The American R&B star SZA stepped into one of the biggest spots on the global live music calendar Sunday night at Worthy Farm, a slot previously graced by the likes of Sir Elton John. It was a choice that raised some eyebrows when it was first announced, with some people questioning whether the soulful songstress had the range to undertake such a weighty endeavor. But Sunday night, SZA didn’t show up to prove anything. She was here to sing and sway, to share her world with them.
Fresh from her BST Hyde Park performance the night before, SZA made Glastonbury’s last hurrah a fully-realized one. The moment “PSA” opened, it was apparent this wouldn’t be your standard headliner flex. She then matched that energy with fan-favorites like “Love Galore” and “Broken Clocks,” homing in further on the intimate, emotionally nuanced space she’s built for herself in modern R&B.
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And just when things might have plateaued for the night, she flipped the script with a sultry and unpredictable rendition of Prince’s “KISS,” slipping it in as easily as a pro would and sliding into her smoldering “I Hate You.” There were nods to her many other collaborative highs, including interpolations of Kendrick Lamar’s “All The Stars,” reminding everyone that her reach extends far beyond what some naysayers might give her credit for.
The most blatant being an overbearing reverb effect on her mic, had even the most seasoned of ears wincing. The producer Stephen Street slammed the set on social media, besting out with “boring,” even overprocessed and grousing, “You can’t hear a word. The response was typical of the post-Glastonbury postmortem: Is mass singing and pyrotechnics the future of all headliners? Or can soul, vulnerability, and mood transport a field of thousands into the night?
The magic was not in the bombast but was in the mood. Her set beat painfully with emotion, draped in lush visuals and vulnerability, a counter to the weekend’s more high-octane performances by Janelle Monáe, Burna Boy, and Avril Lavigne. In that way, SZA’s set was not a closer but a comedown, a dreamy curtain call that allowed the festival to let the air out, if only for a few hours, after four days of chaos and color.
Whether you were a skeptic or a stan, SZA’s headline set did what it had to do make you feel something. And as the last notes echoed over the Worthy Farm skyline, the reality was undeniable: SZA had just staked her claim on Glastonbury legend.
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