Glastonbury is over for another year, but that doesn’t mean the fun has to stop. Whether you’re currently recovering at home with sore throats from bellowing along to Shania Twain (and even sorer feet) or fresh-faced and hankering to catch up with the action online, BBC iPlayer has helpfully curated a list of the weekend’s biggest and buzziest sets for just that purpose.
There are over 80 highlights to choose from, spanning across multiple stages of the the festival, but in the interests of helping you cut straight to the chase, we’ve picked out some of the very best.
Dua Lipa
Popstar Dua Lipa served up a concert for the ages for her first-ever Glastonbury headline slot. The gig involved five different outfit changes, a high-speed tour through her back catalogue and a guest appearance from her Radical Optimism collaborator, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, with whom Lipa duetted for his track The Less I Know The Better, and her new album’s lead single Houdini.
Even on the small screen, it’s quite the spectacle, and well worth carving a few hours out of your day for. Especially considering Lipa has since called the gig “the best night of my life”.
Watch here.
Avril Lavigne
The original Sk8r Grrl drew a huge crowd (70,000 people to be precise) to the Other Stage during her Sunday performance; such huge numbers that the entire area had to be sealed off to newcomers.
She more than delivered, too, offering up a set stacked with classic tracks like Complicated, Girlfriend and of course Sk8r Boi – is it any wonder than she’s inspired the new wave of pop-punk artists? If Noughties nostalgia is your thing, then this set is a must-see.
Watch here.
Sugababes
Two years after shutting down Avalon, iconic girl band the Sugababes had a serious upgrade to the much-larger West Holts for their appearance at Glastonbury this year, but it was still too small to accommodate the massive crowd that turned up to see them.
Singers Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena, and Siobhan Donagh (aka the OG Sugababes) delivered a blazing set that included all their biggest hits (think Freak Like Me, Overload and Push the Button) which the crowd chanted word-perfectly. Watch online and feel relieved you missed the crowds.
Watch here.
The Last Dinner Party
The Other Stage was clearly the place to be this year: buzzy glam rock band The Last Dinner Party also held court there on Saturday afternoon after making their debut last summer at Woodsies. This lot have bucketloads of charisma (especially lead singer Abigail Morris) and the tunes to match – their dresses are Renaissance-inspired and their songs absolute earworms. Expect to see them again in years to come, maybe even on the Pyramid.
Watch here.
Little Simz
“I need you to know that you’re witnessing greatness,” Little Simz said in her first-ever Pyramid Stage set at Glastonbury – the biggest crowd she’s played to in her entire career. “And I say that not with arrogance, but with confidence.”
If that line alone doesn’t convince you that her set is worth watching, maybe this will: over the next hour, she held court on the centre stage effortlessly, delivering her biggest hits with a cool poise that marks her out as a superstar. She’s arguably the best rapper in the UK right now.
Watch here.
James Blake
Of all the gigs I attended over the course of the weekend, James Blake got the biggest round of applause for his appearance at Woodsies on Sunday night, which was one of the last of the festival. It was well deserved: the artist delivered a masterclass in electronic music which, as he said at the end of the gig, was all made live with his band. No small feat – and even watching back at home, the feeling is electric.
Watch here.
Seventeen
Hooray for K-pop! Boyband Seventeen drew a middling crowd for their appearance on the Pyramid Stage (the first K-pop band to appear on Glasto’s main stage) but don’t let that put you off – they more than delivered on the fun. Even those who didn’t know the songs were bopping away by the end – the joy was infectious. One to watch on rainy days: it’ll bring the sunshine.
Watch here.
Otoboke Beaver
As might be guessed from the name, the spectacularly bonkers Otoboke Beaver brought their A-game – and then some – to their Saturday performance. The rock punk band from Japan sallied forth with yelps, screams and a few shreds of melody to play their biggest hits – before inexplicably leading the audience in a round of Queen’s hit We Are the Champions. At that point, the guitarist frisbee-threw an acoustic guitar into the crowd before surfing over the top of everyone on a massive inflatable beaver. That’s what Glasto is all about.
Watch here.
Remi Wolf
Is there any bigger badge of honour than being Olivia Rodrigo’s UK warm-up act for her global tour? Though judging by the way she’s blowing up, Remi Wolf might soon be headlining arenas on her own. With that in mind, her Glastonbury set is the perfect way to dive in and see what all the hype is about. During her hour-long set the artist delivered sunny, fizzy pop hits of her own while working in some stone-cold classics like The Zuton’s Valerie, though her version skewed more towards Amy Winehouse’s defining cover. A triumph.
Watch here.
Arooj Aftab
Slightly mellower vibes from the US-Pakistani vocalist, who had the whole crowd swaying along to her ethereally beautiful tunes. The set, which distinctly shifted the mood following Otoboke Beaver drew heavily from her new album Night Reign, before segueing into groovier, more hypnotic songs.
Watch here.
Barry Can’t Swim
Scottish dance producer and DJ Barry Can’t Swim has exploded in popularity over the past year – so much so that his Park Stage set was among the weekend’s busiest, as fans jostled to catch a glimpse of him live. He delivered bars upon sunny bars of electro-pop tinged dance, giving revellers the perfect excuse to bop away their Friday afternoon.
Watch here.
The Mary Wallopers
Do they win the prize for the best band name this year? That might have to go the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, but the Pogues-y Mary Wallopers still put on one hell of a show at the Park Stage – having being upgraded from the Crow’s Nest the year before. Over the course of the 45 minute set, they belted out most of their modern-trad classics, finishing with Eileen Óg, Cod Liver Oil and The Orange Juice, and ending on Frost is All Over.
Watch here.
