After a day where the gods beamed their sun on the festival site, an ominous overcast morning proved that T in the Park’s second day wouldn’t be as kind. But with punters eagerly awaiting entry well before the gates opened, it doesn’t seem to be the Scottish way to let wet weather get in the way of a good time.
I kicked the day off in the T Break tent, witnessing local up-and-comers We Came From Wolves opening things up, waking up the crowd with a loud, rocking set. With great melodies – though couldn’t tell you about the lyrics under a muddy vocal mix – they reminded me of some of the heavier Manchester Orchestra moments. The title track from their new EP Paradise Place had everyone clapping, a few even jumping, which wasn’t bad for the first set of the day!
Opening up the main stage, Canadian electronic pop artist Kiesza sang and danced over a backing track with a couple of backup dancers. She oozed predictable pop that entertained, if not inspired, the growing crowd. Certainly an odd choice before classic group The Stranglers, but then again this festival seems good at mixing the commercial pop with the classic and contemporary gems. As Kiesza finished up, the pop-centric crowds were able to move over to see Twenty One Pilots open up the Radio One stage, leaving room for the rest of us to enjoy the classic sounds of The Stranglers. The classic English new wave outfit mixed up material from their best known late 70s material, all the way through to their more recent releases. From 1977’s “Something Better Change” and “(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)” with all the keys and synth to 1978’s “Walk On By”, “5 Minutes” and 2004’s “Norfolk Coast” with a heavy bass, there was plenty for fans new and old. Unfortunately only seeing the second half of the set, I didn’t see “Golden Brown”, if they played it at all! Their 1988 cover of The Kinks’ “All Day and All of the Night” though was a great moment, and an ear shattering bass led into “No More Heroes”, which ended the set. A band who are far from their prime, but remain a surprisingly energetic, entertaining outfit all the same.
Back into the pop sphere, young London based artist Ella Eyre appeared on the Radio One stage, showing off an impressive voice with backing singers and a four piece band, all dressed in black. “All About You” had the crowd moving, though I didn’t hang around long. I’d heard great things about Neon Waltz, a psychedlic six piece hailing from Wick, Scotland, so went to check them out instead. Well into their set at the T Break Stage when I arrived, they had amassed an impressive crowd and indeed did not disappoint. Their lead had a solid voice and enjoyed harmonies with his bassist, while the band jammed and proved themselves great instrumentalists. Fans of King Gizzard should definitely check them out.
A Scottish group who have made more than their fair share of success, particularly in their home country, are Twin Atlantic, and they’ll be releasing their third album Great Divide next month. Playing favourites from their last – Free – along with newer tunes, the quartet proved a polished, excellent live band, and a perfect main stage addition. The crowd enjoyed singing along to much of the material – especially the more “emotional” tunes. They love that stuff here! Of particular mention were “Made a Beast of Myself”, “Yes, I Was Drunk” (no doubt relatable for much of the crowd) and “Crash Land”, which started out solo, before a bit of Cello was added and then the drums kicked in… stellar!
I’d heard so much about the “Slam Tent” that I had to check this out next. Quite a lengthy walk from the main stage, the tent is a place a lot of punters call home for the entire weekend. Not there as much for the music as they are to get drunk, take pills and dance, the slam tent is home to a myriad of DJs and an epileptic light show. A video rotates within split seconds between the crowd and the stage. Lights flash over and over and over. For the sober, it’s an intense experience; an overload of the senses. Carl Craig was entertaining the crowd on my arrival, though as people were chanting “Woop! There it is!” – no relation to the song being played at the time – it was clear that Craig’s music was a secondary part of the experience. This tent was its own world, and the people within it were in their own. They just wanted to dance! And dance they would, all weekend. Though I would not make the journey again.
Instead, I went to see one of my old favourites, We Are Scientists, who were mixing up between songs new (from the record TV en Français, released back in March) and old in the King Tut tent, with their witty banter thrown in throughout. “Who’s here because it’s raining outside? (pause and silence) Who’s here because it’s raining inside!? (cue massive cheer). You did seem to me to be a raining inside sort of crowd”. Highlights from the set included the now seminal “Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt” and “I Don’t Bite”, which had everyone dancing.
Australia’s The Jezabels (pictured in header) made their T in the Park debut next, surprisingly on the T Break stage – which seemed otherwise reserved for Scottish discovery artists. Opening after a slight delay with “Endless Summer”, Hayley and the gang made sure to make the most of their brief 30 minute set – and though playing to a small crowd (many of whom were, naturally, Aussies), gave it their all. “Time To Dance” was a highlight of the material off The Brink and something tells me that this won’t be the last time they play the festival.
As the day continued, the main stage got decidedly pop and dance once again, with Rudimental, Pharrell Williams and Calvin Harris playing the stage. Though Paolo Nutini – who it seems is HUGE here, to the point that he was listed as the fourth headliner – and James served as variations to the norm. In my humble opinion, the more interesting music could be found between the rest of the stages, particularly on the Radio 1 Stage, which would close out with The Charlatans, The 1975, Bombay Bicycle Club and Elbow. Not a bad run by any means. Buzz artist George Ezra was also the “surprise guest” in the BBC Introducing tent, impressing the crowd after an earlier turn in King Tut’s tent. Being pushed hard here in the UK by Sony, Ezra is looking for a big year ahead.
I did, however, catch a bit of Pharrell and his hat as he brought out a medley of his “guest appearances” over the years (from Snoop to Major Lazer and Daft Punk), alongside his own material and closed, naturally, with “Happy”. I was just happy to have been out of the main arena before he played it. If I have to hear that damn song one more time… instead I went to check out Glasgow band The Temperance Movement, a band who had packed out the T Break stage and have amassed a good deal of buzz around them. With the lead singer’s Eddie Vedder style vocals and a tight band behind him, they are looking to be a band with a bright future. “Pride” was a highlight of the set, and seemed to have the crowd particularly excited.
In Australia at the start of the year for the Big Day Out, it was good to catch The 1975 once again. The band are sounding tight and now have a solid routine down for their sets. With popular tracks and a simple but effective light show (basically square outlines moving and changing colours behind them), they had the crowd in the palm of their hands, promising “this is going to be wicked”. “Chocolate”, “Robbers” and “Girls” were particuarly well received, and the set ended with “Sex”.
Paolo Nutini shined on the main stage, with his band The Vipers, playing a set that was half new material off of Caustic Love, and favourites off Sunny Side Up and other releases. He even threw in a cover of CHVRCHES’ “Recover”, who would surprise the festival with two more performances the next day. The set, whose highlights included tracks like “Coming Up Easy”, “Candy” and “Let Me Down Easy”, closed with “Last Request” off of The Streets.
The incomperable voice of Jack Steadman remains as integral to the sound of Bombay Bicycle Club than ever, though the production of their latest album So Long, See You Tomorrow (named among our favourites of 2014 so far), has taken their overall sound up to another level. So it’s no surprise that this has meant the quartet needed some extra help on stage, and there were no less than five extra members filling out the sound – including three on the brass for select songs and two holding down additional keys, percussion and even vocal services – with Liz Lawrence serving some great performances throughout the set. Rae Morris also made a surprise appearance for her duet with Jack on the stunning track “Luna”, having appeared on the original release, and this was easily the highlight of the set.
With animations running in the background through the whole set, and a stellar light show, this proved to be one of the most impressive sets of the whole weekend. Other highlights of the new album focused set included “How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep”, Liz Lawrence’s turn in “Home By Now”, the percussion overload in “Feel” (which even saw bassist Ed Nash on the tambourine) and set closer “Carry Me”. One of my favourite tracks off the new record, it’s also been a popular radio single, and rightly so. This song has it all – great melodies, stellar production and makes you want to dance. And it was no exception here.
BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB SETLIST
Overdone
It’s Alright Now
Shuffle
Lights Out, Words Gone
Come To
What If
Evening/Morning
How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep
Home By Now
Feel
Luna (ft. Rae Morris)
Always Like This
Carry Me
Ben Howard, Elbow and Calvin Harris were the choices at the main stages to close things out for the second night. With Howard just a couple of weeks away from his Australian return, and not being much of a fan of Harris, I closed things out with Elbow. And though it was disappointing not to see the much discussed Will Smith appearance during the Calvin Harris set, the lazers and fireworks from the pyrotechnic heavy DJ set could still be seen during Elbow. So there was that.
The always positive Guy Gerber – remarking at one point of the set “A solitary balloon. Is there anything sadder?” before making sure that a girl in the distance wasn’t sitting down on her “bare bum” – and his band arrived on stage complete with a seven piece orchestra, proving this to be the music conisseurs choice of the night. But understandably, most people were seen elsewhere, as this wasn’t exactly where the party was. Though tracks like “Grounds For Divorce” and closer “One Day Like This” offered good energy and huge singalongs, half of the set was devoted to their new record The Take off and Landing of Everything, which I wouldn’t exactly call an upbeat affair. The production live though – as it was on the record – was beautiful and it was a joy to experience Elbow once again.
Along with “The Bones of You”, “The Birds” was one of my favourite moments in the set, coming off of Build a Rocket Boys!. The song builds so beautifully and is recreated perfectly in the live environment. Playing through to 1am, it’s perhaps surprising that the band only made it through ten tracks, but then again Elbow aren’t known for their short songs. And they definitely played some of the longer ones here. But I’m only making criticisms from the point of view of someone who chose Calvin Harris over the Manchester group. For me, happily calling them one of my favourite acts, they were a stunning way to end my second night (It doesn’t get much better than “One Day Like This”). But are they better suited in an indoor venue over a massive outdoor stage? With their latest record particularly in mind – definitely.
ELBOW SETLIST
Instrumental (Slow Moving Water)
Charge
The Bones of You
Fly Boy Blue / Lunette
New York Morning
Real Life (Angel)
The Birds
Grounds For Divorce
My Sad Captains
Lippy Kids
One Day Like This.
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