Don’t sleep on this lot.
Words: Ali Shutler.
Photos: Frances Beach.
There’s always a lot of brilliant stuff happening at Sziget 2024. From the near-constant rave happening in the dance corner of The Island Of Freedom to the firework-strewn shenanigans of the main stages via brilliant new bands making their own mark on the festival, the six-day event is jam-packed with an awful lot of brilliance.
There’s so much good stuff going on; we’re very thankful we booked a nearby Ibis hotel to try and catch our breath. Good content like this needs a good night’s sleep, after all.
Ahead of a massive review of the entire event, we’ve cherry-picked some of the sets that blew our minds so you a) know what you missed and b) can make sure it doesn’t happen again. We’re nice like that.
Louis Tomlinson
From regular stadium tours with One Direction to his own sold-out headline shows, Louis Tomlinson hasn’t exactly had much time for festivals. He admits this to the crowd early on during his Saturday evening slot, before quickly delivering the sort of rowdy rock show that’s made for these unpredictably wonderful environments. The ambitious, heartfelt indie of ‘Faith In The Future’ makes up a bulk of the show and gives the set a real sense of swagger, while glistening covers of 1D’s ‘Drag Me Down’ and ‘Night Changes’ only added to the gleeful sense of community he’s created. This may have been one of his first festival performances, but don’t expect it to be the last.
Stormzy
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t know who I am or if you’re into this type of music or not; we’re all here for the same reason,” explains Stormzy, wanting this set to be an unforgettable memory for everyone present. “If you give me a little bit of energy, I’ll give you everything I’ve got,” he promises. From that moment, he has the ever-growing crowd in the palm of his hand. From snotty, cocksure tracks like ‘Big For Your Boots’ and ‘Clash’ to the more tender ‘Blinded By Your Grace, Pt. 2’, the 75-minute set is a boisterous grime party that makes everyone feel included. Stormzy has already made a name for himself via celebratory sets at both Reading & Leeds and Glastonbury, but he attacks the stage of Sziget with something to prove and ends up delivering another undeniable triumph.
Halsey
Halsey’s fearless Thursday night headline set is the perfect way to kick off their new era. Sure, the closest fans got to actual solid info on Hal5ey was a 30-second tease of her ferocious new single, but across their 90-minute set, Halsey delivers gorgeous catharsis and playful joy. Effortlessly leaping between snarling industrial rock and R&B-infused pop, the set was a perfect showcase of their defiant, gut-led attitude to music. From a new punk version of Chainsmokers collab ‘Closer’ to the live debut of Y2K pop-inspired ‘Lucky’, it’s an ambitious, cinematic set that also sees Halsey determined to have fun.
Future Static
Long before Sziget kicked off, the internet was awash with fans complaining about the lack of rock bands at this year’s festival. Looking at the run of main stage headliners, they may have had a point, but over on the Ibis X ALL Presents The Buzz Stage, Future Static prove that heavy music still has a place at Sziget. The Australian band bring together theatrical emo, brutal metalcore and the sort of absolutely massive hooks that speak directly to the rock faithful, but their set is never combative. Designed to welcome as many people as possible into their ferocious world, there’s a real sense of warmth to their brutal hour-long set as more and more people threw themselves into the feel-good, communal carnage as the night goes on.
Bebe Rexha
“We don’t spread hate; we spread love,” declares Bebe Rexha towards the end of her fiercely glorious main stage set. The hour-long performance is big on unifying dance-pop bangers, with Bebe knowing exactly how to fire up the massive sun-soaked crowd. There’s plenty of heart behind those massive crossover anthems as well though, with Bebe unafraid to get a little emotional. At one point, she brings up two fans from the crowd to join in the choreography before stopping and teaching them exactly how to “shake what their mother gave them”. If that lesson in twerking wasn’t wholesome enough, Bebe then encourages one of the fans to show off her pride flag to rapturous applause. “This is the first time I’ve been out with my flag,” they sobbed, as the cheers got even louder. “That was so fucking beautiful,” Bebe declares, with moments of acceptance not really getting any bigger.
Blondshell
Blondshell’s self-titled debut was an almighty flex of venom and vulnerability. Live, that power is only more potent. From the straight-talking ‘Kiss City’ to the purge of ‘Salad’, via the smirking ‘Veronica Mars’, Blondshell’s set at Sziget twists fiery angst into something more hopeful. Despite the success of that first album, she seems unfazed by the pressure over what comes next. At Sziget, a handful of unreleased new songs already have pride of place in her set. These scuzzy new anthems see Blondshell confidently dart between tender and formidable alongside a touch of soaring beauty for good measure.
Janelle Monáe
We’d just about got over Janelle Monáe’s fierce, playful and powerful set at Mad Cool before she blows our minds all over again at Sziget. A party-starting run of rock, pop, R&B, funk, soul and cinema, Janelle’s final show of her celebratory European tour was somehow more urgent and more joyous than what we’ve seen before. With glasses of champagne as onstage props and smirking chapters titled ‘(T)high vibrations’, there was a real sense of fun driving Janelle’s set forward, but a speech before the jazzy ‘Tightrope’ was perhaps one of the most powerful moments of the weekend. After encouraging the audience to continue speaking up for marginalised voices around the world and speak out about “Islamophobia, anti-semitism and anti-Blackness,” she announces that “more than ever, we have to remember that the power has always been in the hands of us, the people,” rather than politicians. “Protect each other more,” she adds to deafening cheers.
Abba Tribute Show
Festivals are run, right? From brand new bands getting unleashed on the biggest stage they’ll have ever played to living legends reminding thousands of people just how much power their music still wields, there’s a lot to love. If we had our way, though, every festival would follow in the footsteps of Sziget and have a tribute act playing immediately after the headliners have finished. From Rage Against The Machine and Linkin Park to The Beatles and Queen, Sziget creates rowdy, communal karaoke at every opportunity, but it doesn’t get more brilliant than The Abba Tribute Show after the disco-pop of Wednesday’s headliner Kylie. ‘Waterloo’, ‘Dancing Queen’, ‘Does Your Mother Know?’ ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!’ and ‘The Winner Takes It All’ – honestly, what more could you want?
Travel and accommodation for this review were provided by Ibis.
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