TEENAGE FAN CLUB

Glastonbury headliner Olivia Rodrigo delivered a thrilling performance that spoke to every adolescent who has ever been betrayed or had their heart broken, says Kate Solomon

- Kate Solomon

At what point do grown women stop being teenage girls? It’s a question answered by Olivia Rodrigo’s catalogue and the answer is: never. A packed Pyramid Stage crowd exorcises the ghosts of ex-boyfriends past into the darkening night as Rodrigo pogos her way around the enormous stage with an energy a Sunday crowd gamely tries to match. Joined by a band, she makes the stage feel as intimate as a high-school prom with all the adolescent feelings that go with it. It’s almost a shame for anyone who’s never had their heart broken to be here: what are you getting from Rodrigo’s show if not the chance to share that specifically painful rage with 120,000 other people?

Last time Olivia Rodrigo played Glastonbury, it was 2022, she was in the first flush of fame and transcendent in the mid-afternoon sun. An audience of grown-ups embraced their inner 17-year-olds and Lily Allen came out to sing “F*** You” with her on the Other Stage. Here, in 2025, all day gaggles of pre-teen girls have appeared as if from nowhere - have they been here all weekend? - with Guts-branded socks and sparkly, much-adored outfits.