Glastonbury Festival - Songs of the South Impress at New Tent

South

Songs of the South Impress at New Tent

New Tent - Friday

It should be impossible to weave such an epic and powerful sound as this without at least 20 members, but London outfit South somehow manage it with just four people and one hell of a lot of guitar pedals.

Coming hot on the heels of the explosive set by The Others, South’s dreamy collection of condensed three-minute epics provided a welcome change of pace for an audience already battered by flying crowd surfers and sweltering in the afternoon heat.

Technical problems dogged the opening moments but the band ploughed on like troopers to win the crowd over with their particular brand of soaring, melodic rock. It is hard to classify their sound though; a strange concoction of soaring pop-rock, an arsenal of weird guitar noises and even the odd glimpse of a funky bassline or two.

It might be this diversity – or the breadth of South’s sound – that resulted in the strange game of ‘swap the instrument’ that seemed to be in progress. Between every song the band passed guitars back and forth with a fluency that would certainly have done the England midfield a few favours last night.

But unlike certain Swiss referees I could – but won’t – mention, South certainly knew how to please the crowd. A solid performance from a band who clearly have a lot to look forward to.

By Will Saunders

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