If there was ever a band who wanted to beam from the speakers like a ray of sunshine, it's Athlete. Well, the South London four-piece have a scrap on their hands this afternoon, as they arrive to provide an inevitably technicolour soundtrack to a very moody environment.
Dark clouds loom permanently overhead and the spitting rain cements the gloom, despite the emergence of this band, whose love of melody and optimistic soundplay threatens to be neutered before our eyes. Well, not quite. Despite the oppressive weather and their rather grating, eternally chipper worldview, Athlete somehow manage to imbue a dank vibe with a colour of impressive impact and power.
'Shake Those Windows', 'Westside', 'This Is Beautiful' and 'Works Project' are delivered with invigorating zest, twisting their predictable, standard roots into powerful thrash outros. And the band are key, rising above the obvious handicaps with the force of their individual performances and the vaguely witty remarks of frontman Joel Potts.
With 'You Got Style' Athlete even manage to lift the black cloak currently shielding Glastonbury 2003, by "making good fun of the true British climate". Really, in these situations, a good attitude is the way to go.
