Underworld / Orbital - review by : Robert D'Arcy

Glastonbury Festival 1999

Friday 25th to Sunday 27th June 1999
Worthy Farm, Pilton, nr Glastonbury, Somerset, England
£83

Pyramid Stage/Jazzworld Stage, Saturday 26th June

Having seen REM play a fantastic, spellbinding set at the main stage the previous night, Saturday at Glasto '99 had a lot to live up to.

For me and two of my best mates (also the drummer and guitarist in my band, The LOFT - shameless plug there) our Saturday night had been mapped out since arriving on site early Wednesday. Having had our "ROCK" day Friday (Hole REM) Saturday was the day we would pay homage to the genre which seems to be now as important an element to the festival as Rock was before I started going ('95) - DANCE!

In Underworld and ORBITAL we had two of our favourite acts performing live at the climax of the festivals activities. I must admit that forsaking the Manics WAS difficult as I've been a big fan since Reading '94, but from what I've heard I didn't miss much that I didn't see on their winter arena tour last year. And anyway, none of us had seen Orbital.

But first there was Underworld. I really didn't know what to expect from Karl Hyde and company. I'd seen them recorded on the T.V. after last years 'Nam (mud) FEST and wasn't too sure what to expect. My doubts were BLOWN out of the water as soon as we got around the left hand corner of the stage and into the main field. To say that their sound was different to ANYTHING that had graced the main stage thus far would be an understatement. On the last Glastonbury of the Millennium THIS was the sound you would imagine the punters at Glastonbury would be getting down to. AND DID THEY EVER!!! As we walked through the crowd towards the right hand side of the Mixing Desk the atmosphere was as electric as the feeling of waiting for a huge thunder storm to hit. The sound of tunes like Underworld's being pumped through a PA as big as the main stage was something to behold and not anything you can describe with mere words. The set ebbed and flowed with beauty grace and classy, sassy style, Karl being the ultimate "mad raver geezer you see down the local club" type frontman (look out Keith Flint - Karls on yer case).

With the quality of the sound, atmosphere of the (packed) crowd and the amazing visuals supplied via the big screen, no-one seemed to notice that the rain had come back to Glasters. When the guys left, they did the right thing. They left us wanting more.

But for me and my mates we had a mission to accomplish and it wasn't about to be hindered hanging around the Main Stage field applauding Underworld. We headed for the Jazz World full of enthusiasm, dancing to the expectant Manics fans en route as the DJ pumped "Hey Boy Hey Girl" out of that sexy PA.

Our arrival at the Jazz World was in good time. In fact it seemed relatively quiet. Maybe people weren't as bothered about Orbital anymore? After all, "Middle Of Nowhere" hasn't appeared to have captured the general public's imagination as much as "In Sides" did (despite it being better).

We didn't have to wait long. As the brothers took the stage a huge cheer went up. I realised that my previous judgement of the crowd had been daft. The place was packed with everyone who DIDN'T want to "Know your Truth" thank you very much, just "Your Dance Moves" would do.

They started as they meant to go on. With material from the new album. When watching TV it's hard to appreciate how two of the most seeming 'normal' un-rockstar blokes in music, twiddling knobs and pressing buttons could be an impressive live phenomenon. But believe me, they ROCKED! And the material off the knew album demonstrated vividly how wrong the general (non-glastonbury type) public could be. The sound was even better than at the Main Stage, which is saying something. I read another Orbital review which said it was quiet, but we were real close to the front so volume wasn't an issue. Three highlights. "Know Where to Run" off M.O.N, "Satan" when Kirk Hammett's METAL guitar kicked in (I'm a major Metallica freak and am off down to the Big Day Out tomorrow so when they brought the guitar in I CREAMED my pants!) and the closing duo of "Theme From Dr Who" and "Chime". FUCK ME. How wicked ?!!!!!

Being a devoted ROCK fan I'd never experienced anything like Underworld and Orbital live. It's changed my outlook on live music forever. The future is in Technology (as well as guitars and vocals - where would we be without the BonJovi, Belinda Carlisle and Kirk Hammett samples eh?) and that's where I wanna take it. Need similar inspiration? Glasto 2000 - that's' where it'll be at.