Dark Star

Glastonbury Festival 2000 reviews

Darkstar
Other Stage
16:00 Sunday 25th June 2000

Poor old Bic. He never got to see the wonderful Flaming Lips set on Saturday night, because Darkstar in their entirety only got to Worthy Farm Sunday lunchtime. They've been busy in the studio writing and recording, but whilst the Pilton revellers revelled, they were playing gigs…

The sun was burning our backs when Darkstar came onstage. There's only three of them, and the Other Stage looked weirdly empty. Even their fairy lights were no competition against the afternoon sun. Bic's not the hugest of chaps and he looked virtually Lilliputian against the huge black and silver backdrop.

It wasn't long before the sparse visuals faded into obscurity. Darkstar's sound is deep and loud enough to fill an arena of that size. The music is dark and intense, and you're not really sure whether to collapse to the floor in a moment of psychedelia or get down to the front and thrash about wildly. Half the audience are lost but mesmerised. The rest of them are drawn in like zombies to a cult, especially at hearing 'I Am The Sun' and 'Gracedelica'. They used to be Levitation. But it's hard to compare them to anything, even their ex-selves.

Bic, Dave Laurence. Take me to your leader.