Glastonbury 2025 Saturday live: Kneecap, John Fogerty and Neil Young set to perform
28 June 2025 2:21pm
2:19PM
Should we boycott Rod Stewart?
Eleanor Halls writes: That's the question I hear a punter in his deckchair casually asking the stage at Leftfield tent following a discussion of Israel, as I pass by on my way to West Holts to catch indie rocker Nulifer Yanya. Stewart recently denounced Netanyahu for 'annihilating' Palestinians. The compère isn't having it: 'I'm not answering that.'
Lauren Shirreff says: Labour MP Zarah Sultana and journalist Carol Cadwalladr sat on a panel this morning about the rise of the far right, moderated by John Harris. The only relevant news stories from the weekend are that Keir Starmer has said that he 'deeply regrets' referring to Britain as an island of strangers, and that Rod Stewart has said that we should all 'give Nigel Farage a chance'. Will it dampen the rock legend's Pyramid stage show tomorrow afternoon?
2:09PM
Will the BBC be showing Neil Young on TV?
Hey hey, my my, it turns out that yes they will. It's been a rollercoaster since Young was announced as the Saturday headliner. First, he pulled out altogether over the BBC's involvement. A day later, he changed his mind. Then, when the BBC confirmed their schedules last week, there was a very conspicuous hole where old man Young should be, and, when prodded, the BBC released a vague statement that suggested he wouldn't be shown, but they were continuing negotiations.
But good news has come for any baby boomers not out on a weekend and hoping to watch tonight with a whisky in hand, the BBC announced today that he will be broadcast after all. Other Stage headliner Charlie XCX has already been given the BBC One slot. So Young's set will air on BBC Two from 10pm. He has a heart of gold after all.
2:05PM
Will the BBC be showing Kneecap on TV?
Irish rap group Kneecap are set to perform on the West Holts Stage at 4pm. The live stream from that stage will be available on the iPlayer – although it seems unlikely that Kneecap's set will be shown live. The BBC's television broadcast doesn't begin until 5pm, on BBC Two, so they were never going to be broadcast live on old-fashioned linear television. There may well be highlights shown on TV later in the evening, but it sounds like the BBC will make that decision once they've considered the band's performance.
A BBC spokesperson said: 'Whilst the BBC doesn't ban artists, our plans ensure that our programming meets our editorial guidelines.
'We don't always live-stream every act from the main stages and look to make an on-demand version of Kneecap's performance available on our digital platforms, alongside more than 90 other sets.'
We shall see what happens.
2:01PM
Which celebrities let their hair down backstage last night?
There will be quite a few sore heads among the A-list set this morning, since I have heard reports that a topless Andrew Scott, Rita Ora, Ncuti Gatwa, Tilda Swinton wearing a stick-on moustache and someone who looked suspiciously like Harry Styles were key players on the dance floor at riotous gay club NYC Downlow last night.
In fact, Swinton was originally denied entry by an overzealous bouncer until someone swooped in to hiss 'that's Tilda Swinton' in his ear. If it was indeed Mr Styles, then perhaps we might expect him to come out with Olivia Rodrigo tomorrow night. Or maybe he's doing some field research ahead of his rumoured headline slot in 2027 – after 2026's fallow year. Eleanor Halls
1:57PM
Welcome to Glastonbury Saturday live blog
Once again, we have our six journalists (Neil McCormick, Eleanor Halls, Poppie Platt, James Hall, LA Robinson and Lauren Shirreff) sending back reports, reviews, photos, videos and anything else they can rustle up. They seem to have survived the heat, mayhem and very high step-counts of Friday. Manning the blog from the office is Catherine Gee, and later Marianka Swain.
The weather forecast today is sun and cloud with a high of 25C, so there won't be any pictures of rain-soaked festival-goers, I'm afraid. Probably a fair bit of sunburn, though.
Eleanor Halls writes:
Yesterday's headliner The 1975 went down well in the field, despite initial apprehensions, with punters streaming out looking exhilarated – you can read our four-star review here. But today is the biggie: Kneecap will be riling things up on the West Holts Stage from 4pm, and Neil Young – who the BBC will be broadcasting after all – is competing against Charli XCX (Other Stage) and Doechii (West Holts) for eyeballs this evening, no doubt creating the festival's clearest demographic split of the weekend. Considering the madness of Lorde's secret set yesterday morning, there are concerns for a possible crush ahead of Charli's show on the Other stage.
If you're watching from your sofa, make sure you have a look at our music critic Neil McCormick's top gigs to watch and catch up on our Friday live blog.
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The ground doesn't just solidify again. Trauma is messy and it's exhausting, but music will come from it.' Shielding Songs is out now via Bandcamp
