Six most iconic moments at Glastonbury revealed including David Bowie and Stormzy
GLASTONBURY is back with a bang on Friday, with Shania Twain and Coldplay among the acts ready to dazzle millions from the Pyramid Stage.
But with all the stars that have headlined over the years the festival, which started in 1970, has also had its fair share of backstage spats.
Alan Edwards, godfather of British music PR, described David Bowie’s 2000 performance — which included hits Let’s Dance, Changes, Heroes and Ziggy Stardust — as the most epic moment so far, describing it as “a great moment in British culture”.
Alan, 68, author of pop memoir I Was There, said: “We were lucky enough to be part of what was recently voted the best Glastonbury ever. It was also the biggest. It happened in 2000 and it was a coming together of different generations celebrating David Bowie’s greatness.
“Bowie had in fact played one of the first Glastonburys.
“He told me that backstage catering meant going into the farmhouse for a glass of milk and eggs, and that he caught the train back to London after the show.”
Alan said his top six Glasto moments are:
- DAVID BOWIE, 2000: “The crowds stretched as far as the eye could see, with banners and flags fluttering in the breeze like it was the eve of the Battle of Agincourt or something.”
- ROLLING STONES, 2013: “The ultimate live band and despite the difficulty in getting a good vantage spot, they provided us all with total satisfaction.”
- ARCTIC MONKEYS, 2013: “Sheer excitement, energy and Alex Turner’s great songs. It was dark and maybe even raining, but they were thrilling.”
- KENNY ROGERS, 2013: “It was a sunny afternoon and we sat on the hill. Such an unexpectedly charming performance and some great country songs.”
- CAT STEVENS, 2023: “Hit after hit. His good-natured, gentle vibes connected with the crowd and was perfect for the afternoon slot.”
- STORMZY, 2019: “For the brilliance of the performance, he definitely wore the crown after that show.”
But what goes on off stage in Somerset is as legendary as on it.
The biggest celebrity spat happened in 2008 when Jay-Z was announced as a headliner, leading Oasis rocker Noel Gallagher to whinge: “I’m not having hip-hop at Glastonbury. It’s wrong.”
Music mogul Jay-Z had the last word, and walked out on to the Pyramid Stage, starting his set with Oasis’s hit Wonderwall.
He took another dig at Noel with his song Jockin’ Jay-Z, which included the lyric: “That bloke from Oasis said I couldn’t play guitar, somebody should have told him I’m a f***ing rock star.”
Noel’s hellraising brother Liam also had a Glasto-related row.
After his set in 2017, he took to Twitter, writing: “To the c*** who stole my Stone Island parkas from my hotel while I was playing Glastonbury, hand them over, all will be forgiven.”
Potty-mouthed musicians at the event have caused headaches for broadcasters over the years.
Adele swore 33 times during her 90-minute headline set on the Pyramid stage in 2016.
She couldn’t even get through the first song without pausing to say “this is f***ing amazing”, despite admitting she had been warned by the BBC.
The following year, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl made it his mission to out-do Adele’s expletive-laden performance.
He told the crowd: “We were doing an interview and someone said, ‘You know you’re not supposed to swear?’ And I said, ‘What the f is that supposed to mean?’. And then I guess Adele holds the record for saying the most f***s at a Glastonbury gig. Now I love Adele but guess what . . . ”
The BBC subtitles team tried to keep up with censoring Kanye West’s 2015 headline set, with changes to spellings such as “motherducker” before they gave up and simply wrote “he raps”.
Viewers at home were also stunned when BBC Breakfast accidentally broadcast a clip from Stormzy’s 2019 gig featuring a fancy-dress policeman waving a sex toy.
As well as dust-ups, there have even been broken bones.
In 1992, Blur’s Damon Albarn ran into a speaker during his set, which toppled on to his foot and fractured it. Despite the injury, he completed the performance and even went back for an encore.
Stars have also tried, and some failed, to arrive at Worthy Farm in style.
Marc Bolan, T. Rex frontman, rocked up in 1970 in a velvet-covered car. When festival founder Michael Eavis went to stroke it, Marc screeched: “Don’t touch my car, man.”
In 2003, The Darkness chose to fly in by helicopter. But the stunt backfired with the “rickety” chopper landing in the wrong field, forcing the band to walk to Glasto instead.
Mud is also synonymous with the festival. The first of many mud baths was in 1982 when the event opened with torrential rain, while 1997 was so bad that the Other Stage began to gradually sink.
Violent clashes
The next year, organisers had the idea to use a toilet vacuum truck to clear up mud from the dance tent. But instead of switching the setting to suck, the machine was set to blow, covering the whole tent.
Glastonbury was cancelled in 1991 after the previous year’s festival was marred by violent clashes between security and New Age travellers. The brawls, triggered over claims of looting, resulted in 235 arrests and £50,000 worth of damage.
There have been poignant moments too. One of them came when Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi struggled to finish his set after a Tourette’s flare-up. As he started ticking on the main stage last year, thousands of fans came to his rescue, singing his hit Someone You Loved.
Glastonbury is also linked to festival fashion, with Kate Moss its undisputed queen. Her tiny gold dress and Hunter wellies combo in 2005 — along with cigarettes and a paper cup — remains one of the festival’s most iconic images.
While festival-goers head to Worthy Farm, Alan will not be among them this year. He said: “Each of those performances I saw were memorable and next week there will be more to come.
“I won’t be there, as I’ll be partying in the park at BST . . . another great festival of course.”
- His memoir I Was There: Dispatches From A Life In Rock And Roll is out now.