Soggy Glastonbury rocked by Kaiser Chiefs

The Leeds band’s appearance on the Other Stage was a surprise ahead of their headline performance on the John Peel Stage last night.

Steady rain fell on the site for much of the day but a performance by Rudimental on the Pyramid Stage had to be cut short when thunder and lightning rocked the area.

Glastonbury’s Left Field opened with a tribute to Tony Benn, former Chesterfield MP and father of Leeds Central MP Hilary Benn, who appeared as one of its guest speakers ever since its first incarnation at the festival in 2002.

The late Labour stalwart was described as the stage’s “ultimate headline act” by curator Billy Bragg.

Also paying tribute was festival organiser Michael Eavis, who appeared to loud cheers from the packed big top, which is the Left Field’s largest yet.

Spectators who were sitting on the grass were asked to stand up to allow more people in, with those gathered cheering and clapping loudly as Mr Benn’s encouraging attitude was heralded.

Mr Eavis described the former Cabinet minister, who died in March aged 88, as a “fantastic fella” and “highly principled politician”.

“We’re going to miss him so much because he was so much a part of this and he was very popular,” he said. “How do we replace him?”

Bragg described Mr Benn as a “great friend of Glastonbury”. He said he was a popular draw to the Left Field, described as the “meeting place of pop and politics”.

The first day was overshadowed by the death of a 26-year-old man, from Reading in Berkshire.