Besides Coachella and Burning Man, one could argue that no other event on the planet inspires quite as much FOMO as Glastonbury Festival, the UK’s most beloved and iconic festival. Every year, the event brings out thousands of punters eaturrom around the UK, Europe, and the world to see its unrivalled lineups.
This year brought out the big guns and not even the likes of Foo Fighters pulling out from their headline set could derail the event. Crowds turned out to see performances from Kanye West, Florence and the Machine, The Who, Pharrell Williams, Deadmau5, Chet Faker, Lionel Richie, and more.
With the festival now wrapped up for another year, we’ve gathered all the best bits from Glastonbury 2015 to help readers who weren’t lucky enough to be there get caught up on everything they missed, from star-studded collabs and covers, to stage-rushing comedians and holy special guests.
Kanye West Out Kanye West-ed Himself
Kanye West’s headlining set made headlines before the rapper even touched down in the country. The announcement that the divisive rapper would be closing out the UK’s premier festival was met with uproar and there were petitions calling for him to be removed from the lineup, as well as a campaign to throw urine at him during his set.
West was not removed from the lineup and put on a show that received a warm reception from the crowd, though it was not without controversy. For started, the BBC stole the show with their ridiculous subtitles for his performance, while comedian Lee Nelson gave West a taste of his own medicine by rushing onto the stage mid-set.
Other highlights of West’s set include a surprising cover of the Queen classic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, a guest appearance from Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, and West declaring to the crowd, in pure Kanye West style, “You are now watching the greatest living rock star on the planet!” The crowd responded with roaring boos.
Kevin Parker Joined Mark Ronson & A Host Of Legends
Mark Ronson doesn’t do anything by half. The superstar producer and ‘Uptown Funk’ hit-maker’s latest album, Uptown Special, was a lavish, star-studded affair and his Glastonbury performance was no different. He invited a whole raft of legends to join him on stage.
Most notably for us Aussies, he was joined by Tame Impala frontman Kevin Parker, who lent his unmistakable vocals to a rendition of their collaborative single ‘Daffodils’ and album track ‘Leaving Los Feliz’, but Parker wasn’t the only legend to join Ronson.
Other notable guests included none other than rapper Theophilus London, Andrew Wyatt of Miike Snow, Culture Club frontman Boy George, as well as Soulfest-bound R&B queen Mary J. Blige, hip-hop icon Grandmaster Flash, and funk legend George Clinton, whom Ronson referred to as “the forefather of Uptown funk”.
Todd Terje Absolutely Brought The House Down
While Todd Terje’s album, It’s Album Time, one of the most acclaimed releases of last year, was a splendrous electronic affair, it’s the real deal when performed live. Terje’s performances have became legend for the way he brings the album to life with live instrumentation and dynamic performances.
Case in point, he brought the roof down on Glastonbury alongside his live band, The Olsens. Joined by an energetic collective of dancers, tracks like ‘Inspector Norse’, a highlight from Terje’s full-length effort, were given thrilling renditions that sent the crowd wild.
Patti Smith Had Her Own Very Special Guest
While Mark Ronson boasted a pretty stunning lineup of onstage collaborators for his Glatsonbury set, Patti Smith had arguably the most exclusive guest of the festival, none other than the Dalai Lama himself, who came out as Smith was in the midst of performing her timeless debut album, Horses.
“We are grateful to him for all his love of humanity and making people aware of the importance of saving the planet,” said Smith, who has often appeared at the annual Tibet House Benefit Concert, before the Buddhist leader himself appeared on stage as Smith led the crowd in a rendition of “Happy Birthday to You”.
Florence and the Machine Perform A Cover In Honour of Dave Grohl
As we’re all well aware by now, Foo Fighters couldn’t make it for their eagerly anticipated headline set, so Florence and the Machine gracefully stepped in and put on a ripper of a performance. Fans still managed to get a good dose of rock and roll during Florence’s set as she performed a cover of the Foos’ ‘Times Like These’.
“We’d like to dedicate this next song to the legend and all around incredible human being Dave Grohl. He was so incredibly kind and supportive to us when we were first starting out, and we were so sad to hear he broke his leg,” Florence said before launching into a cover of the imperishable Foos classic.
Deadmau5 Was A Complete Troll
Deadmau5 decided there was no better moment than when headlining Glastonbury’s Other Stage, where he was head-to-head with Kanye West, to reassert himself as the EDM world’s number one troll. In the middle of his set, the mouse-eared producer decided to have some fun with this whole “DJs just press play” thing.
After hitting play on his track ‘Seeya’, the producer, real name Joel Zimmerman, came out from behind his decks, cracked open a beer, and sat down on stage to share a cold one with Left Shark, the now-infamous sea creature from Katy Perry’s much talked-about Super Bowl halftime show.
After trolling the crowd, EDM’s critics, and Katy Perry, Zimmerman turned his attention to his Glastonbury peer West, disputing his self-proclaimed post as “the greatest rockstar of all time” by tweeting, “Fun fact: actually, I am the greatest rockstar of all time.”
There Was One Hell Of A Secret Band
As always, Glastonbury continued their tradition of having a secret band, who this year were set to perform right before Florence and the Machine. Arriving in a helicopter, recently reformed UK indie legends The Libertines put on a secret set for the ages, busting out modern classic after modern classic.
According to The Telegraph, the band left little doubt in anyone’s minds about whether or not they were really back this time. The performance was tight with scarcely a bum note being hit by the volatile duo of Carl Barat and Pete Doherty. At one point, Barat joked, “Sorry, Glastonbury, we’re just working out a set list.”
Azealia Banks Couldn’t Make It
Azealia Banks missing a tour date or skipping out on a scheduled festival performance is nothing new, but this was a pretty major way to sabotage yourself. She was set to play the festival’s Other Stage, but it was soon revealed that the ‘212’ rapper and singer wouldn’t be making it.
“Today I was put on vocal rest by my doctor which is forcing me to cancel Glastonbury,” she wrote on Instagram. “You have no idea how frustrated and sad this makes me because I love the UK and Glastonbury so much, you have all supported me from the early days and I was really looking forward to putting on an incredible show for you all, rain or shine!”
“Please know, that as soon as I’m allowed to be on stage again, when I have a full bill of health, I will be back! I hope you understand and I look forward to seeing you all again soon,” she continued. Hope she’s rested up in time for Splendour In The Grass. In the meantime, here’s a snippet from Charli XCX’s performance.
Lionel Richie Stole The Show
Believe it or not, R&B legend Lionel Richie’s epic, hit-filled set drew the largest crowd of the festival, with more than 100,000 fans turning out to see him in the Sunday afternoon ‘legends spot’. Richie’s set included many of his chart-smashing hits, including ‘Dancing on the Ceiling’, ‘Hello’, and ‘Say You Say Me’.
The UK Is Officially In Love With Chet Faker
Performing at Glastonbury is a good way to know if you’ve made it. It’s enough of an achievement just to make the lineup — albeit, in the case of our very own Chet Faker, it was his alter ego Chet Facker that actually made the festival poster — but when you see the crowd singing your own song back at you, you know you’re blowing up.
Case in point, Chet Faker (or Facker), who performed on the John Peel Stage on Friday afternoon led the crowd in a massive singalong to his Triple J Hottest 100-topping hit ‘Talk Is Cheap’, carrying the torch for previous Aussies to smash their Glastonbury set like Courtney Barnett.
