Glastonbury is an assault on the senses. Flashing lights, deafening music, blazing sunshine and a cocktail of smells – none of them too pleasant. Yet at 3am in the smoking area of NYC Downlow on Saturday night, there was a distinctly fragrant aroma mingled in with the stench of cigarettes, sweat and portaloo. Sat on the floor among the smokers and gurners was singer Gracie Abrams, burning a stick of Palo Santo. The plant gives off a woody scent and is said to “cleanse negative energy”. Abrams is from LA, you see, and this was her first Glastonbury – she is more accustomed to the sanitised plains of Coachella.
She was sitting in a circle with boyfriend Paul Mescal, who was smoking a cigarette and deep in conversation with fellow actor Harris Dickinson. The pair will star together as Paul McCartney and John Lennon in the upcoming Beatles biopic by Sam Mendes. Soon after, a topless, profusely sweating Andrew Scott charged out of the club to give Mescal a hug as murmurs of “it’s the hot priest!” went up.
There’s plenty of celeb spotting to be done at Glasto but NYC Downlow is where the stars go to really let down their hair (or tie it up – the indoor sweatbox of a gay club might be the hottest place in the festival). There are queues round the block to get in, unless you have the all important wristband. After her surprise set on Friday morning, Lorde partied late into the night there and was seen making out with her new boyfriend, Jim-E Stack, who co-produced her latest album. Also spotted at the club were Harry Styles and Rita Ora, Alexa Chung, and Lily Allen.
Glastonbury used to be synonymous with rain and mud, but after another scorcher of a year, it’s fast becoming more Burning Man than British summertime. The ground was bone dry, the air filled with dust. While most revellers were braving the infernal heat in as few clothes as possible, a horde of celebs were marching around in Hunter wellies and Barbour wax jackets. The rewards for such weather inappropriate dressing were handsome. Barbour put its VIP guests up including Pixie Geldof, Alexa Chung and Adwoa Aboah in The Pig hotel in Somerset and ferried them around in Land Rovers.
Luckily for Paul Mescal no such brand collaboration was needed to secure his Glasto ticket as his girlfriend was performing. Mescal is known to don a pair of short shorts at every opportunity, but it now seems he’s taking it to the next level – he did a talk at Glastonbury’s in-house cinema, the Pilton Palais, in a pair of checkered boxers. The predilection for thigh-baring appears to run in the family – Paul’s brother Donnacha Mescal also spent the weekend in his undies. Paul showed himself to be a man of the people, watching Gracie’s performance in the crowd with Daisy Edgar-Jones and pals. Meanwhile, his alter ego Paul McCartney plumped for the VIP viewing platform in the wings of the Other Stage alongside Charli xcx.
Actor James Norton had a busy weekend. He was spotted enjoying a thali curry at the chai tea tent in the healing fields, partying at NYC Downlow, and speaking candidly at the Pilton Palais about his ex-fiancee Imogen Poots. “I got broken up with and it was massive. I thought I was going to have kids. The life I thought I was going to have disappeared at 38,” he said, adding: “She called it. She realised it wasn’t working - I'm crazily grateful for the pain she caused me”. He explained that he feels he has now “become a man” because of it. Rumours swirled that Norton and singer Lily Allen were linked after the pair were spotted on a date at Lido festival in London a few weeks ago, but the Happy Valley star was arm-in-arm with someone else throughout the weekend. Meanwhile, Lily Allen’s wingman was her designer pal Marco Capaldo – the pair watched Skepta together before Allen gave a surprise performance at Shy FX’s set at midnight.
