Glastonbury 2025: A Festival Review

MJ Cole opened the Glade on Thursday evening, revisiting Sincere on the year of its 25^th anniversary. He had a more dynamic set-up than anticipated; rather than just playing from decks he triggered samples and effortlessly improvised beautiful piano interludes in between higher-energy moments. The title track of his Mercury-nominated debut LP impregnated the crowd with a vivacious but relaxed groove. ‘Crazy Love’ inspired a seismic singalong – maybe Tion Wayne and LeoStayTrill sampling it has reinvigorated its vitality. 

Later on Thursday was bullet tooth. Shelling a packed, tiny tent called Babylon Uprising, the success of his Boiler Room set was palpable. We managed to squeeze in after a few minutes of lurking on the edge of the tent. Once inside, the masked DJ’s futurist UK garage made it feel like I had entered a UFO. I felt privileged to see him in such a small venue as large places like Depot Mayfield and the X Room of Drumsheds are sure to become his sole home for the next few years. 

It was an honour to see Burning Spear on Friday. The 80-year-old came out to the majority of onlookers sitting down in the intense early afternoon sun. Although chilled out, the crowd seemed transfixed by the mastery of the reggae legend’s craft, with the lulling power of his music curing thousands of hangovers at once. Denzel Curry’s set maintained energy throughout without sacrificing the sharpness of his signature triplet flows. Although I went for the blown-out 808s of ‘Ultimate’ and ‘HIT THE FLOOR’, the technicality of his spitting impressed the most – every word seemed to be hit with absolute precision, his breath control remarkable. 

Pa Salieu walked onto the Park stage on Saturday in an ensemble of colours that should never work together, but did – he is one of the best dressed UK artists, but rarely gets credit for it. His mix of afrobeats and drill translates excellently live, with the early evening sun caramelising sweeter cuts such as ‘Energy’ and ‘Belly’. Harder ones such as ‘Glidin’, ‘My Family’, and ‘Frontline’ still went off.

Skepta miraculously filled the hole that Deftones left on the Other stage by pulling out, with his team astoundingly putting together a show in four hours. He bookended his set with his two newest tunes; first ‘Cops & Robbers’ with Sammy Virji, and last, ‘Victory Lap’ with Fred Again and PlaqueBoyMax. The latter was a highlight for me, played with a wildly extended intro. When it finally dropped, the filth of Fred’s beat was laid bare. 

The crowd was behemoth. According to some on twitter, there were 100,000 people at Skepta. Although that is hard to verify, Charli XCX’s similar-sized crowd after Skepta’s shows that Glastonbury maybe in a transitional period. There was no one at Neil Young; either Skepta and Charli could have quite easily headlined the Pyramid without any sniffs at the size of their crowds. It feels as though the newer guard has now been cemented as the current legends of today.

Words by Charlie Edmondson