Glastonbury 2015: The hits and misses from Alabama Shakes to Motörhead

Outstanding Ibeyi, shouty Young Fathers, and lacklustre Libertines

Emily Jupp
Monday 29 June 2015 21:37 BST
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Alabama Shakes (AFP/Getty)
Alabama Shakes (AFP/Getty)

HITS

Alabama Shakes

The always understated Brittany Howard started Alabama Shakes's rained-on set by apologising for the weather, before launching into an all-out performance that saw her sweating, crying and screaming. With a mix of material from the band's two albums, Sound + Colour and Boys + Girls, she held the biggest hits till last with a stirring rendition of "Don't Wanna Fight no More". Her facial and vocal contortions had the crowd in raptures and couldn't dampen their spirits, despite the downpour.

Everything Everything

Everything Everything greeted an apathetic crowd of afternoon revellers with a mix of hits from their first and second albums. "Rumours" and "No Reptiles" were performed with sweaty panache, lead singer Jeremy Pritchard spitting the line: "like a fat child in a pushchair old enough to run/ old enough to fire a gun". They also introduced brand-new material.

Ibeyi

Twin sisters Ibeyi did an outstanding set at the Park. Their final a cappella, R&B-infused song "River" was beautiful in its simplicity.

Run the Jewels

Thick clouds of smoke rose above the crowd as the sun came out to welcome the duo who are an antidote to, in their words, the "stupidity, violence and arrogance" of other rappers. Their humbleness was certainly refreshing.

FKA Twigs

The ex-backing dancer who is reportedly engaged to Twilight star Robert Pattinson did several performances during the weekend, showing off her ethereal voice. But the most exciting thing was her sensual, mesmerising dancing. Accompanied by a troupe of male dancers dressed in silver and gold, the show had the feel of a Matthew Bourne-choreographed performance.

Motorhead (Getty)

MISSES

Young Fathers

The hotly tipped rappers gave an energetic performance but shouty songs about "money money cash gold" didn't sit well with the hungover crowd lazing on the dried mud at the Other stage.

Adam Cohen

Through no fault of his own, Leonard Cohen's son's soulful set was mired by the lack of any discernible audience.

Rae Morris

Rae Morris has been having a good year, and she attracted a big crowd to her Sunday lunchtime slot at the Park, but her set fell strangely flat. She kept the crowd mildly amused with hits such as "Closer" and "Don't Go". The highlight was "Under The Shadows", which got the biggest response.

Motörhead

After a downpour, the old rockers tried hard, almost begging the crowd to get involved, but aside from the mosh few did. The boggy Pyramid field was unusually quiet, with many taking the chance to change their wet clothes back at their tents.

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The Libertines

After days of speculation, The Libertines filled the blank space on the schedule on Friday night, but only a handful of hardcore fans were impressed by their lacklustre set of flat new music and reheated old hits.

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