The Dead Weather seduce Glastonbury

New supergroup plays suprise set in Park

26 June 2009

The skies were blue, the sun was beating down and the ground much drier up in The Park area than down in main stage 'babylon' this afternoon (Friday). Life was good, the atmosphere upbeat and chilled.

A crowd of several thousand had gathered for the 'special guest' slot. There was a heavy sense of apprehension with rumours and speculation buzzing around. Those who had received our Tweet earlier knew what was scheduled, but not what to expect, given that The Dead Weather are extrememly new (having formed earlier this year) with only a couple of UK gigs under their belts.

All of a sudden, four vampish figures with pasty white faces, all clad in head-to-toe black, slithered on-stage. The entrance was all the more dramatic in contrast with the bright, colourful setting before them.

But instead of melting in the daylight, the band tore through a set of such power and intensity that it left the crowd with mouths agape, hair disshevelled and a feeling not too dissimilar to having just had amazing sex with someone you shouldn't have had it with. Many of the boys and quite a few of the girls had certainly enjoyed an illicit experience with Mosshart in their minds during the hour long set.

It was a performance of dualities - the monochrome creatures of the night performing to the dayglo sun-kissed crowd; the raw, irrepressable sexuality of Mosshart seducing the audience one minute, prowling the stage with more testosterone than her bandmates combined the next.

The set was a preview of debut album 'Horehound', released on 13 July - an uncomplicated melting pot of all its consituent bands - The Kills, The White Stripes, The Raconteurs (also featuring White and bassist Jack Lawrence) and guitarist Dean Fertita's Queens Of The Stoneage.

A deafening roar erupted before the last song, as Jack White took centre stage and strapped on Mosshart's guitar for a dark, brooding duet that saw the two stars melt into eachother with ferocious chemistry. As the four band members gave a final bow, their ice-cool was betrayed momentarily by smiles they were clearly unable to withhold. It seemed they had blown themselves away as much as they had us.

Stay posted for our continual updates throughout the 2009 Glastonbury Festival.

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