The Whip get cracking on Dance Stage West

Having played early in the day on the Other Stage, The Whip's second appearance at the festival saw them take to the stage in the Dance Village.

For those who haven't heard much of the band, the easiest thing to do is compare them to fellow Mancunians, New Order. They play electronic music, with Peter Hook style basslines, but they just don't do the obvious fighting on stage like New Order does.

Signed to Fatboy Slim's record label, Southern Fried Records, and having a few early singles released on super cool French record label, Kitsune, saw the band gain a number of fans, but they haven't really hit the big time yet.

After touring furiously over the past couple of years, supporting the likes of Simian Mobile Disco up and down the country, the band haven't really found time to write any new music, having played the same set for the best part of two years.

However, Glastonbury proved an excellent chance for the band to debut some of the new material that they had been working on since finishing a UK tour late last year.

2008 saw the band release their debut album X Marks Destination, and earlier this year saw the album released in the US, resulting in an extensive tour and rave reviews of their live performances at this year's SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, and that's where the band shine, when they perform live.

Having seen the band several times in the flesh, I know what their performances are about, but every time I seem to forget how good they are live.

Their performance on the Dance Stage West saw them take to the stage with an impressive light show, and they deliver album tracks 'Blackout', 'Sister Siam', before ending with the simply excellent 'Trash', along with several other album tracks and new material.

The Whip impressed on a day which saw a lot of dance music talent on display, such as Skream & Benga and Erol Alkan, and amongst that talent the band had to deliver, and that they certainly did.

After witnessing their performance however I was left wondering why they haven't actually made 'the big time' yet, regularly ignored by the likes of the NME as a worthy band. With tracks such as 'Blackout' and especially 'Trash' which never seems to get the audience dancing and singing along to every word, I know that they packed out West Dance Stage certainly did.

But maybe it's better that they're left the way that they are; they know how to write an excellent dance tune, and so why expect anything else from them. Judging by their new material they're not planning on doing in a new direction, they just want to keep people dancing, and their Glastonbury performance reaffirmed this.

Latest Updates