Beyonc� easily eclipses fellow headliners U2 and Coldplay
Was this the year Glastonbury's special guest stars eclipsed the headliners? Certainly, Radiohead and a reformed Pulp wouldn't have looked out of place topping the Pyramid stage bill and the security guards who had to protect the Park stage from mobs of stampeding indie fans would probably agree. Without big screens to make up for restricted views, though, Radiohead struggled to make a set drawn largely from their difficult King of Limbs album connect with the crowd. Pulp triumphed from sheer force of personality. Well, that and a load of goodwill ? even those who had decamped right back to the Stone Circle were singing along to the bespectacled speck in the distance.
One woman single-handedly saved the main stage: Beyonc�'s set created fireworks, not just because she had actual fireworks going off every five seconds, but because she dared to detonate her two biggest hits first and didn't let things deflate thereafter. She also made an Alanis Morissette cover seem not entirely like the worst thing in the world.
It was a lesson in big performance to the other two headliners, who performed fine if not career-defining slots. It says something about U2's bombast that they can get an astronaut in to sing backing vocals on "Beautiful Day" and still have people feeling let down by the stage show ? but their set did fall slightly short of expectations and not just because of the drizzle. Coldplay brought a bit more spark but were let down by the fact they were, well, Coldplay. It just didn't seem essential to catch a band who had already headlined the festival twice in the past decade.
Elsewhere, Janelle Mon�e wowed West Holts, Elbow reduced grown men to tears (again), Patrick Wolf apologised for his chaotic 2007 appearance with a charming show and Paul Simon unveiled the hits in a lacklustre manner. On balance, a great year, though nobody will begrudge Glastonbury their break until 2013, when no doubt Prince, Paul McCartney and Madonna will form a supergroup for a secret show in the John Peel tent. Or something.
Best performance Beyonc�.
Best discovery The Glastonbury iPhone app ? personal schedules, reminders and a functioning GPS map? Where have you been all my life?
Overheard 14-year-old-girl to sneery boy in crowd: "Listen! Beyonc� is a fucking goddess!"
Drew Barrymore Marley Shelton Thalía Brooke Burke Thandie Newton
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