As a regular gig goer throughout the years and an occasional day-festival attendee, I had thought that my first experience as a camper at this year’s T in the Park would be more of the same, just with added mud, booze and the dreaded portaloos. I was only half right.
What the festival lacked in hygiene and sunshine, it made up for in the sheer volume of quality music, atmosphere and an overwhelming sense of camaraderie that I hadn’t felt at the ones I’d attended previously; all throughout the weekend I was acutely aware of what I’d been missing in not having camped at a music event before. I remain unsure as to whether it was a genuine feeling of togetherness or everyone just being too drunk to care, but I’m leaning towards the latter.
Though camping opened up on the Thursday night, the musical attractions began on Friday at 4pm and with a starting line up of some of the biggest acts from all over the world (which would only get better as the weekend wore on), those of us fortunate to attend were in for a treat.
The Main Stage line up for the day consisted of recent London fashion-pack darling - and 4.3.2.1 singer - Paloma Faith, Birmingham based soft-rock group Editors, the ever wonderful Faithless and stadium rock champions, Muse. While the Friday Main Stage line up wasn’t my cup of tea (thus no solid review of their performances can be provided), I can say that on the walk back to my tent at the end of the night, I overheard several enthusiastic statements regarding the latter three acts, and in particular the light show provided by Muse which has - even to this unaffected punter - become a curiously sought out attraction.
As for the acts I did see, I have to say that Friday, despite having a solid line up, was a very slow start to the weekend. Having taken to dividing up the acts that I’d wanted to see and compromising with the friend that I was camping with, I ended up spending the majority of the day at the NME/Radio 1 Stage, where we saw The Temper Trap, Jamie T, Florence & the Machine and the Black Eyed Peas; a varied collection of artists and ones that I was sure would give over to an interesting evening of music.
It was interesting certainly and a pleasant way to pass the time, but none of the acts were experiences that I took home with me as ones to cherish (with the exception of one, which I will tap into in a moment). My afternoon started off with a beer, sunshine and the Temper Trap which, considering the one song of theirs that I knew, I thought was the perfect combination. Unfortunately, the only song I knew also seemed to be the only song that the rest of the audience knew, and at some points I wondered if that was also the case for the band as the majority of the set felt disjointed and jarring in places. The vocals never felt consistent enough and though the rhythm section provided a solid backbone for the melodies created by the rest of the band, it didn’t seem to be enough to keep the audience’s enthusiasm alight.
That being said, there were a handful of tracks that I enjoyed enough to youtube, namely “Drum Song” - a three minute, twenty six seconds worth of drum, bass and guitar godliness (as I write, I am dancing in my seat to it) - and the oft sampled “Sweet Disposition” which rose the ground and solidified itself as a true festival classic amongst the festival-shy sunshine and a fully engaged audience.
Next on the bill was the wonderfully charming Jamie T; a favourite of mine for a number of years and a musician who never fails to make me smile with his turns of phrase. He didn’t disappoint. A typically jaunty set with cheeky banter in between songs, he strummed his way through a number of hits to a crowd who unfortunately appeared to be either half asleep or bottle-happy until the oldies were cracked out. While the first half of his set was received with a mostly positive, if reserved, reception, the latter half was where the audience really took notice, though several members of the crowd were intent on making their distaste known. Like a pro however, Jamie powered through the rest of his set, bringing out hits such as “Sticks and Stones,” “Emily’s Heart,” “If You Got the Money” and “Sheila” towards the end which had even the most dedicated target-happy punter dancing.
Second to last on the bill was the power house that is Florence & the Machine. Having only released one album, you would be forgiven for thinking that Florence Welch has been around forever. With a string of recognisable hits behind her, I get the feeling that her debut album has fewer than a handful of unreleased tracks on it, and the set that she performed at T in the Park proved to show just why she released so many - they’re all of extremely high quality. Though her live performance was vocally less than impressive - I suspect that more than a few cans of Tennants were consumed backstage - the melodies and effects that the songs are rife with are utterly beautiful, and would raise goosebumps on even the lesser fan (such as myself, admittedly). Starting off her set with a shaky rendition of “Howl”, she quickly had the audience wrapped around her carefully manicured fingers, and the sheer depth in the sound of her music allowed her the freedom to let her voice loose to do what it wanted throughout hits such as “Dog Days Are Over ”, “You Got The Love,” and “Rabbit Heart”; something that often worked to her disadvantage, but it never seemed to take away from the crowd’s experience or dent their enthusiasm; they clearly loved every moment of it.
The closing act for the Friday on the NME/Radio 1 stage was the outstanding Black Eyed Peas. Having harboured a not-so-secret love for the foursome for a number of years (I distinctly remember sneakily buying “Where Is The Love” on CD single back in the day), I was more than excited to hear that they were playing T in the Park, and they were my one act for Friday that I had to see (Sorry Calvin, sorry Muse, but Fergie and the boys win my vote!) and I was not in any way, shape or form disappointed. Let me give you one word of advice: if you ever get the chance to see BEP live, take it, and take it quickly because you will not be disappointed. They were outstanding. High energy, full of banter and the mixes they played were phenomenal. And it wasn’t just the fans that thought so - the friend that I’d gone with was not a Black Eyed Peas fan when she arrived but by the end of the set they were her highlight for Friday’s line up, and I am honestly not surprised. The ultimate crowd pleasers, they played a set which ranged from the old: “Where Is The Love”, “Pump It”, “My Humps”, and the new, with songs like “Meet Me Half Way”, “Boom Boom Pow” and the ultimate party anthem “I Got A Feelin’”. Amongst all the lights, the thrumming bass which could be felt from the ground up, and the bordering on manic party atmosphere, the highlight of the set was a several minute long megamix consisting of songs from Usher (OMG), Nirvana (Smells Like Teen Spirit), the Beatles and the various solo efforts from the Peas themselves (including the UK’s own Cheryl Cole’s “3 Words”).
I, along with several thousand others, came away from the set - and the arena itself - feeling absolutely elated and ready for a full nights partying, which was indulged by the campsite’s very own “Indie Disco” tent until the small hours of the morning. As the rain started, the campsite fell into a drunken sleep with tales of Black Eyed Peas, Muse and the various other acts to grace the stages of Balado across the evening ringing through the canvases. It was surely a day not to have been missed. What was astounding was that the line up was only going to get better.
Saturday and Sunday coming once I can get my head out of my arse.