As the Glasto massive recover from another heavy weekend, NME bring you the very best bits
How are you doing? Slept off the coma? Blown all that sand and dust from your nose? Managed a thought without that constant echo of late night trance bouncing around your brain? Still, at least you don’t have to walk 56 miles today and you get to do all your toilet business indoors.
As the packed-out Pyramid field set off flares, climbed atop each other’s shoulders and hugged one another as if they may never let go, it was as if frontman James Murphy was warning us all of the Glasto goodness yet to come: “And if the sun comes up and I still don’t wanna stagger home, then it’s the memory of our betters that are keeping us on our feet.” That’s how it starts. (AT)
LCD Soundsystem live at Glastonbury 2024. Credit: Andy Ford for NME
IDLES and Banksy made a powerful statement
It was bound to be divisive, but the Bansky-designed dinghy, populated with dummies to represent a migrant boat, proved to be a powerful moment during IDLES’ incendiary headline performance on the Other Stage. The band didn’t know the raft would come out into the audience for ‘Danny Nedelko’, which provided the perfect context for the art piece. IDLES’ crowd held the vessel aloft as the group tore through a song about immigrants who, as frontman Joe Talbot put it before the song began, “built our country”.
There was a twist in the tale, however. Little Simz threw an upbeat celebration on the Pyramid Stage the following night and, as she played her last song, the anthemic ‘Gorilla’, the dinghy bizarrely drifted back across the audience. The rapper clearly had no knowledge of the stunt, which here felt inappropriate and insensitive – proof that context is key. (JB)
Idles at Glastonbury 2024. Credit: Andy Ford for NME
SEVENTEEN made history
Ahead of SEVENTEEN’s history-making appearance at Glasto, there was some doubt among sections of the festival’s audience about whether they would fit in at the event – or even if they deserved their spot. By the time we reached the final two songs, though, those uncertainties should have been firmly blasted out of anyone’s mind.
This fun-packed tour-de-force proved that both SEVENTEEN and K-pop as a whole have a future here on Worthy Farm. (RD)
Seventeen (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP) (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
Fontaines D.C. inched closer to G.O.A.T status
Where once they were scrappy, nervous and shy – playing with a speed and carelessness that suggested they couldn’t wait to get off stage – now the Fontaines D.C. live experience is a fireworks display of emotion and innovation. Their set up is appealingly lean, with a stage decorated with little more than some multicoloured lights, meaning that the focus is solely on the thrilling urgency of their sound.
At The Park on Friday evening (June 28), pacing and skipping around his mic in a leather kilt, frontman Grian Chatten appeared electrified by his own intensity. There was a power and an urgency to the way they played that made thousands feel invincible: during a roaring ‘I Love You’ flares somersaulted through the sky, while tears were shed and dozens of core memories created. (SW)
Fontaines D.C. perform at Glastonbury 2024. Credit: Jamie McMillan
Fat Dog became Glasto’s best friend
“Look at you all out there, poised like wolves,” opened Fat Dog frontman Joe Love to revellers at the packed out Strummerville field as Glasto eve drew to a close on Thursday night, “smelling each other’s bits”. We wouldn’t go that far, but things did get pretty damn feral.
“Tonight is going to be an evening of pure delight, because you have chosen Fat Dog,” he goes on – and how! With their wild brand of Super Hans cowboy gypsy rave, Fat Dog gave the early arrivals whatfor. Limbs flailed, the crowd was surfed, and things down the front got a little out of hand. “Chill down a little bit. I don’t wanna break any fucking ankles out there”, warned Love. Still, insanity ensued. Then they did it all again – three more times! (AT)
Little Simz made her claim for the Pyramid Stage
The London rapper performed one slot ahead of Coldplay – no mean feat, considering the latter are the Worthy Farm house band – and at points seemed awed by the occasion. She often gazed disbelievingly out at the audience and admitted: “Glastonbury, you know this is mad for me… this is by far the most people I’ve ever performed in front of. It really is a dream.”
The show itself was an astonishing spectacle, Simz’s delivery so assured it sometimes felt hard to believe she wasn’t on her fifth go like Chris Martin and co. And it seemed frankly inevitable that she’ll back to headline the thing. “Glastonbury,” she admitted, “I’m having the best time of my life.” She wasn’t the only one. (JB)
Little Simz live at Glastonbury 2024. Credit: Andy Ford for NME
Rachel Chinouriri gave us a joyful, uplifting indie-pop spectacle
There are few artists who have worked as hard and tirelessly as Rachel Chinouriri just to be recognised for their craft. Currently enjoying a real career renaissance – after having spent years asking, tirelessly, to not be mislabelled by critics and fans as an R&B or ‘urban’ artist – the indie star brought an exuberant energy to the Other Stage, as though she had been spiritually recharged.
Rachel Chinouriri at Glastonbury 2024. Credit: Andy Ford for NME
Alongside a giddy cover of Estelle’s ‘American Boy’, the 25-year-old skipped her way through high-octane material from recent debut LP ‘What A Devastating Turn Of Events’. It was during a sublime ‘Robbed’, however, that Chinouriri was moved to tears, after encouraging everyone in the audience to not give up on their dreams. (SW)
Rachel Chinouriri at Glastonbury 2024. Credit: Andy Ford for NME
Kneecap’s late night naughtiness
How many bands boast of playing not one but two Glastonbury-defining sets? As Saturday partied into Sunday, we made the long march to Shangri-La after Coldplay’s Pyramid headline set for something a whole lot less wholesome. Irish language Belfast rap tearaways Kneecap had already played a set at 11.30am. “It’s been a long fucking day,” said Mo Chara after the band burst onto the Peace Stage. You’re telling me. “There’s not enough cocaine to go for 14 hours,” smiled Móglaí Bap.
“Inciting a chant of ‘YOUR SNIFFER DOGS ARE SHITE’, the trio started as they meant to go on – kicking off trouble. The balaclava-clad DJ Próvaí rubbed his nipples as Chara and Bap stalked the stage and started moshpits in each corner of the field. “We have no right rapping in a language that no c**t speaks,” offered Chara, “but in front of all you mad c**ts at Glasto, it’s a privilege”. To share the love for their home country, they then brought out Fontaines D.C. frontman Grian Chatten for their collab ‘Better Way To Live‘. The privilege was ours. “You jammy fuckers,” said Chara. “you’re very welcome for that.”
“Things only get more wild for ‘Guilty Conscience’ and the closing ‘H.O.O.D.’, a true highlight of the weekend. We won’t ask how anyone here managed to stay awake, but we’re glad we did. (AT)
Kneecap live at Glastonbury 2024. Credit: Andy Ford for NME
Gossip brought us all together – and made us feel powerful
While 100,000 eager punters flocked to the Pyramid Stage to see Coldplay take on Saturday’s headline slot for the fifth time, a stone’s throw away, ‘00s indie icons Gossip took to the Woodsies stage for a raucous lesson in hedonism, queer liberation and empowerment.
From Beth Ditto’s powerhouse vocals during ‘Standing In The Way Of Control’ to the emotional moment the crowd helped the band criticise the US government by chanting “There are more of us than there are of them”, the set was one to prove the Arkansas band are still at the peak of their powers. (LD)
Beth Ditto of Gossip. CREDIT: Credit: Andy Ford for NME
Soft Play celebrated their friendship – and looked towards a fresh start
It would only be an understatement to say that Isaac Holman and Laurie Vincent have been through the wringer in recent years. The Kent punks (FKA Slaves) have overcome respective mental health issues, life-altering grief and contention towards their name change as a band; after Vincent’s partner passed away in 2019, the duo went on an extended hiatus, and for a hot minute, it seemed like they were intending on never returning to the stage.
Soft Play live at Glastonbury 2024. Credit: Andy Ford for NME
Through therapy and perseverance, they made their electrifying return to Worthy Farm this year. Though the crowd spent much of the set gleefully dancing and roundhouse-kicking away, it was the reflective single ‘Everything And Nothing’ that conjured a real moment of intimacy. As the acoustic track’s final chords rang out, Holman and Vincent hugged it out for a few minutes, proving sometimes a good cry is all you need. Here, big moshpits met even bigger emotions. (SW)
Soft Play live at Glastonbury 2024. Credit: Andy Ford for NME
Celeb spotting at Worthy Farm, from “normal men” to Normal People
It’s been a prime year for celeb-hunting at Glastonbury 2024, with Tom Cruise and Gillian Anderson spotted singing ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ before Coldplay’s headline set and Noel Gallagher himself seen mooching about backstage. Even more excitingly, internet sensation Hacker T Dog, everyone’s favourite hand puppet canine, paid a visit to the press tent. Yes, Team NME posed for selfies.
You’d think that couldn’t be outdone, but we soon graduated from “normal men” to Normal People. This writer got a nice surprise, awaiting an interview with Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright backstage at the Pilton Palais cinema, when Paul Mescal sauntered past, topless (it was very hot). He proceeded to douse his hair with a bottle of water, before shaking it off like he was in a ‘90s Coke advert. And then Andrew Scott swung by. Woof! (JB)
King Krule brought the love to The Park
Even with the obvious caveat that his deep, warbling voice isn’t for everyone, after over a decade in the game, King Krule still inspires intense joy and devotion among a cult fanbase. As his Glastonbury set proved, the south London-raised artist (born Archy Marshall,) has perhaps never been more emotionally available: he spent much of his set eyeball to eyeball with the front rows, quietly cracking jokes and allowing his typically meditative tracks to expand into hip-swaying grooves.
Yet it was a gorgeous rendition of ‘Seaforth’, lifted from Marshall’s 2023 LP ‘Space Heavy’, that unexpectedly became one of the weekend’s defining moments; he brought his five-year-old daughter Marina, dressed in a pink ball gown, on stage to dance and sway along with him as he played. Watching Marshall laugh, cut loose and get a little teary underneath The Park’s rainbow lights felt nothing short of magic. (SW)
Black Pumas showed us how to get down – and how to fly
While the bill was dominated by some of the biggest names across the pop and indie worlds this year, a different atmosphere was brewing over on the West Holts stage on Saturday evening, as Black Pumas brought the soul to Worthy Farm.
“Let’s show the world how we get down at Glastonbury,” singer Eric Burton exclaimed, and needless to say, the audience happily obliged. If this euphoric set during golden hour wasn’t magical enough, the sight of the Red Arrows overhead as the crowd sang “Fly together” during ‘More Than A Love Song’ made it almost too good to be true, and even left the frontman lost for words by the end. (LD)
Justice blew away the cobwebs with a rave spectacular
Through their gritty basslines, immense stage production and mysterious stage presence, the set sent the energy of the crowd back into hyperdrive, as they left those provided a mind-bending escape for those soon to be heading back into reality. (LD)
Justice live at Glastonbury 2024. Credit: Alex Crane
The National’s Matt Berninger just couldn’t keep out of the audience
There’s something about the spirit of togetherness at Glastonbury, and we reckon that The National frontman Matt Berninger felt it more than most. Hell, he probably spent almost as much time in the audience or in the front rows that he did on The Other Stage for the indie statesmen perfect closing set on Sunday.
During their “creepiest song” ‘Conversation 16’, he enacted the lyric “I was afraid I’d eat your brains, because I’m evil” when he attempted to devour a really rather delighted chap on the front row. For ‘Terrible Love’, he bolted past the safety barrier to play Pied Piper to the devotees who follow him with their phones. You don’t get a more personal goodbye than that. Goodnight Glaso, see you next year. (AT)
The National live at Glastonbury 2024. Credit: Andy Ford for NME
Kanye West, the artist and producer now going by Ye, stepped back onto a Los Angeles stage focused purely on the music during night one of his two show run at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on Wednesday, April 1. The return arrives after years filled with controversy, public scrutiny, personal struggles involving mental health, and his January apology published in The Wall Street Journal addressing his antisemitic comments. Showing unusual restraint, the outspoken performer chose not to address any of the criticism during what marked his first major U.S. performance in years.
Public backlash did little to slow the momentum of the event as thousands of supporters filled the venue floor and stands. Many arrived dressed in Kanye merchandise, avoiding controversial imagery, along with lucha style shirts fresh from the merch counters. A look at ticket prices shows Ye continues to command major revenue from his catalog despite his offstage controversies. According to Ticketmaster, general admission tickets for the April 3 show were listed at $537.80. Resale listings for upper tier seats, which offered clearer views of his half sphere inspired stage design, were also priced in the hundreds. Fans who could not attend in person were able to watch through a livestream that appeared on his Instagram just hours before the performance began.
Across a two hour performance, Ye delivered a wide ranging set filled with classic favorites, repeated tracks, and selections from his recently released twelfth album Bully. Wearing a black face covering, he walked alone across the curved stage structure designed to resemble Earth and at moments gave the impression of a solitary figure on his own world.
The crowd reflected different generations of listeners as younger fans sang along to newer tracks such as “FATHER” and the André Troutman collaboration “ALL THE LOVE.” Energy spiked when a mosh pit formed during “Blood on the Leaves.” Older millennial fans found their nostalgia during a sequence of songs spanning Kanye’s early and mid career from 2004 through 2016, from The College Dropout through The Life of Pablo. Songs like “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” and “N—-s in Paris” echoed through SoFi Stadium with the same intensity as when Graduation or the Jay Z collaboration Watch the Throne first arrived. “Say You Will” and “Heartless” from 2008’s 808s & Heartbreak brought back familiar feelings tied to heartbreak and the era when Auto Tune shaped the sound of pop and hip hop. The closing stretch featuring “All Falls Down,” “Jesus Walks,” “Through the Wire,” “Good Life,” “All of the Lights,” and the emotional finale “Runaway” sparked a sense of longing for earlier days both for fans and for the Chicago native himself.
Aside from the nostalgic song choices, technical problems occasionally interrupted Ye’s creative plans. Early performances of “KING” and “THIS A MUST,” which he later repeated, were affected by microphone and audio complications. He also stopped “Good Life” three separate times because he was unhappy with what he called the “corny” lighting setup. “Is this like an SNL skit or something?” he asked the production team. “Stop doing the vibrating Vegas lights, bro. We went over this in rehearsal.” The first SoFi Stadium show almost felt like a preparation run for the April 3 performance, which also happens to land on Good Friday. The timing also recalls the G.O.O.D. Friday song releases that led into his landmark 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
Despite frustrations with the production, Ye did not perform alone. Longtime collaborator Don Toliver joined him onstage for performances of “Moon” and his own track “E85.” Ye’s daughter North also appeared, bringing bright energy and her blue hair to performances of “Talking” and “PIERCING ON MY HAND.” She wore one of her father’s concert shirts during the appearance, all while it was still a school night.
As the concert continued, Ye handled the technical setbacks as they happened without turning the situation into a rant. For longtime fans, separating his unpredictable public behavior from his extensive catalog of influential songs remains complicated, especially for those who still feel connected to his earlier creative periods. At the same time, his former close collaborator Jaÿ Z is preparing for his own stadium appearances this summer, which adds another layer of reflection about what their partnership once represented. Ye may be staying quiet publicly for now, yet questions remain about whether a full redemption era could still be ahead.
Ye 2026 Set List
1. KING
2. THIS A MUST
3. FATHER
4. ALL THE LOVE
5. Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1
6. Can’t Tell Me Nothing
7. N—-s in Paris
8. Mercy
9. Praise God
10. Black Skinhead
11. On Sight
12. Blood on the Leaves
13. Carnival
14. Power
15. Bound 2
16. Say You Will
17. Heartless
18. Moon (with Don Toliver)
19. E85 (Don Toliver)
20. KING
22. THIS A MUST
22. FATHER
23. ALL THE LOVE
24. Talking (North West)
25. Piercing On My Hand (North West)
26. Everybody
27. All Falls Down
28. Jesus Walks
29. Through the Wire
30. Good Life
31. All of the Lights
32. Runaway
