Squeeze Are Cool For Cats As Pyramid Stage Openers At Glastonbury 2024

by | Jul 3, 2024

The forecast for the weekend is set to be fair and factor 50 is the must have accessory at Glastonbury Festival 2024. But for Squeeze, Glasto’s very first act on the Pyramid Stage this year, the sun is yet to break through overcast skies. No matter, if anything can bring a sunny disposition to a field in Somerset, it’s Deptford’s finest export after Dire Straits.

Squeeze @ Glastonbury Festival 2024

Squeeze @ Glastonbury Festival 2024 (Kalpesh Patel)
Squeeze @ Glastonbury Festival 2024 (Kalpesh Patel)

The band has had many incarnations over the years, though in the latest (2007) version of Squeeze, the only members from the original lineup are Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook. No disrespect to everyone else, but if you’ve got Difford and Tilbrook, does it really matter? No, not really to be perfectly honest. Would Yes still be Yes is it only had Jon Anderson? The answer is Yes.

The setlist is an unashamed greatest hits compendium perfectly designed for a festival crowd. There’s only one new song – the as yet unreleased One Beautiful Summer, “A song about two people falling in love in a care home”. No worries, it sounds just like the Squeeze of old.

Whilst Generation Z are still sleeping off last night’s late early hours activity at the Lonely Hearts Club, it’s probably fair enough that a band like Squeeze, playing the very first Pyramid Stage slot on Friday have attracted a crowd of a certain age. And being a crowd of a certain age, it takes a while for the hips to move. But with tunes like Take Me I’m Yours, Hourglass, Up The Junction and Slap And Tickle on offer, you can’t help feel that the band deserve more. At least people are moving as God intended by the time the Difford-led Cool For Cats comes along and at set closer Black Coffee In Bed, everybody is in full swing.

One slight disappointment is a stripped-back rendition of 1981 hit Tempted that teases to take off throughout, but with the full band only coming in at the very end to give it that lift. “You’ve made an old man cry” says Chris Difford shortly before leaving the stage. Having just seen a brilliant replication of the band’s heyday; as the audience disperses from the Pyramid Stage field, he might not have been the only person with a bit of grit in the eye.

Review of Squeeze at Glastonbury Festival 2024 by Simon Reed photos by Kalpesh Patel

The Last Dinner Party Bring Their Feminine Urge To The Other Stage At Glastonbury 2024

The Avett Brothers + Mike Patton (Crackerfarm)

The Avett Brothers Team Up With Mike Patton For Surprise Album As AVTT/PTTN

In one of the year’s most unexpected and electrifying collaborations, The Avett Brothers have joined forces with Mike...
She Made Me Do It (Myura Amara)

She Made Me Do It Return With ‘Pulverised’ EP

London-based post-punk electro-rock trio She Made Me Do It have announced the release of their brand-new EP...
GeeJay (Phoebe Nightingale)

GeeJay Share New Track ‘Murder’ And Announce Biggest Headline Show To Date

North London soul-pop duo GeeJay have unveiled their brand new track Murder and announced details of their biggest...
YES (Gottlieb Bros.)

YES Announce 2026 UK Tour Celebrating ‘Fragile’

Progressive rock legends YES have announced their return to the UK with a nine-date tour in spring 2026, following the...
Hannah McFarland (Chris Ashlee)

“It Has Been a Whirlwind” — But Hannah McFarland Is Just Getting Started

Alabama country singer Hannah McFarland has barely had a chance to catch her breath. Since releasing her Broken Hearts EP in February, her career has skyrocketed with opportunities she once only dreamed of.

Lewis Capaldi @ Glastonbury Festival 2023 (Kalpesh Patel)

BST Hyde Park 2026 Kicks Off With Garth Brooks And Lewis Capaldi As First Headliners

BST Hyde Park has announced the first two headliners for its 2026 edition, setting the stage for another blockbuster...
Blondshell @ Electric Brixton (Kalpesh Patel)

Blondshell Brings Electric Brixton To Boil On First Night Of London Double-Header

Sabrina Teitelbaum — better known as Blondshell — has built her reputation on raw honesty and songs that cut deep, and...
Ash @ Scala (Kalpesh Patel)

Ash Light Up Scala & Celebrate Ad Astra With Career-Spanning Set And Graham Coxon Collaboration

There was a palpable sense of anticipation outside North London venue Scala on Wednesday night as Ash returned for the...

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This

Share Thing