FIRST NIGHT

Pop review: Glastonbury at Worthy Farm, Somerset

Radiohead manage to play it cool on a hot night
Some of the 180,000 festivalgoers showed off their creative talents as the event got under way
Some of the 180,000 festivalgoers showed off their creative talents as the event got under way
SHIRLAINE FORREST/GETTY IMAGES

★★★★☆
After the challenge of last year’s Glastonbury — the shock of Brexit plus superglue-style mud does not make for the most relaxing festival weekend — this year’s affair had to be an improvement. It was.

Determination to have a good time can go a long way, and 180,000 people descended on Worthy Farm to create the world’s strangest pop-up city. And there was no rain to dampen the mood either.

Radiohead appeared aloof, but there were a couple of masterpieces
Radiohead appeared aloof, but there were a couple of masterpieces
JAMES GOURLEY/REX FEATURES

This should have been Radiohead’s Glastonbury. In the event it was an oddly alienating set. Climbing Up the Walls brought some of that pained emotion Radiohead do so well, but too much of the earlier part of the set wandered into abstraction. Beginning with Lucky, two vast oval screens showed close-ups of the