Chilled out Indie trio, The XX have, in the past year, managed to conquer both sides of the Atlantic before anyone even had the chance to bat an eyelid. And rightly too. In the Guardian’s G2 Glastonbury pull-out on Monday they were described as “gloomy”, a remark I think could hardly be more off mark. Their music may be slow and laid-back, but oozes with a cool physicality and haunting sexuality with every reverberation of Oliver Sim’s bass.
I saw them, not at their bigger spot in the John Peel tent, but headlining Friday night on the Park Stage – the brain-child of Michael Eavis’ daughter, Emily, and the most relaxed and intimate venue across the site. Right at the back fence of Glastonbury’s 1000 acres, the quiet backdrop of stars and almost-full moon was the perfect backdrop for this amazing set.
It was by far the quietest gig I have ever been to; the audience involved and entranced in an entirely different way from the shout-y, stomp-y crowds of the Pyramid Stage, every pluck of the throbbing bass an overwhelmingly intimate pluck at the listeners’ heart strings, sending them into content contemplation rather than ecstatic screams. Their no-frills performance and casual attitude added even more to the late-night darkened bedroom appeal of their reverb-ed guitars and breathy vocals.
Although some argument could have been made for them merely sounding like their album, the self-entitled XX, I enjoyed the subtlety of their live performance and the experience of their understated but powerfully involving music filling up the night air is not one I will forget in a hurry.
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