live review

Friday

Driving north up the A9 en route to the festival, the signs were ominous. As soon as we crossed into the Highlands a large clap of thunder and flash of lightning greeted us. Another festival of putting the tent up in the lashing rain. As black clouds surrounded the car my mood spiralled downwards until just before Aviemore I saw some sunlight and a wee patch of blue in the sky. Luckily for us this patch of blue was directly over the campsite and the tent was put up in the dry.



At first sight the arena is pretty amazing. A grass field surrounded by mature pine trees and mountains. The night started by pitching the tent to the sound of Salsa Celtic filling the mountain air. It was amazing to hear this echoing around the mountains which surround the site. Amazingly the rain stayed off, however the clouds were never far away. The music continued with Kenny Anderson aka King Creosote lifting the crowd with 'Not one bit ashamed ' and 'Bootprints' the stand outs from the set. The main stage finished off with Peatbog Faeries eclectic mix of Celtic sounds mixed with dance music. Kind of like a true Celtic rave in an appropriate setting. It certainly had the crowd dancing on their feet and was an uplifting end to the night. For late night party goers the night continued as Mother Funk DJ session in the tent kept several hundred jumping with their hard hitting funk set.

As the festival petered out for the night the heavens opened.



Saturday

With steady overnight rain by the time I got up on Saturday morning the ground was fast changing from grass to mud. Although it was lashing rain a lunchtime slot by Capercaillie lifted the spirits. Co founder Karen Matheson truly is one of the finest Gaelic singers alive today. Late afternoon saw rising Massachusetts singer Willy Mason's set get the place moving with his blues rock. 'Gotta keep walking' and 'I can't sleep' were the standouts in a great set. It's hard to remember that he is still a teenager. Willy truly has a great voice and his rendition of tracks that kept the crowd going. A highlight was when she was joined on stage by birthday girl KT Turnstall. Look out for further collaborations from this pair in the future.



Blazin Fiddles and Fred Deakin from Lemon Jelly kept the tent crowd going although the next act on the main stage saw Idlewild deliver on home soil. They attacked the set with energy and mixed the well known anthems such as 'American English' which many in the mainly rain soaked Scottish crowd sang along to. Idlewild's lead singer Roddy Woomble tried to cheer up the crowd by reminding that the heavy rain was keeping the dreaded midges at bay. It never ceases to amaze me what a large following Idlewild have north of the border. Quite a few people told me over the weekend that they were the main draw for them at the festival. The new tunes of current album 'Make Another World' went down well with the crowd, particularly 'El Captain' and 'Love steal us from'.


Last up for her first ever Headline slot was birthday girl KT Turnstall. Fresh from the event sponsors presenting her with a new guitar made from Talisker Whiskey casks and a massive birthday cake she entered the stage on a high and never looked back. Blending well known tracks from her first album she interspersed new tracks from her up and coming album to a wet but rocking audience. She had only just arrived from Dundee where, the night before she showcased her new album, before the lights went out at the venue. Taking that in her stride she blasted the crowd and dazzled them with her matching glitzy silver mini dress and matching Gibson guitar. The set really took off early on with the well recognised 'Black Horse and the Cherry Tree' and 'Miniature Disasters'. I detected hesitancy in her voice every time she introduced one of her new tracks. Suppose that's just her down to earth approach to life. She needn't have been as they all went down great with the crowd. Her up coming album will be a hit. The main stage ended with a mass sing along to all over the world and sent the crowd away happy. Straight after the gig KT travelled all night to swap one mud bath for another with her Sunday performance at Glastonbury.



The late night revellers continued with a set in the tent from The Complete Stone Roses. Although they are from Glasgow and can't possibly be compared to the original class, they do a pretty damn good impression of the the original classics including the Ian Browns mannerisms. One thing is for certain with a tent packed with hundreds of 30 and 40 somethings screaming out the roses classics at the top of their voices.

Sunday

Wasn't exactly rain stopped play but a delayed start to the main stage had everyone seeking shelter from the relentless rain.

Eddi Reader started up the action to a large crowd in the late afternoon. 'Muddy water' was probably the most appropriate song of the weekend as by now the ground in front of the main stage had turned into a swamp of mud.



Ex Del Amitri front man Justin Currie performed an early evening set on the main stage. The audience loved his renditions of some of the classics and solo work such as 'No surrender' and 'If I ever loved you'. He described his experience as "I was quite nervous before I went on stage as I did not have a sound check. But it was superb, and it's a really nice sized event".

Talking of front men Roddy Woomble also performed a solo acoustic set, this time in the tent. Just as popular as when he played the previous night with Idlewild he performed some of his solo album such as the title track 'My secret is my silence' and my favourite 'Whiskeyface' to a packed tent.


Making the trip up from a Saturday slot at Glastonbury the London based Guillemots entered the stage with intensity and real depth. From the start of the set they seemed well up for this festival and seemed to really enjoy the experience. 'Trains to Brazil' is turning into an anthem that most bands would want.

Back for only their eighth gig since they reformed Crowded House were given a noisy welcome onto the stage, cheers, screams and flags the lot for this band that were once tipped to be one of the great cross over bands of recent decades. Judging by the reception many in the audience had come to the festival lured along by their presence. From song two when their hit 'four seasons in one day' turned into a mass sing along with most people knowing the lyrics, this set was a classic. Neil Fins rendition, voice and pitch sounded to me just like it was years ago. The timing was spot on, the bands enthusiasm was high, resulting in a great set of classics such as 'It's only natural', 'When you come' 'fall at your feet' and many more. A fitting end to a great festival, in which the it's a mark of this bands status that their next gig is at Live Earth in Sydney on 7th July where they will play to 100,000 people then off to the USA to commence a North American tour.



It was not all over yet as an energetic set from progressive Scottish band Schooglenifty brought the tent to a close to a dancing crowd. Playing tunes such as 'Nordal Rumba' and Glenuig hall' with such passion it seemed like the late crowd wanted to squeeze as much out of this festival as they could. Never has the inside of a tent been so muddy. Still no one cared.

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