RAYE live at Glastonbury: Her next time will surely be a headline performance
The Eavis gang may have just found their first headliner for 2027.
By Nick Reilly
Our first sight of RAYE on the Pyramid Stage comes courtesy of a box wheeled on stage by two waistcoated men. “Caution, contents may be fragile,” reads the sign on it, before the South London singer emerges to screams and one of the biggest crowds of the day. It’s a neat arrival, but the sign proves entirely false. Here is a performance that proves why RAYE is one of the UK’s strongest performers and one who will surely headline the Pyramid when she next returns to Glastonbury.
For starters, there’s a production to rival any headliner. The singer’s name looms large at the back in Vegas style lights, while the sharp suited orchestra – an incredible backing force – are all decked out in evening gowns and sharp suits.
As for RAYE herself, she’s sensational. She admits to feeling the nerves of the occasion, but rarely lets this shine through. Her vocals soar, despite admitting to a croaky throat, while her confident chat between jazz-flecked songs is incredibly endearing. She reflects on the swift move up the bill from a mid-afternoon slot at one point, while another sees her praising the energy of a crowd who match her own faultless performance in kind.
It’s incredibly emotional too. A heartbreaking new song called ‘Know You’re Hurting’ is pure catharsis, while the haunting ‘Ice Cream Man’ – which she explains to be about the effects of sexual assault – sees the crowd moved to tears and largely stunned to silence by the power of the song.
But there is moments of party-starting joy too. Her Jax Jones collab ‘You Don’t Know Me’ is transformed into an orchestra-backed banger and there’s occasional bursts of pyro too. By the time she closes with her breakout song ‘My 21st Century Blues’, every single word of that song is screamed back at her.
It’s often said that the penultimate Pyramid set of the day at Glastonbury can act as an unofficial audition for singers to show why they should be headlining the entire festival. RAYE, then, absolutely smashes it. The Eavis gang may have just found their first headliner for 2027.