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The singer finished her set performing her songs ‘Ribs’ and ‘Green Light’. “I decided to play the whole record front to back,” she told the crowd. “This record took me a lot – I didn’t know if I would make another record to be honest, but I am back (and) completely free.”

Fans had been speculating that the singer would be one of the secret acts although she didn’t confirm anything when asked during an interview on BBC Radio 2, she said: “I am pretty keen to return to the festival. We’ll see if I can pull some strings and get there.”

The ‘Royals’ singer took to Instagram on Thursday by posting an earial photo of the Woodsies tent without a caption and later reshared it saying “11:30 AM BST.”

This morning, fans were running to the tent for a chance to see the performance which led security to shut off further access to the area due to overcrowding.

Rumours had led people to believe that the New Zealand singer would be the main stage guest, however were proven wrong after the singer shared where her performance would take place. The main guest, to even more people’s surprises saw the long awaited return of Scottish singer, Lewis Capaldi. The singer’s last performance being at Glastonbury in 2023 before he went on a needed hiatus to care for his mental health. The singer also released a comeback single called ‘Survive’.

Glastonbury festival runs until Sunday, with headliners including Olivia Rodrigo, The 1975 and Neil Young. Lorde previously performed on the Pyramid Stage in 2022.

The set was confirmed by the festival on Thursday but still took some festival goers by surprise, even though the indie legends had previously hinted at a possible return to Reading and Leeds last month on Twitter (X).

If only there was a way we could play this on stage @OfficialRandL this year let’s work something out https://t.co/RGHxqQTqzA

— Bombay Bicycle Club (@BombayBicycle) July 21, 2023

The North London based indie heavyweights blasted their way through an eight track setlist, incorporating well-known classics like “Always Like This“, “Luna” and “Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You)” with material from their upcoming album, My Big Day, set to be released later this year on October 20th via Island Records, including the lead and title track from said album, “My Big Day“.

Frontman Jack Steadman, perhaps referencing their previous Reading and Leeds set back in 2014 when they played to an empty tent, admitted part way in the set, “We weren’t sure anyone was going to show up”. This time, however, the gates were well and truly open and the indie legends filled the dance tent with ease, with Steadman offering his thanks for making this a reality, saying, “This is wonderful. Thank you, guys. It’s good to see you”.  Watch footage of Bombay Bicycle Club’s opening set below:  

@officialrandl Welcome back @Bombay Bicycle Club ❤️ #randl23 #readingfestival #festival ♬ original sound – Reading & Leeds Festival

The full setlist can be found below:

“Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You)”
“Shuffle”
“My Big Day”
“Lights Out, Words Gone”
“Evening / Morning”
“Luna”
“Carry Me”
“Always Like This”

Earlier this week on Wednesday Bombay Bicycle Club also released a brand new single, “I Want To Be Your Only Pet“, another track, the third released to date after “My Big Day” and “Diving“, a Holly Humberstone collaboration, that will feature on the band’s upcoming sixth studio album.

The indie rock group, consisting of Jack Steadman (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Jamie MacColl (guitar), Ed Nash (bass), and Suren de Saram (drums), formed in 2005. After releasing demos of songs on Myspace, the band entered the music scene for good after winning Virgin Mobile’s “Road to V” competition in the summer of 2006, enabling them to perform at the 2006 V Festival with the opening slot. And now here they are opening Reading and Leeds to a set of adoring fans, the very definition of full circle.