FEATURE:
Training Season
IN THIS PHOTO: Dua Lipa performing on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury on 29th June, 2024/PHOTO CREDIT: PA
The Public Perceptions Versus Critical Regarding Female Headliners
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THIS may seem like a generalisation…
and, I know, opinion is subjective, but there does seem to be a divide in opinion when it comes to female headliners at festivals. For instance, Dua Lipa headlined Glastonbury on Friday (28th). The general reaction from critics was one of positivity. Whilst her set did not garner five-star reviews, she was getting solid four-star acclaim across the board. People noting how accomplished and hook-laden (the set) was. I will get to a review of her set soon. Maybe it afflicts male artists too but, when it comes to women headlining festivals, there is still an attitude and negativity. They always say: “Don’t read beneath the line”. That is, when you get a review of opinion piece, it is generally not a good idea to read the comments. You will get some positivity and support but, for the most part, there will be criticism and some awful feedback. It is the way of people. Among those who are nice are also plenty who are only too happy to be nasty. Reading, for instance, the comments of The Guardian’s review of Dua Lipa’s Glastonbury set, you can see that there are people who hark back to when Glastonbury was more Rock-based and male. many people accused Lipa of miming during her set. Others stating that she (Dua Lipa) was not as epic as she should have been. There is this gap between what critics write and what the public think. There were incredible reviews for SZA’s headline set on Sunday, but also some mixed reviews too. Many questioning whether she was headline-worthy or the right person to close Glastonbury.. Even so, once more, a divide between critical and public opinion. I am not saying that critics know best and they have greater musical knowledge. This is the first time Glastonbury has had more than one female headliner on the Pyramid Stage. I think that both artists delivered incredible sets. Sure, not the absolute greatest ever, though ample proof and demonstration that we need more women headlining. Long overdue.
Compared to Coldplay and their set, we saw that fresher and first-time headliners were a lot better and exciting than the more tired and over-familiar acts. I wonder whether there is this persistent prejudice when it comes to women as headliners. One could say that there is this discrimination against Pop music. People still not willing to accept that festivals have moved on and are not just for Rock and Alternative acts. I hope that there is now this realisation things are changing for the best. I saw criticism of Lana Del Rey when she performed at Glastonbury last year. Many who were against Billie Eilish when she headlined Glastonbury in 2022. Looking through some past year and the way female headliners are perceived, there does seem to be this division. One might say it is about genre and not gender. I don’t feel that is the case. Certainly, for those reviewing Dua Lipa, there was this sense that she delivered an amazing set. This is what Independent wrote in their review:
“Dua Lipa saw it coming. The fireworks and flags and pulsing purple lights, the teenagers on tiptoes scowling at strange adults as they fling their arms in the air like money. When she was a girl, the 28-year-old born to Albanian-Kosovan parents, tells us midway into her debut Glastonbury headline show, she wrote it down – “I will headline Glastonbury” – manifesting the sleeper hits and critical acclaim and now routine awards and No 1s that made this moment inevitable.
“I was really specific,” she adds after a shy laugh. “I said I wanted to headline the Pyramid Stage on a Friday night, because then I knew I could party for the next two days.” Her voice cracks as she describes the magic – “the power” – of commanding this seemingly infinite crowd. “Little me would just be beside herself right now.”
The growing Dua Lipa empire – now encompassing an acting career, a book club, a burgeoning media platform and a podcast featuring giants of high and low culture – shows no signs of slowing, particularly now she has bought back the rights to her music catalogue. Yet behind the cultural dominance, Dua Lipa is as enigmatic as she is ubiquitous. Her arrestingly vague persona (along, perhaps, with her admirable support for geopolitical causes) has stopped her transcending bankable fame to become a true nation’s sweetheart.
Which may be just how she likes it. More than a straight pop spectacle, Lipa intersperses tonight’s set with nods to underground culture. As a martial drum solo opens the show, leather-clad dancers fling themselves across a pair of metal bridges, like a Swat team sent undercover into a Seventies New York meatpacking district. In a chain-lined leather dress of her own, Lipa zips to centre stage as if propelled by the roller-skates favoured on her last arena tour, barrelling into a party-starting “Training Season”.
Though the performance is tightly drilled – even the confetti deployment seems studied – passion rings through in moments of cheeky theatricality. Midway into the second verse, she flings back her head with revulsion at the inept exes she has made her muse.
It is no contradiction that many such boyfriends are no doubt in this field screaming along: the gospel of Dua holds that, while guys often suck, that is often fine, and kind of funny. Her mastery is in pairing these tales of woe and self-redemption with music that sounds like accidentally having the best night of your life at the worst club in your hometown.
Her celebration of alternative culture is most readily apparent on “One Kiss” – given a house breakdown worthy of Glastonbury’s wonderfully lurid queer nightlife haunt, NYC Downlow – and “Pretty Please”, revitalised with deliciously dirty funk swing and a breakdancing interlude that squeezes homages to her house, disco and rave roots into two breathtaking minutes of helter-shelter beat switches.
Between all this she finds time to introduce a comically low-key guest appearance: not one of her celeb buddies but an unassuming Kevin Parker – better known as the Australian psych-rock darling Tame Impala – who looks every bit the slacker boyfriend brought home to disappointed parents after their beloved daughter’s gap year. In honour of his contributions to her latest album, Radical Optimism, Parker mooches out in a T-shirt and jeans for an endearingly clumsy duet of his song “The Less I Know the Better”.
Aside from the electrifying opener, new album cuts such as “These Walls“ and “Falling Forever” feel like stodgy, almost defensive inclusions – even closer “Houdini” can’t help but feel anticlimactic after a sensational one-two of “Physical” and “Don’t Start Now”. I can believe, even hope, that Dua Lipa will endure to headline Glastonbury again, but it is harder to imagine these songs surviving as setlist musts.
“Guys, you’re making my dreams come true,” she declares during “Be the One”, a cliche that, despite the dips in momentum, makes clear that Lipa understood the assignment: Glastonbury is not just another show, just another festival – it is the moment we have been waiting for, all day, all year, perhaps all our lives. The best headline sets turn this into a reality, even among the sceptical. Dua Lipa does something almost as special: by bearing out her childhood premonition, she makes us witnesses to her own sweetest fantasy”.
As Glastonbury is now finished for another year, there is a lot to reflect on. Another triumphant year. It is not only about Glastonbury. It applies to all festivals. The tide is turning. Women, through slowly, being booked as headliners. Not just tokenism anymore: organisers including them on their merit. I do feel that there is slow progress. We need to be further along than we are. One would hope that all the public would be on board with how festivals are evolving and improving. I know comments left after reviews represent a distinctly small pool. Though, when you look online, there is a lot more of it. A sense that female headliners are less important and authoritative. Dua Lipa, SZA on the Pyramid Stage. Shania Twain on the legends slot. They all showed that women are on top. It is saddening and angering to see rather muted and over-critical reaction to their sets. It is important that women are embraced. This year’s Glastonbury was a sign of the future: that women are here to stay. They will – Let’s hope anyway – be headline fixtures going forward. I hope that there is more of an awareness of their brilliance and value. Critics seem to be on the page for the most part. I feel this wider sense of old values remaining. People not quite willing to bend and accept change. The more that women are booked as headliners, the better things will become. I know that people are entitled to their opinions and music is definitely subjective. I have no issue with that. There does appear to be this gender-based bias. Maybe not misogyny as such. Sexism certainly. Disappointing when these amazing women produce affirmative and stunning sets. There is a lot to reflect on and discuss further. Not least how we are in a year where there is progress. It needs to keep happening – and at a faster rate. Think about Glastonbury and how Sugababes got a huge crowd. They could have been headliners. You can see there is demand for wonderful women in music. When they are at that headline level, there is this barrier in complete acceptance and embrace. A feeling that the highest level should be for male artists. I hope that this changes. People reacting harshly or flatly to an artist like SZA or Dua Lipa. This year’s Glastonbury should be viewed as…
THEIR training season.