SZA, Avril Lavigne and more: all the action from Sunday at Glastonbury 2024

Something of a divisive booking when it was announced several months back, despite SZA's global megastar status it's to a notably thin crowd that Solána Imani Rowe emerges for Sunday night's final Pyramid headline set. The Gen Z, online fervour may not have translated to Glastonbury, but the genre-morphing singer has clearly pulled out all the stops to justify the slot - while tried-and-tested Saturday headliners Coldplay are an obvious pull and a safe pair of hands, SZA opts for something far more singular, turning the iconic stage into her own personal trippy fantasia. Never has the Pyramid been used in such an immersive, world-building fashion.

Disney-like fairytale graphics introduce her, green Tinkerbell fairy wings add to the whimsy, while the entire stage is covered in dripping icy sculptures that rise up from the floor and hang from the ceiling, lit in ways that turn the scene into forests and fire. For such a huge American star, there's real eccentricity at play here: why, for a start, does she spend a large portion of the set singing astride an enormous metal beetle? But just as tonight's set showcases her sonic range, where the rocky 'F2F' sits happily alongside the sugary sass of turbo-hit 'Kill Bill', 'Snooze''s more traditional lilting R&B and a partial cover of Prince's 'Kiss', the whole production is a window into a non-conforming mind. Though crowd numbers suggest the headline might not be one for the history books, SZA more than lives up to the billing, proving simultaneously that Glastonbury should keep pushing its booking choices forward whilst the crowd catches up.

Tell any grizzled old school Glasto goer that Avril Lavigne would draw one of the biggest crowds of the weekend for her first visit to Worthy Farm, and they’d probably scoff in your face, but they clearly wouldn’t appreciate the sheer unadulterated glee that her Other Stage set brings fans this evening. Taking place after Shania’s huge Legends Slot, you get the feeling that most of the same crowd have trudged to the other side of the site in order to catch a glimpse of the emo-pop queen (an error in terms of billing, absolutely), but when she launches into technicolour hit ‘Girlfriend’, it proves worth the hike, as the outstretched crowd burst into giddy life alongside her. It’s unsurprisingly her older offerings that incite most chaos, with people screaming along to every word of ‘Complicated’ and ‘I’m With You’ whilst perched on shoulders, but the vast, tightly-packed nature of the crowd - the field is so full that people can’t get in or out - verges on uncomfortable for chunks of the performance. Needless to say, her closing gambit of ‘Sk8r Boi’ provides the set’s pinnacle, with fans’ adrenaline palpable til its last moments. That the song finishes at the exact moment England equalise in their Euros knock out match and word starts to spread (with a crowd-wide rendition of ‘Hey Jude’ following, in dedication to goalscorer Jude Bellingham) feels even more ridiculous, adding an extra layer to the dizzying high of the past hour.

If there's one set this weekend that deserves more attention than it receives, it's Janelle Monáe's early evening turn on the Pyramid. Up against Avril Lavigne's staggering Other Stage crowd, the turn out for Monáe is slim at best, but what she may lack in quantity she more than brings in quality. With multiple costume changes including a cape that turns her into a human flowerbed and, for 'Pynk', a pair of trousers made to resemble a massive vagina, we're in a land of glorious maximalism. However, it's Monáe herself - a perfect splice between Prince and Michael Jackson - that elevates the show into true superstar territory. Expressive, utterly committed to every moonwalk-adjacent dance move and possessed with the kind of absolute confidence that very few can muster, she's completely mesmerising. Kudos must also go to the most mic-drop stage exit of the festival: in her own words, "Janelle Monáe: out."

When Glastonbury booked Shania Twain, they couldn’t have predicted the current country resurgence that’s elevated the set from simply this year’s Legends Slot into something surprisingly timely. Accordingly, the crowd is massive; looking slick but backed by staging done out as the Twain Town Saloon, the star is also equal parts cheesy nostalgia and still current. As is the way with many Legends Slot bookings over the years, the majority of the crowd’s energy is focussed on a couple of massive hits rather than a real knowledge of Twain’s back catalogue. She starts with ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’ and ends with ‘Man, I Feel Like A Woman’, with only a mid set ‘Still The One’ and ‘Come On Over’ really connecting with the peripheries. Yet with a set like this it’s about the atmosphere rather than an intimate awareness of the artist’s nuances, and as a sea of cowboy hats waggle gamely in the air, Shania’s done enough to cement her status in Glasto legend.

As the saying goes, you don't know what you've got til it's gone, and such was the case when SOFT PLAY disappeared for a half-decade hiatus that threatened to turn permanent. Thankfully, Isaac and Laurie are back, and as they emerge to the sound of the Vengaboys before launching into the gnarliest thrashes the Other Stage has seen all weekend, it's an immediate reminder that the Kent duo operate on an axis all of their own - part vein-popping, moshing punk animals; part cheeky comedy double act. The pair both descend into the pit before 'Girl Fight' to narrate the song's ridiculous origin story before Isaac declares: "This song lasts about 10 seconds so that's the time you've got to beat the shit out of each other - but in a loving way". They bring out Bob Vylan for a roaring rendition of 'One More Day Won't Hurt', and then recruit a back up group of musicians for a touching, throat-ripping run through 'Everything and Nothing', as the vocalist points out a flag in the audience that waves in memory of his friend Bailey, the subject of the track. Feral performers, silly boys, noisy fuckers, lovely lads - get yourself a band that can do it all.

Two years on and one debut album release later, Rachel Chinouriri’s return to Glastonbury is enough to make even the hardiest of attendees a little misty-eyed today. Taking to the Other Stage in the post-lunchtime spot, her mix of excitement and nerves is clear from the off but the crowd are entirely behind her, with an early showing of ‘The Hills’ sounding glorious. It’s her rendition of ‘Robbed’ - dedicated both to her late niece who originally inspired the song, and those currently suffering in Gaza - that’s most stunning today, though, with Rachel herself welling up at the sheer emotion of the whole thing. It’s one of those perfectly candid moments that could only happen at Glasto, with the singer declaring that the crowd are helping to make her dreams come true. Never mind the headliners with their production and fireworks, it’s these kinds of moments that make this festival so special.

Tags: Glastonbury, Festivals, Reviews, Live Reviews