Glastonbury Festival

There comes a point at Glastonbury 2024 where it becomes easier to give up about a mile away from the stage.

Much like Sugababes’ overcrowded set, the grouchy, nostalgic pop-punk queen Avril Lavigne is one of the festival’s must-see acts, yet is shoved on a too-small stage in front of an overwhelming sea of people. Janelle Monae, over on the Pyramid Stage at the exact same time, is the unlucky recipient of poor planning – a genius pop star performing to a barely-there crowd. It’s not great.

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This is a brilliant show, but Glastonbury must learn lessons from a year that has vastly underestimated the appeal of pop nostalgia, and overestimated the interest in many performing over at the Pyramid.

Cyndi Lauper’s return to Glastonbury was beset by sound problems that left the audience struggling to hear her vocals.

For the first few songs, the star’s voice was drowned out by rumbling bass. When fans could hear, she seemed to be struggling to find her pitch and timing -particularly on a wayward version of Rocking Chair.

The issues appeared to have been resolved by the time she got to the power ballad I Drove All Night, with her voice suddenly resonant and powerful in the mid-afternoon sun.

But she faltered again on Time After Time, with the delivery on one of her earliest hits from 1984 lagging behind the band - suggesting she was having trouble with her in-ear monitors.

At times, the singer appeared to be in dispute with members of the production team by the side of the stage.

“Any scumbags in the audience?” Joe Talbot leers at a seething Other Stage crowd by way of introducing the bovver boot chant ‘I’m Scum’. There’s a distinct sense that the outsiders have stormed the gates during IDLES’ headline set, which pits them against fellow post-punks Fontaines D.C. on the Park Stage. Perhaps the clash gives Talbot and the gang something to prove: this is a bravura show that pops with cartoonish rage and flows with compassion, righteousness… and even a few chuckles along the way.

Talbot sports a shock of pink hair; guitarist Mark Bowen a sort of sheer onesie covered in roses. The frontman proclaims of the aforementioned track: “This is for the people of Palestine and this is for you.” He repeatedly announces “Viva Palestina!”, incites a crowd to bellow “Fuck the King!” and demands a circle pit so massive it makes “the whole fucking field spin”. He almost gets his wish.

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Most astonishing, though, is tonight’s performance of ‘Danny Nedelko’. As ever, Talbot describes the song as “a celebration of the bravery and the hard work of the immigrants who built our country”. And then something wholly unexpected (not least among the band themselves) happens. A fake life raft bearing life-jacketed dummies rears up through the audience: it bobs and weaves, lifted by countless outstretched hands that scramble to right the vessel when it upturns.

The raft, which we later learn was designed by Banksy, drifts towards the stage and Bowen reaches out to it before he flops into the crowd – an unforgettable image from a truly incendiary show. “We’ll back to back headline the Pyramid Stage in 2027,” a bloodied Talbot spits before they leave the stage. You’d better believe it.

A quick clip of it on TikTok.

Glastonbury, the massive UK festival held nearly every year since 1970, will provide gallons of urine to a start-up that has found an interesting use for it.

NPK Recovery is implementing its tech to recycle festivalgoer pee into environmentally friendly fertilizer. This is being done by partnering with Glastonbury’s female toilet provider, Peequal. After everything is collected post-festival, NPK’s labs will receive it for processing.

This isn’t the first time urine has been used in such a way at the festival. With so many people, in 2019, they were able to power the screens on the Pyramid Stage with a special urinal. We also previously reported on NASA recycling astronaut pee for drinking water.

I've always enjoyed walking round the crazy art project rave town, sometimes it's completely different and sometimes it's the same as the previous year. What was it like in 2023?

One of those gigs where you'd know every song off by heart and you'd have a daft grim on your face throughout. Also: Debbie Harry is 78! Amazing.

Definitely one of the bands I would have sought out. Despite the early afternoon slot they got the crowd hyped up.

He was watched by a vast crowd, estimated to be over 120,000 people.

Meanwhile, a record 7.3 million people tuned in to watch live on BBC One, according to overnight ratings.

That was the biggest ever overnight audience for a Glastonbury set, the BBC said. In comparison, last year Diana Ross was the most-watched star with 3.1 million and Paul McCartney's headline set was seen by 2.7 million.

Sounds like he is bowing out of UK touring on a high point.

If you didn't catch things live, the vod is well worth a watch.

Fantastic work, both by the artists and the broadcast crew.

For this, Elton is my spirit animal.
Imagine enjoying the chaos of Glasto, knowing you can snap your finders and be back to Berkshire in less time than it takes to get a pizza delivered.

While some people have been digging “Great Escape-style” tunnels, others have been using grappling hooks to enter the festival without paying.

According to The Times, some people pitched tents against barriers on the ground to hide tunnels they dug underneath to get their friends in.

That's an impressive amount of effort but I think I'd rather just pay for a ticket.

If only Axel could still sing, but sadly he can’t

I'm not their biggest fan but, by this point, they have everything nailed down and with a back catalogue of bangers, they were always going to deliver.

Review by The Guardian.

Have you ever been to the Glastonbury Festival? How did it go? What did you see? What was the weather like? Any adventures?

Anyone there this weekend?