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MusicRadar's Glastonbury 2013 highlights

By Rob Power
published 1 July 2013

How did this year's festival go down?

MusicRadar's Glastonbury 2013 highlights
We pick our favourite performances of the weekend...
(Image credit: Rune Hellestad/Corbis)

MusicRadar's Glastonbury 2013 highlights

The cows of Worthy Farm are returning to their battered fields, several thousand music fans are shaking off a three-day hangover, and Michael Eavis is proclaiming 2013 to be the best year ever.

It can only mean one thing: Glastonbury is over. But fear not - MusicRadar is on hand to fend off the post-festival blues with our pick of the weekend's finest performances.

Who gave your favourite performance of the festival? Let us know in the comments below...

Page 1 of 14
Page 1 of 14
Arctic Monkeys
Pyramid Stage, Friday
(Image credit: Rune Hellestad/Corbis)

Arctic Monkeys

Super-slick hairdos, Elvis-aping banter and a set packed with the hits made the Arctic Monkeys the perfect Friday night headliner. A string-laden encore and 100,000 people singing happy birthday to Alex Turner's mum was the icing on the cake.

Page 2 of 14
Page 2 of 14
Azealia Banks
Other Stage, Saturday
(Image credit: Rune Hellestad/Corbis)

Azealia Banks

Looking like she'd escaped from one of the weirder corners of the site, Azealia Banks' formidable live show scared all the nice middle class children eating hummus at the Other Stage on Saturday afternoon and added some much-need edge to the bigger stages.

Page 3 of 14
Page 3 of 14
Beady Eye
Other Stage, Friday
(Image credit: Rune Hellestad/Corbis)

Beady Eye

Shaking the festival into life on Friday morning with a surprise set on the Other Stage, Beady Eye's mix of their own material and stone-cold Oasis classics drew an enormous crowd and proved that, if nothing else, Liam Gallagher is still a thoroughbred rock 'n' roll star.

Page 4 of 14
Page 4 of 14
Smashing Pumpkins
Other Stage, Sunday
(Image credit: Rune Hellestad/Corbis)

Smashing Pumpkins

Billy Corgan and co rolled out the hits - plus a David Bowie cover - for a set heavy on nostalgia that no doubt transported much of the crowd back to angst-ridden '90s childhoods. Hooray for that.

Page 5 of 14
Page 5 of 14
Sir Bruce Forsyth
Avalon Stage, Sunday
(Image credit: Rune Hellestad/Corbis)

Sir Bruce Forsyth

The surprise hit of the weekend, Brucie packed the Avalon Stage out with his old-school showmanship and national treasure status. The unintentionally off-key banter was clearly the Brucie Bonus of the afternoon.

Page 6 of 14
Page 6 of 14
Dinosaur Jr
Park Stage, Friday
(Image credit: Rune Hellestad/Corbis)

Dinosaur Jr

Incredibly loud and, quite frankly, incredibly brilliant, J Mascis and co turned everything up to 11 and blasted the Park Stage like it's never been blasted before. We're told that even the cows, hidden in their secret off-site location, were rocking out to this one.

Page 7 of 14
Page 7 of 14
Elvis Costello
Pyramid Stage, Saturday
(Image credit: Rune Hellestad/Corbis)

Elvis Costello

A breathless run through the hits, with the added bonus of some spiky politically-charged songs, tapped into the Glastonbury spirit of old on Saturday afternoon.

Page 8 of 14
Page 8 of 14
Foals
Other Stage, Friday
(Image credit: Rune Hellestad/Corbis)

Foals

A five-headed funk machine descended on the Other Stage on Friday, led by the fearless Yannis Philippakis, who dived into the crowd like a man who'd dropped his wallet. Truly first-rate funkateering.

Page 9 of 14
Page 9 of 14
PIL
Other Stage, Sunday
(Image credit: Rune Hellestad/Corbis)

PIL

Wearing what appeared to be the skin of a fantastical creature and looking like he'd been living on a diet of free butter for a couple of years didn't stop John Lydon and the mighty PIL descending on the Other Stage in all their righteous fury on Sunday.

Page 10 of 14
Page 10 of 14
Kenny Rogers
Pyramid Stage, Saturday
(Image credit: Rune Hellestad/Corbis)

Kenny Rogers

Kenny rolled up to Glastonbury with a pocketful of hits and left a hero. Proof that the Sunday slot for acts of a certain vintage remains an unmissable highlight of the weekend.

Page 11 of 14
Page 11 of 14
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Pyramid Stage, Sunday
(Image credit: Rune Hellestad/Corbis)

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

No one can frighten a front row and have the BBC hammering the 'Apologies if you've been offended by this stream' button quite like Nick Cave. The greatest living Australian stamped his presence all over the Pyramid Stage on Sunday and gave Mumford & Sons the impossible job of following him.

Page 12 of 14
Page 12 of 14
Palma Violets
Park Stage, Friday
(Image credit: Rune Hellestad/Corbis)

Palma Violets

Rough and ready they might be, but few bands were as visibly chuffed to be playing the festival as Palma Violets were on Friday. Enthusiasm and some fine guitar mangling more than made up for their lack of truly excellent tunes.

Page 13 of 14
Page 13 of 14
The Rolling Stones
Pyramid Stage, Saturday
(Image credit: Rune Hellestad/Corbis)

The Rolling Stones

Could the appearance of the Stones ever live up to hype? According to Twitter, definitely not, but if you were to ask the record-breaking crowd that was there to witness Mick and Keef's long-awaiting visit to Worthy Farm, you'd get a different answer.

Page 14 of 14
Page 14 of 14
Rob Power
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