The general rule at music festivals for classic rock bands is to play the hits because the audience didn’t come to see you … but Chrissie Hynde has never been one to follow the rules.
Chrissie gave her Glastonbury audience what she wanted, not what they knew. However, she made up for it with some surprise guests. Johnny Marr of The Smiths (and for a bees dick Pretenders as well) came out for two of the songs the audience did know ‘Back On The Chain Gang’ and ‘Don’t Get Me Wrong’. Dave Grohl joined in for the last song ‘Mystery Achievement’. Sir Paul McCartney also came on stage with Chrissie but didn’t sing or play. He just gave the crowd a thumbs up and then left.
Marr was the guitarist for The Pretenders for a brief moment in time in 1987. He joined in August 1987, played on only one single ‘Window of the World’, toured for some shows in the USA and then left for The The.
Chrissie steered clear of the obvious crowd pleasers like ‘Brass In Pocket’, ‘Message of Love’, and ‘Talk Of The Town’ instead serving up two from the next album and two from the last album as well as some deeper album cuts like ‘Thumbelina’ and ‘Time The Avenger’ and even a b-side.
The Pretenders setlist, 24 June 2023, Glastonbury
Losing My Sense of Taste (from Relentless, 2023)
Turf Accountant Daddy (from Hate For Sale, 2020)
Kid (from Pretenders, 1979)
Time the Avenger (from Learning To Crawl, 1984)
Middle of the Road (from Learning To Crawl, 1984)
Hymn to Her (from Get Close, 1986)
Thumbelina (from Learning To Crawl, 1984)
Let the Sun Come In (from Relentless, 2023)
Junkie Walk (from Hate For Sale, 2020)
Back On The Chain Gang (with Johnny Marr) (from Learning To Crawl, 1984)
Don’t Get Me Wrong (with Johnny Marr) (from Get Close, 1986)
Cuban Slide (b-side of Talk of the Town, 1980)
Tattooed Love Boys (from Pretenders, 1979)
I’ll Stand By You (from Last Of The Independents, 1994)
Mystery Achievement (with Dave Grohl) (from Pretenders, 1979)
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