Meet five DJs making their Block9 debut at Glastonbury this weekend
NYC Downlow, IICON and Genosys are about to be taken over by a wild cocktail of dance music from the South East Corner’s newest arrivals.
Fifteen years into its riotous reign, Block9 has become one of the most iconic areas within the sprawling canvas city of Glastonbury Festival. From the outset, founders Gideon and Stephen Gallagher made a clear and explicit commitment to honour the queer roots of club music – at a time when greater representation was sorely needed at festivals big and small. It’s no exaggeration to say Block9’s crowning jewel, the NYC Downlow, was a game-changer in how outdoor events in the UK approached queer artists, spaces and audiences. Over time, they’ve developed mind-bending set-design spectacles, like the archly named IICON stage and the VR-goggled head now synonymous with late-night Glastonbury for party people.
Musically, Block9’s programming delivers as a crucial education on the true roots of dance music and as a lightning rod for the most electric innovations currently reshaping it. Legitimacy and legendary status run throughout the line-ups, and in 2025, there is no shortage of heavy hitters filling out the Downlow, IICON, Genosys and The Meat Rack. Block9 is just as sharp when it comes to ushering in emerging talent, and this year they’re loaded with a broad sweep of DJs set to bring new angles to these hallowed dancefloors.
For some, the step up to Block9 is an exciting development on their long-standing journey with the festival. “I went to my first Glastonbury in 2019 as a punter,” explains London-based Tai Lokun. “I’d say I’m seasoned – this will be my fourth year playing. It’s like it’s my senior year, in a way.”
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“I’m about to graduate, so I get to play Block9,” she beams.
Lokun looks back fondly on cherished sets playing back-to-back with Amaliah at the invite-only backstage Guerrilla Bar at 6 am, or opening The Levels stage at Silver Hayes with OK Williams on Thursday evening in 2024. Over the past four years, her elegant house sets have become a firm fixture across the club and festival landscape, priming her for a momentous slot opening Genosys on Friday evening.
“I feel like openings can always be a little bit difficult in a festival,” she admits. “I’m playing at 6pm, which is early for Block9, so that presents a few challenges. I’m preparing two or three sets at the same time. I think the vibe will be quite groovy and energetic enough, but obviously not taken too far.”
Fellow Block9 newcomer IMOGEN will be taking over Genosys on Saturday night from 9pm onwards, after the newly introduced Daytime Block Party hands over to the nighttime schedule. She’ll be drawing on her past experiences across other dance spaces at Glastonbury, while relishing the chance to have the full weekend to immerse herself in the festival uninterrupted.
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“Last time I only went for the Thursday when I played the WOW stage in Silver Hayes because I had gigs all weekend,” the DJ recalls. “I remember being in Maceo’s till midday, and then my mum having to come pick me up and drive me to London to play at Phonox.”
While she’s known for a bracing take on the full spectrum of upfront techno, IMOGEN spies an opportunity to indulge a broader sound for this year’s set. “It’s nice that Gideon’s put trust in me and put me on more of a housier stage, to let me try and do something different,” she says. “I’m not gonna decide completely what I want to play, but I recently moved and found so many good old records that I want to bring – I’ve been really getting into acid and loads of stuff from, like, ’92.”
If IMOGEN is relishing the chance to dig deep into the roots of rave, then EMA will be working the other end of the timeline when she brings her forward-facing take on dubstep and sound system music to open IICON on Friday night. It’s the first time the Dublin-based scene leader will be visiting Worthy Farm, let alone taking control of the unforgettable stage sculpture.
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“I’ve been told I will freak out when I see the sheer size of the head in real life,” says EMA. “I did speak to Mia Koden, who played my set time last year, just to get a little low-down on how it went, which settled my nerves. I’m hoping a load of the Irish crew pull up. It’s a huge moment, but I am so ready for it.”
EMA’s sound is absolutely steeped in the crooked, heads-down pulse of 140, but her instinct for dazzling, non-conformist twists on the formula has made her a standard bearer for the freshest evolutions of the sound.
Equally bringing a fiercely innovative, modernist slant to Block9 is Mina Galán, founder of the trans femme-forward party Club Stamina, which is carving its own niche in London’s queer clubbing landscape. The Spanish-Moroccan DJ brings her multi-faceted heritage into her sharply pointed, high-intensity style, drawing on Latin and North American musical forms in upfront, experimental club music.
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“This will be my first time attending Glastonbury,” Galán reveals, “and it’s such an honour to be closing the first night. I’m more of a night girl than a daytime one. I’m on the dark and hard edge in my DJing style, and let’s face it – usually at festivals, another vibe is expected, which makes it difficult when you have a strong identity about your sound and you’re not really on the crowd-pleasing side of things. Block9 represents being unapologetically yourself, and I carry that with me everywhere I go, not only behind the decks.”
"Block9 represents being unapologetically yourself" - Mina Galán
Galán’s committed representation of trans culture is a natural fit for Block9’s celebration of the legacy of queer club history. This is especially true of NYC Downlow and its neighbouring backroom spot, The Meat Rack, where the vivid world-building of its set design opens up a portal from the corner of a Somerset field into the gritty urban backdrop of New York’s fabled Meatpacking district – the landscape in which the city’s underground nightlife flourished in clubs like The Mineshaft in the 70s and 80s. It’s only logical that the Block9 team would choose to place a contemporary icon of New York’s queer DJ community like Toribio in the midst of this sincerely sculpted spectacle.
“I didn’t know about Block9 this until this past year,” Toribio admits. “I was playing for Danny Krivit’s party 718 Sessions, at the Knockdown Centre. It’s a disco, it’s gay, it’s older people, it’s that New York style. And I brought it, bro. Like, I did that shit, you know? I finished playing, and some guy named Gideon was like, ‘Hey, I want you to play Glastonbury.’ And then other people told me, ‘Oh yeah, she’s fierce, they do this thing over there, and it’s crazy.”
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Since that first encounter, Toribio drew on the advice of friends and legends like Louie Vega and Justin Strauss, both former Block9 guests who confirmed the legend of the Downlow.
“I know Americans are known for being ignorant,” he jokes, “but I’m purposefully going there with no expectations and just trying to focus on what I can do. I have a lot of bitch tracks I don’t always get the opportunity to play. I’ve been holding down New York for a bit, so I want to really put that shit out there. I want to see how hard I can get, and then how I can reel it back in and bring it soulful, all within an overarching feeling of freedom.”
Suffice it to say, even with an outsider’s perspective, Toribio has picked up on the vibe Downlow and the wider Block9 area stands for, which extends to its politics beyond the queer community. Everyone playing recognises the principled stance Block9 takes, from upholding unwavering solidarity with Palestine to supporting the homeless, as is evident from the annual charity fundraising drive within its spaces.
“Gideon is one of the few DJs with a big platform who is incredibly vocal online,” says EMA. “Especially when it comes to the ongoing genocide in Palestine. I think a lot of punters and artists feel another level of trust and compassion for an event when they know the beliefs of the people in charge and align with them.”
“In the 15 years they’ve been on, Block9 has reshaped Glastonbury’s landscape, growing from a quote-unquote queer refuge to a political and artistic epicentre,” points out Galán. “Their commitment to be an unapologetically queer space makes it fascinating to see how celebrated and iconic their presence in and outside of the festival is, since a lot of pro-queer club nights tend to stay underground and don’t make it in spaces like this.”
With its values nailed firmly to the mast and another long weekend ahead, everything is in place for Block9 to mark yet another seminal session at Glastonbury honouring the origins of dance music culture while showcasing its future.
See the full Block9 programme here
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