Glastonbury 2025 review: popstars ruled the weekend, but special guests have lost their cool
More recently, pressure mounted for controversial Irish rap group Kneecap to be removed from the billing after front man Mo Chara was charged with a terror offence. But the show went on, and politics felt more present than ever this year. There was a strong-pro Palestine sentiment across the event, with JADE, CMAT, Rizzle Kicks, Joy Crookes, and of course Kneecap all calling for the end of war in Gaza. Meanwhile, The 1975's Matty Healy left the crowd with a confused message, calling for less politics, and more 'love and friendship', which felt more pandering than genuine. Thankfully Rod Stewart got through the performance without bringing up Nigel Farage, but that didn't stop The Libertines and Kneecap from mocking the 80-year-old during their sets.
⭐ Glastonbury 2025 Day 1 review: The 1975, Lewis Capaldi and Gracie Abrams ⭐⭐ Glastonbury 2025 Day 2 review: Neil Young, Pulp and Charli xcx ⭐⭐⭐ Glastonbury 2025 day 3 review: Olivia Rodrigo, Rod Stewart, Wolf Alice and The Libertines
Glastonbury seems to have addressed some of the overcrowding issues that marred last year's event: 'a few thousand' less tickets were sold according to Emily Eavis, stage capacities were increased to cater to bigger artists not on the Pyramid (it's estimated at least 60,000 turned out to watch Charli xcx on the Other Stage on Saturday). Although it felt overly cautious at times, with Kneecap's set at West Holts getting closed off an hour before they began, despite there still being ample space for punters.
There were plenty of throwback sets, but current pop reigned supreme. On Friday, Lorde's sucker-punch secret show set the bar ridiculously high for the rest of the weekend. However, JADE on Saturday was one to contend with, as the former Little Mix member's sassy set proved her to be comfortably on the path to solo stardom. Also competing for the top popstar spot was CMAT, whose powerhouse vocals, humour and zany dance moves blew us away on Friday.
Saturday saw the clash to end all clashes with rap's hottest new star Doechii, Charli xcx and legends the Scissor Sisters all playing at the same time, splintering the festival's millennial and gen Z attendees, while Neil Young's aged crowd at the Pyramid Stage was relatively paltry compared. Was his set what we were craving on a Saturday night? No – spiritually, Liv belonged at the Scissor Sisters. However, long-time fans were granted a packed setlist of hits from his more than 40 studio albums, all delivered with solid vocals and excellent guitar-playing.
Special guests were seriously lacking in the headline sets this year, with neither the 1975, Neil Young, nor Charli xcx bringing anyone out. Only Olivia Rodrigo invited The Cure's Robert Smith to the stage, giving the previous day's disappointed Charli xcx fans some relief that they would at least get one surprise artist. But it begs the question – are special guests no longer cool?
And while some of the die-hard Charli fans were left wanting more, we were blown away by her sheer star power, and respect anyone who can turn Glasto's second-biggest stage into a pulsing, strobe-lit nightclub.
And what is Sunday afternoon at Glasto for if not a mass singalong? Nile Rogers and Chic put on a stomper of a set, rattling through hit after hit and properly getting the crowd moving, while Snow Patrol hosted their very own love-sick karaoke session over on the Other Stage, with people on shoulders and waving hands pretty much from the get-go.
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