T in the Park 2010 started at 20:43 for this particular scribe when, after fighting through the traffic to Balado and being hit by that bleachy/pish smell emanating from the portaloos on stepping off the bus and the pools of mud outside the arena and the beer token queues inside, I made it to the main stage only to be met by the sight of a kilted Maxi Jazz of Faithless in ‘Insomnia’ mode, so, bypassing Florence and her Machines on the NME Stage, I headed to the King Tuts tent in time for the start of Hot Chip. A band I’d never seen live and after all the hype of the last few years proved they are still a band on great form with a performance that despite the technical problems and included hits such as ‘Over and Over’ and ‘Ready for the Floor’ before finishing with a cover of Prince’s ‘Nothing Compares To U’ set the tone for an excellent evening.
Echo and the Bunnymen were next up and played to a mixture of old and new fans with a set ranging from the 80’s ‘Killing Moon’ through to the 90’s ‘Nothing Ever Lasts Forever’ to new track, ‘I Think I Need It Too’. The Bunnymen are still a potent live act and this was a great chance to see one of the great UK indie bands playing at T.
Saturday saw the awful weather return but the first chink of sunlight was provided by Auchtermuchty’s finest, The Proclaimers, who were playing their last gig on a world tour which started in March 2009. A greatest hits set which gave the main stage crowd several karaoke moments and a version of ‘Sunshine on Leith’ which would have brought a tear to the glass eye of even the most hardened Hearts fan, which really kick started the day. A T favourite and at their rightful place on the main stage this could and should be the start of an annual residency.
Another Scottish act was playing over in King Tuts and for me, was the highlight of the weekend. Frightened Rabbit have been building up a solid fan base and on Saturday played to a packed tent. ‘Modern Leper’ and ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ sounded like they were played by a band who were growing with confidence with every note, and set closer ‘Keep Yourself Warm’ climaxed a night that should send the band onto more success.
Playing for his 5th time T regular Paolo Nutini was back on the main stage and was keeping the sea of umbrellas and ponchos moving with his jakey jazz sounding set whilst over in King Tuts Rodrigo y Gabriela’s duelling guitars gave a wonderful Latin, flamenco flavour to the evening and won many new fans who must have been surprised at the passion and intensity created by the two guitarists. Definitely worth checking out on their UK tour in November.
With Eminem making the crowd wait as he waited on his bus to take him the 400 metres from dressing room to stage and thanking ‘Edinboro’ for being a great audience, on the NME stage The Prodigy were proving they are still one of the best live acts around with their 90s dance flavoured panto show sill managing to get everyone moving, despite not having changed much over the last 20 years. Mumford and Sons were playing a packed King Tuts and got the sing along they had asked for with fans belting out ‘Dustbowl Dance’ and ‘Sigh No More’ .
Sunday seemed to be dominated by one person who was not even on the official band line up… Beyonce. Would she be appearing? Would she perform on stage with hubby Jay Z? Would she be enjoying a pint of Tennents in a plastic tumbler like the rest of us? The answers? As Iain Paisley once never said…”T in the Park says no, no, no”. Not needing his missus’ help, Jay Z still played an incredible set and it is credit to the organisers that they could attract an artist of his stature to T. Biffy Clyro’s hour long show only reminded us that they are a band still on the ascendancy, even after having appeared at T some 10 years previously on the T Break stage. Already confirmed as main stage headliners for 2011 the build up for what will be a legendary appearance starts now.
With over 80,000 people enjoying each day of T in the Park and with rumours of the capacity being increased to 100,000 there might be the argument that T has got too big but with 2011 early bird tickets already having sold out it seems next year will be bigger, but will it be better?