Now the dust has settled on Glastonbury 2024, it’s time to reflect on yet another vintage year at Worthy Farm. Whether it was witnessing the surprise Housemartins reunion that took place when Fatboy Slim joined Paul Heaton on the Pyramid Stage, PJ Harvey’s spellbinding set introduced by performance artist Marina Abramovic, Idles on the Other Stage, Coldplay’s fifth headlining slot, LCD Soundsytem, Janelle Monáe or country pop icon Shania Twain’s turn on the Sunday afternoon ‘legends’ slot, MOJO’s crack team of writers were on the ground witnessing some of the best music the festival had to offer. In case you missed anything over the weekend, you can catch up on all of MOJO’s coverage below…
Squeeze
(The Pyramid Stage, Friday)
Likely lads Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook opened the Pyramid Stage on Friday lunchtime with a copper-bottomed greatest hits set that raised the bar for everything that was to follow. Read MOJO’s full report HERE.
Paul Heaton
(The Pyramid Stage, Friday)
Even if he hadn’t been joined by former bandmate Norman ‘Fatboy Slim’ Cook for a rendition of The Housemartins’ Happy Hour, The Beautiful South leader’s Pyramid Stage heart-stirring set would have been one of the weekend’s highlights. Read MOJO’s full report HERE.
Dexys
(The Park Stage, Friday)
Depleted in numbers since their 80s heyday, Dexys still soared at the Park Stage thanks to a magnificent performance from leader Kevin Rowland. Read MOJO’s full report HERE.
PJ Harvey
(The Pyramid Stage, Friday)
Performance artist Marina Abramovic joined PJ Harvey on Saturday afternoon for a set that mixed activism and art to spellbinding effect. Read MOJO’s full report HERE.
LCD Soundsystem
(The Pyramid Stage, Friday)
Friday night at Glastonbury needs noise, beats and emotional delirium. Thankfully, James Murphy delivered perhaps the greatest party of the entire weekend. Read MOJO’s full report HERE.
IDLES
(The Other Stage, Friday)
Banksy’s small boat artwork which was floated out during their set may have grabbed the headlines, but Idles’ set hurled plenty of politically-charged punk Molotovs all of their own. Read MOJO’s full report HERE.
Fontaines D.C.
(The Park Stage, Friday)
Up the hill from Idles, Dublin’s Fontaines D.C. delivered more post-punk shock and awe, in the process making a strong case to be future festival headliners. Read MOJO’s full report HERE.
Dua Lipa
(The Pyramid Stage, Friday)
Rock purists may have scoffed at the decision to make the Albanian-British singer a Glastonbury main stage headliner. However, with some assistance from Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, Dua Lipa’s modern pop juggernaut stormed the Pyramid Stage. Read MOJO’s full report HERE.
The Last Dinner Party
(The Other Stage, Saturday)
On Saturday afternoon, acclaimed South London newcomers The Last Dinner Party turned out a baroque pop tour de force. Read MOJO’s full report HERE.
Sleaford Mods And Yard Act
(Woodsies, Saturday)
An angry North Midlands bloke sprechgesang double header at Woodies (formerly the John Peel stage) of Yard Act and Sleaford Mods proved to be one of the most inspired festival scheduling moves of recent times. Read MOJO’s full report HERE.
Michael Kiwanuka
(The Pyramid Stage, Saturday)
On stage technical difficulties (sadly something of a running theme this year) couldn’t stop the conscious soul party vibes of Michael Kiwanuka’s Lianne La Havas-assisted set. Read MOJO’s full report HERE.
The Breeders
(The Park Stage, Saturday)
The Deal sisters took to the Park Stage on Saturday to crash through a crowd-delighting, career-spanning set Read MOJO’s full report HERE.
Orbital
(The Park Stage, Saturday)
Actor Tilda Swinton and – perhaps more unexpectedly - Spice Girl Mel C joined the Hartnoll brothers for a set of wall-to-wall classic rave bangers. Read MOJO’s full report HERE.
Coldplay
(The Pyramid Stage, Saturday)
Headlining the festival for the fifth time, Chris Martin and co. went none-more-Glastonbury for this year’s whistles and bells performance. Read MOJO’s full report HERE
James
(The Other Stage, Sunday)
Taking time out from appearing on CBeebies on site, Tim Booth and James brought communal euphoria and beloved 90s hits to the Other Stage. Read MOJO’s full report HERE.
Shania Twain
(The Pyramid Stage, Sunday)
Joining the ranks of Dolly Parton, Barry Gibb and Cat Stevens, country pop icon Shania Twain more than held her own at the coveted Sunday afternoon ‘legends’ slot. Read MOJO’s full report HERE.
Brittany Howard
Taking to West Holts, formerly the Jazz World Stage, former Alabama Shakes frontwoman Brittany Howard delivered the perfect showcase for her sui generis solo trajectory. Read MOJO’s full report HERE.
Janelle Monáe
(The Other Stage, Sunday)
Going up against the football on Sunday evening, Janelle Monáe delivered a futurist retro-soul knock out. Forget Jude Bellingham’s overhead kick, there was only one winner here. Read MOJO’s full report HERE.
Of course, there was plenty more excellent music happening across the weekend, whether in the shape of Lankum's drone-fuelled death ballads at the Park Stage, Fat White Family’s Lias Saoudi proudly keeping the grot rock flag flying at Woodsies (and taking a pop at Idles), The Skatalites and Steel Pulse bringing welcome ska and reggae vibes, The Streets’ Mike Skinner spending more time in the audience than he did on stage, Arooj Aftab, Baxter Dury or Judy Collins in the Acoustic Tent on Sunday, admitting how much she’d fancied Leonard Cohen before singing Cohen’s Suzanne beautifully. We’ll see you all back here next year for all the best writing on the weekend's essential performances.
Picture: Andrew Allcock