Another year, another fantastic festival as Glastonbury 2024 closes its doors. As Worthy Farm empties today, many have reflected on the historic moments from the weekend, particularly the opportunity for two female-led acts to grace the Pyramid Stage as headliners: Dua Lipa and SZA.
But unfortunately, many fans have reflected that SZA, as well as some other popular female acts such as Avril Lavigne and the Sugababes, were potentially not given the opportunity to shine as bright as they could on stage.
“Glastonbury has let down a lot of its biggest female acts this year," music critic Roisin O'Connor posted on X, previously Twitter, adding that: "SZA should have been Fri or Sat headliner, Avril, Janelle and Sugababes on bigger stages, Shania and Cyndi without being plagued by sound issues.”
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When an X user responded that SZA's small audience was due to the fact that she shouldn't have been performing at the Pyramid Stage in the first place because she “hasn't got the pull”, O'Connor pointed out that SZA had been “lumped” with the Sunday night slot, which is typically plagued with Sunday night exodus and stage clashes.
From Glastonbury to All Points East.
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This comes after critics pointed out that Sugababes' wildly popular performance should've been on the Pyramid Stage, with crowds being crushed due to the sheer numbers who flocked to the (smaller) West Holts stage. Signs eventually went up to tell people to stay away due to overcrowding.
Many fans felt the power and popularity of a female act like Sugababes had been underestimated by organisers, similar to Avril Lavigne's performance – where critics pointed out her stage was “too small” for the audience demand.
Even the female legends had problems. A Glastonbury audience member took to X to post about Cyndi Lauper's sound issues, as she repeatedly looked to her production team during her performance as her voice was drowned out by her band's bass sounds.
They wrote: “@CyndiLauper was really let down by sound system at @Glastonbury. Couldn’t hear her vocals but could see the effort she was putting in to try and rouse a crowd that couldn’t get over the poor sound. Everyone around us so disappointed.”
Another reported feeling “gutted” for Shania Twain, who also reportedly faced sound issues during her much-anticipated Legends Slot at the festival.
Essentially, it is one thing to offer female acts an opportunity to headline, and highlight their talent. It is another to ensure that they can perform to their best ability and for as many audience members as possible to be able to enjoy it.
After all, research in 2023 found that only a fifth (20%) of festival headline acts were fronted by women, 2% by non-binary people and – of course – the remaining 78% was comprised of male acts.
Perhaps what we've learned from Glastonbury 2024 is that once female (and non-binary) acts are given their moment, it's just as important that they are given the right platform and opportunity to perform at their best, so that audiences get the most memorable show as possible out of them.
