Crack

It’s Thursday and Glastonbury needs some party ignition. Some punters have been here since early Wednesday and are in dire need of some musical refreshment.

There’s only so much substance and alcohol abuse that one can handle before the urge to move becomes a little bit too much. On Thursday night Glastonbury is operating at about a tenth of the musical capacity it usually hits during the peak time, Friday/Saturday. Your choices are less, but the usual plethora of quality is on show.

The Wow! stage is a new addition to the Dance Village this year and a welcome breath of fresh air from some the regular and questionable names that sometimes appear in the Dance Village year on year. If the stage needed an introduction to the Glastonbury punter, the Thursday night entertainment is pushing all the correct buttons.

In terms of party starters Boy George is a great starter for ten, pushing out the hits and personality in equal measure. There is a lot to be said for Glastonbury’s ability to straddle cutting edge music with humour, fun and crowd pleasers. Joy Orbision’s set following Mr George’s antics was a dance highlight of the weekend.

Combining the fluidity of two-step, bassline and dubstep in some spacey coalescence, there has been considerable reason to dismiss the multitude of hype that has encapsulated the 23 year-old in the last year or so. Not because of any lack of quality in Orbison’s productions or DJ sets, but because it’s exceptionally difficult to justify that level of media gravitas he has received in such a short space of time.

Tonight he justifies it all and more. Bass lines roll as lesser-known tracks weave into hits and back into bass lines. The groove sticks like glue and it’s insatiable stuff from start to finish. The trick is then repeated with the house music of Jamie Jones that follows Orbison. The hypnotic hooks roll on and on as Thursday becomes Friday and the night draws more and more people into the party. The tent is rammed until it shuts its doors.

Over the course of the weekend, the Wow! showcases exactly what is healthy and exciting about British dance music at the moment. The cross-pollination of genres on display over the weekend was brilliant. Credit must go to Bristol promoters Team Love, who curated and crafted one of the most forward thinking stages across the whole site.

Loosely separated into house music on the Friday, bass music on Saturday and a live slanted amalgamation of artists who are pushing the boundaries on Sunday, The Wow! impressed all weekend.

Kieran Hebden (AKA Four Tet) spoke to Crack after his Sunday performance: “The Wow! was a great addition, with much more of the best cutting edge underground dance acts than you usually get at Glastonbury. It was on par with other parts of the festival like Shangri La and all that was insane about Glastonbury this year.”

Over the standout Sunday Crack witnesses DamFunk, Hudson Mohawke, our favourite dub-crossover label Hyperdub present a showcase, and Four Tet. The calibre of these artists have all received a generous lift in the last year, due to stunning output and to have all of them present on one stage is a coup of the highest order.

Another prominent feature of The Wow! was the handcrafted pineapple shaped DJ booth that was operational during the day. This meant, due to the blazing sun, you could enjoy the beats outdoors. Cue many sweaty bodies and shaded eyes.

Current drum and bass toast, Breakage, was nothing but complimentary about the set up: “If you look at the line-up today it’s a cracking cross-section of what bass is all about today. High Contrast has always been tight, L-Vis 1990 is making great music at the moment and Redlight is a great DJ. The whole vibe in the tent and backstage is great.”

After talking to house music maestro Jamie Jones, Crack is left with a lasting impression of The Wow!

“The way Team Love look after you is great, the backstage is just an extension of the Glastonbury vibe. The stage was great both times I played here this weekend and it’s just a cracking collective of real forward looking artists.”
We came back again and again and again.



Words: Thomas Frost

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