Ed Sheeran has closed this year’s Glastonbury Festival at the Pyramid Stage, just six years after his debut at one of the festival’s smallest venues.
In 2011, Ed Sheeran played the solar-powered Croissant Neuf stage, playing “to about 500 people”.
On June 25, he closed the festival, attracting a much younger audience than Friday and Saturday’s headliners, Radiohead and Foo Fighters.
Ed Sheeran, 26, admitted he was “very nervous but very excited” to be there.
Image source Flickr
“For those of you who haven’t seen one of my shows before or haven’t heard one of my songs, please pretend that you know them,” the singer told the audience.
“For those of you who have, please sing all of the words.”
He added: “The aim of tonight is to lose our voices.
The audience took Ed Sheeran up on the challenge; joining in wistfully as he sang the ballads Photograph and Thinking Out Loud.
They didn’t quite keep up, however, with the spittle-flecked Take It Back – a whirlwind of wordplay in which Ed Sheeran declared: “I’m not a rapper, I’m a singer with a flow.”
Ed Sheeran played, as he usually does, without a band; using a loop pedal to layer his vocal and guitar lines and create a backing track live, on the spot.
He also invited traditional Irish band Beoga on stage to accompany him on Nancy Mulligan, a song about his paternal grandmother.
It was a moment that reeked of cheese but, watched from the side of the stage by his grandfather, Ed Sheeran made it seem genuine.
This year saw more pop and grime acts than ever, from Charli XCX to Katy Perry; from Wiley to Stormzy.
On June 25, the festival also saw sets from Royal Blood, Courteeners, Foo Fighters, The Jacksons, Radiohead and The Killers – who played a secret show on the John Peel stage on Sunday evening.
Johnny Depp appeared to threaten President Donald Trump during a speech at this year’s Glastonbury Festival.
The star asked the audience, as he introduced a screening of his film The Libertine: “Can you bring Trump here?”
After receiving jeers from the crowd, Johnny Depp added: “You misunderstand completely. When was the last time an actor assassinated a president?”
He added: “I want to clarify, I’m not an actor. I lie for a living [but] it’s been a while. Maybe it’s about time.”
Johnny Depp acknowledged that his comments – which may have been a reference to the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln by actor John Wilkes Booth in 1865 – would prove controversial.
“By the way, this is going to be in the press and it’ll be horrible,” he said.
“It’s just a question, I’m not insinuating anything.”
Johnny Depp is not the first celebrity to allude to killing the president.
At a rally in Washington DC, Madonna said she thought “an awful lot about blowing up the White House” and Snoop Dogg shot a toy gun at a Donald Trump character in a music video.
However, on social media, some have criticized Johnny Depp’s comments – which come days after a gunman shot and injured Republican congressman and four others in Virginia.
According to ABC News, the Secret Service is aware of Johnny Depp’s comments,.
Glastonbury audience met Johnny Depp’s comments about President Trump with laughter, albeit mixed with shock.
Johnny Depp – wearing distressed jeans and a black fedora – was mobbed by fans as he arrived at Worthy Farm.
Another 87 names have been added to this year’s Glastonbury Festival, including Kasabian, Jack White, Elbow and MIA.
The festival tweeted a link to a picture on its website, before Kasabian confirmed on their own Twitter feed that they are Sunday’s Pyramid Stage headliners and will close the festival.
The line-up also features Pixies, Jake Bugg, Robert Plant and James Blake.
Friday night headliners Arcade Fire and Dolly Parton were among those already confirmed to play the festival in June.
Other new acts announced include MGMT, Brian Ferry, Kelis, Metronomy and De La Soul.
Kasabian will headline the Pyramid Stage at this year’s Glastonbury Festival
Rudimental, Manic Street Preachers, London Grammar and Ed Sheeran are also set to play across more than 100 stages at the festival in Somerset from June 25 to June 29.
Saturday night’s Pyramid Stage headliner is still yet to be announced, although organizer Emily Eavis said there was definitely one in place.
“We’ve got it all booked, it was all confirmed a couple of weeks ago. We can’t give you that yet, just for contractual reasons, but it will be with you soon,” she said.
“The full lineup, the thousands and thousands of acts, will be with you in May,” Emily Eavis added.
“This is a few handpicked acts to give you a taster.”
Recently, acts such as Lana Del Rey and the Black Keys had confirmed their own appearances, joining Lily Allen, Disclosure, Blondie, Suzanne Vega and Warpaint on the bill.
In February, Dolly Parton said she was “incredibly excited” to be playing the Sunday afternoon “legend slot” on the Pyramid Stage, following last year’s appearance from her friend and contemporary Kenny Rogers.
White Stripes star Jack White is set to play an exclusive UK festival date at Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage.
Tickets for this year’s Glastonbury Festival sold out in just one hour and 27 minutes in October, despite “technical difficulties” with online ticketing site See Tickets.
Festival goers who have paid their deposit have until just before midnight on Monday, April 7, to pay their balance. Remaining tickets go on resale on April 24 for coach packages and April 27 for standard tickets.
The first set of tickets for 2014 Glastonbury Festival have sold out.
The 15,000 coach and ticket packages went on sale at 6 p.m. on October 3 and sold out in half an hour.
The news was confirmed on Glastonbury Festival’s official Twitter page where people were also reminded that another 120,000 tickets for the festival will go on Sunday October 6.
Prices for the 2014 event have been increased to £210 ($325) plus a booking fee.
Last month, festival organizer Michael Eavis said they won’t beat this year’s festival.
The first set of tickets for 2014 Glastonbury Festival have sold out
The Rolling Stones, Arctic Monkeys and Mumford and Sons headlined the event at Worthy Farm this summer.
He added: “[It’s] downhill all the way now. I’ve had 44 years of an incredible career and we’re still milking the old cows as well.”
When asked about who would be headlining Glastonbury in 2014 Michael Eavis said people wouldn’t be surprised.
“Pretty obvious isn’t it?” he said.
“There aren’t many left. It’s the process of elimination isn’t it?
“I think we’ve got three or four really good ones lined up for next year and we’re sorting out 2015 as well.”
There is speculation about who will play at Worthy Farm between 26 and 29 June next year.
David Bowie is one of the bookies’ favorites to headline, an Oasis reunion and a set from Foo Fighters have also been rumored.
The remaining tickets for Glastonbury Festival 2014 go on sale at 9 a.m. on Sunday October 6.
The Glastonbury Festival 2014 tickets will go on sale at 9 a.m. on Sunday, October 6.
The weekend ticket will cost £210 ($325) to attend but festival-goers will only have to pay a deposit of £50 ($75) next month before settling their bill in April.
For the first time, coach packages will be available three days before the main ticket sale on Thursday, October 3.
No acts have been announced but organizer Michael Eavis says the three headliners are in place already.
The Rolling Stones, Arctic Monkeys and Mumford and Sons headlined the event at Worthy Farm, Somerset, in 2013.
Michael Eavis said next year’s headliners probably wouldn’t surprise people.
Glastonbury Festival 2014 tickets will go on sale on October 6
“There aren’t many left [to play here],” he said.
“It’s the process of elimination isn’t it?
“I think we’ve got three or four really good ones lined up for next year and we’re sorting out 2015 as well.”
Michael Eavis also thinks they won’t beat this year’s festival line-up.
“The Stones were absolutely brilliant, all the other stuff we’re doing in the southeast corner was absolutely fantastic,” he said.
“[It’s] downhill all the way now. I’ve had 44 years of an incredible career and we’re still milking the old cows as well.”
Festival-goers will have to register on the Glastonbury website before buying tickets and will be able to buy up to six each.
Glastonbury Festival 2014 will take place between 25 and 29 June.
Mumford and Sons have closed this year’s Glastonbury festival, with their first ever headline set on the Pyramid Stage.
The band began in the dark, playing the slow-burning Lovers’ Eyes, which opens with a lone vocal over feedback.
The lights came up for second song I Will Wait – their only UK top 20 hit – and the crowd erupted.
“We came for a party,” frontman Marcus Mumford said.
The set was the band’s first since bass player Ted Dwane had surgery for a blood clot on his brain this month.
They closed their set by playing the Joe Cocker version of A Little Help From My Friends, for which they were joined on stage by Vampire Weekend, The Vaccines and folk singers The Staves.
This year’s Glastonbury Festival has seen 180,000 people descend on Michael Eavis’s Somerset farmstead.
The music has catered to a wide range of tastes with sets from artists such as Laura Mvula, Chase and Status, Rita Ora and Elvis Costello.
Sunday’s line-up included Vampire Weekend, Smashing Pumpkins, Jessie Ware, Bobby Womack and Sir Bruce Forsyth.
Avon and Somerset Police said crime at this year’s festival has dropped dramatically since the last event in 2011.
Crime levels were 33% lower than in 2011, with 220 reported crimes, including drug offences and thefts from tents, since gates to the campsites opened on Wednesday.
Police added that there were no major incidents on site and a total of 154 arrests have been made.
Mumford and Sons’ had said they would have pulled out of the headline slot if their 28-year-old bass player had not made a full recovery.
The band were hit by the news of Ted Dwane’s condition while they were on tour in the US earlier in June. He had been taken to hospital after being described as “feeling unwell” for several days.
His illness forced the band to cancel the remainder of their North American Summer Stampede tour and threw their first headliner slot at Worthy Farm into doubt.
“Nothing was more important than Ted’s health,” said Ben Lovett.
After leaving hospital, Ted Dwane posted a picture of himself bearing surgery scars on the band’s website, accompanied by the caption: “Bear with a sore head!”
Mumford and Sons have closed this year’s Glastonbury festival, with their first ever headline set on the Pyramid Stage
The band took to a stage still vibrating from the barnstorming set from Saturday night’s closing act – The Rolling Stones.
The veteran rockers received five-star reviews in most of the Sunday papers.
Some fans in the audience, however, felt the sound was too quiet and there were scattered chants of “turn it up” during the band’s performance.
Mumford and Sons were among those watching the gig, as they had with Friday night headliners the Arctic Monkeys.
Ben Lovett said the shows had made him worry that his banjo-brandishing band did not have quite enough hits to fill their show.
“We’ve only got two albums, so we’ve got to write more,” he laughed.
“But we’re match fit. We wouldn’t perform if we didn’t think we could do a great job.
“We’re confident and we’re looking forward to it.”
The Grammy and Brit-winning band are the biggest stars of the nu-folk scene which emerged from West London five years ago.
Their contemporaries Noah And The Whale, who played on The Other Stage on Saturday, said the headline slot was a coming-of-age moment.
“It’s funny,” said frontman Charlie Fink.
“Every time things get a bit bigger, you think <<I can’t believe it’s got to this stage>> and then something else happens.
“But I think it’s amazing. It’s crazy everything that’s happened to people we know and that genre of music.”
Another oldie making his debut was 85-year-old Bruce Forsyth, who emerged on the Avalon Stage to the Strictly Come Dancing theme and introduced himself as “The Rolling Stones 2”, before playing a set of music hall standards, including Gershwin’s Funny Face.
The turn-out for Sir Bruce Forsyth was so large that security officers shut down the Avalon field for 20 minutes, as hundreds of fans spilled out of the tent into the field beyond.
The notorious Sunday afternoon “Glastonbury legend” slot – which has played host to the likes of Shirley Bassey and Johnny Cash – was filled by country star Kenny Rogers.
“I was told it was a special slot but I don’t always believe everything my manager says when he’s trying to get me to do something,” admitted the singer.
Kenny Rogers added he was unsure whether the Glastonbury audience would be familiar with hits such as The Gambler, Coward Of The County and Islands In The Stream.
“But I think any time you get that number of people together, percentage-wise I should have enough people who know my music to carry the rest of them.
“I’m convinced now that my audience falls into two categories: Either born since 1980 and their parents played my music as child abuse, or they were born before 1960, and can no longer remember the 60s.”
The 74-year-old, who is the seventh-biggest-selling artist in US history, also said he was hoping to see Mumford and Sons.
“I saw them on a Country Music Television show in the States, and I thought they were excellent.
“You know, my first 10 years, I played upright bass and sang in a jazz group – so I can really appreciate what they’re doing melody-wise and time-wise.
“It’s great to hear a group like that be so successful.”
Glastonbury Festival has survived riots, fires, mud swamps in its action-packed 43-year-history.
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.
From humble hippyfest to music megabrand – Glastonbury has exploded into one of the world’s biggest and best-loved festivals.
It has survived riots, fires, mud swamps and the wrath of the local council throughout the years, to become an institution on the British summer calendar.
When Michael Eavis, a Somerset farmer, organized the first festival in 1970, he was inspired by the psychedelic delights of the Bath Blues Festival. In an attempt to create an even better event, Michael Eavis combined typical pop festival culture with a more traditional fair and harvest-type event.
The festival takes place in south west England at Worthy Farm between the small villages of Pilton and Pylle in Somerset, six miles east of Glastonbury, overlooked by the Glastonbury Tor in the “Vale of Avalon”. The area has a number of legends and spiritual traditions, and is a “New Age” site of interest: ley lines are considered to converge on the Tor. The nearest town to the festival site is Shepton Mallet, three miles north east, but there continues to be interaction between the people espousing alternative lifestyles living in Glastonbury and the festival. The farm is situated between the A361 and A37 roads.
Michael Eavis stated that he decided to host the first festival, then called Pilton Festival, after seeing an open air Led Zeppelin concert at the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music 1970; fourteen people invested everything they had to build the stage.
At the first Glastonbury in September 1970, around 1,500 people paid just £1 ($1.5) to see Marc Bolan and T-Rex headline the event, accompanied by free milk; just one detail that marks Glastonbury’s individuality from its start.
The first festival was influenced by hippie ethics and the free festival movement. The festival retains vestiges of this tradition such as the Green Fields area which includes the Green Futures and Healing Field. After the 1970s the festival took place almost every year and grew in size, with the number of attendees sometimes being swollen by gate-crashers.
A second festival was organized a year later, but this time the date was moved to coincide with the Summer Solstice in June. The first Pyramid Stage was built on the Glastonbury Stonehenge leyline for the event, which added a cosmic, mythical allure to the festival.
It was funded, in Michael Eavis’s words, by “rich hippies”, who wanted to ensure no one would miss out on the delights of Glastonbury simply because they could not afford to get in. That year, David Bowie played in front of 12,000 people, who had not paid a penny for the privilege. Characteristically, this festival came with only three rules: no alcohol sales, vegetarian food only, and no amplified music past midnight.
However, not everyone was happy with the new invasion of free-spirited souls descending on the rural communities surrounding Michael Eavis’s farm.
Glastonbury Festival has survived riots, fires, mud swamps in its action-packed 43-year-history
Some complained that they wandered around with seeming disregard for locals, with claims of people wearing nothing but a top hat at times. Michael Eavis also became increasingly concerned about the impact it was having on his livestock and business, so he vowed to end it for good. But it could not be stopped, and after a six-year break, an “impromptu” event was held in 1978, after 500 travellers arrived from Stonehenge for a virtually unplanned event. The stage was inventively powered by an electric motor in a caravan with the cable running to the stage.
The following year, the Glastonbury Fayre – as it was then known – returned as a three-day festival, but continued to lose the organizers money. In order to save the event, Michael Eavis persuaded the Campaign Against Nuclear Disarmament (CND) to help run the festival in exchange for any profits: £20,000 was raised, with tickets at only £8.
A new permanent pyramid stage was built, which would double up as a cow shed for the rest of the year, as the festival’s organization was stepped up. The event was to be a turning point in Glastonbury’s colorful history as it made a profit for the first time, which was handed over to a grateful CND.
The situation was not totally fixed though. During the 1980s and early 1990s, Michael Eavis faced yet more challenges from unwanted revellers and his fed-up neighbors, which again threatened to end the event.
However, the performers were ever more interesting, with people such as Van Morrison, The Smiths, The Pixies and The Cure making the event increasingly popular. For the first time in the festival’s history, he had to apply for a license from the local Mendip Council to stage the festival after a change in the law in 1983. Refused permission in 1986, 1987 and 1989, Michael Eavis took the authority to court and won each time.
Since 1981, the festival has been organized by Michael Eavis, through his company Glastonbury Festivals Ltd.
In 1990, on the festival’s 20th anniversary, travellers rioted with security staff after attempting to loot the empty site. Police made 235 arrests and the festival had to be cancelled the following year.
Nevertheless, it returned in 1992, having learned some tough lessons, and went from strength to strength – attracting bigger names and bigger crowds. The Pyramid Stage burned down in 1994, but a replacement stage was quickly provided by a local company as the event was televised for the first time. By 1997, tickets were £75, with 90,000 revellers.
In more recent years, the festival site turned into a giant mudbath in 1997, 1998 and 2005 – thanks to torrential rain and thunderstorms.
A £1 million “superfence” was finally erected in 2002 to beat the fence-jumpers and to boost security. After a one-year hiatus, 2007’s festival returned with new security features.
More than 140,000 people supplied ID photos for their tickets in an attempt to kill off the touts, who had grown rich off the booming demand for black market tickets. The festival failed to sell out in 2008 – which some put down to the fear of poor weather and a controversial line-up. But the brand bounced back in recent years and has repeatedly sold out with weeks to spare.
In 2010, Glastonbury celebrated its 40th year, a milestone dampened only by England’s painful World Cup defeat on the Sunday. Glastonbury has grown staggeringly over the years, with a huge range of performers making it the diverse and renowned institution it is today.
Glastonbury 2012 has been cancelled due to a lack of Portaloos and police officers caused by the London Olympics.
Michael Eavis ran the festival with his wife Jean until her death in 1999, and is now assisted by his daughter Emily Eavis. Since 2002, Festival Republic (a company consisting of both Live Nation and MCD) has taken on the job of managing the logistics and security of the festival through a 40% stake in the festival management company. Each year a company, joint owned by Glastonbury Festivals Ltd and Festival Republic, is created to run the festival, with profits going to the parent companies. Glastonbury Festivals Ltd donates most of their profits to charities, including donations to local charity and community groups and paying for the purchase and restoration of the Tithe Barn in Pilton.
Most people who stay at Glastonbury Festival camp in a tent. There are many different camping areas, each with its own atmosphere. Limekilns and Hitchin Hill Ground are quieter camping areas, whereas Pennard Hill Ground is a lively campsite. Cockmill Meadow is a family campsite and Wicket Ground was introduced in 2011 as a second family-only campsite. A disabled campsite is also available in Spring Ground. Campsite accommodation is provided in the cost of a standard entry ticket but festival-goers must bring their own tents.
Campervans, caravans and trailer tents are not allowed into the main festival site. However the purchase of a campervan ticket in addition to the main ticket allows access to fields just outside the boundary fence; and the cost includes access for the campervan or towing vehicle and the caravan; the car, or other vehicle used to tow the caravan, may be parked alongside it but sleeping is only authorized in the campervan/caravan and connected awning, not in the accompanying vehicle. One additional tent may accompany the caravan/campervan if space within the plot allows. Some people choose to bring or hire a motorhome, though drivers of larger vehicles or motorhomes may have to purchase a second campervan ticket if they cannot fit within the defined plot. The 2009 festival saw changes to the campervan fields; commercial vehicles were no longer classed as “campervans”, all campervans had to have a fitted sleeping area and either washing or cooking facilities, and caravans and trailer tents were allowed back at the festival. Prior to this only campervans were allowed on site, caravans and trailers being banned in the early 1990s after a number were stuck in the mud and abandoned.
Prince Harry attended this year’s Glastonbury Festival and managed to sneak into the UK’s biggest music event unnoticed to party with friends until the early hours.
The festival’s organizer Michael Eavis said today he had chatted with Prince Harry last night and recommended he stayed to sample the nightlife.
Prince Harry’s on-off girlfriend Cressida Bonas was pictured enjoying the sunshine at the Worthy Farm site in Somerset yesterday, but the prince managed to evade photographers as he partied the night away.
Michael Eavis, 77, said Prince Harry had watched the Rolling Stones performing at the Pyramid Stage last night and also enjoyed music at the Park and John Peel stages.
The organizer said: “Prince Harry was great actually. I recommended that he should go on into the night, because the nightlife is what Glastonbury is all about. At three o’clock in the afternoon, you don’t get it.
“I told him to get his taxi driver to come back at five o’clock in the morning and do you know what? He lasted until four in the morning.
“His friends were all having a great time. He didn’t want to make a formal thing of being here.”
Glastonbury Festival has attracted celebrities including Kate Moss, Wayne and Colleen Rooney and Katherine Jenkins over the weekend.
Backstage today, actress Sienna Miller, singer Florence Welch and presenter Dermot O’Leary were spotted.
Michael Eavis said he did not join Prince Harry for a pint of cider as he abstains from drinking from two months before the festival until after everyone has left the site.
He added that the Rolling Stones had been the festival’s best-ever headline set and that their two-hour performance – complete with fireworks and a burning phoenix on top of the stage – was worth the wait.
He had tried to secure the band, celebrating their 50th anniversary, for years and said he was not sure how next year’s headliners, who have already been booked, would live up to the Stones.
“It was 43 years in the making, 50 years for them, and we’ve finally come together. We’re on the same page at last,” Michael Eavis said, on the third day of music at the festival.
Prince Harry attended this year’s Glastonbury Festival and managed to sneak into the UK’s biggest music event unnoticed to party with friends until the early hours
He said: “It’s the whole razzmatazz of the occasion – the two of us finally getting together at long last.
“I had to prove myself to them. We were a bunch of hippies; it’s hardly a Rolling Stones set up, is it?”
The capacity of the Pyramid area was expanded for the first time for the Stones, meaning a festival record of 100,000 people saw Mick Jagger strutting his stuff.
Mick Jagger led the band through their classics, starting with an energetic Jumpin’ Jack Flash and ending with a soulful You Can’t Always Get What You Want, before crowd-pleaser Satisfaction.
Sir Mick was said to have been concerned about sound quality ahead of the gig, but his fears were unfounded.
“Musically, they were absolutely brilliant,” said Michael Eavis, who claimed the band were number one in his top 10 of headliners, above Radiohead, U2 and Oasis.
“Mick Jagger’s energy leading that band with such a passion and so much style – he was absolutely amazing.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s quite remarkable to think he can go like that, at his age.
“I’m a bit older and I couldn’t keep going. His legs and his arms and his movement – he was going for it like his life depended on it.”
The mechanical phoenix created by Joe Rush, which came to life during Sympathy For The Devil, was a labor of love, with health and safety officials voicing concerns, Michael Eavis said.
He laughed as he claimed the ornate moving sculpture had cost almost the same as the Stones’ fee for their set.
Bands have already been booked for next year’s key Pyramid Stage headline slots. Asked if there were any veteran rockers on a par with the Stones, Michael Eavis smiled and said: “Ever so slightly, yeah.”
He joked that there were now very few acts left on his wish list, and pondering how many more festivals he will organize, said: “Another 10, do you think?”
Michael Eavis said the ticket holders, of which there were 135,000 this year, were what kept him going.
A BBC Two spokesman said its coverage of The Rolling Stones peaked at 2.5 million viewers, compared to the peak of 2.1 million for U2 who headlined on the Saturday night at the last Glastonbury Festival in 2011.
Other highlights of the weekend have included Friday night’s headline set from the Arctic Monkeys, Portishead on the Other Stage and an early morning performance from Liam Gallagher’s band Beady Eye.
Michael Eavis said he had particularly enjoyed Elvis Costello’s Saturday afternoon gig, and taking part in a karaoke session on the same day.
“It fills me with so much confidence because people love it so much,” he said.
“The people are so thrilled to be here. So that’s my energy, really.”
Police said crime at this year’s Glastonbury Festival has dropped dramatically from the last time the event was staged.
Avon and Somerset Police said crime levels were 33% lower than in 2011, with 220 reported crimes since gates to the campsites opened on Wednesday.
Those crimes included 61 drug offences and 106 thefts from tents. There were no major incidents on site and a total of 154 arrests have been made.
Inspector Shirley Eden said: “We are very pleased with how the festival has gone. It’s been a fantastic event, the atmosphere has been brilliant and crime is low.
“We would like to thank the majority of festival goers for their cooperation, good festival spirit and for being sensible with their property.”
The Arctic Monkeys performed at the Pyramid Stage in front of more than 90,000 fans closing the Glastonbury Festival’s first night.
Opening with a brand new song, Do I Wanna Know, they also rattled through crowd-pleasing hits like I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor.
Frontman Alex Turner also led the crowd in a chorus of Happy Birthday to his mum, Penny, who was at the festival.
They were joined on the bill by Jake Bugg, Rita Ora and Dizzee Rascal, as the weather largely stayed dry.
LA trio Haim also played the main stage, but bassist Este Haim was taken ill during their set.
The 24-year-old had to sit on a stool after nearly collapsing on stage.
“I’m not going to let this get the better of me, especially when there are so many beautiful people here,” she told the audience.
“If I pass out, will someone give me mouth to mouth.”
Later, she told the NME she had “nearly died” and blamed the incident on diabetes.
“I didn’t eat before my set like a smart, good diabetic does and I remember not being able to feel my arms,” she said.
The Arctic Monkeys made a low-key entrance on the Pyramid Stage – with none of the pyrotechnics or showbiz affectations of the festival’s last headliner, Beyonce, two years ago.
In keeping with the slow-burning groove of their new single, the band set opened with subdued lighting and darkened video screens, before crashing straight into the heavier, faster Brianstorm, a single from 2007.
The Arctic Monkeys performed at the Pyramid Stage in front of more than 90,000 fans closing the Glastonbury Festival’s first night
More confident as a frontman than the last time the band headlined Glastonbury in 2007, Alex Turner squared up to the mic and adopted an exaggerated Elvis swagger when addressing the crowd.
“We’re gonna play all night long,” he informed them.
“Does that sound good to you?”
Songs from their first two albums – I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, Fluorescent Adolescent, Sun Goes Down – received the warmest response, while new material was tolerated with good humor.
A string quartet, arranged by Elbow’s Guy Garvey, joined the band for the encore, playing Mardy Bum and Cornerstone.
The set ended with early track 505 and a wall of feedback.
Earlier, Liam Gallagher’s band Beady Eye kicked off the action with an unscheduled appearance on The Other Stage at 11:00 BST.
The early morning set was something of a turnaround for the singer, who previously headlined the event with Oasis in 1995 and 2004.
The latter appearance was particularly flat, and Liam Gallagher claimed the festival was “full of idiots”.
But after Friday’s show, he said: “Glastonbury’s back in the good books. I just had a bad experience but now it’s cool again.
“It’s always been cool, it’s just me. I’m full of it.”
He added that playing before lunchtime had been something of a risk.
“I thought 11 o’clock could be really ropey but I thought we done well, man.”
Musical legends could be found dotted around the site on Friday, with Sinead O’Connor headlining the acoustic stage and Nile Rodgers of disco pioneers Chic on the West Holts Stage.
The musician, whose hits include Chic’s Le Freak, Diana Ross’s Upside Down and Madonna’s Like A Virgin, was playing his first ever Glastonbury.
“I come from America, right, so in our heads it all started with Woodstock and Monterey Pop – and Glastonbury has kept that tradition alive.
“Now I’m actually here I can come home and either dispel the myth or say <<wow, it’s everything I thought>>,” he said.
Mercury Prize-winners Alt-J also drew a large audience to The Other Stage, and surprised them all by ditching their smart, intricate rock songs for a cover of Kylie Minogue’s Slow.
Jake Bugg pulled off an early “Glastonbury moment” with an energetic set that climaxed with his hit Lightning Bolt; while Dizzee Rascal provided a canny mix of crowd-pleasing hits and new material, including his Robbie Williams-featuring single Going Crazy.
With an audience of 180,000 music fans, many artists look forward to Glastonbury as the pinnacle of the festival season – and anticipation was particularly high after the event took a year off in 2012.
“I’m never going to forget this,” declared pop star Rita Ora as she left the stage.
“You have changed my life.”
Rapper Professor Green, who followed her on the Pyramid Stage, said he was similarly amazed to be part of the line-up.
Describing himself as “some little toerag from Hackney who samples INXS”, he described his booking as “mental”.
Professor Green, 29, whose hits include Read All About It and the INXS-based I Need You Tonight was also aware of the opportunity the stage – and the accompanying TV coverage – presented.
“I think a lot of people that are here won’t know my music, bar the singles, so this is a good opportunity to show the musicality of what we do when we play live,” he said.
With more than 2,000 performers over the weekend, rumors of “secret appearances” are always rife at Glastonbury, and this year’s crop range from the likely (Fatboy Slim and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke) to the fanciful (Daft Punk and David Bowie).
Definitely confirmed for the weekend are co-headliners Mumford and Sons and The Rolling Stones.
Glastonbury Festival reveller Lee Nickleson got down on one knee to propose to his sweetheart – while holding a can of cider.
Lee Nickleson, 35, of Leeds, West Yorkshire, was so nervous about popping the question to Ceilidh Jackson that he forgot to put down his can of Stella Artois Cidre. Friends unfurled a banner reading “Will You Marry Me?” as he proposed to his partner of four years on the first day of the music festival.
Glastonbury reveller Lee Nickleson gets down on one knee to propose girlfriend Ceilidh Jackson
Ceilidh Jackson, 25, was delighted when he pulled the ring from his pocket and immediately said “Yes”. The pair even have their own caravan so they can have some privacy during the festival.
Cash machine installer Lee Nickleson, who has been to the festival once before, said: “I’ve been wanting to propose for a while, but I didn’t know where to do it. Then I realized that Glastonbury would be the perfect place. I proposed on the first day because I wanted to get it out of the way.
“Otherwise I would be too nervous all weekend. I’m glad she didn’t say <<no>> though – that would have put a bit of a dampener on the party. It was Ceilidh’s first time at Glastonbury, so I wanted to make it special. We had a respectable night – we turned in to our love-shack about 2 a.m.
“You don’t want to burn out on the first night of the festival. I probably shouldn’t have been holding a can, but I couldn’t think. I had other things at the forefront of my mind, to be honest. It has set everything up for a great festival.”
Healthcare worker Ceilidh Jackson added: “I don’t mind that he was carrying a can – in fact, I didn’t even notice. I was shocked and delighted. He’s so lovely. I was already looking forward to this weekend so much, but now I think it’ll be the best weekend ever.”
Glastonbury, the UK’s biggest music festival, is due to get under way in two days’ time, but for thousands of music fans the race to pitch their tents is now in full flow.
This year’s headliners at Glastonbury are the Arctic Monkeys, The Rolling Stones and Mumford & Sons.
Revelers have been hauling boxes of alcohol and camping gear as they trundle to their chosen camping spots.
Police made their first arrest of the festival when suspected drugs were found inside fruit pastille sweets.
Some 175,000 people will attend the festival in Somerset with an estimated 20,000 of them expected to arrive by coach or train.
Earlier, former Oasis frontman, Liam Gallagher was seen arriving at Castle Cary – the nearest railway station to Pilton.
Liam Gallagher is rumored to be playing a set with his band Beady Eye.
Glastonbury festival is due to get under way in two days’ time, but for thousands of music fans the race to pitch their tents is now in full flow
Unlike previous years, the weather for the next few days is expected to remain fairly settled – although some drizzle is forecast for Friday.
Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis said he believed the weather, combined with the line-up, means this year’s festival will be “unusually good”.
“The whole thing is fantastic,” the 77-year-old farmer said.
“There are 1,000 acres of creativity on a massive scale and to a very, very high standard.
“You won’t see anything else like this in the whole world.”
Other highlights this year will be appearances by Primal Scream, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Professor Green and Dizzee Rascal.
Although the Wombles will not be returning to the stage, some of the more unusual acts over the next few days include Sir Bruce Forsyth, country star Kenny Rogers and the Dalai Lama’s Tibetan Monks.
Traffic has been flowing steadily along the main roads into the 900-acre festival site, at Worthy Farm, near Pilton.
Chief Inspector John Holt from Avon and Somerset Police said: “The event organizers are doing all they can to get people into the festival as quickly and as safely as possible.”
He added people should also consider routes other than the A361.
John Holt said: “The majority of people have been using satellite navigation and coming off the M5 – we would stress that there are other routes down.
“The A37 is actually pretty clear and the A39 – so there are other options.”
The police have estimated traffic will remain busy for the rest of the day and into Thursday. Monday will also be another busy day as people make their way home.
Glastonbury is returning after a one-year hiatus in the Olympic summer of 2012. During the one-year break, Michael Eavis grew wheat on the festival fields.
The last batch of tickets for Glastonbury Festival 2013 has sold out, organizers have announced today.
Weekend camping tickets went quickly in just over an hour, before coach packages were snapped up by festival-goers.
The festival’s Twitter feed apologized to people who missed out after “demand far outstripped supply”.
The Rolling Stones, Mumford and Sons and Arctic Monkeys will headline the event in June at Worthy Farm.
Fans could reserve up to four tickets, which cost £205 ($320) plus a booking fee, when the site opened at 09:00 BST.
The last batch of tickets for Glastonbury Festival 2013 has sold out
Glastonbury Festival organizer Emily Eavis tweeted asking for feedback on the ticketing process which has been criticized in the past for not being able to cope with demand.
Tickets for the event, which had a break last year to rest the fields, cost £10 ($16) more than the previous festival.
The Rolling Stones, who play on the Saturday night, will be performing at the festival for the first time.
Lead singer Mick Jagger said he would call U2 singer Bono for advice about their upcoming performance, following the Irish band’s 2011 headline slot.
More than 190 acts will appear at the event, including country star Kenny Rogers, Primal Scream, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds and Elvis Costello.
New acts Rita Ora and Jake Bugg will appear on the main Pyramid Stage alongside Rufus Wainwright and festival veteran Billy Bragg.
Glastonbury Festival 2013 takes place from 28 to 30 June.
Kenny Rogers has announced fans he is “very excited” to learn he is to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.
“I think it’s so cool,” Kenny Rogers said in a personal message posted on video sharing site YouTube.
“I’m glad it happened before I died.”
“Everything pales in comparison to this,” the veteran country singer told reporters later.
Singer Bobby Bare and producer “Cowboy” Jack Clement will also be inducted at a ceremony later this year.
Kenny Rogers is to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville
The new inductees will bring the membership of the Country Music Hall of Fame, founded in 1961, to 121.
Already among that number is singer Dolly Parton, with whom Kenny Rogers, now 74, performed on the 1983 duet Islands in the Stream.
Houston-born Kenny Rogers is also known for such country standards as The Gambler and Ruby,Don’t Take Your Love To Town.
Last month it was announced he would perform on the main Pyramid stage at this year’s Glastonbury festival.
Bobby Bare, 78, said it was “real huge” to be recognized for a career that has spanned six decades, calling his induction “the culmination of a 19-year-old boy’s dream”.
Jack Clement, 82, played a key role in the careers of Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis and later produced tracks for U2’s Rattle and Hum album.
The Rolling Stones are to perform in London’s Hyde Park for the first time after 44 years.
Their outdoor concert will take place on July 6, a week after The Rolling Stones’ first appearance at the Glastonbury festival.
The Rolling Stones famously played in the Hyde Park just two days after death of guitarist Brian Jones in July 1969.
The Rolling Stones are to perform in London’s Hyde Park for the first time after 44 years
At the first Hyde Park gig, a legendary free concert for an estimated 250,000 people in 1969, Mick Jagger wore a white dress on stage and read a Percy Bysshe Shelley poem dedicated to Brian Jones. Thousands of butterflies were then released into the air.
Unlike in 1969, this year’s show will not be free – but ticket prices have not been announced. The group angered some fans when they charged up to £406 for shows at the O2 arena last year.
The Hyde Park show – part of Barclaycard Presents British Summer Time Hyde Park – will come a week after The Rolling Stones headline the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury.
Sir Mick Jagger, 69, said he would phone U2 singer Bono for advice following the Irish band’s 2011 performance.
“<<Don’t do it!>> might be his advice, but it’s a bit late for that,” Mick Jagger joked.
“It is quite a difficult gig,” he added.
“U2 had terrible weather and that didn’t help. You have to learn from their experiences.”
Bono later said U2 gave a disappointing performance at the festival because they were “a bit freaked out” by the conditions and the singer wore the “wrong shoes” for the stage.
The Rolling Stones have also announced a North American tour, beginning in May, but with more recovery time between gigs than in previous years.
“You gotta pace yourself,” Mick Jagger said.
“We have enough time before we come back to England, so we’ll be well recovered.”
But he said the group had no current plans to tour the rest of the world.
The Rolling Stones will be supported in Hyde Park in July by The Vaccines, The Temper Trap and Gary Clark Jr.
The Rolling Stones are to play as one of the three headline acts for the Glastonbury Festival 2013, taking place on the final weekend of June (28-30).
It will be the first time the Rolling Stones have played at the festival at Worthy Farm, Somerset, which will draw about 135,000 people.
The other headline acts at the festival are Mumford and Sons and the Arctic Monkeys.
The Rolling Stones will be performing on the Saturday night – the penultimate night.
Mick Jagger tweeted: “Can’t wait to play Glastonbury. I have my wellies and my yurt!”
The Rolling Stones are to play as one of the three headline acts for the Glastonbury Festival 2013, taking place on the final weekend of June
Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts was not held last year because of the Olympics and to allow the farmland to recover from the previous festival.
Surprises among the 190 acts include country star Kenny Rogers, who is among the figures playing the main Pyramid Stage.
Also appearing on the Pyramid will be Rita Ora, Jake Bugg, Rufus Wainwright and festival veteran Billy Bragg.
Names on the Other Stage include Portishead – almost 20 years after they released their debut album Dummy – along with Smashing Pumpkins, Mercury Prize-winners Alt-J and John Lydon’s band PiL. The XX, The Lumineers, Alabama Shakes and Foals are included on the bill.
Elsewhere on the huge site in Somerset will be performances by 1970s disco pioneers Chic, Tom Tom Club, rap stalwarts Public Enemy, Dinosaur Jr., The Horrors and Johnny Marr.
Glastonbury 2013 is already a sell-out but there will be some resales next month.
It was reported that the Rolling Stones will play a farewell gig at next year’s Glastonbury Festival.
It is believed Mick Jagger, 68, Keith Richards, 68, Ronnie Wood, 65 and Charlie Watts, 71, will all play on the Pyramid stage during the coveted Sunday night headline slot after talks with organizer Michael Eavis.
This will be the first and only time the band perform at the famous Somerset festival which attracts up to 175,000 fans every year.
According to sources it will be the final date in only a handful of shows which will take place in Britain and America in 2013.
The famous rock group were due to tour this year for their 50th anniversary.
The Rolling Stones will play a farewell gig at next year's Glastonbury Festival
However, according to Rolling Stone magazine the anniversary tour was delayed because of Keith Richards’s health and his ability to make it through a full tour.
In April 2006, while on holiday in Fiji, the guitarist suffered a head injury and many fans commented that his performance during Martin Scorsese’s Shine a Light documentary was often inaudible.
It is now believed the band will not do a full world tour as planned and will only do a number of shows across the UK and America.
A source told the Sunday Mirror: “All four members have agreed that next year is the right time to have one final hurrah and put on the gig of their lives.
“It’s a case of now or never, and obviously Glastonbury is the most important festival on the circuit.”
Rumors of the band playing at the festival has often circulated over the years.
Michael Eavis has also previously expressed how The Rolling Stones, Dolly Parton and Led Zeppelin would be his dream bookings.
He was unavailable to comment on whether he had finally been successful in his bid.
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