A set that will go down as the stuff of Glasto legend
This story was originally published on Rolling Stone UK
You’ll often find that the best Glastonbury headliners succeed at Worthy Farm because they realize it’s a gig like no other. Pull out the stops, do something special and you’ll easily enough cement your place in Glasto folklore.
Step forward Olivia Rodrigo, then, who marked her own occasion on the Pyramid by bringing out a bonafide Glastonbury legend in the form of The Cure’s Robert Smith to rip through a joyous “Friday I’m In Love,” before the King of the Goths stuck around for “Just Like Heaven,” too. It was a brilliant moment to watch and by getting a venerable legend like Smith in her corner Rodrigo delivered the ultimate riposte to people who questioned whether the 22-year-old had what it takes for this biggest of gigs.
But if we’re being honest, that ultimate riposte began from the moment Rodrigo arrived on stage and ripped through a thunderous run of “Bad Idea Right?” It was loud, in your face and unforgettable. Here was a pop superstar delivering the best headline set of the weekend and, by some distance, pulling in the biggest crowd too.
It’s easy to forget how many hits she has at such a young age, but it speaks volumes that Rodrigo played “Drivers License” — the song that shot her to global fame in 2021 — just four songs in and yet the show lost no momentum at all. In between songs we learned that Rodrigo is an unabashed Anglophile, which results in the charming moment when M&S confectionary like Colin the Caterpillar and necking pints at midday are listed as some of her favorite things about Britain. The roar she received back firmly suggests that a large deal of the crowd have been following that latter boozy point all day.
Rodrigo first played here in 2022 and stole that show then with the unforgettable moment when she named each judge responsible for overturning Roe v. Wade that very weekend, before performing Lily Allen’s “Fuck You” with the singer. It immediately felt like she was destined for the Pyramid the next time around. This weekend, she grabbed that step up with a set that electrified her die-hard younger fans and, you sense, won over a few older ones too. A superstar at the peak of her powers.
