Olivia Dean shows she should be the first thing anyone sees on a festival Friday at Glastonbury 2024

There’s no doubting Olivia Dean’s superstar status. Words: Abigail Firth. Photos: Patrick Gunning. Olivia Dean should be the first thing anyone sees on any festival Friday. A total pro, it’s hard to believe this time last year she was playing Lonely Hearts Club; now, following the unstoppable rise of her debut album ‘Messy’, she takes the lunch time slot on the Pyramid stage to a deserved full field. Slowly rousing a weary but raring-to-go Friday morning crowd with her velvety vocals, she opens with ‘OK Love You Bye’, working through gentler tracks like ‘Be My Own Boyfriend’ and ‘Messy’, working up to dancier bangers like ‘Ladies Room’ and squeezing in a cover of Kelis’ ‘Millionaire’. She gets a bit tearful during a performance of her first ever single ‘Reason To Stay’, noting she’s wanted to play this festival since she was eight years old. Closing on the loved-up ‘Dive’, there’s no doubting Olivia Dean’s superstar status.