“Thank U Alanis – for the catharsis, the chaos, and the scream therapy session we didn’t know we needed.”
📍 Pyramid Stage
🕗 20:15 – 21:15
🎶 Genre: Alt-Rock, Folk-Rock, Emotional Exorcism
🎤 Mood: Bittersweet euphoria with a splash of therapeutic rage
🌄 GOLDEN HOUR. GLASTONBURY. A GUITAR QUEEN ENTERS…
There’s something utterly magical about the Pyramid Stage at golden hour. The sun sinks lazily behind the hills, cider’s flowing, and the entire festival seems to hold its breath. And into that golden glow stepped a legend: Alanis Nadine Morissette.
Wearing a flowing white shirt that billowed like a storm goddess cloak, hair as wild as the Worthy Farm wind, Alanis looked every bit the poetic priestess she’s always been. But this time, there was a special glint in her eye — a mix of nostalgia and quiet rebellion.
“Alright Glastonbury…” she whispered, and just like that, the emotional floodgates were opened.
This wasn’t just a performance. This was a spiritual group therapy session, a defiant scream into the void, and a collective hug from your older sister who’s lived through it all and somehow still laughs.
🧨 OPENING SHOT: “ALL I REALLY WANT” – AND WE WANTED IT ALL
The show launched with “All I Really Want” — a percussive, snarling, lyrical manifesto that demanded attention. That iconic harmonica line sliced through the festival haze like a warning siren. And the moment she sang that first line — “Do I stress you out?” — the crowd howled back. Oh Alanis, we are stressed out, and we’re READY to scream it with you.
Her voice was razor-sharp, cracking in all the right places, full of the same raw intensity that made Jagged Little Pill a 33-million-copy beast. No backing tracks. No miming. Just real f**king music, butt.
👑 A 90s ICON, STILL REIGNING SUPREME IN 2025
What hit hardest about this performance wasn’t just the nostalgia (though let’s be real — it was lush watching people clutch each other and cry-scream lyrics written before some of them were born). It was the timelessness of Alanis.
She didn’t just survive the grunge explosion, the pop princess invasion, and a thousand music trends since — she transcended them. On that stage, in front of a crowd spanning Gen X to Gen Alpha, she was the voice. The raw, feral, defiant voice we didn’t know we still needed.
This wasn’t a legacy act. This was a reckoning.
🥁 BAND ON FIRE: TIGHT, POWERFUL, AND FULL OF HEART
Her band? Absolutely on it. The drummer hit with surgical rage, the bassist kept it grounded with a thick heartbeat groove, and the guitarist — holy hell — shredded and shimmered with psychedelic precision. Props to the backup singer too, who matched Alanis note for note in haunting harmonies.
No bells, no whistles, no pyro. Just tight musicianship and vibes so thick you could stage dive into them.
🎶 THE GREATEST HITS HIT EVEN HARDER LIVE
What’s striking about Alanis’s songwriting is how brutally honest it remains, even 30 years later. Every line feels lived in. Every song a diary entry you probably shouldn’t have read, but are so glad you did.
She powered through the big ones like she was exorcising ghosts:
- “Hand In My Pocket” – ICONIC. Thousands of hands went up for that chorus. Everyone singing their lungs out while swaying with that bittersweet smile only Alanis can bring.
- “You Learn” – sunshine in song form. “Swallow it down (what a jagged little pill)” became the festival mantra. There were literal sob-hugs in the crowd.
- “Head Over Feet” – the kind of soft, sweeping ballad that somehow hits you in the gut while feeling like a cuddle.
- “Thank U” – transcendent. “Thank U disillusionment” echoed across the fields like a collective prayer. Even the security guards looked emotional.
- “You Oughta Know” – the moment of the night. But we’ll come back to that volcanic eruption in a sec…
👀 EASTER EGGS & SURPRISE MOMENTS
This wasn’t just a hits set. Alanis weaved in lesser-known tracks with confidence, trusting the audience to ride the wave.
We got “Reasons I Drink” — a newer track that slotted in seamlessly, and showed her lyrical wit hasn’t dulled a bit. “These are the reasons I drink / the reasons I tell everybody I’m fine even though I am not…” — too real, mun.
She also slipped in “Mary Jane” from her debut, a slow-burning ballad that crept up on us like smoke in a cathedral.
But perhaps the most spine-tingling moment? She pulled out a flute and teased “That I Would Be Good” — haunting and delicate. The Pyramid Stage, usually thumping with bass, stood silent. It felt like the trees were listening.
😭 EMOTIONAL CARNAGE: TEARS, CHEERS & CHEEKY BEERS
You know it’s a good gig when you see:
- grown men openly weeping during “Thank U”
- teenagers FaceTiming their mums screaming “LOOK MUM IT’S ALANIS!!!”
- two folks snogging passionately in the mud during “Head Over Feet”
- and at least one person absolutely off their head screaming “SHE SAVED MY LIFE” after “Uninvited”
This was emotional carnage in the best way. The set flowed like therapy — tension, release, vulnerability, empowerment. It was less a “concert” and more a group ritual under the Glastonbury sky.
⚡ “YOU OUGHTA KNOW” – THE ERUPTION OF THE NIGHT
Let’s be real. Everyone was waiting for it. And when those opening chords to “You Oughta Know” hit — the field ERUPTED. The scream that came from the crowd was primal.
This wasn’t just a song. This was vengeance. This was every ex who did you dirty, every job that ghosted you, every moment you doubted yourself — all set on fire by that snarling, spitting, magnificent rage.
“You told me you’d hold me until you died, ‘til you died, but you’re still alive!” — Alanis spat that line like a spell, and thousands of voices cast it with her.
Absolute goosebumps. And a small earthquake in the pit from the foot-stomping fury.
🌅 SUNSET SERENADES & A PERFECT ENDING
As the sun fully set, Alanis eased into “Uninvited” — ghostly, rich, cinematic. The stage lights turned a moody violet, her silhouette swaying like a flickering candle. You could feel the field take a breath together.
And then, to close it all — “Ironic.” And sure, we all know the jokes. “Rain on your wedding day? That’s not ironic, that’s just unfortunate!” But guess what? We sang it anyway. Loud. Proud. Slightly out of tune.
Because irony or not, it was perfect. The ultimate singalong. The song that launched a thousand dramatic diary entries.
🎸 FULL SETLIST – FOR THE MUSIC NERDS
Here’s the full setlist as performed:
- All I Really Want
- Hand In My Pocket
- You Learn
- Reasons I Drink
- Head Over Feet
- Mary Jane
- Forgiven
- That I Would Be Good (flute interlude)
- Thank U
- Uninvited
- You Oughta Know
- Ironic
No encore. No fluff. Just twelve songs that redefined a generation. 👑
🧠 WHY THIS MATTERED: HEALING IN THE FIELDS
What makes an Alanis show so powerful is that she doesn’t pander. She doesn’t put on a mask. She shows up — flaws, cracks, fury and all — and invites us to do the same.
And in a world that often demands perfection, silence, and fake smiles… her rawness is radical.
Standing in that field, screaming about exes, learning from pain, forgiving ourselves — it felt like Glastonbury wasn’t just a festival. It was a sanctuary.
🎤 CROWD REACTIONS – QUOTES FROM THE FIELD
🗣 “I grew up with these songs and now I’m here with my daughter screaming them. Full circle stuff.” – Rhian, Cardiff
🗣 “I just cried for 60 straight minutes and I feel incredible. I’m reborn.” – Marcus, Bristol
🗣 “Mate, I don’t even know her songs but that was like a religious experience.” – Zac, somewhere lost in the cider tent
🥇 FINAL VERDICT – ALANIS MORISSETTE: THE PRIESTESS OF PYRAMID
Alanis didn’t just perform — she transformed the Pyramid Stage. With no gimmicks, no dancers, no special guests. Just her voice, her words, her truth.
In one perfect hour, she gave us:
✅ Nostalgia without cheese
✅ Power without ego
✅ Healing without pretense
✅ One of the standout sets of the festival
RATING: 🌟 10/10
“A Jagged Little Masterclass in Musical Honesty”
🌟 WOULD WE SEE HER AGAIN?
Would we crawl through mud, queue for six hours, miss our tent’s guy ropes, and sit in portaloo purgatory just to see her again?
YES MUN. A THOUSAND TIMES YES.
Alanis Morissette, you beautiful soul. Diolch for reminding us that our emotions are valid, our voices matter, and our pain can become poetry.
🎶 And isn’t it ironic… don’t you think? That the 90s just delivered one of the most emotionally relevant sets of 2025? 🎶
Catch us sobbing, screaming, and sipping hot cider in your honour for weeks.
