Glastonbury 2024 review: the best and worst moments, the celebrity action, and the musical standouts
Another year of Glastonbury has flown by, just like that. By far the biggest party on the UK music calendar, it never disappoints, and the Standard team have been on the ground all weekend covering as much (blessedly dry) turf as possible. Here’s a look back at the biggest and best moments from the weekend, along with the occasional duff notes.
The Highs
For those who made it into West Holts, Sugababes was surely one of the most jubilant, fun-filled crowds of the entire festival. After admitting they had worried nobody would show up, Mutya, Keisha and Siobhan seemed genuinely astonished at the number of Noughties kids ready to go wild to Push the Button and About You Now.
The Last Dinner Party levelled up (PA)
Leveling-up to far bigger stages, just a year after their Glastonbury debuts, Olivia Dean and The Last Dinner Party both won over the masses. On the secret sets and guests front, Worthy Farm was well catered for: Fred again.. played a tiny show at the super-small venue Strummerville, pop legend Robyn popped up during sets by Jamie xx, Charli XCX and Jessie Ware, and for fans of raucous indie rock, Kasabian delivered with a not-so-secret set that could be heard all the way across the festival site.
And besides the music, there was plenty else going on. Despite the fact her only appearance was a DJ set, Charli XCX dominated on the festival fashion front, with a huge number of festival-goers wearing lime green garms and wielding themed flags as a tribute to her new album Brat. Man of the people and former One Direction member Louis Tomlinson also deserves special commendation for lugging along a full-size telly and generator for an impromptu screening of the England game in one of the campsites. Dedication to the cause.
The Lows
Though Glastonbury has learned from the mistakes of last year’s blokefest, some of the festival’s biggest female stars still suffered from their position on the bill. The ridiculously talented Janelle Monáe had to compete with the football and Avril Lavigne, whose Other Stage set resulted in the entire field being closed for safety reasons. Sugababes were also sold short with a slot on West Holts, when they’re easily capable of drawing a Pyramid-sized crowd; once again, the area was shut off before their show even began.
Charli XCX’s Partygirl DJ set ended up at 7,000 cap dance spot The Levels; a comically inappropriate booking given that every other stage had a lime green Brat flag waving in front of it. To be in with a fighting chance of seeing Robyn, Romy, Shygirl, or any of her guest stars, you would’ve needed to have left Dua Lipa halfway through, or been willing to scramble up a slightly precarious fence to peep over the wall.
Dua Lipa headlined the festival on Friday night (PA)
Though Dua proved the doubters wrong – read our verdict from the show here – there’s no denying that this year’s headliner selections broadly missed the mark. Coldplay felt like an unimaginative booking, as this was their fifth time on the Pyramid stage, but they put on as strong a performance as ever, by front-loading their set with giant hits and flashing LED that kept the crowd happy. Read our full review here.
Glasto veterans Coldplay know how to put on a light show (PA)
SZA, meanwhile, played to one of the smallest Pyramid stage headliner crowds in recent memory; between the late Sunday exodus off-site, her light back catalogue and a clash with The National, James Blake, Justice and London Grammar, numbers took a hit. She and several others — including Shania Twain and Cyndi Lauper — were also beset by technical difficulties.
The stand-out acts
As the penultimate Pyramid act on Saturday night, Little Simz was sensational, dripping with confidence and never missing a beat. Next time, let her headline. The Streets also played one of the best sets of the weekend, Mike Skinner heading out to the barriers to wave a flag bearing his own face. Seventeen making history as the main stage’s first K-Pop act was a real moment.
Little Simz put on a headliner-worthy show (PA)
When it came to breakthrough talent, Remi Wolf put on one hell of a show up at Woodsies, playing to an amped up tent that only got more rammed. Rachel Chinouriri overcame early nerves on the Other Stage to make her morning audience cry and dance in quick succession, shifting from gut wrenching songwriting and explorations of grief, to an incredibly feel-good cover of Estelle’s American Boy.
Though it was a tough task hunting down buzzy, word-of-mouth band Fat Dog — mostly because they played most of their shows between 2am and 3am — they were worth the wait, more than living up to the hype. Lambrini Girls also played a handful of different slots, the most hectic of all warming punters up on Thursday night at Greenpeace. Belfast rap trio Kneecap also had a strong debut at Woodsies, waking the early birds up with their hedonistic, politically charged rap. Then they did it all over again at dance area Shangri-La.
The people
Worthy Farm is a celeb magnet and the famouses flocked out in full force. Fresh from pulling off her headline slot, Dua Lipa enjoyed a cheeky cig backstage with boyfriend Callum Turner before heading for a dance at the pop-up LGBTQ+ venue NYC Downlow. Elsewhere, Florence Pugh, Anya Taylor-Joy, Stella McCartney, Cara Delevingne and Minke were all backstage. Also spotted walking around was Sienna Miller.
Ahead of Coldplay’s Saturday headline show, Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg and Gillian Anderson serenaded the crowds with Oasis’s Don’t Look Back in Anger from a viewing platform — and speaking of which, Noel Gallagher was also out and about. As was Dave Grohl, spotted side of stage for The Breeders. Stormzy and his mates led a procession of dancing revellers through the hospitality bar, and an incredibly polite Aitch asked for a photo next to a painted Glastonbury sign.
Though Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton did a great job of appearing omnipresently across the site, from the healing fields to the random corner of campsite where this writer enjoyed her breakfast one morning, Paul Mescal triumphed as Glastonbury’s most-spotted celeb. He ended up here, there, and everywhere, including but not limited to: The National, Olivia Dean, having a pint with Andrew Scott, and watching Coldplay with Saoirse Ronan, Daisy Edgar-Jones and India Mullen. Phew.
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