When it was announced that the legendary UK music festival had chosen rapper Jay-Z as a headliner, many fans were upset that a rock band wasn’t chosen like usual, and even Noel Gallagher of Oasis complained, saying “Jay-Z, I’m not f***ing having him at Glastonbury.” Well good old Jay-Z took lemons and made lemonade, opening his set Saturday night with a clip of Gallagher’s comments, then emerging to warble a cheeky cover of Oasis’ own “Wonderwall.” Despite Hova’s being a bit, as they say, “pitchy,” seemingly all of Glastonbury sang along:
As Pitchfork said, there’s a lot going on there, including angry mockery, a lighthearted wink, pure nostalgia, and straightforward enjoyment of the song itself; the performance’s nose-thumb origins didn’t prevent it from also being a traditional festival singalong moment. Even the Brits were impressed: The Times of London called Jay-Z’s appearance “a moment of real, euphoric, pop-culture history” and “the most thrilling headline act for more than a decade” (they’re probably talking about Radiohead’s legendary 1997 performance for a mud-drenched crowd). Go Jay-Z. Kind of makes you wonder why Coachella never booked him.