The 1975, Biffy Clyro, CMAT and more: all the action from Friday at Glastonbury 2025

When Matty Healy says - half an hour into their stint headlining the Pyramid Stage tonight - that he finds it hard to be sincere, it’s easy to believe; but then again, it’s not. A frontman who seems to delight in toying with the line between artifice and authenticity, that resolve is out in full force this evening: for anyone who thought The 1975 might put on a straight-forward rock show for their turn topping the Glastonbury bill, you’d be wrong.

Instead - for their first live show in over a year - what follows is a meandering journey through their back catalogue’s loftiest highs and most reflective, self-aware moments, all backed by a dazzling display of hefty screens, lights and runways. In a clever twist, Healy’s lyrics are put front and centre in various ways: the dark lilt of ‘Paris’ sees its words float across the video screens like an old school screensaver, before an entirely tongue-in-cheek speech, in which Healy calls himself “the greatest songwriter of my generation, a generational poet”, introduces debut album hit ‘Chocolate’ (“I want you to remember that when we play this next song”) and the screens hilariously scroll through lines of gibberish similar to his infamously-garbled lines.

It’s moments like this - and the frontman’s genuinely startled reaction when the lights come up to see the crowd, or his thoroughly Northern request to “put the big light on” - that feel truly endearing to their cause; a breaking of the fourth wall in a bizarre but brilliant way. But then, things often take a baffling turn. Take when he randomly appears in the back seat of a car for ‘Somebody Else’ (which feels entirely out of pace with the rest of tonight’s hefty production), or his unprompted speech about a lack of politics in their set (a “conscious’ decision in aid of the band’s legacy being one of “love and friendship”) that’s almost immediately followed by their volatile - and entirely politically-charged - ‘Love It If We Made It’; it’s almost like he needn’t have mentioned it at all. But then, that wouldn’t be very Matty Healy of him.

While their 2023 ‘At Their Very Best’ tour felt like a true distillation of their ability to delight, surprise and confuse all at once, it’ll likely be hard for them to ever top that run. Tonight, though, they give as good as they can, knowing just how far to push the self-deprecating nods before throwing out an arms-aloft banger to reel the crowd back in. What’s more, as a band, they are fiercely tight and impressive, a fact that often gets missed in amongst the sprawling method-like themes. Was this the set that we’d expected from The 1975 tonight? Not necessarily, but their head-scratching, thought-provoking skewering of entertainment will always get people talking, and this is no different.

Is there a happier band around than Biffy Clyro? Judging by their slot on the Pyramid this evening - acting as main support ahead of headliners The 1975 - we wouldn’t bet on it. Fresh from announcing details of their forthcoming tenth album ‘Futique’, the trio waste little time in reminding the gathered crowd that they’re normally used to topping festival bills - courtesy of a slew of pyro and fireworks - but in an almost nonchalant, assured manner. As ever, they look utterly content to be here, still playing to such sizeable crowds thirty years on since first forming as childhood friends.

Blitzing through a concise set of their most epic offerings - the more mainstream-leaning ‘Mountains’, ‘Bubbles’ and ‘Many Of Horror’ all get a showing - it’s the epic build of ‘Living Is a Problem Because Everything Dies’ that stands out most, thanks to a short interlude in which Simon Neil begins to softly sing The Beach Boys’ ‘God Only Knows’, in tribute to the late Brian Wilson. It’s the gorgeous cherry on the top of a fierce, fulfilling appearance for a band clearly still in love with what they do.

It’s hard to think of a stage here better suited to Antony Szmierek, who’s packed out the politically-oriented Left Field tent for what’s a perfectly-pitched introduction to Glastonbury 2025’s first proper night of music. Given his debut album ‘Service Station At The End Of The Universe’ (released earlier this year) exists at the crossroads between poetry and lyric, sci-fi manifesto and song, this corner of the farm is the ideal conduit for its live rendition - community-oriented, revitalising, and hopeful.

Between choice cuts from said record (‘Angie’s Wedding’ and ‘Yoga Teacher’ being particular highlights) and an uproariously-received cover of fellow Mancs New Order’s ‘True Faith’, he has this age-spanning crowd utterly enraptured. But it’s the closing one-two of ‘Rafters’ and perennial set closer ‘The Words To Auld Lang Syne’ - the latter of which is preceded by a eloquent, moving call for the left to unite in the face of encroaching right wing bile - that hits the hardest. Both odes to seizing the moment, appreciating the small things, and hugging your loved ones that little bit tighter, they’re the crowd-surfing, mates-on-shoulders stuff of festival perfection. Nothing short of life-affirming; this is what this weekend is all about.

Nostalgia is high on the menu at Glastonbury today, and not just because Alanis Morissette is taking to the Pyramid Stage in an hour. Arguably one of the most slick indie rock outfits to take on festival season, Franz Ferdinand are the most seasoned of pros, so as they take to the Other Stage to the stomping sounds of ‘Michael’, the crowd are already on each other’s shoulders, flares aloft. If their selection of indie disco bangers isn’t enough to whip up a frenzy, Alex Kapranos bringing on the second surprise Capaldi of the day (former Dr Who and The Thick Of It star Peter Capaldi) for a storming rendition of ‘Take Me Out’ is sure to do it. It's a truly joyous scene.

For anyone who’s watched the rise and rise of Leeds-formed quartet English Teacher - from first playing Worthy Farm’s BBC Introducing stage in 2022 to a televised slot on The Park Stage (via a Mercury Prize win, naturally) - this afternoon feels like something of a Glastonbury graduation - a set that affirms their future as festival mainstays and alt-rock standard-setters.

Equal parts enigmatic and endearingly down to earth, their cool composure broken every now and then by a flash of a smile or well-timed wise crack, the band perform as if in some sun-kissed liminal space: secure in the sheer quality of their ‘This Could Be Texas’ offerings, yet keeping one eye fixed on the future, they take the opportunity to give unreleased track ‘Toothpick’ (a number that’s ostensibly about a shark biting off your leg) its first ever live airing. “I’m shitting myself,” says frontwoman Lily Fontaine of the new cut, before clocking the tv camera: “sorry, BBC”. Oscillating between the heart-wrenchingly tender (a collective sigh goes up with the opening notes of ‘Blister My Paint’) and the appropriately rowdy (the spontaneous chant of “Yorkshire!” that goes up after ‘Nearly Daffodils’ is joyously teenage), today is an expertly executed freeze frame of a band on the cusp of so much more.

“They say second time’s a charm,” offers up the second surprise guest on today's bill - Lewis Capaldi - as he takes to the Pyramid Stage for a short stint this afternoon. Hailed as “the worst kept secret”, it seems like most of Glasto’s punters have caught wind of his return, turning up in droves to see the singer return to the stage after he was forced to cut his 2023 appearance short; the Pyramid field is packed to the rafters, with excitement and good-will in no short supply. It’s a thoroughly emotional scene, especially upon realising he’s genuinely picking up where he originally left off last time around. When people talk of Glastonbury "moments", this is exactly what they mean. 

While it might feel like barely any time has passed since Wet Leg last graced Glastonbury, it was actually three years ago that the band last packed out a field on Worthy Farm. Today, the somewhat demure white frocks of 2022 have been swapped for an altogether spicier look from the band’s Rhian Teasdale, who’s likely the only performer on site to brave a fur collar and knee socks in today’s scorching afternoon sunshine. They also use their set on the Other Stage as an opportunity to introduce their newest chapter, matching tracks from their brilliant eponymous debut with cuts from their forthcoming second effort, ‘moisturizer’ almost one-for-one, and from what we hear today, it’s set to be be a doozy of a record.

For anyone not on site at Worthy Farm this year, be assured, CMAT is the name that’s on everyone’s lips today as Glastonbury’s first full day of programming gets under way. So by the time she emerges onto the Pyramid Stage this afternoon - clad in a royal blue ‘60s-style dress and sparkly shrug top, bedazzled with dangly euro signs in a nod to her forthcoming new album - it’s not all too surprising to see the crowd stretch well up onto the hill and out of eyeline. What follows is a masterclass of a performance in every sense, with CMAT an iconic ringleader. From her first steps on stage - which see her dramatically faux faceplant before beginning ‘Have Fun!’ without skipping a beat - through to her jumping the barrier to join the crowd for a triumphant final chorus of closer ‘Stay For Something’, she is a giddy whirlwind of entertainment.

What’s most magical, though, is not just how much theatrical effort she’s put in (take when she whips open her dress during the introduction to ‘Take A Sexy Picture Of Me’ to reveal her leotard underneath, or rips off the badge on her front to reveal a photo of Jamie Oliver, the subject of her latest single), but also how much this clearly means to her and her Very Sexy CMAT band. Eschewing cool aloofness in favour of an altogether more authentic, ridiculous, and (most importantly) fun display, her set feels so unashamedly HER that it’s impossible not to feel a little emotional at the entire feat. It may be early doors at Glasto 2025, but this is a sure-fire contender for set of the weekend. And it’s only Friday afternoon…

Kicking off the festival proper is possibly the weekend's least secret secret set, as hoardes of people make their way over to Woodsies' tented canopy for a basically-breakfast-time, album release day set from Lorde. Catching the crowd at what's likely, endurance-wise, their highest ebb of the weekend ahead, she makes no bones about the fact that today is a celebration: "Morninggg Glaston-berry! Thank you so much for being here with us on the day that 'Virgin' is born."

Playing the whole record front to back - a feat the Kiwi alt-pop star hints might be "one of one" - her performance feels joyously unself-conscious, the very epitome of 'What Was That''s now-infamous ode to hedonistic release ("MDMA in the back garden / Blow our pupils up"). Seemingly taking cues from her so-called doppelganger and 'Girl, so confusing' co-conspirator Charli xcx (musically as much as anything, with these new tracks centring glitchy beats and vocoded vocals), this is the sound of a thoroughly 2025 pop star - one who's undergone crises both professional and personal, and emerged more assured than ever.

Tags: Biffy Clyro, CMAT, The 1975, Glastonbury, Festivals, Reviews, Live Reviews