20 Top Performances At Glastonbury 2014 – Ranked By NME Readers

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Your votes are in! They’ve been counted, counted again and then compiled into this easy-to-digest list format. Emily Eavis has said that this year’s Glastonbury was the ‘best yet’, and from looking at this list, it’s hard to disagree. So, without further ado, here are the top 20 gigs from Glastonbury 2014 according to NME readers…

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Fat White Family, Williams Green

Fat White Family, Williams Green
Fat White Family come in at last place. Perhaps you were expecting something a bit more riotous from the streamed Williams Green gig? Well, we wager if you’d been at the Snakepit on Sunday at 3am, with frontman Lias bellowing for beer and eyeballs appearing to look in different directions, things would’ve turned out differently.

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Skrillex, The Other Stage

Skrillex, The Other Stage
Skrillex has quickly become famed for just how mental his live shows can get, and he really didn’t fail us on this front this year at Glastonbury. But, alas, it seems that a spaceship tank is not enough to bring you around, with Skrillex being handed 19th place.

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Chance The Rapper, John Peel Stage

Chance The Rapper, John Peel Stage
And coming in at number 18 we have James Blake’s flatmate Chance The Rapper. With a sensational cover of 90s children’s cartoon ‘Arthur’ and a set containing tracks from his ‘Acid Rap’ mixtape, Chance didn’t disappoint. He even gave the crowd a choice between ‘Paranoia’ or ‘Paradise’ to finish on.

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De La Soul, Pyramid Stage

De La Soul, Pyramid Stage
At number 17, we have hip-hop legends De La Soul. They played material from their 25-year career, including their collaboration with Gorillaz, ‘Feel Good Inc’. At one point, the band paused the set until the security guards in the field obliged their request to put their hands in the air.

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MIA, West Holts Stage

MIA, West Holts Stage
Attacking the BBC for ‘censoring’ her show, a glowstick maelstrom and a whole lot of leaping into the crowd – MIA didn’t disappoint. And she seems to have impressed NME readers a fair bit too; you’ve voted her in at 16th place.

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Lily Allen, Pyramid Stage

Lily Allen, Pyramid Stage

Lily Allen, Pyramid Stage
Glastonbury stalwart Lily Allen took her opportunity on the Pyramid Stage to lash out hit out at FIFA president in her delayed Glastonbury performance, describing him as “annoyingly corrupt”. Unfortunately, Lily’s set was delayed by 30 minutes due to the storm, but despite this, she still gets in at a respectable (under the circumstances) 15th place.

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Jungle, John Peel Stage

Jungle, John Peel Stage
The buzziest act on the entire bill at Glastonbury 2014 were Jungle – and they didn’t disappoint. The funky duo gave Glasto revellers the chance to preview tracks from their forthcoming self-titled debut, flanked by a five-piece band. Great stuff.

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James Blake, The Park

James Blake, The Park
Sunday headliner James Blake gently nudges his way past Jungle into 13th place on your list. Delivering a set that was mostly a mellow, chilled-out affair, Blake closed out Glastonbury for a lot of punters weekends with a cover of Bill Withers’ ‘Hope She’ll Be Happier’, followed by ‘Retrograde’.

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Warpaint, The Other Stage

Warpaint, The Other Stage
Next we have Warpaint in at 12th, who delivered a chilled out afternoon set at 3pm on Saturday. Guitarist Theresa Weyman was in animated form, instructing the crowd to “Wave as much as you want, dance as much as you want and sing too. Only as much as you want though, it’s not a race.”

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Dolly Parton, Pyramid Stage

Dolly Parton, Pyramid Stage
Whilst it seems impossible to go anywhere without hearing ‘DOLLY WAS INCREDIBLE’ after her triumph on the Pyramid stage right now, NME readers weren’t completely blown away. Despite pulling in what Emily Eavis described as the ‘biggest crowd ever’ at Glastonbury, Dolly gets in at 11th place.

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Haim, The Other Stage

Haim, The Other Stage
Managing to sneak their set in before the storm hit Somerset, Este Haimacknowledged their apparent luck, saying of the weather, “We thought we’d bring some Cali sunshine to Glastonbury. I tweeted Mother Earth.” Putting out an excellent performance for their second Glastonbury, you’ve put Haim in at 10th.

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Jake Bugg, The Other Stage

Jake Bugg, The Other Stage
With flares popping off all around, mass sing-a-alongs and even a Little Richard cover to boot, the questions over Jake Bugg sitting above Pixies on the Saturday night bill may have been put to rest.

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Lana Del Rey, Pyramid Stage

Lana Del Rey, Pyramid Stage

Lana Del Rey, Pyramid Stage
Netting herself a huge audience for her 4pm slot on the Pyramid, Lana Del Rey launched every single song you could possibly ever want to hear from her. If, during the set, she spotted the flag reading ‘Lasagne Del Rey’, with its picture of a pile or meat with big, red lips, she didn’t mention it. You’ve voted Lana in at 8th.

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Jack White, Pyramid Stage

Jack White, Pyramid Stage
Jack White played White Stripes tracks, swigged champagne, covered Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’ and tumbled over his drums. He was a triumph at Glastonbury this year, and his slot couldn’t have been more perfect. You’ve all recognised this, sending Mr. White in at number 7.

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Elbow, Pyramid Stage

Elbow, Pyramid Stage

Elbow, Pyramid Stage
Elbow brought their trademark warmth and heart to their twilight set on the Pyramid Stage, with singer Guy Garvey effusing about how “beautiful” the crowd looked. Awww, c’mon Guy. You flatter us so. It’s difficult not to have a soft spot for Guy and the boys, isn’t it? Well, judging by this poll, that would be true as you’ve voted Elbow in at a respectable 6th.

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Royal Blood, John Peel Stage

Royal Blood, John Peel Stage
Drawing a crowd so unfathomably massive that they could have filled the John Peel twice over (we’re not even exaggerating), Royal Blood (rightly) find themselves in the top 5. It’s been a monster few months for the duo, and if their set at Glastonbury was anything to go by, things aren’t going to let up any time soon. Just mega.

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Metallica, Pyramid Stage

Metallica, Pyramid Stage
The furore over Metallica’s controversial billing at Glastonbury saw people from Alex Turner to Jarvis Cocker weigh in on their headline suitability. Clearly Glastallica really did have the last laugh: they smashed it and you voted them in at 4th place.

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Arcade Fire, Pyramid Stage

Arcade Fire, Pyramid Stage
With frontman Win Butler describing the group’s fireworks-laden show as one of “the most incredible” of all the “unbelievable” things that have happened to the band in their career, it seems that you (rightly) agree. Arcade Fire clamber atop the podium in third place.

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Pixies, The Other Stage

Pixies, The Other Stage
Despite Jake Bugg getting a higher billing at the Other Stage, it sounds like you’d have rather heard Pixies for more than an hour. From a coruscating ‘Vamos’ to a searing version of ‘Where Is My Mind’, the grunge heroes proved why they still one of the greatest live bands in the world, 30 years later.

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Kasabian, Pyramid Stage

Kasabian, Pyramid Stage
And the winner is… Kasabian! We can’t argue with you there. The Leicester lads proved the were more than worth-eh to headline the farm. From Noel Fielding decked out as Vlad The Impaler to a Gnarls Barkley cover and a pulsating hail of lasers, the troops were on fiy-ah.

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