Greentea Peng live at Glastonbury 2022: a psychedelic break from the business of it all

Stumbling over to the spacious West Holts stage, you sheepishly wait around for the soulful south Londoner, Greentea Peng to emerge, yet find her band tuning up their instruments ten minutes into her alotted set time. But this is all quickly forgiven from the first floaty, psychedelic note we from ‘Make Noise’, a highlight from her 2021 debut, ‘MAN MADE’. With wirey synths squealing and the double bass thumping, the Bermondsey star struts out nonchalantly, wasting no time kicking off her intro.

Waddling around with a cheeky grin – and free-flowing hair swaying around her – she gets us to do the impossible on this pretty miserable day: “make some noise”. The backing band chill out, thwacking their guitars and bass, mimicking the laid-backness of Greentea Peng’s music. There’s nothing but good vibrations in the crowd for Peng.

Her set is a delicate performance in many places, and singing ‘Your Mind’ is one of them; it’s a soul-lifting experience. For her “beautiful” first-ever Glastonbury set, there are a bunch of goodies you’ll only hear if you were at her set. The 27-year-old plays three unreleased tracks; one being ‘Top Steppa’, a refreshing number, and the chorus’ clanging cymbals and electric guitars go wild compared to lo-fi verses. Once released this will no doubt be a fan favourite.

But these unreleased tracks aren’t the best trick up Greentea Peng’s sleeve. The star mentions her pregnancy on stage: “I think this will be one of my last performances, you know,” she says clutching her bump. “I’ve got mother duties and that and that this show “is a beautiful way to end this chapter”. What another joyous addition to her set, and sets the perfect mood for her next tracks, ‘Mr. Sun (miss da sun)’ and ‘Downers’.

Peng coaxes the sun out (“It’s gonna come out, watch! You see that”) as she nears the end of her set, and we raise our hands, soaking up its much-needed sunshine. Being her “backing singers” for ‘Downers’, we get funky to the track that propelled it all for Peng, and we all roar afterward for her. Ending on her dedicated track to her late stepdad who came to Glasto every year, we jive away to her last offering and leave the West Holts stage with a pep in our step. If you didn’t catch Greentea Peng’s set, it was a chirpy, aloof rest for those who needed it.

Greentea Peng played

‘Make noise’
‘Your mind’
‘Jimtastic Blues’
‘Sane’
‘Sticking Around’ (Unreleased)
‘Top Steppa’ (Unreleased)
‘Mr. Sun (miss da sun)’
‘Downers’
‘Untitled’ (Unreleased)

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