Sugababes

Freak Like Them

Yeah, right. The Sugababes. Manufactured pop pap. Playing the Pyramid Stage on Sunday? Further evidence - as far as the ever-present harbingers of Glastonbury doom are concerned - of its creeping corporatisation. If everybody who had expressed that view had taken the trouble to actually watch the 'Babes, many words would have been eaten.

The Sugababes are not your average manufactured pop band. Their breakthrough, Freak Like Me, started life as a cheeky Richard X bootleg. The 'Babes didn't sue: they put it out officially. And it introduced a teenage audience to the concept of Gary Numan, to boot.

It's true that the crowd assembled for the Sugababes' Pyramid stage appearance wasn't exactly your bog-standard Glastonbury crowd. Young girls perched on their dads' shoulders were very much in evidence. As the 'Babes came on, large numbers of pre-teens (mainly female) burrowed past me to the front. Three songs later, most of them trickled back.

But mostly, the crowd was engrossed in the music. Which was, incontrovertibly, very good indeed. Music-wise, the Sugababes experience included 80s-style keyboards, slap bass, Spanish guitar, a jazzy track, a full-on axe-guitar interlude, an acoustic track in which Steve the guitarist accompanied the girls as they harmonised thrillingly and one of the best drummers ever.

The girls proved that they really can sing live and bounced around winsomely - trying to get the crowd singing along and really getting into the whole idea of having a vast, adoring crowd in front of them. Good experience for the future.

Naturally, they finished with the outrageously funky Round Round, which had both pre-teens and parents leaping around. The Sugababes, clearly, are not to be underestimated - they have charisma, heart and guts. How many of their pop peers would have bottled out of playing the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury at the last minute?

Tipped off that they were into Greenpeace, we waited for them to appear at the Greenpeace tent - but they were hijacked by the BBC. If only they had managed to get amongst the grit of Glastonbury, they would have proved, for all time, that they are no manufactured, cosseted fly-by night divas. They are currently working on their second album. Don't ignore it - these girls will demand your attention.

Steve Boxer

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