That's everything for tonight
Thanks for joining us for an epic Friday that brought two of the biggest crowds the festival has ever seen – Foo Fighters filling the Pyramid and Fred Again the Other stage – as well as a ton of other gems from Star Feminine Band right through to Warpaint and Wizkid. Tomorrow’s coverage will cover sets from Lana Del Rey to Lizzo, Central Cee to Mel C – and of course a headline set from Guns N’ Roses. See you for more liveblog shenanigans from noon on Saturday!
Kelis review
The bizarre start of Kelis’s set turns out to be one of the most reliable things about it. She plays a series of anonymous house bangers that could be made by anyone: you’re left wondering where one of the most vituperative pop stars of this century is among the bland empowerment of songs such as Brave, when surely the visceral bloodletting of songs such as Caught Out Here are far more real, and affirming for anyone in the throes of sadness and/or revenge.
When she finally starts playing Caught Out Here, three tracks in, followed by others from her brilliantly wild early-2000s heyday, its spikiness is a true tonic. And yet she cuts off her peak-period songs at the knees by playing them in a monstrously frustrating series of medleys. Just as the itchy brilliance of Millionaire gets going, it’s over; same too for Good Stuff, a welcome blast of filth, and Got Your Money. She plays them in such a rush that it seems more as though she’s scratching for time, not a main stage headliner. And yet far more boring recent songs get a full airing (also: no Jerk Ribs). Trick Me is the rare exception, its reggae undertones amplified and made brilliant by her live band, who fluctuate in and out of use, and it is heard, thank god, in full.
The end of the set is pure chaos. There’s a flash of Riton’s Rinse & Repeat, then a rendition of Milkshake over Wu-Tang Clan’s Gravel Pit, then a bit of Smells Like Teen Spirit that swiftly undergoes a donk remix. One man near me yells “I just don’t understand what’s going on”, another in a separate group exclaims: “I just can’t explain it!” It’s a truly unpredictable set, and not in a pleasurable way. When she winds up back in the tedious house territory where she started, it feels unfortunately like relief.
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