Stormzy hailed his huge Glastonbury set this evening (June 24) as the most “iconic” of his career to date – and decided to mark the occasion by attempting to orchestrate the biggest mosh pit in the festival’s history.
The Croydon MC made a powerful statement of intent with his high-profile slot on The Other Stage, where he took to the stage just after 8:30pm.
"For those that don't know, I go by the name of Stormzy"@Stormzy1 at #Glastonbury2017
Watch ? https://t.co/KXW6yunozm pic.twitter.com/jSPwulQj5i
— BBC Sounds (@BBCSounds) June 24, 2017
Stormzy bounced across the stage throughout his hour-long performance with a setlist that was heavily packed with tracks from his debut studio album ‘Gang Signs & Prayer’, as well as his breakthrough singles ‘Wicked Skengman Pt. 4’ and set closer ‘Shut Up’.
“You don’t even understand,” Stormzy told the crowd at the start of the show. “I was on the Sonic Stage last year playing to 300/400 people, and to come out today and see thousands and thousands of you… It means so much.
“I do something called grime for those of you who don’t know,” he continued. “But this is Glastonbury, and this is the biggest crowd I’ve seen for a very long time.”
As well as a rare performance of ‘Cigarettes & Kush’, Stormzy also played ‘100 Bags’ in tribute to his mother, who the MC said would be so “confused by the sight of 20-30,000 people watching her son. I want to do this song for her.”
Stormzy also took time out from his set to honour the victims of the recent Grenfell Tower fire, while also slamming the UK government and local London authorities for their response to the disaster. He also joined in with the crowd after they started to sing ‘Oh, Jeremy Corbyn’ in response to his speech.
Before the performance of his penultimate track ‘Know Me From’, the MC hailed the occasion as the most “iconic” show of his career to date. He then attempted to orchestrate Glastonbury’s biggest-ever mosh pit – see footage of the resulting mosh below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVvE0AphYHZ/?tagged=stormzy
alt-J will headline The Other Stage later tonight, with the three-piece set to take to the stage at 10:30pm.
Stay tuned to NME.com for the latest news, reviews and more from across Glastonbury 2017 this weekend.