Glastonbury Pageant, Kneecap, Pulp, CA7RIEL y Paco Amoroso
Glastonbury Pageant 2025, Worthy Farm, Pilton, Somerset, UK, June 25-29, 2025,
Jul 03, 2025
Images by Luciana Cacciatore
Net Unique
The place Sound Meets Assertion: Glastonbury’s Unforgettable Weekend
The BBC iPlayer has been on my residing‑room TV since I acquired again on Monday night. It’s my method of dealing with the put up‑Glasto blues and with the truth that it’ll be over 700 days earlier than I get to return. However I do surprise: how lengthy will the BBC preserve streaming Glastonbury dwell? I’m glad I noticed Bob Vylan’s set in individual (and shot it from the pit) as a result of it’s nowhere to be discovered on iPlayer now.
Politics has all the time had a spot at Glastonbury. In spite of everything, Left Subject has hosted debate since 2000, and in recent times the pageant has welcomed Jeremy Corbyn, Greta Thunberg and an Extinction Insurrection procession. Solely three years in the past the weekend opened with a video from Volodymyr Zelensky.
So it was no shock that this yr, within the shadow of the continuing genocide in Gaza, political statements got here thick and quick. However the backlash from media and establishments appears to mirror not simply the sensitivity of the present second, however how far more scrutinised political speech has turn out to be.
“Free Palestine” chants have been heard throughout Worthy Farm all weekend, led by CMAT, Black Nation, New Street, Turnstile, The Libertines, Bob Vylan, Kneecap and extra. Palestinian flags flew at each stage, at each present, much more than final yr, simply as I’d anticipated.
Kneecap had been on the centre of controversy since their Coachella set, the place they displayed a pro-Palestine message that led a number of politicians, together with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, to name for Glastonbury to drop them from the lineup. As an alternative, the Irish trio doubled down. Throughout their West Holts set on Saturday afternoon (so busy that entry was closed half an hour earlier than it began) they requested the group to chant “Fuck Keir Starmer” a number of occasions.
The efficiency was explosive, bouncing, sweaty, relentless and brutally political. Liam O’Hanna, who appeared in court docket the week earlier than on terrorism-related costs, addressed the viewers: “The scenario will be fairly fucking irritating for us at occasions, however the stress that we’re feeling is minimal in comparison with what the Palestinian persons are going by each fucking day.” Later within the set they added: “The Palestinians have nowhere to fucking go, actually. Not solely are they being bombed from the fucking skies, they’re now being starved to demise. Youngsters being starved to fucking demise this present day. I don’t must lecture you folks. We’re all watching it. All of us have a cellphone. Israel are conflict criminals. It’s a fucking genocide.”
Searching on the sea of Palestinian flags, they shouted: “I can see the quantity of Palestinian flags right here, and it’s fucking insane. The BBC editor goes to have some job.” Though their set wasn’t broadcast dwell, it was later made accessible on demand after passing by the BBC’s editorial filter.
Earlier than Kneecap took over West Holts, London duo Bob Vylan delivered one of the vital charged performances of the weekend. Uncooked, loud, quick, and fearless, with Bob’s teenage daughter becoming a member of onstage to sing with him. In my Glastonbury preview, I mentioned I anticipated them to talk out politically. I wasn’t incorrect. Their refrain, “Dying, demise to the IDF (Israel Protection Forces)” rapidly turned essentially the most controversial second of the pageant. Glastonbury organisers responded with an announcement saying they have been “appalled” by the feedback. The backlash didn’t finish there: a police investigation was launched, their set was pulled from the BBC iPlayer, their agent dropped them, their U.S. visas have been revoked (forcing them to cancel their tour), and so they have been faraway from pageant lineups in Manchester and France.
A special model of concern got here from Australia. Amyl & The Sniffers delivered a high-energy, punk-charged set, but additionally took a second to talk to the group on the Different Stage. Frontwoman Amy Taylor known as it “such a fucking loopy time to be alive,” criticising politicians on each the left and proper who, in her phrases, “imagine in nothing.” She spoke about Palestine, calling out governments, each in Australia and the UK, for “doing jack shit.” She went on to query the failures of the schooling and media techniques, saying we aren’t taught the reality about colonisation or given correct intercourse schooling. Her message linked international struggles, suggesting that fascinated with Palestine additionally forces Australians to reckon with their very own historical past: “Us whities… we’re the fucking colonisers, and that’s so disgusting… however that’s the reality.”
Away from the flashpoints, pure musical pleasure arrived with CA7RIEL y Paco Amoroso who delivered a double invoice on Friday. Their West Holts slot was an ideal match for his or her genre-blending sound, whereas their late-night set on the reinvented Shangri-La introduced their irreverent lyrics and dancing tunes to the occasion crowd. Two greatest mates, schoolmates, and now Latin America’s most fun dwell act taking on the world on their very own phrases.
Nostalgia dominated different components of the farm. Supergrass kicked off the Pyramid Stage with a full-circle celebration of I Ought to Coco’s thirtieth anniversary. Alanis Morissette’s emotional set had each ’90s child shouting alongside. Rod Stewart took over the Sunday legendary slot with three costume adjustments, a flawless backing band, and shock friends Lulu and Ronnie Wooden. Even Rod acquired political, dedicating Love Prepare to Ukraine: “There’s been lots in regards to the Center East lately, fairly rightly so, however I need to draw your consideration to Ukraine within the subsequent track.”
Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos advised me outdoors the press tent that it was his first time again at Glastonbury since 2015 with FFS. “It’s good to be again. I really like Glastonbury. It’s not like every other pageant. It’s a really explicit, distinctive ambiance.” His first Glasto? “After I was 18, I drove down from Aberdeen and had a good time.”
The message of solidarity continued with Nadine Shah, who closed her set with voice notes from Palestinian kids and an open letter calling on the UK authorities to cease arming Israel. “The true menace to the lifetime of the nation comes not from Palestine Motion,” she learn, “however from the House Secretary’s efforts to ban it.”
Elsewhere, the Terminal 1 set up, now in its second yr, supplied a harsh, theatrical expertise of contemporary border politics. Guests entered by a reproduction airport terminal constructed from salvaged Heathrow T1 components, confronted by an intimidating “immigration officer” and safety checks meant to mirror the lived expertise of migrants. Its message was blunt: “No human is illegitimate.”
Different shock acts included Lorde, who debuted her new album Friday morning at Woodsies; Lewis Capaldi, returning to the farm after two years; and HAIM, who introduced down The Park on Saturday evening.
The Prodigy closed the Different Stage on Sunday night with a high-energy set devoted to “our brother” Keith Flint. The sound was so highly effective, I’m fairly certain I ended the evening with everlasting earring harm.
I’ll admit it: I used to be sceptical about Olivia Rodrigo headlining. However she proved me incorrect. With a high-energy, all-female band behind her, Olivia ran, jumped, kicked, performed guitar and piano, and headbanged her hair by a magnetic set. At 21:45 on Sunday, she hit the Pyramid Stage and owned it for 90 minutes. Olivia had the actual greatest saved secret of Glasto this yr: Robert Smith. Collectively they carried out two The Treatment classics, Friday I’m In Love and Simply Like Heaven, each enjoying guitar aspect by aspect. Rodrigo then continued with a couple of extra songs earlier than fireworks exploded over the Pyramid Stage to shut Glastonbury 2025.
Luciana Cacciatore