Kara Jackson @ Glastonbury Festival 2024
11:45: Jamie Webster Brings Out The Political Big Guns
The sun was out for Saturday at Glastonbury Festival 2024 and while British actor and musician Johnny Flynn started the music over on The Park Stage at 11:10am, it was Liverpool-hailing singer-songwriter Jamie Webster who brought the tunes and political angst to The Other Stage. Following his Left Field stage appearance at the festival’s 2022 edition, this upgrade was more than welcome and the shades-sporting former electrician brought the energy to his set, kicking off with Voice Of The Voiceless from this year’s 10 For The People LP, he brought our the big guns for Fickle Fran from the same record as singer-songwriter, political activist and Glastonbury mainstay Billy Bragg joined him on stage.
12:45: Kara Jackson Brings The Chill To The Park
With so much great music kicking off all over the site, and with many festival-goers now three-days into their experience, it can often be a challenge to drag folks up to The Park area early doors. And unfortunately, a low turnout is what met American musician and poet Kara Jackson for her early afternoon, sun-soaked set. Her dulcet tones rang out over the field as she made her way through a gorgeous 45-minute set of tracks from across 2019 EP A Song for Every Chamber Of The Heart and last year’s incredible debut LP Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love?
13:00: The Staves Bring Out Flyte In Anticipation Of Shania Twain
Formerly three, the remaining two Staveley-Taylor sisters Jessica and Camilla have been re-working their signature harmonies into The Staves that greeted a filling Other Stage field. Their brand of indie-folk the perfect antidote to any remaining sore heads from a banging Friday. The Watford-hailing sisters treated us to a fabulous 45 minutes of vocal harmony-filled songs from across their four LPs, kicking off with Good Woman cut Failure but forgoing their collab White Roses with London duo Flyte, but instead welcoming the lads to the massive stage for an outing of Shania Twain classing You’re Still The One in high anticipation of the Country Music star’s “Legends” slot the following day. Ahhhh.
14:30: Cyndi Lauper Brings Her Wackiness To The Pyramid Stage
“Glastonbury! I see you, I love you, you are everywhere” Cyndi Lauper hollers to the packed out Pyramid field as her band launch into The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough, the tune from 1980s classic film The Goonies. And she’s immediately hit by sound issues as she chaotically moves about the vast stage, walking up to the platforms at the far ends of the stage, fiddling with her in-ear monitors while her vocals attempt to both catch up with the advancing music and hit those high notes (which they unfortunately can’t). “Just in case you were worried” she says “or if you were wondering if I was still a wanker” she continues oddly after an awkward pause, before counting the band down into 1984 hit She-Bop. Synths kick off 2008’s Into The Nightlife which, alongside Rocking Chair, offer unwelcome newer cuts before the classics are shared by way of I Drove All Night, Time After Time, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and True Colors.
15:45: Nothing Matters For The Last Dinner Party’s Glorious Performance
2000s pop-rockers Keane might well have dominated The Pyramid stage while Corinne Baily Rae took over West Holts at 4pm, but it was The Last Dinner Party that drew a massive crowd for a masterclass in rock performance as the Baroque rock troupe, upgraded from an opening slot at Woodsies last year, brought their debut LP in all its glory to Glastonbury. Instrumental album title track Prelude To Ecstasy welcomed the all-female five-piece and their touring drummer to the stage before launching into Burn Alive. Crowd interaction and swirling drama school-esque performances from frontwoman Abigail Morris accent the music, which was really the star of the show here. Storming singles Caesar On A TV Screen, Sinner and the Catholic school inspired My Lady Of Mercy are highlights while Second Best and The Killer offered a sneak peek into wondrous things to come. But it was the not so radio friendly rendition of hit single Nothing Matters that had the Other Stage crowd singing loudly along.
17:45: Michael Kiwanuka Battles Through Technical Issues For A Rousing Set
London-hailing Mercury Music Prize-winning singer-songwriter Michael Kiwanuka last appeared at Glastonbury to play the sunset slot on The Park Stage back in 2019, ahead of the release of his third and still most recent self-titled album. And so to return this year to stun an expectant Pyramid Stage audience to quiet with a good airing of material from across his three LPs was something more than special. And it is that third LP that made up the bulk of his 2024 performance, donning an acoustic guitar and kicking off with the soulful Hard To Say Goodbye, it’s the perfect pairing for the lowering sun and gentle breeze. Love & Hate cut Rule The World saw the 37-year-old bring out fellow Mercury Prize nominee Lianne La Havas while the glorious Cold Little Heart and Love & Hate closed out his magical set. Many, of course, have flocked to a rammed Woodsies as not so secret act Kasabian filled in the TBA slot. Might the now Sergio Pizzorno-led rock quartet be a Glastonbury headliner next year?
18:45: Ice Lollies Cool As Camila Cabello Ups The Tempo
Cuban-American former Fifth Harmony singer Camila Cabello lit up The Other Stage with her highly choreographed pop show, which kicked off with a multitude of dancers dressed in cyberdog-style boiler suits, masking their faces, but each holding a microphone to their snouts and leaving the audience guessing which of them was the singer for the whole of first song I LUV IT, pulled from her this year’s C,XOXO record. And if we were sweating in the crowd in our shorts and t-shirts, I can imagine that those on stage were keen to shed their suits! And so they did across follow-ups Shameless and Pharrell Williams cover Sangria Wine, finally unmasking which of those on stage was the real Camila. And that’s where the orange ice lollies come in, Cabello’s dancers provocatively running the cold treats across her body to cool her down, ohh la la! New Zealand-born, Australia-hailing Hollywood star Russell Crowe, meanwhile, packed out the Acoustic Stage tent far beyond it’s intended capacity as he brought his Indoor Garden Party to the festival at 6:30pm.
21:45: Glastonbury “House Band” Coldplay Deliver The Goods
Many a meme may have been produced following British group Coldplay’s last Glastonbury Festival appearance back in 2016, with frontman Chris Martin making multiple “guest” appearances throughout the weekend as the band headlined for a fourth time. So when they were announced to be headlining in 2024 for the fifth time, the first act to ever do so, there was many a groan. But this year Martin held it in, only appearing with his band during their slot. And while many may well have shared there annoyance at Coldplay headlining the festival yet again, it didn’t stop the estimated 110,000 illuminating Xyloband-wearing festival-goers cramming into the Pyramid Field for what truly was a masterclass in festival performance, that’s just 10,000 fewer than the estimated largest crowd ever for last year’s Elton John set! Opening with early hit Yellow, and illuminating the field that colour (perhaps not all the way to the back!) they quickly rattled through hit after hit from across their massive, chart-topping nine (soon to be ten) LPs. Spanish-American star Victoria Canal was the first of many special guests to appear, joining the four piece for Mylo Xyloto hit Paradise. And then it was star after star, Little Simz joining them for a live debut of new tune We Pray, Femi Kuti for Everyday Life cut Arabesque and Laura Mvula joining them to air 2008 hit Violet Hill. But the real treat of the night was Hollywood actor and Parkinson’s Disease activist and early onset sufferer Micheal J. Fox joining Coldplay on stage on guitar for Humankind and 2005 hit Fix You, the actor’s famous guitar-playing role in hit 1985 film Back To The Future an inspiration for many of Martin’s generation (alongside the likes of Muse frontman Matt Bellamy) to pick up a guitar in the first place. With lasers and fireworks lighting up the Somerset sky throughout as flame throwers fired above the stage’s flanking screens, this was a feast for the senses delivered superbly by Glastonbury’s rightfully dubbed “house band”.
Photography at Glastonbury Festival 2024 by Kalpesh Patel. Photography of Little Simz and Coldplay by John Hayhurst.
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