Coldplay’s record return lights up Pyramid at a Glastonbury of melodrama

Chris Martin fronts headliners Coldplay on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury
on Saturday night. Photograph: David Levene/The Observer

“This is our favourite thing to do on earth, so thank you for letting us do it here,” says Chris Martin as Coldplay headline Glastonbury for a record-breaking fifth time. No other band has such a direct line to the festival’s inclusive, idealistic heart. Their speciality is the universal.

Each year’s line-up throws its arms a little wider around the world of music. On Friday afternoon, for example, you could see in quick succession Indonesian heavy metal, Indian disco, Sofia Kourtesis’ dreamy, therapeutic dance music and Headie One’s furious drill.