Hybrid

Glastonbury Festival 2000

Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th June 2000
Worthy Farm, Pilton, nr Glastonbury, Somerset, England
£89 including booking fee and postage

Daily capacity: 80,000

Hybrid
The Glade
20:30 Sunday 25th June 2000

The Glade, which was a disappointment in terms of ambience - more a gravel pit a little too close to the toilets for comfort than a "tree lined glade" - managed to provide on of my best hours at Glasto this year, with the Hybrid sound system.

Hybrid are the first act from the progressive breaks scene to have real crossover potential. Their music manages to marry the lush sounds of epic house with hard edged breakbeat, and some wicked breakdowns and rhythm patterns (which I like), without sounding too up its own arse. The best of both genres.

At Glasto they played as a sound system, i.e. DJing and playing beats from samplers and synths as well. Playing to pretty full Glade, they produced a flowing set with well placed builds and drops. Their mixing was seamless, with effected samples from upcoming tunes floating in and out of the mix. I recognised few of the tracks - I guess they played a lot of their own beats - but that didn't stop me or the crowd getting down. Best was the moment when they slowly mixed in the opening sounds of FSOL's "Papua New Guinea" and built it up before dropping the full track. I was less sure about the use of the vocals from Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Welcome to the Pleasure Dome" - ironic comment on the venue or not? They showed some hip-hop influences, with scratches and a couple of rap vocals, but their melodies were firmly rooted in the euphoric sounds of house and trance club culture. The only problem was that they deserved to be on a bigger stage later at night - I would love to see them rock the dance tent. It was good to see a real live element rather than performances from DAT or playing nothing but other peoples records (don't get me wrong though - I love a good DJ). The crowd seemed to be really getting into it, and the sound system was pretty decent, but they really deserved more exposure.

If, like me, you like uplifting cinematic tunes but are sick to death of 4-4 beats then I can recommend checking them out. I predicted good things from this group.

review by: Luke Williams