Coldplay's record-breaking Glastonbury headline set was brilliant and weird at the same time

Coldplay's status as Glastonbury's band has become almost a joke since they debuted at Worthy Farm in 2002. This year, they became the first acts to top the bill here five times, and they bring a Saturday night show that's mesmerizing at its finest. of, but often at the same time scratches the head.

Playing to what will no doubt be by far the biggest crowd of the weekend, the band launch straight into a stunning first 45 minutes that reminds everyone why they are the only band to have headlined here so many times. “Yellow” runs right into “Adventure of a Lifetime” and we go through “The Scientist”, “Paradise” and “Clocks” before the sun goes down. For those at the top of the massive Pyramid field, the crowd's illuminated wristbands remain a mesmerizing sight despite being a staple of Coldplay's live show for a decade.

Then things get a little over-the-top in a drawn-out middle section of the set filled with special guests. The songs – mostly album tracks – are brilliantly performed by an arsenal of collaborators, but given that many thousands of the surprisingly large crowd are in a different zip code to Chris Martin, it seemed remiss of him not to introduce Little Simz, Laura Mvula , Victoria Canal, Femi Kuti and Palestinian/Chilean singer Elyanna to name a few.

As the set stretches on, Martin increasingly walks a line between charmingly earnest and overly sentimental. Glastonbury is “the most important engine room in the world,” he says, later urging the crowd to send love around the world to Palestine, Israel, the “peaceful Russians” and beyond, mirroring the sunrise conversations at Stone Circle all weekend.

Kicking off “A Sky Full of Stars” again for a second run, he commands the crowd to put down their devices, belting out a rap dad at the wedding. “Your phones in your pocket and your hands in the sky / That's how we're gonna make the whole world fly.” he repeats, though the squeal is immediately replaced by a wide mouth when fireworks rain down at the song's powerful climax. Often throughout the set, you feel bewildered, then moved, then in awe within a single song.

That fine line between profundity and awkwardness is also noted in the band's “Jumbotron Song,” where Martin pans the cameras to members of the crowd and improvises a few lines for them. “Pineapple on his head” sings about a man in a fruity hat. “I don't care if it's all yellow.” The camera then pans to Michael Eavis – “The world's greatest farmer ever to win a knighthood wearing shorts” – and then, remarkably, Back to the Future star Michael J. Fox, who joins the band to play guitar on “Fix You.”

While “Fix You” is the amazingly emotional pinnacle of the set, Coldplay then decide to wrap up with brand new song “feelslikeimfallinginlove” as hordes of fans head towards the exits and into the night. It features a show that is world-class at its best, but often falls short of its potential.

This story was originally published on Rolling Stone UK.