Red Arrows, mosh pits and goth kings: our 8 favourite moments from Glastonbury 2025
From punk, metal and hardcore bands bringing the heavy to surprise sets and emotional tributes, Glasto 2025 had it all

Another year, another absolute banger of a Glasto officially behind us. With the world's most celebrated music festival now taking its traditional two-year break, we won't be able to set foot on Worthy Farm again until 2027, so indulge us as we wallow in some instant nostalgia and celebrate our favourite moments from a vintage year in the Pilton sunshine.
Native James brings System Of A Down to Glastonbury
Not literally. That would be batshit. But grime metal star-in-waiting Native James sparked the first mosh pits of Glasto 2025 when he brought his irrepressible mash-up of hard-hitting rap and bouncy nu metal to two separate sets on Friday. The second saw him play to hundreds of people over on the Greenpeace stage for a raucous hour, culminating in a perfectly deployed cover of early System Of A Down rager War?. Lovely stuff.
Ironic sparks one of the biggest Pyramid singalongs ever
It's pretty much ironed on that you're gonna get some big-ass singalongs at Glastonbury, but the lung-bursting scenes that greeted Alanis Morissette busting out one of the biggest songs of the 90s were something else. Honestly, we could have picked at least three other tracks from her brilliant Pyramid set here - You Oughta Know runs it mighty close - but the smile beaming from the woman herself as she let the crowd take the mic showed just what a special moment this was.
Biffy give us all the feelings (and a sweet Brian Wilson tribute)
Few modern rock bands can pull on your heartstrings and your neck muscles with equal force like Biffy F'n Clyro, and Scotland's finest three-piece did exactly that with a warmly received set at the Pyramid Stage on Friday evening. There were a few highlights, but a cheeky crowbarring of God Only Knows into the middle of Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies to pay tribute to the recently departed Brian Wilson was a lovely touch.
Red Arrows and Common People
It was the worst-kept Glastonbury secret since...well...the last time a massive band played a 'surprise' slot on the Pyramid Stage, but that didn't stop Pulp's arrival on the scene being a pure, full-circle moment of glory. Almost exactly 30 years since they headlined the festival, Jarvis et al smashed out the classics - plus a couple of very decent new cuts - even managing to time Common People with a stunning fly-by from the Red Arrows.
The sign language interpreter at Amyl and the Sniffers being an absolute punk rock queen
Amyl and the Sniffers' boisterous Other Stage set pretty much stole the day on Saturday, such was the immediate and enduring bedlam that greeted their arrival. As great as the Aussies were, though, we have to give a shout out to this absolute hero, who signed her way through the quartet's set with the kind of punk rock energy we're channelling right now to survive our post-Glasto blues.
Turnstile bringing hardcore to Glasto
You never quite know how things are going to go when a 'proper' alternative band plays Glastonbury. Will it be a career-defining triumph on away soil, a fun curio or a bit of a mishit? Looking back, what were we even thinking? This is Turnstile we're talking about. Hardcore's most polished graduates obliterated a roasting hot Other Stage on Sunday afternoon, drawing some of the biggest and most enthusiastic pits ever seen on Worthy Farm soil. This is officially Turnstile's world now. We're all just moshing in it.
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Uncle Robert comes out to jam with Olivia Rodrigo
Olivia Rodrigo made her Glastonbury headline debut count with a raucously entertaining set of angsty alt-pop bangers, but bringing out Robert Smith - a man she described as "perhaps the best songwriter to come out of England" - to jam two Cure classics was a classy touch that went down a storm with the Pyramid Stage crowd. Goths the world over approved.
The Prodigy pay emotional tribute to Keef
The Prodigy carved their names into Glastonbury lore with two incendiary performances in the 90s, before returning to headline the Other Stage in 2009. Their first Glasto appearance for 16 years would be special regardless, but it marking their first slot there since the shocking death of Keith Flint made it all the more emotional. A classy tribute to 'Keef' during Firestarter that saw an iconic silhouette take over the Other Stage screens was a rare moment of true poignancy during a set that was otherwise standard Prodigy chaos. Now can we do all this again next year? Oh? We can't? Bollocks.
Glastonbury may have wrapped up, but there's still loads of archived sets and highlights available throughout July. Here's how you can rewatch Glastonbury 2025 - from anywhere.

Merlin moved into his role as Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has previously written for the likes of Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.
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