Fans flock to Lorde's secret set at Glastonbury

BBC News

5 days ago

Update:
Date: 12:14 BST
Title: Meet Glasto's most-resourceful: 'Luke and the Coneheads'
Content: Katie RazzallCulture editor
I think I have found the most resourceful festival-goers.
Among the crowd at Lorde, "Luke and the Coneheads", as they introduced themselves.
Luke is the decorated ironing board, named after a friend who couldn't make it.
Laura Chambers (sporting the traffic cone hat) and her friends from Buckinghamshire are Glastonbury stalwarts.
Laura told me the ironing board is "essential, it's key to the group, you can put your drinks on it".
As for the cone head? "You can find your friends in a crowd… because you lose everyone but when you have the cone on, you can find everyone."
Hats off to them (except it's too hot to do that).
Update:
Date: 12:07 BST
Title: We're already being treated to a raft of surprise guests
Content: Colin PatersonEntertainment correspondent, reporting from Glastonbury
Surprise guest names are everywhere this morning.
Over at the Greenpeace stage, Benedict Cumberbatch is putting on the first Letters Live at Glastonbury, the show where celebrities read out letters, both meaningful and humorous.
So far actors Andrew Scott, James Norton, Bella Ramsey and Simon Pegg (with Rik Mayall's letter to Bob Geldof after he was turned away from the recording of Live Aid) have all been on.
The jazz drifting in from another near by stage adds a surreal element to proceedings.
Update:
Date: 11:54 BST
Title: What's the forecast for Glastonbury today?
Content: After some rain last night, Glasto-goers will enjoy warmer weather and lots of sunshine on the first official day of the festival.
Here's the forecast from Matt Taylor:
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Update:
Date: 11:49 BST
Title: Lorde emerges to strobes and synths for secret set
Content: Mark SavageBBC Music correspondent, reporting from Glastonbury
There's an almighty roar as Lorde takes the stage, proving all the rumours true.
She emerges to strobe lights and a disorientating synth drone, before launching into Hammer, a single from her freshly-minted album, Virgin.
The tent is over-spilling and sweaty.
Glastonbury has just closed access to the Woodsies field.
You can watch Lorde's performance live by hitting the watch live button above.
Update:
Date: 11:48 BST
Title: What else is happening on Friday?
Content: Aside from the big names on the Pyramid Stage, there's plenty of other acts to see across the festival on Friday.
Here's a quick run-through the highlights:
Whatever you choose, one thing is clear: you're spoiled for choice.
Update:
Date: 11:48 BST
Title: Coming up on the Pyramid Stage
Content: The 1975 are headlining the Pyramid Stage tonight - their first live performance since Matty Healy announced they'd go on an indefinite hiatus after their last tour ended in 2024
Update:
Date: 11:48 BST
Title: Three things I've learned from my 11 years at Glastonbury
Content: Mark SavageBBC Music correspondent, reporting from Glastonbury
The first time I went to Glastonbury, it was 2003, and I lost my fiancée in the crowd watching Radiohead's headline set. That night, someone relieved themselves on our tent as we slept. It wasn't an auspicious introduction.
But there's something about it that keeps me coming back. Everywhere you turn, someone's having the best night of their year. They might be falling in love, they might be witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime performance (Dolly Parton for me), or they might be relieving themselves on a stranger's tent.
However you get your kicks, I guess.
This year will be my 11th Glastonbury as a journalist, and I've learned a few essential secrets.
Firstly, the festival runs on Haribo. Seriously, there are bags everywhere. When it gets hot, they melt into one giant mecha-Haribo.
Secondly, bands are way more relaxed doing interviews backstage than in their record company office or a TV studio. Liam Gallagher, a notoriously spiky conversationalist, once told me he liked my t-shirt on live television. Beat that, Graham Norton.
Thirdly, there is no festival like it. I know, I know. You hear that so much it become meaningless. But honestly, there's a sense of humanity and kinship that sets it apart from the corporate blandness of the rest of the festival scene.
I think it's because the whole event is a family affair. So many of the stages are run by generations of the same family that there's an intimacy and sense of humour that would be impossible to manufacture.
Case in point: When Hurts played the John Peel Tent in 2011, they asked for 'two dozen pictures of models' on their dressing room wall. The team dutifully got the stage crew – all hairy men of a certain age - to strip off their t-shirts and pose for a series of black and white photos. The band's reaction is sadly unrecorded.
Update:
Date: 11:47 BST
Title: The stage is set for Glastonbury 2025
Content: The gates are open, the tents have been pitched, outfits donned and acts poised to perform...
Glastonbury 2025 is a-go.
As the action builds at Worthy Farm, approximately 200,000 festival-goers are bracing themselves for a jam packed weekend.
Though some people have spent two nights camping under the Somerset skies already, the official line-up of acts begins today with The 1975, Biffy Clyro, Alanis Morrisette and CMAT set to grace the Pyramid Stage.
But Glastonbury is much more than just the Pyramid Stage - with more than 100 stages hosting talent from across the music landscape, there really is something for everyone.
You can watch the acts live from the comfort of your home - no long walks between stages or battles to bag a good spot at the stage.
We'll have five streams running, broadcasting all the action on the different stages. Just head to the Watch & Listen tab at top of this page to follow along.