Glastonbury 2025: Turnstile announce themselves as the hottest new live act
Just as Glastonbury Festival was fading into its final few hours, Turnstile hit The Other Stage for a furious performance that undeniably cemented their status as the hottest new live act.
The band played at Worthy Farm once before, in 2022. Then, the hot blue ceiling of an oppressive tent squashed the vibe; now, Turnstile treats the upgrade to The Other Stage, headlined by Charli XCX the night before, as if it has always been rightfully theirs.
They walked out quietly, understated, to the opening bars of ‘Never Enough’, both the title and the opening track to their latest LP. Let the shimmery synths fool nobody: the band were about to kick through an unruly live extravaganza, that will see more bodies crowd-surfing over the barrier in one set than the rest of the festival combined. Men in banana suits moshing? That too.
“Let’s shake this whole place up,” Yates called between tracks. “If you came here with someone you love, pick them up, put them on your shoulders. Pick your friends up!” he ordered, one of the first such instructions of the weekend. The result? A choppy sea of brawling hands and bodies bouncing boisterously, all the way to the back of their impressive crowd. A flare was lit up in breathless agreement.
In another tactful move, beach balls flew dazedly above the heads of the front rows, decorated in the same stripes that have followed their new album around on social media. As more props go, Turnstile’s cult following usually brings a vintage phone to live performances, to hold up during their track ‘Dull’ in hopes of depiction on the big screen. “Deep in the night, I’m waiting for your call,” Yates sings, as the phone is thrust forward like an offering to the greats. No small logistical feat at a festival so large.
Over the hour, Turnstile bulldozed through a set that combined old and new tracks, paying homage to their harsher hardcore roots and intermingling their newer pop sensibilities. The 2021 track ‘Holiday’ had a glorious, energetic reception, spinning a circle pit twirling like a black hole in the fabric of the festival. Later, when Yates sang out the heavy chorus of ‘ Look Out for Me’, for the two-minute synth breakdown to come in, the sea of hands clapping to the new sound was emotional in its sheer sincerity.
Crowd surfing to the smooth melody of the synth stutter shows just how far Turnstile have pushed the genre, shaping it into their own. As the song ended, the camera lingered on a Palestinian flag in the crowd, fluttering gently, persisting in the heat. “Free Palestine!” called Yates as the band reappeared. A roar of approval called back.
The production consists of clips of the audience playing live, underlining how central the audience is to the Turnstile sound. Music should be for the masses; with Turnstile, the music is the mass. “Jump up, we need you up here,” Yates called two songs from the end. Without the wall of security, all distinction between audience and stage would have disappeared. Yates even spent a moment with the crowd, surfing on the hands of strangers in the silence of the ending.
For all the talk of Glastonbury being synonymous with progression, Turnstile prove there’s a difference between words and actions. “Always, keep it moving,” Brendan Yates yells between songs, charging the set with the forward momentum. Turnstile are a band for now, and for the future.
Watch Turnstile open the mind-blowing set with ‘Never Enough’ below.
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