5 months ago 05th Jul 08:15
He may have 99 problems, but headlining Glastonbury ain't one. Jay-Z delivered a storming set to silence his critics at Glastonbury this year. Mouthy English rocker Noel Gallagher would have been lost for words as Jay-Z took to the stage, guitar slung over his shoulder, and launched into a version of Oasis song 'Wonderwall'. It was a cheeky nod to Noel, but quickly gave way to '99 Problems' and a set packed with classics spanning the rapper's 15-year ascent to hip-hop royalty. The mud splattered crowd got 'Big Pimpin', 'Girls, Girls, Girls', 'Hard Knock Life' and everything. The near universal verdict was that Jigga - as Jay-Z is known - was the greatest triumph of the weekend.
Jay-Z's decision to perform was a big risk, not just to organisers, but for Jay-Z's ego. Rappers and UK music festivals don't usually go hand in hand. The Reading and Leeds festivals can be particularly tough, with Jay-Z pulling out of a set in 2003 and 50 Cent being bottled off stage when he performed in 2005. Then, just two weeks previous to Glastonbury 2008, UK rapper Lethal Bizzle was met with a torrent of abuse and bottles during his set at the Download rock festival.
Radio One DJ Tim Westwood was with Jay-Z ahead of his Saturday night performance and says there was a definite tension in the air. Westwood said: "His frame of mind was like a boxer's, before he stepped out into the ring. I've been in dressing rooms before title fights, and Jay was like a boxer with that glint in his eye. He was focused and relaxed, he was confident and his swagger juice was dripping."
Saturday - the middle day in the three-day festival - was certainly the night which provided the most controversy. Just before Jay-Z took to the stage, Amy Winehouse made her first UK festival appearance of the year, following her previous night's performance at Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday show.
Reactions to Amy's set were mixed, with her singing generally on form, but her performance punctuated with incoherent ramblings about 80s band The Specials and reportedly calling Kanye West a ****. This came alongside her now trademark countless dedications to jailed husband Blake Fielder-Civil (met with groans) who she announced - somewhat hopefully- would be out of jail in two weeks.
Amy's wild set - which included hits 'Back to Black', 'Love is a Losing Game', 'Tears Dry on Their Own' and 'Valerie' - then saw her take to the crowd during her biggest song 'Rehab' and become engaged in an altercation with a fan. Various reports say she was reacting to someone trying to grab her breast or that a hat was thrown at her, but the concerned fan in question has come forward to say he was actually pleased about the whole affair.
James Gostelow, who received blows to the head from Amy, said: "I saw a hat being thrown from behind me and it hit Amy's beehive. She looked down, saw me looking up, and her elbow went for me. She caught my forehead, then someone may have shouted something from the back, which is when she went in again."
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