The thing about Dua’s sets is that she understands the need for a set of nothing but bangers, and that’s true of her headline set tonight too.
Words: Abigail Firth.
Photos: Anna Barclay.
If you were to believe what the internet’s saying, you’d think Dua Lipa was in her flop era. If you watched her Friday night performance atop the Pyramid stage, you’d know she was flying.
Dua’s crowning moment headlining the Pyramid Stage follows a career based on thriving in the face of adversity and proving people wrong ten times over. When she’s slagged off for her stage presence, she comes back with the biggest pop tour of the 2020s (until Taylor got involved, obviously). When she’s criticised for sticking to one sound, she switches it up entirely. When she’s told that exact album didn’t live up to the psychedelic, 90’s rave expectations the public had for it, she builds her Glastonbury set around them.
Anyone expecting to swing by the Pyramid and see flailing desperation will be eating their hat. From the opening tape of Primal Scream’s ‘Loaded’ into ‘Training Season’ from this year’s ‘Radical Optimism’, it’s clear this is going to be very special. She plays mega hit ‘One Kiss’ second; a bold move, but Dua’s fearless.
From then on, we’re constantly reminded of the hit machine she is. ‘Break My Heart’ and ‘Levitating’ appear in the first set, with fireworks closing it out. Her first ever single ‘Be The One’ serves for a poignant moment as Dua lives out her biggest goal, and shares the moment by getting down to the barrier for the bridge to sing it with the audience, a move that leaves her looking like the People’s Princess of British Pop.
It’s surprising to learn she’s the first British woman to headline Glastonbury since Adele in 2016, but it only doubles down on what a triumph for UK pop this is. Taking it all in her stride, she morphs some of her biggest hits, turning ‘New Rules’ into an electronic dance banger, borrowing some parts of Bicep’s ‘Glue’ for the remix. She even forgoes one of her own smashes to introduce Kevin Parker, a key producer on ‘Radical Optimism’, to do a cover of Tame Impala’s ‘The Less I Know The Better’.
The thing about Dua’s sets is that she understands the need for a set of nothing but bangers, and that’s true of her headline set tonight too. Rarely is there a lull; ‘Happy for You’ beaming out as the closer is the closest we get to a quiet one.
As ‘Houdini’ erupts for the encore’s grand finale, it’s clear Dua Lipa is cementing a legacy. Kevin Parker returns for one last guitar riff, fireworks ignite the sky, and Dua’s floor-level gyrations bring the night to a spectacular close. If anyone came expecting a flop, they’ve left witnessing a pop revelation.
Dua has once again done what she does best – thrived in the face of the doubters and proved her critics wrong. She’s delivered a set of wall-to-wall bops, rarely letting the energy dip, proving she understands exactly what the occasion demanded.
In doing so, she’s not only lived out her biggest goal but also reminded us all why she’s at the top table of UK pop. The internet might be fickle, but tonight, Worthy Farm belongs to Dua Lipa – and her reign is far from over.
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