As another record-breaking and world-beating Glastonbury Festival takes its 2023 bow, the standard procedure of the aftermath has seen the Pyramid Stage and its headliners taking most of the plaudits. But, if you know that this is the world’s biggest festival, with 62 stages, you know there’s a lot more to the story than just Elton John, The Arctic Monkeys and Guns N’ Roses. Glastonbury also offers a dazzling array of the best alternative music. While a lot of the full sets are still available online, particularly on BBC iPlayer and highlights on the BBC Music YouTube channel, here is a handy Headliner guide to some of 2023’s best acts that might just have flown under your radar. All non-headliners and all across the other stages. And if you want to read our roundup of this year's bill-toppers, just click here.
Carly Rae Jepsen
The fact that Canadian popstar Carly Rae Jepsen is even on this ‘under the radar’ list speaks volumes about her fascinating career. On at the criminally early time of 3.45 pm on Friday, the first day of music at the festival, a huge crowd came to see her get The Other Stage rocking. It’s difficult to tell what ratio of the crowd were diehard Jepsies versus people who came to see ‘the Call Me Maybe girl’, but the latter will have been left spellbound by the sheer quality of her songs she pivoted into writing following the gargantuan chart-topping success of said 2012 hit.
Predictably, Call Me Maybe does inspire the biggest singalong moment of her set about halfway in, but the likes of Runaway With Me and The Loneliest Time (the recording of which features Rufus Wainwright) still saw fans in the know belting out the lyrics. Bends and Western Wind show Jepsen has a wonderful indie-pop streak to her. Meanwhile, closer Cut To The Feeling, ending the set on the most wonderful high, shows what a vital and earnest popstar she is. One of the very best non-Pyramid sets you will find online.
Weyes Blood
From Doylestown, Pennsylvania, all the way to the upper reaches of Worthy Farm on the Park Stage, there is such an elegance to Weyes Blood’s performance, as she appeared cloaked in white. The organs, acoustic guitars, synths, and her soaring vocals made this among the most stunningly ethereal moments at the festival.
She also has a lovely sense of humour about her music, knowingly joking that she’s bringing her “party music, even though it’s Sunday.” She also suggests the audience take their party drugs there and then before the set reaches its party peak, which then continues to be one of the most relaxingly paced of the weekend. Songs like Twin Flame and God, Turn Me Into A Flower are absolutely worth a watch.
Krept & Konan
Glastonbury usually has at least one standout UK rap moment, whether it be Stormzy’s headline set, Skepta working his way through the stages up to the Pyramid Stage, or Dave bringing onto the stage a superfan who would forevermore be known as ‘Alex from Glasto’, this year it was Krept & Konan who offered the best of Britain’s homegrown lyricists.
The Gipsy Hill, South London duo keep demanding more energy from their Other Stage crowd and receive it in increasing abundance. Appearing on stage to their hit Don’t Waste My Time to get things suitably warmed up, they then created one of those unforgettable Glastonbury crowd moments when they had the entire mass of bodies hopping in one direction and then the other along to recent single Dat Way.
CHVRCHES
The Glaswegian CHVRCHES, no strangers to Glastonbury, brought their Scots synth-pop to the Other Stage for a fist-pumping, rousing good time. They first appeared here in 2014, and while there was no questioning Lauren Mayberry’s vocal ability, it was a slightly reserved showing from the frontwoman. Fast forward to 2023, and she totally owns the huge stage, constantly spinning around everywhere without enducing motion sickness, and ensuring there’s plenty of audience participation.
If one complaint has to be levied, it’s that Robert Smith of The Cure (who headlined in 2019) doesn’t appear for the song he featured on, How Not To Drown. But Mayberry more than makes up for it as she assuredly performs his part. Final Girl needs to be restarted after a slight wardrobe malfunction, but Mayberry rides it out with wonderful humour. Bury It and Never Say Die are absolute corkers. Surely a pyramid-shaped upgrade will come their way eventually?
Caroline Polachek
If Carly Rae Jepsen provides a masterclass in premium pop songwriting that still has huge appeal, New Yorker Caroline Polachek offers something similar yet different. Because while her choruses are huge, anthemic, and rival anything in the mainstream charts, she somehow combines this with huge eccentricity, seemingly inhuman effects from her voice and a Bowie-esque otherworldliness.
Take opener Welcome To My Island, for example, announcing her arrival to the Woodsies Stage with her wailing off stage, with some staggering jumps to high-pitched falsetto. It sounds like she is using auto-tune, but it’s just the fact Polachek has mastered her lungs and voice and can produce some crazy effects without studio assistance. How we get from this to one of the catchiest choruses of the year is anyone’s guess, but there is no more welcome place for it than Glastonbury.
Sudan Archives
Violin, electronica, hip-hop, an outfit seemingly made out of belts, this really is one of the most alternative sets of the weekend, as this Ohio-born artist effortlessly blends more genres than you can name in her West Holts stage appearance. Name us one other artist on the lineup who went from an Irish jig on the violin, then straight into savage beats and bars without it sounding dreadful.
Måneskin
Don’t let the fact this Italian quartet won Eurovision in 2021 fool you, this is one of the purest rock and roll sets performed at this year’s festival. Guitar solos aplenty, amazing bass riffing and accompanying air guitar from lead singer, Damiano David, who knows his audience well and keeps a seductive air throughout. An absolute riot.
Jazz at the festival
No competition really, the absolute best jazz to check out from this Glasto-just-gone is undoubtedly The Comet Is Coming and Ezra Collective. The former made it proudly experimental and in your face, blending jazz with rock, prog and elements of psychedelia. King Shabaka, who also plays in The Sons of Kemet, toots his saxophone with almost demonic fury.
Ezra Collective are also fiercely contemporary, but with a slightly more relaxed vibe over on West Holts. However, they all rip through their deeply impressive solos, and the sounds from the keys ensure this is no throwback music. Songs like Quest For Coin may be instrumental, but still, provide some of the biggest ear-worm moments of the fest.
If you’ve already completed the several hours of Pyramid Stage headline sets, your homework has been set. Get stuck into the incredible performances above that show off the incredible variety and talent that pours down to Somerset in June.
Ahead of this year’s Glastonbury Festival, Headliner spoke to BBC presenters Huw Stephens, Jack Saunders, and Sarah Story about their Worthy Farm experiences and how they bring the event to the masses via the BBC.