Where and when: Pyramid stage, 7.45pm Sunday

Dress code: Black, like keys

What happened: The Black Keys can measure their dramatic ascent by their Glastonbury appearances. As frontman Dan Auerbach notes while introducing old song Strange Times, he and drummer Patrick Carney last played here in the John Peel tent four years ago, just as they were evolving from a raw-boned blues-rock duo into a more compelling four-man band. Now, they're one of the world's biggest rock groups, playing to a crowd so large that Auerbach finds it "a little overwhelming". The T-shirts on the merchandise stall celebrate both their modest roots in Akron, Ohio and their new life as heavyweights in Nashville.

Unusually, the Black Keys have got better as they've got bigger, revealing a talent for fiendishly catchy classic rock (new song Gotta Get Away sounds like it could have been blasting out of a car's AM radio some time in the 1970s) and no inclination to sound like U2. You can see why Jack White's been bitching about them, because they work in a similar area but with a tighter focus and more immediate pleasures: Auerbach is a spectacular guitarist but never self-indulgent. The fat-free set climaxes brilliantly with a gallop through three of their biggest hits — Tighten Up, Fever and Lonely Boy — and the exploding ballad Little Black Submarines. The spiralling op-art projections, inspired by the cover of new album Turn Blue, are appropriate: simple yet dazzling.

High point: Gold on the Ceiling, a glam-powered anthem composed entirely of hooks. The crowd is roaring along from the opening keyboard riff.

Low point: None really, but if we're being tough, the momentum sags a little during Ten Cent Pistol.

In a tweet: Former underdogs flaunt their arena chops.