Glastonbury festival-goers were left stunned on Saturday when Franz Ferdinand brought out a surprise guest during their set on the Other Stage – a move that left the audience roaring with disbelief as a familiar face stepped into the spotlight.
The Scottish indie rockers had already drawn a huge crowd for a set packed with early 2000s hits, when frontman Alex Kapranos paused to address attendees.
鈥淥ne of the things I love about Glastonbury is the rumours,鈥 he said. 鈥淎ll the gossip that goes around. You may have heard a rumour about a fellow Glaswegian named Capaldi鈥︹
With the crowd guessing Lewis Capaldi – who had performed earlier that day – Kapranos continued: 鈥淲ell, it gives me great joy to say the rumours are true. He is here with us tonight. The original Capaldi 鈥 Peter Capaldi!鈥
To roars of approval, the former Doctor Who star walked on stage and launched into the band鈥檚 iconic track Take Me Out, delivering one of the weekend鈥檚 most unexpected cameos.
The 67-year-old actor, best known for his role as the Twelfth Doctor, strutted across the stage alongside the band as fans danced and sang along in disbelief.
The moment quickly went viral online, with fans praising the cross-generational, cross-genre moment. One wrote: 鈥淗istory made, never getting over this.鈥
Earlier in the day, Peter鈥檚 relative Lewis Capaldi – they are second cousins once removed – made an emotional return to the Pyramid Stage, two years after a difficult performance at the same festival saw him break down in tears and prompted a two-year hiatus from touring.
The 28-year-old singer told the crowd: 鈥淚鈥檓 back, baby,鈥 as he performed a shortened but powerful 35-minute set featuring fan favourites Before You Go and Hold Me While You Wait, as well as his new single Survive.
鈥淚鈥檓 not going to say much up here today because if I do, I think I鈥檒l probably start crying,鈥 he told fans. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 amazing to be here with you all.鈥
Addressing the difficult period since his 2023 performance – which saw him visibly struggle with vocal tics related to Tourette鈥檚 syndrome – he added: 鈥淭he last two years haven鈥檛 been the best for me. It鈥檚 been quite difficult at times.
鈥淚 wanted to write a song about overcoming that stuff and getting to the other side of it. This has been my goal – to get here.鈥