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

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

Emily Armstrong of Linkin Park @ Download Festival XXIII (Neil Lupin)

Sunday In Photos At Download Festival XXIII

Three days of dust, riffs and relentless energy all led to Download Festival XXIII’s final chapter. Sunday offered one last opportunity for Donington to empty the tank, bringing together rising stars, legendary names and one of the most anticipated headline performances in the festival’s history. From emotional singalongs and crushing metal to triumphant returns and a crowning headline set, Download’s closing day delivered unforgettable moments from start to finish.

Behemoth @ Download Festival XXIII (Neil Lupin)

Saturday In Photos At Download Festival XXIII

After Friday’s celebrations had finally subsided, Saturday arrived with heavier riffs, glorious sunshine, bigger crowds and one of the most diverse days Download Festival XXIII had to offer. From early-morning punk rock and breakout British talent to black metal spectacle, metalcore mastery and one of rock’s most iconic names closing the night, Donington once again proved why no two Download days ever feel the same.

Friday In Photos At Download Festival XXIII

The rain clouds that had threatened Donington throughout the week finally gave way to sunshine as Download Festival XXIII burst into life. With expanded stages, one of the festival’s biggest crowds in years and a Friday bill built around celebration, nostalgia and outright chaos, the opening day delivered everything from rap-rock anthems and progressive metal masterclasses to dancefloor mayhem and a long-awaited headline triumph.

MacDeMarco @ O2 Academy Brixton (ShotByBrodie)

Not For The First Time Mac DeMarco Is Freaking Out The Neighbourhood At London’s O2 Academy Brixton

On a glorious summer evening in South London, for a third consecutive sold out night, Mac DeMarco brought his unrivaled laid back slacker rock to the London’s O2 Academy Brixton.

Julia Jacklin Announces New Album ‘The Gem’ And Shares Heartfelt New Single ‘Get Away From Me (I Think I’ll Love You Soon)’

Australian singer-songwriter Julia Jacklin has announced her eagerly anticipated fourth studio album, The Gem, set for release on 25th September via 4AD. Marking her first release for the iconic independent label, the album is introduced by the charming and emotionally complex new single, Get Away From Me (I Think I’ll Love You Soon), available now alongside a self-directed video.

Dogstar Deliver Substance Over Celebrity At Camden’s Roundhouse

For a band whose bassist happens to be one of the most recognisable actors on the planet, Dogstar seem remarkably uninterested in making a fuss. That doesn’t mean the fuss isn’t there.

Matt Bellamy of Muse @ The O2 (Kalpesh Patel)

Muse Announce Supermassive European Arena Tour Including Four Huge UK Arena Shows

Muse have officially unveiled details of their newly announced The Wow! Signal Europa Tour, a major European arena run that will see the Devon trio return to some of the continent’s biggest stages later this year in support of their forthcoming tenth studio album, The Wow! Signal.

HIGHSOCIETY & Micah Martin Ignite The Rocktronic Underground With Explosive New Single ‘Tomorrow’s Over’

The boundary between electronic music and modern metal continues to blur, and few artists are pushing that evolution harder than HIGHSOCIETY and Micah Martin. The two genre-defying innovators have reunited for their latest collaborative single, Tomorrow’s Over, a ferocious rocktronic anthem that fuses crushing riffs, festival-sized electronic production and emotionally charged songwriting into one explosive package.