09.07.24
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From grime classics and 00s pop-punk nostalgia to a rock’n’roll coming-of-age show, a halcyon disco era celebration and Charli xcx’s locked-off Partygirl rave, look back on all the best sets from Glastonbury 2024.

This year was a reminder that Glastonbury is a fluid, ever-evolving space and no festival is like the last. Two brand new stages in The Park – femme-queer venue Scissors and the Wishing Well – proved to be fresh, late-night favourites, while electronic music area Silver Hayes saw a revamp with a shiny new nightclub Assembly, NYC Downlow threw a brand new day party, and Arrivals debuted as the festival’s first-ever dedicated South Asian space. 

With over 100 stages, featuring everything ranging from stadium-worthy k-pop to solo acoustic folk, blaring techno and quality cabaret performances, rounding up such a diverse festival – and thousands of individual, very personal experiences – could feel like a folly exercise. But now that the dust has settled, among the magic there were some very notable Crack highlights worth reflecting on. Here are five key performances from Glastonbury 2024.

Charli xcx Presents Partygirl

There was only one album name on everyone’s lips, flags, t-shirts and Instagram captions over Glastonbury weekend. “Who’s having a Brat summer?” Charli xcx shouted into the microphone at the start of her Partygirl DJ set at The Levels stage in Silver Hayes on Friday night. Many decided to skip the main stage headliners to queue early for the 7,000-cap outdoor venue. It didn’t disappoint. Charli brought out fellow pop princess Robyn to dance on stage with her to Dancing On My Own while Shygirl, Romy, Easyfun and George Daniel also got behind the decks.

Although billed as a DJ set, Charli still played several tracks from Brat, including 365, Club Classics and Everything is Romantic, occasionally singing along to her own tracks and, most importantly, looking like she was having the time of her life – an energy that translated to the crowd. The set was sweaty, euphoric and full of personality. If Brat is an ode to non-stop partying, then this was the perfect start to the festival’s first big night.

Fontaines D.C.

As darkness fell on the Park Stage on Friday night, its biggest crowd of the weekend assembled, stretching from the pit to the area’s ribbon tower. Beginning at 11pm – a notably late slot for the night’s headliners – Irish band of the moment and Crack Magazine June cover stars Fontaines D.C. took to the stage, opening with a raucous rendition of the titular track from their upcoming, much anticipated album Romance. There was little chatter as the band swaggered through a mixture of new, unheard tracks, while tweaking older favourites to fit their soaring, psychedelic current sound. All sleazy guitars and moody vocals, by the time they reached their closer and Romance lead single Starbuster, the whole crowd bore testament to their status as the new leading vanguards of rock’n’roll. 

François K

With the sun shining bright on Saturday, a small, committed section of the festival chose to spend their Saturday in the dark depths of Block9’s queer club NYC Downlow, which was putting on its first-ever day party. Headlining the bill was the legendary François K, who first began DJing and moving dancefloors in formative New York LGBTQ+ venues Paradise Garage and Studio 54 in the late 70s, bringing a slice of that rarefied energy to the South East Corner. By the time he took to the decks in the late afternoon, the venue’s main room was packed out, sweaty and fully moving. His set – full of old school disco grooves and chunky house cuts – was topped off with a surprise, jaw-opening appearance from Cyndi Lauper, currently in the midst of her farewell tour. Surrounded by an armada of drag queens, she performed a hand-raising, entirely fitting rendition of Girls Just Want to Have Fun, before addressing the crowd: “We are all somebody’s family; we are a community.”

Ghetts

Since bursting out of Newham in the mid-00s as one of grime’s most distinctive voices, over the past few years and albums Ghetts has come to transcend the genre that he is historically associated with. His Sunday evening set at The Park – featuring a fully balaclava’d live band interpreting his forward-thinking instrumentals and backing his politically barbed lyricism – was testament to the singular space he is occupying in UK rap right now. Delivered with an unflinchingly assured stage presence, there was also a feast of feature appearances, with Kano and Wretch 32 helping him on their collaborative track Mount Rushmore, while Sampha and Shakka also took to the stage. A ravey middle section saw Ghetts medley through some old grime classics, before closing with Moonchild Sanelly alongside him, as they performed jumped-up renditions of Laps and Mozambique.

Avril Lavigne

With Sugababes packing out West Holts on Friday, this year’s Glastonbury proved the undying pull of 00s pop nostalgia. Nowhere was this more evident than at Avril Lavigne’s Sunday evening set at the Other Stage. The space was so packed – at points worryingly so – that some of the crowd had to stand between tents or by the food vans, but the euphoric energy was palpable. It was the first time the erstwhile pop punk princess had played the festival and, for many, the first chance to see era-defining songs like Sk8er Boi and Complicated played live.

Lavigne kicked off the set with a bratty rendition of Girlfriend before launching straight into another mid-career banger, What The Hell. She ran through hit after hit as the audience sang along in unison to every word. An audible “aww” emitted from the crowd at the opening chords of I’m With You, the heartrending power ballad from her 2002 debut, Let Go. When she asked who bought a copy of that album – most likely in CD format – the crowd erupted into cheers. By the time she played 2013’s Here’s to Never Growing Up, it felt particularly apt. As Sk8er Boi closed out the set, many of Sunday evening’s hoarse voices would have been lost completely.