Soulwax (Sunday, King Tut's Wah Wah Hut)

Soulwax - 'Belgium's finest export' was the introduction given to these sharp white suited Euroslicks. By their own admission their clothing was not particularly appropriate. 'Dressed for the occasion.?' muttered front-man David as he contrasted his dapper threads with the mud-drab camouflage sported by the majority of the crowd. However from the look of some of the young crowd surfers later on in the set, Soulwax had a few of their own fans in the Wah-Wah tent this afternoon. It isn't normal to see three piece suits flying through the air over the heads of the crowd as the mosh churns its hardest.

Having missed the Glastonbury set I was keen to catch a first glimpse of a reputedly cool live performance. The band was one of the tips for the top given us by Dum Dums bassist, Steve, during our Glasto' diary visit, and he was pissed off the day before when he had realised that he was going to be playing to the Party in the Park crowd today so would miss them himself once again.

This one's for you, Steve.

The Soulwax sound is a mixture of styles. Listening to the tracks provided a window into an eclectic blend of musical influences. 'Cut Some Slack' found me thinking of Lenny Kravitz. The following number opened with an electric guitar rendition of Bach's Tocatta that slid out into electro euro-pop with a hand clapping rap that led us back to a set of funky riffs and a drum solo blitz for punctuation. The singer's vocal style and facial expressions held the impassioned energy displayed by Thom Yorke at his best.

The whole band clearly believed in the power of live performance. No shoe staring to be found here. Neon mike stands glowed intense white, emphasising the cleanliness of the incongruous suits and lighting the way for a powerfully charged set.

A new number that may (or may not.) have been titled 'Two of us' received it's first live airing. Oddly this song seemed more raw than some of the other more polished tracks. Maybe this was just another deliberate change of tempo and style, or possibly there might be a little more refinement to come yet. We wait to see. Whatever the intention, this new song didn't stifle the steady flow of keen and sometimes besuited crowd surfers. Their energy seemed to hold out for the entire set, and by the last track there was a distinct impression that the pit crew's patience was beginning to flag. I recognised several faces who had been past a couple of times already, and the shoves they were getting to propel them out of the front stage area were becoming increasingly brusque.

For me the set ended too soon. I don't know when I'll next have the chance to see this band live, so I've added their name to my list of 'should buys' next time I'm out on a hunt for CDs. By

John Bownas