Pendulum: Have the T crowd swinging in their favour Pic: Copyright Ross Cooper
Taking to the NME stage, Perth Australia’s pioneers of chart-stomping drum and bass, Pendulum, look as though they’ve been deposited from a spaceship (much like the late night crowd). On a built-up, futuristic platform, the band stand mighty above the crowd in the centre of a giant LED screen displaying kaleidoscopic backgrounds.
Observable only as a series of silhouettes in comic book superhero or villain type fashion, the contents of their headline slot would decide which category they fit into.
With their hyperactive sound merging various styles, newer material tonight such as The Island saw bouncier bass-lines and more house inspired works muscling in on the well-groomed, drum and bass that they’re best known for. This club environment worked in their favour with their huge sound encouraging a bounce-a-long from the front of the stage to the back of the arena, not that this lot need much encouragement.
Promising to, “Wring you out, knock you out and finish you off,” armed with squelching synth, the band entice the arena and deliver with an eye-blinkingly bright light show as vicious as their monstrous noise. With their MC constantly riling up the crowd with threats of sinister journeys and large doses of loud, although attempting common ground with The Prodigy, there’s a certain Spinal Tap element to their persona which is as big as the chest-shaking bass, also prominent in their set.
Playing up on the Edinburgh/ Glasgow rivalry by getting the crowd to cheer in their favour of each city, Propane Nightmares is launched into the night like a mentalist on the loose. A mentalist on the loose would most likely get a more sedate reaction here with pints, glow-sticks and people in the air quicker than the frenzied bpm of the hit.
Forming a whirlpool of bodies running clockwise at the front of the stage for Blood Sugar, Australia’s finest really do know how to work an audience, aided with copious amounts of alcohol of course. Impressive background visuals help with the general threat in their sound with space creatures and raging infernos depicting the mass mayhem.
Leaving the stage in darkness there’s no time for an encore eruption as the crowd start to leave, forcing Pendulum to quickly swing back on stage with chants of “Scotland, Scotland”, perhaps code for, “Please don‘t go,” at the rapidly emptying arena. The builing intro of Watercolour ensures that with the chart-electronica beasts leaving a tick in the "hero box" for festival crowd entertainment tonight.
