T In The Park

Event:    Music Festival
Rating:   Well worth going to

T In The Park, in its 20^th year, is Scotland’s premier music festival. This is only the second time I’ve been, the other occasion being the very first one when Oasis played in the tent in the middle of the afternoon when they were just starting out, Cypress Hill only managed one song because they got ‘held up by customs’ at Heathrow, and there were great sets from Bjork, Primal Scream, Grant Lee Buffalo amongst others.

This year in Scotland we are having that rarest of things, a ‘proper summer’, which added greatly to the event/experience, rather than having to wade through fields of mud. But boy there must have been a hell of a lot of young adult males waking up on Saturday morning with red raw sore backs. I thought my arms/neck were burning at times, and that was with regular top ups of factor 50.

 

The T stands for Tennents, which is a tasteless, insipid lager, only drunk when there is no other alternative. Clearly this is my own personal view, as it sells by the tanker load across the whole country on a daily basis. It was close call as to what was more enjoyable, a pint of T or the chlorinated water, required to stay hydrated.

The bus trip up was hot, squashed and thankfully quick. My three friends and I  arrived early, but the ‘doors’ didn’t open till 1600, giving the younger generation of Scots plenty of time to ably demonstrate the countries issue with alcohol. So an hour later, half way through the first set on the main stage by Leith’s finest, The Proclaimers,  young wee lads and lasses were being assisted back to tents to recover from the proceeds of their intoxication. Their loss, and headache from hell, as there may not be a better home act to open a festival. As you’d expect they went through all their best know tracks, including Letter to America, 500 miles and Cap In Hand. A great set by the Reid brothers, finished off with one of my favourites, The Joyful Kilmarnock Blues.

 

Suitably impressed we headed to line our stomachs at one of the numerous eating establishments, before attempting our second T. I had a healthy crab and salmon burger with a sweet chilli relish, and very nice it was too.

 

Next up were Texas, who have never been on my rated list, so much to my surprise I found them to be really good, way exceeding expectation. I was expecting them to be as flat as the state they have named themselves after, but Sharleen was on fine Weegie form, which she put down to the jet lag from the flight from the US. The set was all top hits, and most enjoyable it was.

 

After this we split up and my three mates wanted to see jingly, jangly, Jake Bugg, so I took the opportunity just walk around, see what their was to, find the least repulsive loos, and see what was going on in the tents. The effects of the alcohol and sun were further demonstrated when a cheer went up as Of Monsters and Men started their set. I made a very quick exit and ended up in the Slam (Dance) tent, and came upon Maceo Plex. Never heard of him before, but I found myself staying for a good 30 minutes. Again really enjoyable and made me realise I’d forgotten over the years, one of the benefits of festivals is hearing acts you would never have otherwise come across.

 

From there it was back to the main stage, via a final T, to meet up and see Chase & Status. I’ve only listened to one of their albums on Spotify, but again I really got into this and thought they were well worth seeing.

 

Of the main headline acts, there was only one choice, the only reason I’d bought a ticket in the first place. Kraftwerk. The chance to see one of the most original and innovative bands of the last 40 years, on one’s doorstep, in a 3D show was never going to be passed up. We got a spot right down the front, expectation was mega high, yet they easily exceeded it. From the start of The Robots, through Computer Love, Radioactivity, Man Machine and all the other classics they nailed it. It was pleasing to hear they were willing to offer up slightly differing versions of some material. The 3D was good, but I didn’t always use it (glasses were given on the way into the tent), as it made the band members themselves look a tad computer generated.

 

It was disappointing to see at the end the tent was nowhere near full. While getting Kraftwerk was obviously a coup for the organisers, it was a shame not to see more take the opportunity to see hear and see such an iconic act.

 

A great day out, and more than well worth it, with the added benefit of not having to lift one’s feet when the bus went either up or downhill on the way home.

 

Hopefully it won’t be another 20 years before I’m back, but next time I’ll miss the T and stick to the wine. I heard the Merlot was passable.