Sunday overview

T in the Park felt extremely crowded this year, and getting from one stage to another was a bit of a hassle. It’s all very well having a great line-up, but when you’re stranded on one side of the main stage trying to work out the best route through a packed, drunk, pogoing T crowd you just decide to cut your losses and opt for the closest tent going.

Scottish all girl four piece The Hedrons have made the daunting move from T Break to King Tuts, and it has to be said that the step up isn’t entirely in their favour. While the strengths of the group seem to be formed by their connection with the audience, this bond is broken with the vast expanse between the stage and the crowd.



Lead singer Tippi saunters on stage to perform a rather odd David Brent meets chicken impersonator dance. Her energy is incredible, especially at this time of the morning, and it’s exhausting to watch the various rock star poses she loves to do. The rest of the band jump around in the background as Tippi scours the side of the stage, hanging off the side to sing, reminiscent of Chris Martin on the main stage a few years back.

The turnout is pretty poor, and for a band that has sold out King Tut’s (the venue) on three separate occasions you’d expect them to draft in a bit more of a crowd. ‘Heatseaker’, ‘Be My Friend’ and the title track from their debut album ‘One more won’t kill us’ all get an airing, with extended intros, but the lack of atmosphere ultimately lets the performance down.

Over on the main stage indie stalwarts The Cribs are opening with ‘Hey Scensters’, and showcasing some new material from their third release ‘Men’s needs, women’s needs, whatever’. It’s all good predictable, generic indie that’s great for jumping up in the air too, but there’s a big difference between their best and worse songs, and that void is highlighted by some of the less catchier tracks in their set.



You Say Party, We Say Die! had delayed their set on the Radio 1/NME stage due to technical difficulties, and as time went on it looked even more likely that they weren’t actually going to turn up. Good news for Figure 5, one of Scotland’s most promising new acts.

I had already been blown away by The Cinematics yesterday, and I wasn’t expecting any new acts to surpass that outstanding performance, but Figure 5 may just have done the trick. It’s still indie, but it doesn’t sound tired or drained, and the crowd seemed to know every word, it’s no surprise they’ve been invited back to the T Break stage for a second year.



Their debut single ‘Nitty Gritty’ is coming out in early September, and these guys really could be ones to watch, worth it for just the guy they bring on mid set to perform a trumpet solo. Think acoustic driven Buzzcocks lead through a 90’s Britpop era, and picking up classic tunes like Robbie Williams picks up starstruck groupies.

Moving onto Avril Lavigne, the little girl with the huge ego, who looked extremely sexy in a tartan skirt, and was joined by a troupe of flag waving dancers. Since when was Avril into dance routines? The performance ran a little like a greatest hits set, with each successive hit instantly recognisable. ‘Girlfriend’, ‘Skater Boy’, ‘Happy Ending’ and ‘I’m with you’ were among the favourites, and Avril reached for her tasteful pink guitar for the latter two songs.



The pint sized singer did a pretty good job of motivating the crowd, even if she did just came across like a preadolescent teenage cheerleader with a chip on her shoulder. She even managed to get the crowd to spell out her name back to her, a bit of a cliché maybe, but her egotistical diva like status was properly confirmed by her decision to only allow photographers to snap her for the first minute of her performance, and get ushered away from their snapping gaze as if she was royalty. Honestly, what fuss for one of the earliest acts of the day.

New Brummy sensations The Twang were going down a storm on the Radio 1/NME stage, and I’ve never seen anyone get so enthusiastic for a Stone Roses / Oasis crossbreed since, well, since Kasabian. Regardless of their glaringly obvious influences The Twang are still an extremely tight act, and there is a humanity to the group that make them instantly likeable. The dual singer thing almost works, although Phil Etheridge does most of the work and leaves Martin Saunders a bit redundant, forcing him to mime the words, perhaps just for encouragement.



I still can’t see what it is that particularly makes The Twang unique, true ‘Two Lovers’ is a rather beautiful track, but haunting echo tainted guitars have been used numerous times, and I personally think The Verve have all done this much better ten years ago. As soon as they start to perform ‘Wide Awake’ I stand there scratching my head thinking ‘haven’t they just played this?’. As good as The Twang are, the two singles they’ve released so far do sound a little bit too similar for my liking. A rather average indie band, but good at what they do. Just don’t believe the hype.

‘My, haven’t you grown’ was a phrase that used to really irritate me as a child, I mean – what were people expecting? – for me to hit 4ft 2 and decide that I couldn’t be bothered going through all the hassle of getting any bigger? But it’s a phrase that really suits The Fratellis, who seemed to have exploded in terms of popularity over the last few months. They’ve managed to bleed debut album ‘Costello Music’ dry, releasing no less than six singles (if you count the download only ‘Flathead’ as well), and they had gathered the largest crowd of the weekend.

Sadly, the vivacious acoustic strumming and head slapping vocals (duh dur da duh dur da duh dur da dur da dur duh) is much better suited to an overpacked tent, or grimy little music venue, and it just seems to loose its effect on the main stage. Not that the Scot’s are going to let it go down badly, and ‘Chelsea Dagger’ causes an en masse sing-a-long.



Inside the Pet Sounds Arena Brian Jonestown Massacre were being a complete shambles. They are a group that has seen no fewer than 40 line-up changes, and have gained a cult status for producing some Biffy Clyro like chameleon singles, but they were surprisingly awful live. I had found them thoroughly engrossing a few years back when they supported Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, but today they just didn’t want to be there, leaving out their classic tracks, complaining about losing their equipment and not ever getting gigs in Scotland, and taking forever in between songs. They even showed resentment at playing in the Pet Sounds Arena, claiming that they should have been in the King Tuts tent instead.

I kept expecting the apparent frontman Joel Gion to do something other than stand defiantly like a bouncer from an 80’s themed gay bar and bang his tambourine, but that’s all he did. Besides walking round a bit between songs and pretending to do something or other. He even had a bloody mic, but only used it once to answer a random heckle. Brian Jonestown Massacre started late and ended early, and believe it or not I was quite thankful for such a short set.

There were more ‘strange’ acts performing today in the Pet Sounds Arena. I say strange, as they weren’t nearly as I expected them. Tori Amos, another act who had amassed a cult following, was taking her idiosyncratic piano driven experimental pop to the T congregate, and they didn’t seem wholly impressed. It wasn’t nearly as packed as it had been throughout the weekend and although she was offering something slightly different to the hordes of indie mediocrity that ruled the line-up it didn’t seem to drag in many spectators. The same can be said for Air, and despite some manic obsessive fans down the front, the crowd were largely unresponsive. Even ‘Kelly Watch The Stars’ didn’t get the crowd grooving and I left the tent frustrated at the lack of atmosphere for Air’s poignant set.

Over on the main stage Kings of Leon, now beardless and hairless (I don’t believe these are the same people!) were delivering a brilliant performance. I have in the past been critical of frontman Caleb Followill’s singing, but today it was pitch perfect and I was won over by the group’s new material, which is absolutely superb, retaining that bluesy country rock sound that they achieved with their first album. A definite return to form.



I caught a bit of Scissor Sisters, who had made a bit of an effort to join in with the Scot’s by wearing matching tartan get-ups. Still just as flamboyantly camp and over the top as ever, yet just as enjoyable. I only watched for a little while, but that’s all it takes for them to put a smile on your face. One of the best live acts around at the moment.

The Holloways, second from the top on the Futures Stage, were outstanding at Glastonbury a few weeks earlier, and equally brilliant on the much smaller stage at T in the Park. I was caught somewhere between a sweaty pit of over exuberant fans, who were lapping up The Holloways cheery satirical pop songs. It’s like the Kaiser Chiefs or The Fratellis, but not nearly as annoying, and five times as happy. ‘Generator’, the groups biggest hit went down the best, unsurprisingly. Great stuff.



The festival closed with Snow Patrol, who were amassing a collection of single shoes on the main stage until lead singer Gary Lightbody eventually got a pair. Watching Snow Patrol breeze through contemporary classics from their latest two albums was a joy. They were the perfect way to close the festival, and even if ‘Chasing Cars’ has had way more radio play than it ever should have been granted, they are still a magnificent live act, with a great vocalist to match.



Despite being dominated by rather average indie bands, the general consensus is that this year’s T in the Park had one of the best line-ups yet. Problems on the Friday meant many weary travellers had to turn back and begin their journeys again on Saturday morning, but it didn’t seem to dampen the spirits of the festival goers and the weather throughout Saturday and Sunday was great. T in The Park has enjoyed its place as the premiere Scottish festival, but it relies on the strength of its line-up, and I fear that before long it will have to get like V and Reading and start repeating bands, especially if it keeps the third day.

There are many small festivals springing up in Scotland at the moment, and with tickets for T in the Park becoming increasingly difficult to get hold of I just wander if people will start looking for more alternatives.

My one gripe with the festival is that it just seemed a little crowded in comparison to recent years. More diversity with the acts would be nice, and better organisation for the Friday. Opening the campsite on the Thursday evening would surely solve the traffic problems. However, it was a great weekend and definitely better than both V and Reading.

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