Review

It seems that every year one band stands out from the rest and gives an outstanding Glastonbury performance. In 1995 it was Pulp's turn and in 1997 it was Radiohead who delivered. Arguably Spiritualized are high on the list for the breakout performance honour in 2002. Jason Pierce and his band played a hypnotic show on the Other Stage Friday evening. They played material from their 4 studio albums, which combined to give us set larger then the sum of its parts. Everything hit the right tone. Spiritualized have staked out a common ground between minimalism and lush symphonics - while powered by simple, repetitious motifs, their songs simultaneously blossomed into rich, shimmering sonic panoramas. Playing live, I felt the band managed to add another level of drama to the songs. It certainly was a powerful and dynamic performance, but time will tell if they steal the seminal crown this year. Words by Phil Jones