Arctic Monkeys: cocky. Photograph: Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty
It was a supercharged line-up, with a number of acts competing for attention as Friday night came to a head: the Arcade Fire, Kasabian, Bjork, the Arctic Monkeys, La Belle Winehouse. But did any provide the performance that will pass into Glastonbury legend?
It's all subjective, but my feeling would be - possibly not. The Monkeys, who had a huge weight of expectation on their Pyramid set closer last night, struggled with their sound and a set structure that dropped their biggest crowd pleasers in unusual places. Perhaps, also, the subtlety of their arch banter doesn't yet communicate itself to a large crowd. (The word cocky was heard being bandied about more than once in reference to Alex Turner).
The Arcade Fire had a similar problem in dragging a sodden audience with them into their religious experience. But a killer end to their set - Rebellion (Lies), Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) and Wake Up - just about redeemed all that while Bjork produced great theatrics and a bigger sound than many reported from coming from the Pyramid Stage. But even she couldn't prevent an element of drift, with all the big acts seeing the fringes of their crowds move off before the end.
Perhaps the biggest winners then were Hot Chip who were the right band for the right tent and got a 'metropolitan' crowd to set the John Peel stage bouncing. Sometimes it's best to be where you're comfortable.
