Festival officials were forced to close off entry to Maximo Park‘s Glastonbury-opening gig today (June 25), because so many people turned up to see the band.
Originally due to play on the Queen’s Head stage in Worthy Farm at 4pm (BST), the band eventually took to the stage at 4:20pm, after Glastonbury officials had closed off entry to the arena.
Thousands of punters were forced to listen to the band 600m away after stage organiser Melvin Benn ordered security to build a series of barriers to stop congestion.
Maximo Park geed the crowd up even more by playing a set chosen entirely by their fans (who had voted for the setlist via the group’s official website earlier this week).
Kicking off with rare B-side ‘A19’, frontman Paul Smith, wearing a light blue suit topped off by his customary hat, instructed the crowd that this was a “special gig”.
Tracks that went down particularly well with the massive crowd included ‘The Kids Are Sick Again’ and ‘Graffiti’, which saw the singer execute a number of scissor kicks.
“What an atmosphere!” Smith noted before playing B-side ‘History Books’, which he dedicated to Australian indie legends The Go-Betweens.
During the set, some fans managed to annoy security by climbing the tent’s rigging and jumping off into the pit, much to the delight of the band.
Crowd favourite ‘Apply Some Pressure’ provoked a mass singalong, while set closer ‘Our Velocity’ saw several onlookers crowdsurf.
Speaking to NME.COM after the band’s set, keyboardist Lukas Wooller said: “That was amazing! We managed to bring Glastonbury to a standstill! I can’t believe how many people showed up.”
Maximo Park played:
‘A19’
‘By The Monument’
‘The Kids Are Sick Again’
‘Limassol’
‘Graffiti’
‘History Books’
‘Books From Boxes’
‘Overland’
‘Apply Some Pressure’
‘Going Missing’
‘Our Velocity’
Watch our interview with Maximo Park at Glastonbury 2009:
NME.COM is coming live from Glastonbury throughout the 2009 festival. Stay tuned for the latest news, pictures, blogs and video interviews.
Head to our NME Festivals section for the latest Glastonbury picture gallery, and check out the NME Festivals Glastonbury blog for dispatches straight from Worthy Farm. For all of our coverage go to the Glastonbury 2009 homepage now.
Plus make sure you get next week’s issue of NME, on UK newsstands from July 1, for the ultimate Glastonbury 2009 review.