SZA is very much so a star on paper after boasting big streaming numbers and four Grammy awards – but was she cut out for her headline Glastonbury Festival spot?
Well, in short, it appears not. Despite not having the pleasure of being part of the 210,000 human-cattle to take over Worthy Farm this weekend, I got a glimpse of the American R&B artist at BST Hyde Park the night before.
And it’s obvious why SZA(pronounced Sizza) couldn’t live up to the iconic Pyramid stage where social media Glasto commentators have said her crowd to be the ‘lowest ever’ for a headliner.
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Already, there were signs from 24 hours before hinting that SZA’s Glastonbury set would not be one to go down in the music history books for the right reasons.
(Image: Richard Isaac/REX/Shutterstock)
Despite the BST Hyde Park website claiming that the 34-year-old managed to sell-out her headline spot on Saturday, some sections were looking sparse – perhaps foreshadowing the turnout for her closing performance at Glasto.
The Diamond VIP View area was very roomy even though she was over 20 minutes late to the stage – so toilet and pint queues couldn’t be blamed for this one.
But, it did appear that the waiting was worth it for her most dedicated fans. In spectacular fashion, SZA was elevated onto the stage on a podium where she towered above those the sea of mobile phones below.
Her powerful yet delicate voice was quick to enchant with first song PSA.
For me though, most songs sounded the same and flowed into one another making them indistinguishable. That, and the muffled sound at the beginning.
(Image: Layla Nicholson/Daily Star)
Though hardcore fans were able to sing the lyrics back to SZA, it proved difficult for others to participate and get stuck into the music derived from the same tempo.
And similar to the apparent sound difficulties she experienced for some of her Glasto set, SZA experienced this on her headline Hyde Park slot for the first couple of songs.
The specific words proved to be a bit muffled from where I was standing to the right of the stage – not a SZA issue, but a sound one.
It’s a shame for someone with a brilliant voice to sing lyrics meticulously tailored on the theme of relationship angst to be only hounded by microphone muffles.
Saying that, the set was impressive with mock-up stalactites and SZA even straddled a giant ant while belting out her soothing hits during one act of the show. As you do, I guess.
The vocals, the theatrics and her impeccable dance moves were surely present and were received well by the crowd – most with the phones in the air wanting to capture the songstress.
(Image: WireImage)
SZA’s songs are intimate, and often provocative, like with song I Hate U. But, she missed a trick with getting personal with the crowd.
She didn’t speak much to those watching on in Hyde Park, which is a bit of a turn off for those who are not quite the reliable super fans that will happily roll the lyrics off their tongues.
SZA looked most comfortable on the Hyde Park stage when she reeled off hits like Kill Bill and Kiss Me More – which she mixed with Prince’s hit about smooching – these were instant wins with all.
While she’s been releasing music for 10 years now, the singer has only really received global notability in recent years much thanks to her 2022 album SOS.
But now, it does look like she needed to emit a distress call after her Glastonbury slot where she was admittedly “shaking with nerves”, with her Hyde Park headline proving to be a warning.
She might be a huge hit over the pond, but in person, SZA’s intimate roster of songs along with her lack of audience interaction happened to be a tough weekend performing to the British crowd.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
