Blog: music festivals

Frank Ocean’s headlining Coachella set on Sunday night was one of the most-anticipated sets ever, not least because the elusive singer has not performed publicly since 2017, but also because the performance was a holdover from 2020’s cancelled festival.

On the eve of Stormzy becoming the first Grime artist to headline Glastonbury, it is worth considering what this represents in terms of the link between the new streaming economy and live music. The South Londoner’s slot is notable less for the now-obligatory controversy that greets any Worthy Farm headliner that isn’t an established rock band (as per Jay-Z and Kanye West’s turns at the festival), but rather should be viewed as a pivot in what the wider live audience ought to expect from the next wave of headliners.