After fans’ pulses were set to racing with anxiety over whether huge draw indie heroes Arctic Monkeys would actually perform or not on Friday night, the band, indeed, took their place on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival.

Q. Will Arctic Monkeys make it to Glastonbury for their headline set??!!
A. Yes.

And there’s a massive crowd here to welcome them! KS pic.twitter.com/E7xiUGoumX

— Glastonbury Live (@GlastoLive) June 23, 2023

Perhaps rumours of frontman Alex Turner’s acute laryngitis- forcing the group to cancel on what is arguably Britain’s largest platform- were exaggerated to say the least but the apprehension the possibility caused was proof enough of how much the Arctic Monkeys mean to the hundreds of thousands strong at Worthy Farm.

And Turner was in fine vocal form. Amidst the dark, brooding opening notes of “Sculptures of Anything Goes,” the band slowly emerged within the smoke filtered lights of the stage-any doubts that Turner himself might not be operating at 100% quickly banished with immediate effect. Like many infamous acts through the ages, it is perhaps the strength and mere presence of the band’s frontman that have set them apart and earned their lofty position on Glastonbury’s hallowed stage.

Getting the crowd well and truly hyped, the Arctic Monkeys quickly moved into “Brainstorm” and Glastonbury was ready to rock. But it may be because Turner commands the stage as a character, an almost caricature-like alter ego of his real self that sometimes feels as if the audience is just slightly removed from being in on the act. Evident every time Turner would take a quick minute to address the crowd-his silky cool, almost flippant comments ringing a bit hollow with the adoring crowd-it could be felt that the Arctic Monkeys viewed their position in the Glastonbury ranks as just another set.

What cannot be denied is the band are dead set on doing things their way with a set list that mixed time honoured hits with crowd lulling tunes such as “Crying Lightning” whose, if one didn’t know better, muted response would have many wondering if members of the audience stole a quick toilet break or made a quick dash for refreshments.

Thoughts on Arctic Monkeys Glastonbury set? pic.twitter.com/l0j180e6ZV — The Rock Revival (@TheRockRevival_) June 23, 2023

Of course the crowd were with the band-it is an Arctic Monkeys headlining set at Glastonbury and the band duly treated the masses with fan favourites “Do I Wanna Know?” and “Mardy Bum” before a rousing encore finishing with “R U Mine?”

Headlining Glastonbury is, quite literally, rock royalty and although the Arctic Monkeys have taken pains over the last few years to distance themselves somewhat from their chart topping alt-rock anthems to dwell instead on more sweeping introspective tunes, one cannot help but feel that, at least on stage, the setlist comes across occasionally as uneven.

Many have expressed the feeling that Arctic Monkeys may not have delivered an era defining chest-thumping set that will see them go down in Glastonbury history, but fans will surely have not left the Pyramid Stage disappointed either.