Glastonbury 2024 Surprises: Kevin Parker Joins Dua Lipa, Danny Brown Joins IDLES, Housemartins Members Reunite, & More
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Glastonbury ’24 commenced earlier this week. So far the massive UK festival has been full of memorable moments: IDLES, Damon Albarn, Gossip, Kneecap, and Aurora all showed support for Palestine; Kevin Parker and Fred again.. both did surprise DJ sets; Voice Of Baceprot became the first Indonesian band to play the fest and SEVENTEEN became the first K-pop group to play; and Marina Abramović led the crowd in seven minutes of silence before PJ Harvey’s set. James covered Dua Lipa for BBC Radio 2. But that’s only a sliver of what went on. Here are some of the surprise onstage collabs that happened, and we’ll update this post as the fest continutes.
Dua Lipa brought out Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker
“I have written this moment down, I’ve wished for it, I’ve dreamt it,” Lipa said about headlining Glastonbury. “When I wrote it down, I said I really want to headline the Pyramid stage on a Friday night so I can party the next two days at the best place on earth.”
Kevin Parker was a co-producer and co-writer on seven tracks off her latest album, Radical Optimism. She brought him out for a duet of his 2015 Tame Impala classic, “The Less I Know The Better.”
https://twitter.com/tkowdeluxe/status/1806806582782500916
@varietymagazine Dua Lipa brings out Kevin Parker — who produced her latest album, “Radical Optimism” — for a duet of his song “The Less I Know the Better” at #Glastonbury. #TameImpala ♬ original sound – Variety
Later she got serenaded by this bloke.
IDLES brought out Danny Brown
IDLES’ headlining performance was predictably packed with mayhem. The Bristol band released TANGK earlier this year, and Danny Brown joined them for a performance of the track “POP POP POP.” “Glastonbury Festival, for the first time ever in our existence we have a friend here whos going to help us out,” frontman Joe Talbot said while introducing the Detroit rapper. “This is a dream come fucking true, thank you,” Brown responded.
Also during the punks’ set, notorious street and performance artist Banksy launched an inflatable life raft holding dummy migrants across the crowd during IDLES’ 2018 anthem “Danny Nedelko,” which begins: “My blood brother is an immigrant/ A beautiful immigrant.” Afterwards the band said it wasn’t aware of the stunt.
@dangotvinyl Not vinyl content but an epic set from @I D L E S last night at Glastonbury! #vinyl #glastonbury ♬ original sound – dangotvinyl
Bombay Bicycle Club brought out Damon Albarn
The Blur and Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn joined English indie rockers Bombay Bicycle Club for their 2023 collab “Heaven” and Blur’s 1999 classic “Tender.” Albarn took advantage of his time on stage to encourage audience members to vote in next week’s General Election. “Palestine. Do you feel that’s an unfair war? The importance of voting next week. Now I don’t blame you for being ambivalent about that, but it’s still really important,” he said. “Thirdly, maybe it’s time we stopped putting octogenarians in charge of the world.”
Paul Heaton reunited with Norman Cook
Paul Heaton surprised fans by inviting his former Housemartins bandmate Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim) for a performance of their 1986 hit “Happy Hour.” The group formed in 1983, with Cook joining in 1985, and they disbanded in 1988 at the height of their fame.
Jamie xx brought out Robyn, Romy, and Oliver Sim
Earlier this month, Jamie xx announced his long-awaited sophomore album, In Waves. At Glastonbury, he was joined by Robyn and his xx bandmates Romy and Oliver Sim, all of whom appear on the record. With Romy and Sim, the London DJ and producer gave a live debut their In Waves collab “Waited All Night.” They also performed Jamie xx’s 2009 rework of Florence And the Machine’s “You’ve Got The Love.” Toward the end of Jamie xx’s set, Robyn joined for their recent collab “Life.”
Arlo Parks brought out Remi Wolf
“Since this is such a special festival, I’m gonna bring out a lovely, lovely special guest. Her name is Remi Wolf,” Arlo Parks said introducing the pop up-and-comer. Together, they sang “Too Good” from Parks’ 2021 LP Collapsed In Sunbeams.
D:Ream reunited with Brian Cox
Professor Brian Cox joined his former bandmates in British pop and dance crew D:Ream for their 1993 hit “Things Can Only Get Better.” “It is a song of hope and joy, and where it comes from is to entertain people, make people happy, regardless of their political persuasions,” frontman Peter Cunnah told Sky News. “It’s time to forget that and just enjoy yourselves, you know?”
UPDATE: Here’s what happened on Saturday…
Orbital brought out Tilda Swinton and Mel C
Phil and Paul Hartnoll are celebrating 30 years since Orbital played the Pyramid Stage at Glasto. For this year’s performance, the British brothers brought Tilda Swinton out for opener “Deeper” and closer “Chime.” The acclaimed actress starred in Orbital’s “The Box” video in 1996. Also during the set, Spice Girls’ Mel C came out to sing on “Spicy.”
Jessie Ware brought out Romy
After joining Jamie xx’s set on Friday, and before performing her own set on Sunday, Romy from the xx joined Jessie Ware on Saturday. The singers debuted a new collaborative track called “Lift You Up.” “I have seen her and her band grow up and I have seen her smash it,” said Ware. “I am so proud to call her my friend and we have been waiting to make a tune together.”
Kneecap brought out Grian Chatten
Grian Chatten, frontman for Dublin’s Fontaines D.C., joined Belfast rap trio Kneecap. Together they performed their collab “Better Way To Live.”
Peggy Gou brought out Sophie Ellis-Bexter
You’ll never guess for which song.
Disclosure brought out Sam Smith
On The Other Stage, Sam Smith joined Disclosure for their classic collab “Latch.” “It’s a song that changed our lives forever,” Howard Laurence said while introducing the track. Smith previously sang the song with the electronic music duo at Glastonbury a decade ago.
@ldnldnldnldn 10 years of pure joy #glastonbury #latch #samsmith #disclosure #glastonburyfestival @Sam Smith @Disclosure ♬ original sound – SP
Coldplay brought out Michael J. Box, Laura Mvula, Femi Kuti, Little Simz, and Victoria Canal
Coldplay headlined Glastonbury for a record-breaking fifth time this year. The band’s Moon Music is out in October and from the album they performed recent single “feelslikeimfallinginlove” and debuted “We Pray,” a collaboration with surprise guest Little Simz. The Palestinian-Chilean singer Elyanna joined for “We Pray” too, plus the next song “Arabesque” alongside Femi Kuti. Laura Mvula guested on “Violet Hill” and Victoria Canal came out for “Paradise.” Finally, Coldplay brought out Michael J. Fox during the encore to play guitar on “Humankind” and “Fix You.” The Back To The Future actor previously joined the band on “Earth Angel” and “Johnny B. Goode” in New Jersey in 2016. Before bringing out Fox, Chris Martin also saluted another Michael, Glastonbury co-creator Michael Eavis.
