Day Five at Sziget Festival 2024 in Budapest, Hungary

It’s day five here at Sziget, and the whole festival is still partying hard.

Joesef opens Main Stage with a soulful, deeply personal set

First on the main stage is Glaswegian singer-songwriter Joesef. He opened his set with his single ‘It’s been a little heavy lately’ a song that carries synth pop, soulful vocals and melancholic lyrics in perfect harmony. Joesef continued his set with ‘East End Coast’, a song about his hometown in Scotland. Joesef created a connection with the crowd when he mentioned that he had been to the festival before becoming a performer. Joesef also played ‘I Wonder Why’, a song in which he collaborated with Loyle Carner. Towards the end of his set, ‘Thinking of You’ started to play and Joesef stated: “If you don’t know this song, then where have you been for the past fifty years?”. The final song was ‘Joe’, which is about a toxic relationship that the singer struggled to escape from and the crowd sang along to the chorus: “Joe, Joe, Joe/ Don't you ever leave”.

Becky Hill brings all the energy and rediscovers her passion for festivals

Next on the main stage was pop superstar Becky Hill. This was the first time the singer had played at Sziget festival, but she stated that she had wanted to play there for a long time. Becky Hill was joined on stage with brass and string sections and backing singers. Her opening song was “Believe Me Now?” from her second studio album of the same name which was released this year. The stand-out song was “My Heart Goes (La Di La)”, which energised the crowd into dancing and singing along to the catchy chorus. After playing this song, the singer thanked the crowd, she emotionally stated: “I’ve been falling out of love with festivals and gigs but this festival feels like it used to. Thank you for giving me that feeling again.” The singer felt moved by the crowd’s response to her performance and stated that Sziget had overtaken Boardmasters as her favourite festival.

Janelle Monáe electrifies with a vibrant, empowering performance celebrating freedom & change

Janelle Monaé’s set this evening was full of energy, enthusiasm and most importantly freedom. Each member of her band had their dramatic entrance to the stage before Janelle Monae graced the stage dressed in a floral robe to ‘Float’, a single from her latest album ‘The Age of Pleasure’. At the end of the song, Janelle made a toast with champagne flutes to the outro of the song: “To the lives we lead, to the dreams we take, to the moments that we make, and to the fucked up shit we can’t erase.” The band seamlessly moves into ‘Champagne Shit’ as Janelle removes her floral robe to reveal a leotard. ‘

Lipstick Lover’ is stretched out and polished to perfection and Janelle dances on stage with sensual abandon that is the essence of her album. ‘Make Me Feel’ rolled in with audience participation as Janelle’s backing singers picked people from the audience to dance on stage. Janelle’s monologues during her set make you feel hopeful that change is possible. The singer spoke about conflicts in Palestine, Sudan and the need for Queer liberation, they stated that “the power has always been in the hands of the people.” After another costume change into a sequin black suit, Janelle whipped out Michael Jackson's dance moves to ‘One More Time for the Tango’. 

Sam Smith delivers an eclectic mix of emotional ballads & dance hits

Sam Smith was the headliner this evening as part of their ‘Gloria Tour’, and their vocal prowess created an unforgettable experience for the crowd. Throughout the set, Sam’s emotional connection to the crowd creates the perfect atmosphere. At the start of the set, the singer welcomed the crowd and stated “This show is about freedom”. “I’ve been wanting to come here since I was a little kid,” they said before playing their opening number ‘Stay With Me’, a chart-topping ballad that had its tenth anniversary this year marking a significant milestone for the singer.

This was followed by ‘Lay Me Down’ when the singer brought out LaDonna, whose beautiful voice harmonised perfectly with Sam's, creating an emotionally charged connection with the crowd. The second half of the set turned up the tempo to a lustier atmosphere when the singer moved on to play their fast-paced dance numbers. The final song of the evening was ‘Unholy’, which received a huge response from the crowd when Sam Smith brought Kim Petras onto the stage to sing her verse. 

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Heather Gosling is a university student currently studying English Literature at York. She is passionate about journalism, creative writing and music. She has written for many online and print publications and is working on a music magazine (@circulationzine).