Our man in a discipline experiences again on his 5 highlights from this yr’s competition at Worthy Farm…

Arctic Monkeys
Baffling the TV viewers by opening with imposing The Automobile lower “Sculptures Of Something Goes”, Alex Turner and the Arctic Monkeys delivered a suave, low-lit and quasi-theatrical Friday night time headline set that struck an engrossing steadiness between youthful urgency, beastly/sultry desert rock, grotesque carnival tones and post-modern lounge crooning.

The Pretenders
“Oh Glastonbury, what number of recollections?” sighed Chrissie Hynde from the Park Stage on Saturday night, then set about making a couple of extra. After a gap half hour of brash new wave, she launched Johnny Marr so as to add his trademark gossamer licks to “Again On The Chain Gang”, Dave Grohl to drum on “Tattooed Love Boys” and Paul McCartney to wave on the finish.

Tinariwen
“Welcome to the Sahara,” says Alhousseini ag Abdoulah, referencing each music and mercury. Forward of The Pretenders, the Park Stage was lulled right into a bliss state by the Malian desert blues of Tinariwen, merging japanese textures, North African rhythms and western psych and funk rock right into a hypnotic, free-flowing hour. No Dave Grohl although, surprisingly.

Gwenno
In a flowing black frock, Gwenno draped her haunting and spacious atmospheres throughout Sunday afternoon tackling subjects, in Cornish and Welsh, each whimsical (‘Hello a Skoellyas Liv a Dhagrow was about “a land that point forgot”) and technological (‘Jynn-amontya’ involved “AI and the battle for it to not neglect human beings”). The leylines sang alongside.

Elton John
What “is perhaps” the final UK present from one in every of its best showmen might solely go a method – a cornucopia of hits from a gap “Pinball Wizard” to a closing “Rocket Man…”, dotted with particular visitor spots together with Gabriels’ Jacob Lusk (“Are You Prepared For Love”), Brandon Flowers (“Tiny Dancer”) and Rina Sawayama (“Don’t Go Breaking My Coronary heart”). A celestial farewell.