In some ways, current Dork cover stars Alt-J aren’t your average headline act. They don’t conform to your usual standards of huge, arms aloft, anthemic moments. They don’t work by other people’s rules to keep everything nice and easy. They follow their own path, wherever it takes them.
And yet the night before, a band who have been doing that for the last couple of decades of their career topped the bill on the Pyramid Stage, so who has time for rules anymore?
What Alt-J do better than almost any other band on the planet right now is weave their own magical spell. Kicking off with the winding, twinkling ‘3WW’, backlit with pure light, it’s the exact opposite of what Foo Fighters are doing elsewhere right now, but that’s precisely why it works.
That’s not to say they don’t have their own bangers, though. It doesn’t mean the crowd don’t sing them back, either. ‘Something Good’ proves that early doors. It’s the encore they leave the real heavy artillery for, though. ‘Left Hand Free’ and its southern shuffle, followed by a communal rendition of ’Breezeblocks’ proves it once and for all. Alt-J may have their own way of doing things, but at the end of the day it’s just as effective as any other.
You can watch Alt-J’s full set here.
Alt-J played:
3WW
Something Good
❦ (Ripe & Ruin)
Tessellate
Deadcrush
Nara
In Cold Blood
Dissolve Me
The Gospel of John Hurt
Bloodflood
Every Other Freckle
Matilda
Taro
Fitzpleasure
Encore:
Intro (An Awesome Wave)
Left Hand Free
Breezeblocks
And yet the night before, a band who have been doing that for the last couple of decades of their career topped the bill on the Pyramid Stage, so who has time for rules anymore?
What Alt-J do better than almost any other band on the planet right now is weave their own magical spell. Kicking off with the winding, twinkling ‘3WW’, backlit with pure light, it’s the exact opposite of what Foo Fighters are doing elsewhere right now, but that’s precisely why it works.
That’s not to say they don’t have their own bangers, though. It doesn’t mean the crowd don’t sing them back, either. ‘Something Good’ proves that early doors. It’s the encore they leave the real heavy artillery for, though. ‘Left Hand Free’ and its southern shuffle, followed by a communal rendition of ’Breezeblocks’ proves it once and for all. Alt-J may have their own way of doing things, but at the end of the day it’s just as effective as any other.
You can watch Alt-J’s full set here.
Alt-J played:
3WW
Something Good
❦ (Ripe & Ruin)
Tessellate
Deadcrush
Nara
In Cold Blood
Dissolve Me
The Gospel of John Hurt
Bloodflood
Every Other Freckle
Matilda
Taro
Fitzpleasure
Encore:
Intro (An Awesome Wave)
Left Hand Free
Breezeblocks
