Glastonbury 2024: SZA closes festival amid technical issues as attendees face huge queues to leave site
Glastonbury draws to a close after performances from Coldplay, Dua Lipa, Sugababes, Janelle Monae and Burna Boy
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R&B artist SZA closed Glastonbury Festival 2024, after Shania Twain took on the coveted Legends Slot.
The Grammy-winning star appeared to have a much smaller audience than earlier headliners Coldplay and Dua Lipa, as revellers rushed home to beat traffic and amid four other major stage clashes.
Earlier, pop-punk singer Avril Lavigne tore up the Other Stage with a set comprising hits such as “Sk8r Boi” and “My Happy Ending”, while Shania Twain suffered with sound issues on the Legends Slot.
On Saturday night, rock band Coldplay headlined the Pyramid Stage for a record-breaking fifth time, after pop star Dua Lipa dazzled the crowds on Friday (28 June).
In a career-spanning set, the band performed a number of their biggest hits including “Yellow” and “Clocks”, while also bringing out a number of surprise guests including rapper Little Simz, singer Laura Mvula, and Back to the Future star Michael J Fox.
Little Simz performs at Glastonbury 2024
Shania Twain having sound issues?
Damn, Shania seems to be having similar issues to Cyndi Lauper on the Saturday... she’s about a beat out of time with the band for much of the time? She’s an absolute pro, so she’s not letting it show, but there’s been some fiddling with her in-ears and mic pack for the first bit of the set.
Shania Twain at Glastonbury: Country star’s Legends Slot draws complaints over ‘sound issues’
Shania Twain’s Legends Slot at Glastonbury draws complaints over ‘sound issues’
Country-pop queen’s set was the subject of complaints on social media as she performed on the Pyramid Stage
Shania Twain opens Glastonbury Legends Slot with classic hit as security guards dance along
What BBC viewers are saying about Shania
“I think it’s a technical / sound issue ... she’s constantly fiddling with her in ear and even the speaking sounds off and cutting out,” one fan suggested. “Poor Shania, maybe a wired microphone would be better. Surely they could swap it out.”
Other fans defended the “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” singer, pointing out that she still managed to entertain the thousands of people gathered at the Pyramid Stage.
“What a fantastic artist,” one fan wrote, while another praised her backing dancers and band.
Twain has sold over 100 million records, making her one of the biggest-selling artists of all time.
Shania Twain’s Legends Slot at Glastonbury draws complaints over ‘sound issues’
Country-pop queen’s set was the subject of complaints on social media as she performed on the Pyramid Stage
Shania Twain review, Glastonbury Festival 2024: Euphoric Legends set of relentless hits overcomes sound issues
The Canadian country star brings a healthy splash of theatricality to soothe the Sunday hangovers, sunburn and physical exhaustion.
Read Louis Chilton’s four-star review:
Shania Twain overcomes sound issues with a euphoric Glastonbury performance - review
Canadian country star brings a healthy splash of theatricality to soothe the Sunday hangovers, sunburn and physical exhaustion
Little Simz and Burna Boy join Coldplay for Glastonbury performance
Glastonbury revellers tune into England v Slovakia game
Our Head of Culture and Lifestyle, Patrick Smith, just sent me this image from Worthy Farm of revellers gathered around a screen playing the England v Slovakia game.
Organisers announced last month that they wouldn’t be showing the match, to the despair of thousands of football fans who’d already bought their Glastonbury tickets.
Obviously, some intrepid folk have managed to get around that, either by bringing their own TV screens or managing to get some semblance of Wi-Fi or 4G on site.
Dua Lipa review, Glastonbury 2024: More than mere pop spectacle
Dua Lipa saw it coming. The fireworks and flags and pulsing purple lights, the teenagers on tiptoes scowling at strange adults as they fling their arms in the air like money. When she was a girl, the 28-year-old born to Albanian-Kosovan parents, tells us midway into her debut Glastonbury headline show, she wrote it down – “I will headline Glastonbury” – manifesting the sleeper hits and critical acclaim and now routine awards and No 1s that made this moment inevitable.
“I was really specific,” she adds after a shy laugh. “I said I wanted to headline the Pyramid Stage on a Friday night, because then I knew I could party for the next two days.” Her voice cracks as she describes the magic – “the power” – of commanding this seemingly infinite crowd. “Little me would just be beside herself right now.”
The growing Dua Lipa empire – now encompassing an acting career, a book club, a burgeoning media platform and a podcast featuring giants of high and low culture – shows no signs of slowing, particularly now she has bought back the rights to her music catalogue. Yet behind the cultural dominance, Dua Lipa is as enigmatic as she is ubiquitous. Her arrestingly vague persona (along, perhaps, with her admirable support for geopolitical causes) has stopped her transcending bankable fame to become a true nation’s sweetheart.
Full review:
Dua Lipa review, Glastonbury 2024: More than mere pop spectacle
Though the performance is tightly drilled – even the confetti deployment seems studied – passion rings through in moments of cheeky theatricality
From Palestine to Gail Platt - The flags of Glastonbury 2024
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