Sarina Maloy
The last weekend in June: A sweltering heatwave with highs of 35 degrees in the South of England, and Glastonbury festival — the biggest music festival in the country.
Glastonbury 2025
I spent most of this Glastonbury weekend in front of my TV broadcasting acts live on BBC iPlayer, grappling with my own crippling jealousy and fear of missing out.
I’ve been to two Glastonbury fests in my life – 2022 and 2023 – and narrowly missed out on a spot this year. Pilton Farm is a mere 30 minutes from my home.
The festival, despite the cynical views of some critics, just seems to dazzle more with each year that passes. This year’s line-up proved to be no exception to this pattern.
The headliners: The 1975, Neil Young, Olivia Rodrigo
I am, admittedly, biased when it comes to writing about all three of these headliners. My music taste is famously eclectic, so this trio delighted me.
It is a notoriously followed formula of Glastonbury in recent years to include an intentionally diverse group of headliners, like the triple whammy of Billie Eilish, Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar in 2022.
This year was no different: there was something for the indie-heads (The 1975); for the predominantly older rockers (Neil Young); and for the younger festival-goers, particularly the young women (Olivia Rodrigo).
Perhaps it was as a result of personal stamina, or the infection of a distinct type of ‘Glastonbury magic’ in each act, but all were on top form.
The 1975 are a band I often cite as a favourite, and have gained a reputation from 2022 as being performance artists – particularly their lead singer, the polarising Matty Healy.
I have witnessed him climb through a broken TV, drink whiskey, watch Andrew Tate and eat raw steak on stage. Thus, it was a surprise to me to see him play it relatively safe.
The band clearly have their finger on the pulse: they know that a Glastonbury headlining slot is the time to perform a greatest hits set. That, they did.
The band spent approximately £800,000 on staging, performing a knock-out set including Healy somberly singing ‘Somebody Else’ in a car, and frequently moving using a conveyor belt – a staple of classic 1975 shows.
When they finish with ‘About You’, Matty collapses into tears on his knees. Though it is often hard to distinguish Matty Healy the character from Matty Healy the man (a difficulty that Healy himself perpetuates), you cannot help but feel touched by the Manchester band’s ‘we made it’ moment.
Unlike The 1975’s approach, Young doesn’t work to please the crowd — the crowd are pleased entirely on their own accord.
Neil Young’s set was one I did not catch live, as I was not expecting to – the 79-year-old legend initially chose not to have it streamed on the BBC, only changing his mind last minute. But, when I got around to watching it, I was delighted.
Unlike The 1975’s approach, Young doesn’t work to please the crowd – the crowd are pleased entirely on their own accord.
A highlight for me was his rendition of ‘Like a Hurricane’ (my favourite Young song), an epic, 8-minute rock triumph, with some of the best lyrics of Young’s career…and, of course, the victory lap of an encore that was ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’.
Though I thoroughly enjoyed every headline act this year, Rodrigo – this year’s youngest headliner – perhaps delivered the most potent set of the weekend.
Clad in a white outfit – half tutu and half dress – she commanded the most vocal crowd of the weekend, which is quite insane for a 22-year-old musician with two released albums.
The audience seemed to know every word to every song, even deluxe tracks, like the show’s opener, ‘obsessed’, from her sophomore record, ‘GUTS’. If Rodrigo was nervous, she hardly let it show.
From caustic guitar solos, to inside jokes about British culture, to a guest appearance from The Cure’s Robert Smith (a shared musical hero for Rodrigo and I), the set was both full of heart and full of showmanship. It was a complete triumph.
Other Stand-out Sets: Pulp and CMAT
Disguised as ‘Patchwork’, Pulp performed an hour-long secret set to a staggeringly large audience at the Pyramid Stage on Saturday evening.
Rows of people in ponchos disguised the band as they got situated, and then emerged Jarvis Cocker – a lanky, unmistakable figure – a Glastonbury legend, the phrase ‘PULP SUMMER’ appearing on the screen behind him.
Cocker is a singular artist who has the crowd wrapped around his finger in no time (myself at home included – I once saw Cocker speak at Glastonbury, which felt surreal, as he is my iPhone lockscreen).
He spent the hour belting out both classic and new Pulp efforts, strutting around the stage with a wired microphone, moving like a marionette.
As the red arrows flew over the Pyramid Stage during a rapturous performance of ‘Common People’, it was clear that Pulp had won the weekend.
[CMAT] felt less like a glossy celebrity on a stage and more like an expertly dispositioned friend of the crowd, even venturing into the pit to dance.
If it was not already clear that CMAT is bound to be a superstar, her Glastonbury set sealed the deal. Whilst watching, you are blinded not just by her musical talent, but by her charisma.
She is coy and hilarious, apologising half-heartedly to TV chef Jamie Oliver before singing ‘The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station’, which includes lyrics like “I was at the Jamie Oliver Petrol Station / I needed Deli but God, I hate him”.
At one point, she berates body shaming critics by stripping out of her dress and into a leotard, tights and boots before launching into ‘Take a Sexy Picture of Me’.
Audience members, who varied in age and awareness of CMAT’s artistry, all left with the same thought: that they had just watched something special.
She felt less like a glossy celebrity on a stage and more like an expertly dispositioned friend of the crowd, even venturing into the pit to dance.
Final Thoughts
I will surely never forget this year’s Glastonbury. Even if I did all of my watching this year next to my living room fan, I felt almost as immersed as if I’d have been there corporeally. Bring on 2026!
