During the finale of a thrilling two-hour set by Sir Elton John as fireworks exploded above my head, my friend turned to me and declared: “This is the best Glastonbury ever.”
Given we’ve been coming to the festival for 25 years, it was quite a bold statement. And he’d obviously had a few drinks.
But as we shuffled away in the infamous post-Pyramid stage crowd, I thought to myself: he might have a point.
So what marked out 2023 as so special?
There is no doubt the whole weekend was dominated by one man and one man only.
Sir Elton’s headlining slot on Sunday night was billed as his UK swan song and emotional farewell to life on the road.
It felt like everyone was planning their festival experience around that one show with military-like precision.
We were packed in like sardines two and half hours before the 9pm start just to try and get a glimpse of the man himself on stage.
Other more hardy souls took their places at the front barrier in the early hours of the morning.
This sense of fevered anticipation that we were going to witness something special permeated the whole weekend.
And Sir Elton duly delivered with a performance not only filled to the brim with hits, but achingly poignant too, as he reflected on more than 50 years on the road.
Was it better than fellow knight of the realm Sir Paul McCartney’s brilliant set last year?
The consensus on the ground was a unanimous yes.
While Macca played for three hours, Elton’s shorter set ensured the tempo never dropped once. There was no obscure B-side, or meandering detour down memory lane.
Which after a weary few days in an oven-hot field provided welcome relief to the 100,000 fans who relished the chance of good, old sing-a-long.
But of course it wasn’t just Pinner’s most famous son that made the festival one to remember.
Step forward Lana Del Ray whose wonderfully bonkers headline set on The Other Stage was abruptly cut short after organisers pulled the plug because she’d overran her alloted time slot.
Cue pandemonium on behalf of her besotted fans whose tears turned to joy when Lana led a microphone-less, acapella sing-along of Video Games to those on the front row.
Friday night’s headliner Arctic Monkeys had a real swagger too with lead singer Alex Turner’s transition from Sheffield tearaway to charismatic, superstar frontman via LA complete.
But of course it’s not all about the headliners.
The smaller stages were dominated by special performances across Worthy Farm as well.
From the beautiful, gospel-tinged joy of Gabriels to the shirt-ripping, guitar smashing exuberance of post-punks Shame, there was something for everyone.
And I didn’t even mention the weather.
Was 2023 the best? You bet it was.
