American singer Kanye West performs on the Pyramid Stage at the
Glastonbury Festival of Music and Performing Arts on Worthy Farm near
the village of Pilton in Somerset, South West England, on June 27, 2015.
PHOTO | AFP
Kanye West gave a defiant performance at Glastonbury on Saturday
night, challenging critics who said he was unsuitable for the event by
declaring himself the “greatest living rock star”.
The
US rapper delighted many core fans with a 100-minute set on the Pyramid
Stage that included big hits and new material, but did little to win
over those festival-goers who came along out of curiosity.
Wearing
blue denim with a white splattered paint effect, West (pictured) spent
most of the set alone on a bare stage under a ceiling of hundreds of
powerful spot lights, although he took a trip above the stage in a crane
for “Touch the Sky”.
“Thank you all for coming out tonight, thank you for coming to see me,” he said in a rare moment of engagement with the crowd.
West’s
performance opened with “Stronger” and closed with “Gold Digger”, and
included a guest appearance by Justin Vernon of folk band Bon Iver, who
lurked in the shadows on the edge of the stage as the rapper strode
around.
NO ROSKSTAR
At
one point, West sang part of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” — a bold move —
before declaring: “You are watching the greatest living rock star on
the planet!”
The decision to give
West the coveted Saturday night slot caused controversy among fans of
the festival, which is better known for its rock and folk music, and
135,000 people signed a petition to get him dropped.
Emily
Eavis, Glastonbury’s co-organiser and daughter of founder Michael
Eavis, said she had even received death threats over the booking, but
insisted that he was an artist “making the most exciting music at the
moment”. (AFP)
There was certainly
huge support in the crowd for West, who repeatedly went silent to allow
the fans to sing along, and won cheers when he dedicated one song to his
wife Kim Kardashian, who was in the audience.
English comedian Simon Brodkin (L), playing his
character Lee Nelson, is escorted by security after interrupting
American singer Kanye West as he performs on the Pyramid Stage at the
Glastonbury Festival of Music and Performing Arts on Worthy Farm near
the village of Pilton in Somerset, South West England, on June 27, 2015.
PHOTO | AFP
But
the set was at times chaotic. Just minutes in, an audience member,
comedian Lee Nelson, jumped onto stage and had to be removed by
security, while West stopped several songs to restart them.
Joshua, 26, said he was disappointed. “I love all his stuff, but I found him crap tonight,” he told AFP.
“You’ve got to respect the crowd. His ego was outside the Pyramid — he doesn’t understand Glastonbury.”
“I’ve never been in an audience more willing to love a headliner and be so disappointed,” wrote Times columnist Caitlin Moran on Twitter.
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