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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

Roisin O'Connor
Music Editor
,Ellie Muir
Monday 01 July 2024 17:36 BST
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SZA performs at Glastonbury 2024

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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.

VIDEO: Sugababes perform Ugly at Glastonbury 2024

Sugababes perform Ugly at Glastonbury 2024
Roisin O'Connor30 June 2024 01:31

PJ Harvey review, Glastonbury 2024: Casting herself as a provocative rockabilily re-inventor of old

Performance artist Marina Abramovich, given a brief slot on the Pyramid Stage ahead of PJ Harvey, claims she wants the entire field to engage in seven minutes of silence while she stands onstage dressed as a giant peace symbol because “the world is a really s***** place”.

Bombay Bicycle Club, seeping over from the Other Stage, clearly didn’t get the memo, but the contemplative break also gives Glastonbury pause from Sugababes’ “Round Round” to recalibrate itself to Harvey’s enthralling modern-ancient aesthetic.

As Emily Eavis bangs a gong to mark the end of the silence, Polly Jean seems to rise from the leyline itself dressed as a haunted crow tree, and in these fittingly mystical environs, the latest stage in her career-long, Bowie-esque evolution reaches its immersive conclusion.

PJ Harvey casts herself as a provocative rockabilly re-inventor at Glastonbury

Following Marina Abramovich’s seven-minute silence, the latest stage in the rock artist’s Bowie-esque revolution reaches its immersive conclusion

Roisin O'Connor30 June 2024 02:01

Dua Lipa performs 'Levitating' during Glastonbury headline set

Dua Lipa performs 'Levitating' during Glastonbury headline set
Roisin O'Connor30 June 2024 02:31

The Last Dinner Party review, Glastonbury 2024: Ambitious band deliver a thrilling set on the Other Stage

This is a pivotal set for The Last Dinner Party, on the Other Stage on Saturday afternoon at Glastonbury under a blazing sun. The London-based female five-piece’s rise has been meteoric – 15 months ago I saw them play in a windowless room above a pub in Camden, while last summer they performed in a far-flung tent at breakfast time on the Sunday. And here they are today, playing to a crowd of tens of thousands, with a No 1 album and a Brit Award under their collective belts.

I’d slightly expected their set to be this year’s Fred Again.. moment: a confluence of big crowd energy and beautiful weather during the DJ’s set on the same stage last year made it a fabled “Glastonbury moment” – a weird bit of Somerset alchemy that renders a performance bigger than the sum of its parts. Do The Last Dinner Party achieve this? No. It’s close at times and they brim with confidence. But too often, their set hovers where it could soar.

The Last Dinner Party deliver a thrilling set on the Other Stage at Glastonbury

Relentless touring has honed them into a fine live act, bound together by the considerable prowess, poise and star wattage of frontwoman Abigail Morris

James Hall30 June 2024 03:00

Coldplay review, Glastonbury 2024: Chris Martin and co deliver the spectacle of a lifetime

If archaeologists ever excavate the leyline reputed to flow beneath the Pyramid Stage field, it will likely look like this. A shimmering ocean of 200,000 luminous neon specks, undulating across the vale to the sound of twinkling synth rock.

Tonight’s spectacular preview comes courtesy of the vast array of LED wristbands handed out across the site and waved aloft for 2024’s reluctant record-breakers. As much as Chris Martin copiously thanks “the greatest city on earth” for the chance to play, Glastonbury is lucky to have him.

Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour hits Glastonbury almost three years in, having been through the UK twice already. The band reportedly had to be talked into a record-breaking fifth Glasto headline show that might reasonably be considered overkill. The Elton-rivalling crowd who make the utterly glorious “Viva La Vida” one of the most unifying and celebratory moments ever to emanate from this hallowed stage, though, are very much up for being overkilled.

Coldplay deliver the spectacle of a lifetime at Glastonbury 2024 - review

Band offer up one of the most unifying and celebratory moments ever to emanate from this hallowed stage

Lydia Spencer-Elliott30 June 2024 14:00

How to watch the BBC’s live Glastonbury Festival 2024 coverage

Glastonbury 2024: How to watch the BBC’s live coverage

Broadcaster has unveiled its coverage plan for this year’s festival at Worthy Farm

Lydia Spencer-Elliott30 June 2024 14:30

When is SZA performing on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury and how to watch

This will mark SZA’s debut performance at Glastonbury. The 34-year-old R&B artist, whose real name is Solána Imani Rowe, began her music career in 2011, after co-writing hits including “Consideration” for Rihanna’s 2016 album Anti. SZA will close the festival on Sunday with her performance from 9:30pm-11:15pm. Her set on the Pyramid Stage will follow Janelle Monae from 5:45-6:45om and Burna Boy from 7:30-8:30pm. Country-pop legend Shania Twain will perform that afternoon in this year’s Legends Slot from 3:45-5pm.

When is SZA performing at Glastonbury and how to watch

Everything you need to know about the ‘Kill Bill’ star’s performance

Lydia Spencer-Elliott30 June 2024 15:00

Shania Twain to take on the Pyramid Stage Legends Slot

Hello, it’s the Number One Shania Twain fan here. Obviously I’m gutted not to be on site for the country-pop queen’s long-overdue Legends Slot, but I’m consoling myself with the thought of seeing her at British Summer Time festival in July, instead.

If you are down at Worthy Farm, though, you’re going to have one hell of a time. Twain is the consumate entertainer and has an unmatched catalogue of bangers, from “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” to “That Don’t Impress Me Much” and “Honey, I’m Home”.

My pal Nicole Vassell says there is a LOT of leopard print on site right now, along with plenty of cowboy boots, hats and fringed denim jackets.

Giddy’up!

Roisin O'Connor30 June 2024 15:27

Chris Martin reveals how Michael J Fox helped form band as he joins them at Glastonbury

Chris Martin reveals how Michael J Fox helped form band as he joins them at Glastonbury
Lydia Spencer-Elliott30 June 2024 15:30

Yeehaw! Shania Twain takes to the Pyramid Stage

Shania Twain has attracted an absolutely enormous crowd for her anticipated Legends Slot, and this has to be the campest thing Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage has seen in a good while, I am LIVING for this.

Roisin O'Connor30 June 2024 15:51

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