium aft frontman Alex Turner caught laryngitis, forcing them to cancel a amusement successful Dublin connected Tuesday.

But helium emerged sounding amended than ever, high-kicking his mode done a acceptable afloat of era-defining indie anthems.

"The Monkeys are backmost connected the farm," helium deadpanned astatine the commencement of the show.

It's the band's 3rd clip arsenic headliners, aft erstwhile slots successful 2007 and 2013.

Ahead of the show, drummer Matt Helders told the BBC they were the best-prepared they'd ever been for the festival.

"The archetypal time, obviously, we truly felt the pressure. Then the 2nd time, it was astatine the opening of a circuit - truthful it was fun, but we hadn't been playing successful the lead-up.

"This time, we're connected it. We're successful a bully place, successful the mediate of a tour. We're firing connected each cylinders."

They were surely lucifer fit, tearing up songs similar Crying Lightning and Fluorescent Adolescent, portion allowing country for the much exploratory worldly from their latest album, The Car, to respire and build.

It was a meticulously paced set, ne'er straying excessively acold from a turf-stomping singalong. But adjacent so, immoderate of the broodier sections failed to link with a festival assemblage who conscionable wanted to perceive the hits.

They opened with Sculptures Of Anything Goes, a foreboding, hesitant caller opus that rapidly segued into the dynamite riffs of Brianstorm. At that point, the archetypal flare of the nighttime was lit, and the assemblage started pogoing.

For the adjacent 20 minutes, the gait hardly flagged, arsenic the set served up tracks similar Snap Out Of It, Don't Sit Down 'Cause I Moved Your Chair, Crying Lighting and Teddy Picker successful speedy succession, sending perpetual ripples of vigor crossed the field.

Turner is simply a charismatic, if somewhat aloof, frontman. With his wide-collar garment unbuttoned, helium rests his ft connected the monitors and pulls convincing stone prima shapes. But helium hardly communicates with the assemblage beyond a Vegas-style, "Thank you precise much".

A spot much connection mightiness person stopped the assemblage drifting disconnected during the slower-paced caller songs but, successful the event, there's a predominant disconnect betwixt the signifier and the field.

That's a shame, though, due to the fact that tracks similar Four Out Of Five and There'd Better Be A Mirrorball are expansive and romanticist successful a mode that adds caller dimensions to the Arctics' sound; and Turner is visibly much comfy singing those tracks than the ones helium wrote arsenic a teen successful Sheffield.

For my money, 1 of the night's standout tracks was Body Paint - a swaggering, cinematic ballad from The Car, whose extended crescendo pushed Turner to greater and greater displays of guitar pyrotechnics.

Still, if the assemblage often grew impatient, each was forgiven erstwhile the Arctics closed the acceptable with the double-whammy of I Bet You Look Good On The Dance and RU Mine.

Throughout the encore, Turner teased the assemblage with cheeky stop-start arrangements - truthful that, each of a sudden, you could perceive 80,000 radical singing astir "dancing similar a robot from 1984".

Which, of course, was what they'd wanted to bash each along.

Friday marked the archetypal afloat time of euphony astir the site; and it was packed afloat of highlights and surprises.

Oscar-winning histrion Cate Blanchett appeared connected signifier with US popular experimentalists Sparks, reprising the interpretive creation she performed successful their caller video for The Girl is Crying successful Her Latte.

Hozier played a concealed acceptable connected the Woodsies stage, though connection had intelligibly got out, judging by the devoted fans who turned up to swoon implicit his thumping Celtic balladry.

However, the biggest (and worst-kept) concealed came from US rockers Foo Fighters.

They played a short, but rapturously-received acceptable connected the Pyramid Stage conscionable aft 18:00 BST, successful a slot that had been advertised arsenic "The ChurnUps".

Playing for conscionable an hour, they leaned into their store punk roots, tearing done earthy and ragged versions of hits similar Best Of You, The Pretender and Everlong.

At the extremity of their set, frontman Dave Grohl seemed to hint they'd instrumentality for a bigger amusement adjacent year.

"If you guys travel back, we'll travel back," helium declared.

Over connected the Other Stage, creation enactment Fred Again drew 1 of the biggest crowds of the day, and decided to marque the astir of it.

"Let's effort to interruption the grounds astatine a festival for the magnitude of radical connected shoulders", helium shouted, and they duly obliged, to the soundtrack of his lockdown anthem Marea (We've Lost Dancing).

The London-born prima has rapidly built a estimation arsenic 1 of creation music's astir compelling performers - efficaciously creating unrecorded remixes of his songs by layering samples, drum loops, unrecorded instruments and adjacent video clips connected the fly.

But it's the affectional constituent of his euphony that draws radical in, with a fragility and humanity that's uncommon successful modern dance. Given a fewer years, helium could beryllium headlining the Pyramid Stage.

Just arsenic awesome connected the Other Stage was Nigerian prima Wizkid, a one-man aphrodisiac who delivered a acceptable afloat of laid-back but sensual Afrobeat jams.

"This is simply a Africa enactment tonight, baby," helium purred, open-shirted and peering done transportation achromatic shades arsenic helium prowled the signifier and couples gyrated successful the audience.

Armed with hits similar One Dance, True Love and Essence, and backed by a funky, eight-piece band, helium stole and broke hearts successful adjacent measure.

Headlining the West Holts stage, Kelis treated the Worthy Farm cattle to a serving of Milkshake - mixing her biggest deed with elements of Wu Tang Clan's Gravel Pit and Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Before her came Scottish trio Young Fathers, who dedicated their scathing polemic Shame to Home Scretary Suella Braverman, earlier starring the assemblage successful a chant of: "Say it large and accidental it clear, refugees are invited here."

It's a connection the set present astatine each their gigs, but it seemed to transportation other value connected the play that marks the 75th day of Windrush.

Also performing connected the festival's archetypal afloat time of euphony were R&B trio Flo, Canadian popular prima Carly Rae Jepsen and Scottish stone set Texas.

The festival continues connected Saturday with sets from Lana Del Rey, Lizzo, Christine And The Queens, Maneskin, Rick Astley and headliners Guns N' Roses.