The Libertines kicked off the first main day of music at Glastonbury 2022, playing a raucous early morning set on The Other Stage as they paid tribute to Ukraine. Check out photos, the setlist and what went down below.

Making their return to Worthy Farm after their surprise appearance on the Pyramid Stage back in 2015, the indie veterans provided a loud and boisterous wake-up call to early risers and brought out the sun after chilly weather and wet conditions set in.

Their set was introduced by a video message from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, calling on the crowd to “spread truth” about the war with Russia and share Glastonbury’s inclusive and loving feeling “with everyone whose freedom is under attack”.

With Pete Doherty in a long-hooded coat and wellies and Carl Barat in snakeskin boots, pinstripe trousers and a vest, the band kicked off a solid and joyful career-spanning set with ‘Up The Bracket’.

During a breakdown in ‘The Good Old Days’, Doherty led the crowd in chanting “Volodymyr Zelensky to the tune of The White Stripes‘ ‘Seven Nation Army’. It’s a theme that would return at the end of the set, when drummer Gary Powell invited the enraptured audience to sing “We love you Ukraine, we do – oh Ukraine we love you“.

Beyond that, stage chat was kept to a minimum, aside from Doherty delivering a message to a friend called Ellie, informing her: “We have a message from Michael Eavis – get off my bloody land you bastard!” The band also took the time to wish Glastonbury a happy 50th birthday.

Other highlights included a loudly receiving outing of ‘Gunga Din’, Barat taking to the keys for a tender rendition of ‘You’re My Waterloo’, and the crowd saving their best for the boisterous ending of ‘Time For Heroes’ and ‘Don’t Look Back Into The Sun’.

The Libertines played:

‘Up The Bracket’
‘Vertigo’
‘Ha Ha Wall’
‘Gunga Din’
‘What Katie Did’
‘You’re My Waterloo’
‘Boys In The Band’
‘Can’t Stand Me Now’
‘Music When The Lights Go Out’
‘Horror Show’
‘Likely Lads’
‘Death On The Stairs’
‘Good Old Days’
‘Time For Heroes’
‘Don’t Look Back Into The Sun’

The band are set to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their seminal debut album ‘Up The Bracket’ this year, releasing a ‘Super Deluxe Edition’ of the record in October as well as playing the album in full next month at Wembley Arena with support from The Cribs and The Paddingtons as part of their UK summer tour.

• READ MORE: Every Libertines song ranked in order of greatness

Doherty also recently revealed that the band were planning on working on their long-awaited new album in Jamaica.

Back in January, Doherty gave NME an update on The Libertines’ long-awaited follow-up to their 2015 LP ‘Anthems For Doomed Youth‘ – repeating previous claims that it was shaping up to be an eclectic mix of styles in the same vein as The Clash’s ‘Sandinista’.

“That’s still the format that we’re talking about,” Doherty told NME. “At the end of the tour we did that ended last month, everyone was really upbeat by the fact that we were all still alive after the various quarantines and John coming and going. We were all really upbeat about the future, so I don’t know how or when it’s going to happen but I think it will.

“‘Sandinista’ still encapsulates it because there are still a lot of ideas. It’s just about getting everyone in a room and getting on with it.”

 

Today, Glastonbury continues with performances from the likes of Foals, Sam Fender, St Vincent, IDLES, Blossoms, Sigrid, Phoebe Bridgers and Primal Scream, with a headline set on the Pyramid Stage from Billie Eilish.

Check out the full line-up and performance times here.

Meanwhile, Wolf Alice have overcome adversity to make their Pyramid Stage performance today. At one point it looked unlikely that they’d make it after revealing that they were stranded in LA after flight cancellations, but now they’ve made it back to the UK and landed in Heathrow this morning.

Check back at NME here for the latest news, reviews, interviews, photos and more from Glastonbury 2022.