Where and when: Other stage, 10.30pm, Friday.
Dress code: Mudpit rave chic.
What happened: Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Skrillex, miniature dubstep overlord and Friday-night headliner, in a spaceship that's straight out of your 8-bit nightmares. A countdown and a dramatic curtain drop reveals the DJ/producer's elaborate set, which is like a Jedi starfighter if it got marooned on the Alien set, complete with booming mutant mashups and lasers. "Let's get crazy out here right now," he screeches as smoke shoots out into the sky and the crowd hollers, stuck in the mud, determined to rave regardless.
It's a jaw-dropping and ridiculous spectacle, which has drawn the diehard, the party-hard and the plain curious. But Skrillex's turbo-hectic mixes are a spectacle on their own. He quick-flicks switchblade-style between slivers of mutant dancehall (his Majestic-sampling track, Rock n Roll), booty house (DJ Funk's Fuck Dat Shit), Daft Punk arpeggios and big pop choruses (notably MGMT's Kids, Disclosure's Latch, and Niki & The Dove's DJ, Ease My Mind), all mangled into oblivion with his signature sub-bass wobbles. There are no full songs, just recognisable samples from club anthems and teases of choruses, complete with noises that defy nature itself.
It's as unsubtle as a shotgun to the face, but it's impossible to be bored. Every new track is met with looks of "what the ... " or excitable joy, especially when he asks the audience to crouch down and jump up to the gnarliest deformed dubstep you've ever heard. The ridiculousness of dancing to someone dancing in a spaceship isn't lost on the crowd, but whether he's going for laughs, or announcing his place on electronic music's throne, the mud-soaked crowd leaves 120% entertained.
High point: Lift off! The spaceship rises, Transformers-style, to reveal a massive metallic mask. Cue beats that could dislodge a dodgy thali.
Low point: The end. No, really. Nothing else, not even the Shangri-La, will match this madness tonight.
In a tweet: %^&$^%&^*(&$&%^(*&%^&*^%(*^% #thefuture
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion