Festivals / Reviews
Review: Glastonbury 2024 – ‘A taste of the festival away from the headliners’
If you’re looking for a fulsome review of Glastonbury headliners over five days look away now.
Last year I drew the longest of straws and got the best gig of the year. I lost my phone, my review notes and, for a few moments, my marbles but managed to plot a route around a lot of acts over four days and was able to knock something out.
Due to an admin error earlier this year for which heads will surely roll, no application was made for 2024 review tickets. When I contacted them in May the press office told me they could put us on a waiting list but not to hold my breath.
is needed now More than ever
Living on the Wells Road makes avoiding the hype tricky as the caravans of smug revellers on their way to Pilton roll past, but I looked in the other direction, made sure the radio was off and had made my peace with not going. I’d not even looked at the line up.
And then, late on Friday afternoon , Glastonbury called with a last minute ticket. I knew our quiet family weekend was in tatters and I was on the bus within a couple of hours carrying a bag containing a water bottle, toothbrush, t-shirt and a pair of pants. Some things you just can’t turn down.
I spent an hour at the gates waiting for bimbling mates to bring my ticket, watching the sun set over the festival, an unfortunate young man getting frogmarched off site and a Liverpudlian gentleman arguing with security over the authenticity of his ticket.
Having already missed most of the live music on Friday I decided not to spend my limited time here racing between all the big acts but rather to see where the wind took me.
My first stop after accreditation was Jamie xx at a packed Woodsies. The accomplished and versatile producer was banging out his most polished brand of uplifting dancefloor friendly numbers. When his old bandmates from the xx joined him on stage for Waiting All Night, You’ve Got the Love and a group hug it only added to the nostalgic, verging on sacharine, tone, one that only continued when he was then joined on stage by Robyn for Life before the sparkly eyed crowd trouped out.
If we thought Jamie xx was busy, Bicep managed to close down Icon stage at the other end of the festival. By all accounts the Northern Irish duo had to stop the music and ask everyone to take three steps back, such was the pressure of the crowd. When their advice wasn’t heeded they had to take a longer hiatus to let the crowd disperse so by the time we got there, after some dubious Glastonbury geography to avoid getting kettled in the one way system, we were able to enjoy the tail end of their impressive CHROMA AV DJ set after the chaos had subsided. The throbbing bass, soaring synths and ethereal vocals carried loud and clear through the swirling soup of smoke and lasers to our position at the back.
Ambling through the chaos of the South East Corner at Glastonbury in the wee small hours taking in, among other things, Uncle Duugs customary excursion through classic era dnb, is a rare pleasure, especially when 12 hours earlier you expected to be getting an early night. Instead a couple of hours in the back of an accommodating friend’s van at breakfast time had to do the trick.
A Bloody Mary from the Cocktail Caravan in the Loving Arms and a burrito gave me the energy for a stomp to Femi Kuti’s midday set at the Pyramid stage. His joyous message of peace and love set to uplifting Afrobeats rhythms washed away any vestigal fallout from the night before. The Kuti family Glastonbury legacy stretches back 40 years to when Fela Kuti introduced his son Femi to the crowd in the same field. Now it was Femi’s turn to bring his own son, Made, onto stage who was also able to make an impression by playing what must surely have been the longest note of the festival on the saxophone.
When Glastonbury is sunny The West Holts stage always feels particularly hot, an apt climate perhaps for Jamican pioneers The Skatelites who are celebrting 60 years since their inception. It’s an anniversary that’s slightly tempered by the fact that none of the founding members were on stage here but the eight multi-aged current band mates took us on a journey through rocksteady, reggae and ska that’s perfect for a Saturday afternoon.
Next on West Holts was Alogte Oho and his Sounds of Joy living up to their name with a vibrant celebration of Ghanaian highlife music, blending afrobeat, brass driven funk and gospel.
My unplanned but excellent West African odyssey continued at Glade, a stage which provided some welcome shade and a stand out Jazz infused performance from the amazing Dele Sosimi. His band, including bass guitarist, drummer, percussion and a trio of virtuoso brass musicians (including one holding the biggest bass sax I’ve ever seen) were tight as a djembe skin and each had the opportunity at a solo to show off their considerable skills. Dele himself, who joined the pioneer of the genre Feli Kuti on that stage 40 years ago, is a fantastic and energetic front man, despite his years. His eyes seemed to make contact with everyone in the crowd in turn before rolling back into his head as he plunged back into his keyboard.
Moving stage (and finally continent) we ambled up to The Park for some Arooj Aftab, which was billed as ‘Urdu dream pop’ a description that piqued our interest. In fact it’s an almost funeral atmosphere that we arrived in as people sway dreamily to an almost mournful soundscape with this Pakastani-American singer’s soaring vocals cutting through the late afternoon heat. The mood was quickly broken when Aroof addressed the crowd to introduce the next song. The accent Pakistani but the accerbic tone seemed definitely to be influenced by her time in New York: ‘I fucking hate this one but we’re going to play it anyway ‘cos everybody loves it.’
Back at West Holts Black Pumas had the crowd in the palm of their hand with their unique brand of psychedelic soul. Their frontman Eric Burton seemed to be channeling both the charisma and vocal range of Prince while their guitarist and producer Adrian Quesada led the band through a set that flirted with funk, gospel and 70s rock.
Highlights of the evening included catching the end of The Streets at The Other stage, Mike Skinner crowd surfing to Blinded By The Lights; Bakey’s bass heavy set in Firmly Rooted in Silver Hayes; Goldie nostalgia drenched live performance at The Glade; checking out Arcadia’s incredible new dragonfly, its laser wings stretching into the night sky; an amazing Gutterfunk takeover set in Stonebridge Bar, the Bristolcentric contingent of Die, Randall, Dismantle, Addison Grove and Inja clearly having the time of their lives despite a surprisingly low turnout; and Break followed by Dilinja at Temple.
One of the things that makes Glastonbury so unique is the energy and enthusiasm of all the performances. Everyone brings their A-game. And that’s because Glastonbury, for performers as well as punters, is still just about the most fun you can have in a weekend. Especially if it takes you by surprise on a Friday afternoon.
All photos: Natalie Sayers
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