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 West was the polarizing figure of Europe's biggest
green-field festival, and the announcement of his appearance
prompted thousands to sign a petition against the choice of a
rap act for the top billing.
The multi-talented West, who is married to reality TV star Kim
Kardashian, proved the doubters wrong by attracting a large
audience who knew the words to many of his tracks.
He opened his set with "Stronger", performed under a low
lighting rig that compounded the intensity of his rapping.
Later "Touch the Sky" was abandoned a few bars in, only to
restart with West high above the stage in a breathtaking moment
of theater.
West, whose ego is as well known as his songs, did not launch
into any monologues, a feature of some performances, but he did
proclaim: "You are now watching the greatest living rock star on
the planet".
Kieran Brooks, 21, agreed, saying the performance was
"absolutely incredible", although he added that West pitched the
show at existing fans.
Pharrell Williams earlier in the evening had a huge crowd
dancing and jumping to hits "Blurred Lines" and "Get Lucky".
A group of young children joined the U.S. singer and producer on
stage for "Happy", his huge seller of last year. "Make some
noise for the English future on stage," he said.
British singer-songwriter George Ezra and Burt Bacharach, a pop
legend almost four times his age, delighted afternoon audiences
at the dairy farm in southwest England.
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Ezra's sun-drenched set included hits "Budapest", which he premiered
on a smaller set at the festival two years ago, "Blame It On Me",
and a cover of Macy Gray's "I Try".
"His voice melts my heart," 24-year-old fan Holly Harvey said after
his performance on the Pyramid Stage. The 22-year-old may hail from
the English county town of Hertford but his bass-baritone comes from
somewhere in the Deep South.
Bacharach initially left the vocals to his singers for a medley of
songs that sound-tracked the sixties and seventies, from "I Say a
Little Prayer" to "Trains and Boats and Planes" and "I'll Never Fall
in Love Again".
The 87-year-old songwriter took to the mic later in his set, before
leading the crowd in a mass singalong of "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on
my Head" as, right on cue, light drizzle started.
The rain interrupted a day of sunshine. The warm weather dried up
most of the mud on the site caused by heavy downpours - a perennial
feature of the event - on Friday.
(Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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