London-Pop star Adele has conquered the Glastonbury festival with an emotional set, full of generosity and warmth. The crowd in front of the Pyramid Stage stretched as far as the eye could see, as she opened with a note-perfect rendition of Hello. The star changed one of the lyrics to say “I’ve been Glastonbury dreaming”, prompting a huge roar of appreciation. “You look amazing!” she screamed as the song reached its coda, before inviting the audience to sing with her. “Glastonbury means the world to me, I’m not even lying,” she said later. “I’ve always wanted to do this my whole life but I’ve been too scared.” She then found a young girl in the crowd and told her she’d been coming to the festival “since I was your age” and invited her on stage for an impromptu selfie.
In essence, Adele is the world’s most normal megastar - a bawdy best friend, confiding her deepest secrets to an audience of thousands.
Almost every song was punctuated by a quirky revelation about a hopeless ex-boyfriend or the “dirty burger” she had eaten backstage. But the humour did nothing to deaden the emotional impact of her songs. Tears rolled freely as she sang Make You Feel My Love and Hometown Glory - and at least one couple got engaged during the set, the Guardian reported.
The star, who famously suffers from stage fright, said at the end of the 90-minute performance: “I didn’t want to come on and now I don’t want to go off. “I have never been so moved by anything in my life... This is, by far, the best moment of my life so far.”
Her 90-minute, 15-song set was watched by Robbie Williams and James Corden, amongst others.
The rapturous reception was in stark contrast to the star’s last Glastonbury performance in 2007 - when she had yet to release a record. Nine years later, she is Britain’s biggest pop export, selling 19 million copies of her recent album, 25.