The Killers turned their headline set at Glastonbury 2019 into something of a karaoke session on the Saturday night (29 June), with guest appearances from the Pet Shop Boys and Johnny Marr.
The Las Vegas rock band raced through a string of hits including “The Man”, “Somebody Told Me” and “Mr Brightside”.
This was the second time The Killers have headlined Glastonbury, following a disastrous appearance in 2007.
This attempt seemed to be met with a much better reception, and frontman Brandon Flowers looked ecstatic as he bounded off the stage following a rousing rendition of “Mr Brightside” for their final song.
Across the fourth day of the music festival, fans also experienced sets from Janet Jackson, Johnny Marr, Maggie Rogers, Lewis Capaldi, Liam Gallagher, Sean Paul, Lizzo, Hozier, Slowthai and Hot Chip.
This was on another day where the sun blazed down on Worthy Farm amid reports of a water shortage, which Glastonbury organisers denied – although our team on the ground confirmed there were queues of up to an hour for water refills.
The liveblog has now closed
Good morning on this beautiful Saturday, and welcome to day four of Glastonbury Festival 2019. As per yesterday, we'll be bringing you all the latest updates, news, pictures and general merriment taking place at Worthy Farm. Not to mention providing commentary on performances by Janet Jackson, Johnny Marr, Maggie Rogers, Liam Gallagher, and of course The Killers, who are headlining the Pyramid Stage tonight.
First thing you have to watch is this, the best celebrity sighting of Glastonbury so far:
Katie on Twitter
Shoutout to number one legend, the dad from My Parents Are Aliens, living for the culture at King Princess in his leopard print suit at Glasto
I am still, as I imagine many others are, absolutely REELING from Stormzy's headline set last night. How amazing was it?! About as amazing as this review by Jazz Monroe
Stormzy's headline set at Glastonbury was pure and uncompromising – review
It’s immediately clear that Stormzy has something his American counterparts lacked: an urgent, nothing-to-lose velocity. His specifically British energy owes as much to rave and hardcore as to hip hopWant a recap of all the beautiful things you've seen at Glastonbury over the past few days? Here are the best pictures so far
The best pictures from Glastonbury 2019
From the best costumes to festival-goers enjoying some unprecedented sunshine, keep up with all the Glastonbury fun via our photo galleryYou should also check out The Indy's guide to 20 acts not to miss at this year's festival
20 acts you shouldn’t miss at this year’s Glastonbury festival
Headliners aside, there are plenty of acts further down the billing who are just as likely to put on an unforgettable showHe really did
Check out Alexandra Pollard's review of the incredible Rosalia from day three of Glastonbury
Rosalia at Glastonbury review: The exhilarating, dramatic and startlingly accomplished set of a future headliner
The IndependentThe 25-year-old who puts a modern spin on old-school flamenco shouldn't have been tucked away in a suffocatingly hot tent at the John Peel stage
Thinking about highlights today – Janet Jackson is bound to be one of them, as are The Killers who have, arguably, the best "drunk singalong" song by any artist, ever. Come on, tell me a better one than "Mr Brightside". The Chemical Brothers are bound to put on an incredible display, as is Lizzo, who has pulled off a hat-trick in many a previous live show with singing, dancing AND flute playing. I imagine the wonderful Lewis Capaldi will give a rousing performance of his monster hit single "Someone You Loved" after yesterday's "secret set" plus a surprise guest appearance with Bastille during their Pyramid Stage slot. Maggie Rogers seems perfect for this kind of weather.
Another one you should definitely look out for (what do you mean, you didn't read our "20 artists to see" article?) is Hot Chip, who will definitely be one of the highlights of this year's festival. We did a recent interview about their superb seventh album A Bath Full of Ecstasy, which you can read here
Hot Chip: ‘There’s a lot of pop music that’s really bland’
The IndependentThe synth-pop band talk to Alexandra Pollard about their brilliant new album ‘A Bath Full of Ecstasy’, the state of pop, and why they probably wouldn’t get signed these daysSince his 2014 breakthrough, Stormzy has blazed through barriers against UK rap and become the defining British artist of a generation. He is also the least boilerplate Glastonbury headliner in recent memory: a booking so off-the-wall that it didn’t trigger a backlash so much as a sceptical, “Let’s see what you’ve got then”.
Stormzy, it transpires, has it all. Sceptics point to his discography, with its sole full-length, as if he didn’t build his empire on a string of breathtaking singles – as if his legendary Brits performance didn’t have the charisma and vitriolic force of a thousand box-ticking headline sets.
But out of the blocks, the 25-year-old shines. He bounds out to “Know Me From” in a stab-proof vest. Riotous scenes erupt. Shrouded in smoke, he emerges for “First Things First” like a superhero stepping out of a mad scientist’s lab. When he fires up “One Take”, a minor, one-off single from 2016, the crowd unlocks levels of hysteria usually reserved for a Drake cameo.
– an excerpt from Jazz Monroe's outstanding Stormzy review from last night
Stormzy, it transpires, has it all. Sceptics point to his discography, with its sole full-length, as if he didn’t build his empire on a string of breathtaking singles – as if his legendary Brits performance didn’t have the charisma and vitriolic force of a thousand box-ticking headline sets.
But out of the blocks, the 25-year-old shines. He bounds out to “Know Me From” in a stab-proof vest. Riotous scenes erupt. Shrouded in smoke, he emerges for “First Things First” like a superhero stepping out of a mad scientist’s lab. When he fires up “One Take”, a minor, one-off single from 2016, the crowd unlocks levels of hysteria usually reserved for a Drake cameo.
– an excerpt from Jazz Monroe's outstanding Stormzy review from last night
From Alexandra Pollard:
It might be hard to believe, given the happy, broken, burnt state of festival-goers (myself included - this report comes to you from a two-hour-long shower queue), but technically, yesterday was only day one of Glastonbury.
It might be hard to believe, given the happy, broken, burnt state of festival-goers (myself included - this report comes to you from a two-hour-long shower queue), but technically, yesterday was only day one of Glastonbury.
Already, though, from Spanish singer Rosalía proving herself a worthy future headliner to Stormzy's electrifying set, there have been myriad “I was there” moments. The weather was balmy, the atmosphere barmy, and the entertainment on point.
There were celeb spots aplenty, too. Billie Piper, Emilia Clarke, Rupert Grint and Professor Green were spotted by the Independent's team on the ground. Most exciting by far, though, was the dad from My Parents Are Aliens having a whale of a time at King Princess.
Basically, it's been worth missing Love Island for. Here are some of the biggest talking points from day three:
Rosalía performing “Barefoot in the Park”
The searing Spanish singer, who puts a modern spin on old-school flamenco, proved that she's destined for greatness in the John Peel tent. Bringing the ancient sound of her homeland to a 21st-century audience, the 25-year-old sings mostly in Spanish, but there was a brief foray into the English language in the form of the woozy, off-kilter “Barefoot in the Park” – one of the standout tracks from James Blake’s latest album, Assume Form, to which Rosalia contributed vocals. Purple stars flickered behind her as she sang. Blake didn’t appear onstage, but it is no slight against him to say that Rosalía more than did the song justice on her own.
The most eco-conscious year yet
Beautifully decorated bins are generously scattered throughout the festival site, each clearly labelled to mark what you should recycle in it. Water bottles are banned from sale, so everyone has brought reusable containers to fill up, and even the toilets and showers are designed to be as environmentally friendly as possible. Though they attract those with hippy tendencies, festivals are generally no friend to the environment. It is galvanising to see the Eavis clan make such an effort to rectify that.
Sheryl Crow singing “All I Wanna Do is Have Some Fun”
Sheryl Crow spent very little time on the Pyramid Stage itself for her afternoon performance - the country pop singer chose instead to wade into the crowd for her euphoric old-school anthems. “All I Wanna Do is Have Some Fun” was the best of them, rallying us into the first mass singalong of the festival.
How do you solve a problem like George Ezra? George Ezra, weak of chat and strong of banger, George Ezra, with your terrible persona, tedious anecdotes and frankly silly voice. Why do I keep going back for more, chasing the cider-sweet hit of his summery pop? The utterly inexplicable presence of a gramophone crackling with deliberately frazzled vocals unfortunately emphasised the most twee and cringeworthy aspects of Brand Ezra – but for all my attempts at smug cynicism, his closing number, "Shotgun" – in all it’s brass-backed, lads-chanting glory – was impossible to resist.
- Highlight from Anna Leszkiewicz
Our on-site writers just suffered what they thought was a near-death experience as a fleet of planes flew overhead streaming red, white and blue smoke.
"I was like, that's it, they are bombing Glastonbury and I am dead," comments Anna Leszkiewicz.
"Bit random," another festival-goer said.
Presented without comment, but just a tiny bit of applause
Stormzy gets Glastonbury crowd to shout 'F**k Boris' live on the BBC
The IndependentThe star is known for utilising his live performances as a stage for political protest, including his memorable freestyle rap during last year’s Brit Awards
You can read more here.
You won't be able to buy any single-use plastic bottles at this year's Glastonbury
‘It's paramount for our planet that we all reduce our plastic consumption’
Overheard outside a burger stand: “HEY PETE! LOOK! It’s SEASICK STEVE. Oh, no it isn’t.” – Anna Leszkiewicz
This video was shown on the Pyramid Stage between acts, before the Proclaimers played
See the best pictures from Glastonbury here.
