James Morrison, and The Mars Volta open first day at Balado

T in the Park 2009 review

By Gary Walker | Published: Wed 15th Jul 2009

T in the Park 2009

Friday 10th to Sunday 12th July 2009
Balado, nr Kinross. Scotland, KY13 0NJ, Scotland MAP
weekend £170 - SOLD OUT, day tickets Friday £60, and Saturday or Sunday £72.50

Daily capacity: 80,000

Due to T in the Park's unusually late 6pm start time for the first day, opening act on the Main Stage James Morrison is greeted by early evening sun as he begins his set. With the gates having opened only an hour earlier, giving the inhabitants of Ts riotous campsites ample opportunity to get fully charged up on the amber nectar, hes also met by a pretty meagre crowd for an artist with such significant mainstream appeal.

Looking sharp in sunglasses and pristine white T-shirt and backed by a duo of soul singers, he treats those who have turned up to a pleasant enough set of mid-tempo pop, with 'You Give Me Something' a stand-out crowd pleaser.

Over on the Radio One/NME Stage things start in far less gentle fashion as The Mars Volta stride purposefully to their instruments in front of a similarly paltry crowd, prompting singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala to observe "God damn, y'all, you're all so far away."

In spite of the muted reaction, they launch straight into a wall of sound, with huge, pounding drums and squealing guitars for the lusty, psychadelic first song 'Goliath'.

With the considerable amount of hair on stage, flowing, floral shirts and Ozzie-like vocals, it's a little bit like watching Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and The Doors jam on stage. Well, almost.

They introduce 'Roulette Dares' as "The song we wrote in Royston Vasey" and it powers along to a shimmering, wig-out climax as feedback swirls around the stage and T in the Park's first black clouds appear ominously on the horizon.

'Viscera Eyes' is similarly epic and indulgent before the band are told their set is to be cut short and they can only fit in one more song.

'Wax Simulacra' opens with a sizeable Bonham-esque fill but after the six-minute freakouts of the previous five songs, it feels disappointingly brief and unexplored, weighing in at a by-their-standards-feeble 3.5 minutes.

The Mars Volta's intense, fraught rock would perhaps have been better suited to a slot later in the day in the shadowy and more infinite confines of one the smaller, tented stages.

review by: Gary Walker