Skip to main content
MusicRadar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
UK EditionUK US EditionUS AU EditionAustralia SG EditionSingapore
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Artist news
  • Superbooth 2026
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Controllers
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Guitar Amps
  • Music Gear Reviews
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About us
More
  • Superbooth 2026
  • Kate Bush Army Dreamers
  • 95k+ free music samples
  • Theory of Feels
  1. Artists
  2. Gigs & Festivals

MusicRadar's Glastonbury 2013 highlights

News
By Rob Power published 1 July 2013

How did this year's festival go down?

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

MusicRadar's Glastonbury 2013 highlights

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...

  • How to watch Glastonbury 2023 wherever you are
Page 1 of 14
Page 1 of 14
Arctic Monkeys

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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
Read more
INDIO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 17: (FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY) (NOT TO BE LICENSED FOR ANY STANDALONE OR SPECIAL INTEREST BOOK PUBLISHING USE CONCERNING THE COACHELLA MUSIC FESTIVAL AND/OR STAGECOACH MUSIC FESTIVAL) Madonna (R) performs with Sabrina Carpenter at the Coachella Stage during the 2026 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at Empire Polo Club on April 17, 2026 in Indio, California.  (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Coachella)
Artists Sabrina Carpenter sings Like A Prayer with Madonna at Coachella, as cameos abound at Weekend 2
 
 
Sombr and Billy Corgan at the 2026 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival - Weekend 1 - Day 2 on April 11, 2026 in Indio, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty Images)
Artists Billy Corgan suffers mic malfunction as he makes his first ever appearance at Coachella alongside Sombr
 
 
Human brain listens to yellow headphones isolated view on blue background 3d render image
Bands It's MusicRadar's Quiz of the Week #2!
 
 
Human brain listens to yellow headphones isolated view on blue background 3d render image
Bands It's MusicRadar's Quiz of the Week #3!
 
 
Sabrina Carpenter and Justin Bieber
Gigs & Festivals Bieber vs Carpenter: Fans are comparing and contrasting the two Coachella headliners
 
 
An empty gig venue
Bands It's MusicRadar's Quiz of the Week!
 
 
Latest in Gigs & Festivals
Olivia Dean
Artists Olivia Dean sings the praises of the affordable vocal mic that’s still going strong after 60 years
 
 
VIENNA, AUSTRIA - MAY 14: Look Mum No Computer representing United Kingdom performs during the third dress rehearsal for the semi-final 2 of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest at Wiener Stadthalle on May 14, 2026 in Vienna, Austria. (Photo by Christian Bruna/Getty Images)
Artists Look Mum No Computer reveals his self-built Eurovision “mega-synthesizer” and says 'nil points' is OK
 
 
Finnish singers Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen, representing Finland with the song 'Liekinheitin', perform during the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 (ESC) at Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria on May 12, 2026.
Artists Eurovision Song Contest boss explains why Finland’s violinist is playing live, while others are miming
 
 
Billie Eilish attends a game between the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodger
Singers & Songwriters “My generation, we love to film stuff”: Billie Eilish doesn’t have a problem with phones at gigs
 
 
Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan
Artists Paul McCartney suggests that Bob Dylan could think a little more about his audience at his shows
 
 
Getty Images
Gigs & Festivals The precarious state of Britain's small venues in focus
 
 
Latest in News
[L-R] Khemmis' Phil Pendergast and Ben Hutcherson [inset] A Behringer Super Fuzz
Artists Khemmis just made one of the heavy metal records of the year using a $28 plastic fuzz pedal
 
 
Sir Robin Millar CBE, 2024
Producers & Engineers “Inclusion is not charity”: Blind producer takes action against firm he co-founded
 
 
Emily Green, Cameron Winter and Dominic DiGesu of Geese at Brooklyn Paramount on November 21, 2025 in New York, New York. (Photo by Griffin Lotz/Rolling Stone via Getty Images)
Artists Geese’s record label dismisses the suggestion that their success was contrived amid 'psyop' drama
 
 
behringer
Tech Behringer "leak" reveals 14 unreleased products, including E-mu SP-1200, Yamaha CS-80, EMS VCS 3 and Korg Mini-Pops 7 clones
 
 
R&B musician Stevie Wonder in the recording studio circa 1972.  (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Artists Stevie Wonder’s '70s synth guru Robert Margouleff on the moment he knew their partnership was over
 
 
Gretsch Jim Dandy Parlor Ltd in Vintage White
Guitars Gretsch just released the most vibey acoustic guitar of the year and it’s only $249
 
 

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...