Glastonbury festival 2014: Metallica wow the Pyramid Stage crowd with raucous set of hits

 
Heavy duty: James Hetfield of Metallica performing on the Pyramid Stage (PA)
Gareth Vipers1 July 2014

Heavy metal legends Metallica wowed the Glastonbury crowds last night with a raucous greatest hits set that will surely have had naysayers eating their words.

Bounding on to the Pyramid Stage last night to hard-rock anthem Creeping Death the U.S. four-piece treated a somewhat sceptical crowd to a two hour performance, complete with beach balls and pyrotechnics.

Festival organisers have been heavily criticised for booking the L.A. rockers, with some commentators suggesting that heavier acts had no place at a mainstream music festival.

One notable critic, Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, recently took to Twitter to describe Metallica as “a bit abrasive,” and animal rights activists even launched a petition to ban the band from performing due to frontman James Hetfield’s associations with bear-hunting.

The same controversy circulated when Jay-Z was announced as headliner back in 2008, but the decision was soon vindicated when the New York rapper charmed an adoring crowd, winning rave reviews.

Glastonbury 2014 - in pictures

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Just like back in 2010 all gripes were washed away with the Somerset mud last night as tens of thousands of Glastonbury-goers packed in to see this year’s most talked about performers.

Rallying through hits including Enter Sandman, One, Nothing Else Matters and Master of Puppets, the band looked on fine form, allaying any fears that Glastonbury Festival remains a closed shop when it comes to alternative acts.

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