Arising in the campsite on Sunday morning, having successfully negotiated my way in on Saturday night sans wristband, I made the conscious decision to get out as quickly as possible. The place was like a scene from Mad Max 2, feral children gnawing on remnants of food and scouring for the last drops of alcohol from the night before, let’s not even talk about the toilets which were by now past the point of ever being used again.
I made my escape and headed straight for the Pet Sounds Arena for the 1990s, which was actually a fairly good start to the day. It was the first time I had managed to see the much fancied Glasgow band in the flesh and while their sound is not exactly ground breaking they do have a couple of cracking songs. ‘You Made Me Like It’ and ‘You’re supposed to be my friend’ both sent the larger than expected early morning crowd off with a spring in their step.
If things had gone to plan, then next up on the same stage should have been the bizarre but brilliant Brian Jonestown Massacre, however common sense prevailed and they were swapped to headline instead of the pay-to-play calamity that would have been Eddie (Jordan) and the Robbers. A brief trip down memory lane watching a bit of Shed Seven on the main stage, with Rick Witter prancing about as only he can, maracas in hand, singing ‘Bully Boy’ was entertaining but also slightly worrying that they had made it onto the largest stage at Scotland’s biggest music festival.
I then headed over to the King Tuts Tent to see Delays which proved to be one of the highlights of the day. Despite playing a set made up mostly of tracks from the new record ‘Everything’s the rush’, they were really up for it and made sure the crowd were with them from the get go. An impressive audience lapped up old favourites such as ‘Long time coming’ even providing a hearty singalong at the end, defying the time of day and relative lack of alcohol consumed. Finishing with, arguably, one of their best songs ‘Valentine’ those who had arrived to make sure of a spot for The Ting Tings, who were up next, joined in with the applause for a sublime set.
Realising that I was nowhere near the T-Break tent and We see Lights were up next, I made a dash past the main stage, pausing briefly to hear Amy McDonald introduce a cover of The Killers ‘When you were young’ which did nothing to make me want to hang around. Arriving a little out of breath, I was relieved to see them take to the stage. The Edinburgh band have been impressing many recently with their harmony laden, indie folk including the judges at a competition down south which led to them opening the main stage at the Isle of Wight festival. It was no different here as they received a rapturous reception from the crowd, with the band looking humbled and more than a little overwhelmed at the response.
It seemed non-stop at this point as I realised I had about 20 minutes to get to the Pet Sounds Arena for the much talked about Battles. Running about at pace between tents did seem to be the order of the day though, so I was starting to get used to it. I must admit, despite really looking forward to seeing them live, the first couple of songs didn’t really grab me, possibly due to the time of the day, however by the time they played the well-kent ‘Atlas’ and followed it up with the awesome ‘Race in’ the full force of the prog math rock onslaught started to make perfect sense. They are obviously not the most conventional band to have at a festival and its fair to say they were never going to pack out the tent, however I did start to imagine how they would fare in the Slam tent and wondered if maybe, just maybe, it might work?!
I foolishly thought I may be able to get into the King Tuts Tent for Vampire Weekend but I could tell from a fair distance away that there was no chance of that, they were one of a few bands over the weekend along with Glasvegas and The Ting Tings who could easily have strode on the main stage and commanded a respectable crowd. So after a much needed pit-stop for food and drink I found myself racing round the periphery of the arena with Pete, my photographer, who I might add is in training to be in the fire brigade and thus is a lot fitter than I am, to see Yeasayer on the Futures Stage. The exercise did prove to be worth it though as the Brooklyn band turned out to be yet another personal highlight. Playing tracks from their debut album ‘All hour symbals’ which has rocketed to the top of my ‘To buy’ list, I did recognise the likes of ‘Wait for the summer’ and ‘Sunrise’ however there were several others which I could not name, that stood out.
Singer Chris Keating commenting on his sighting of a confederate flag in the crowd earlier “That’s a bit fucked up, maybe you guys are cool with that I dunno?” impressed me as did his perfect timing of smashing his mike off the cymbal on the drum kit! A memorable performance indeed.
As clashes go, it doesn’t get much worse than The National with Frightened Rabbit. I’m sure I was not alone in fretting as to who to go and see of the two, but in the end I managed to see the first three songs of The National in the Pet Sounds Arena which from memory were ‘Start a war’ ‘Secret Meeting’ and ‘Brainy’ and although it pulled at my heart greatly to leave such a fine band as they were hitting their stride, I knew I was on my way to something special. As Frightened Rabbit took to the stage, the tent was already filling at an impressive rate considering they were also competing with Kings of Leon. By the time they launched into ‘Modern Leper’ it was bouncing and I knew there was nowhere else I’d rather be.
The crowd, just as they had done the day before with label mates The Twilight Sad, sang every word back at them none more so than on ‘Keep yourself warm’ which had the whole tent singing as one “You won’t find love in a hole” The applause after each song was deafening and the look on the bands faces showed that no amount of adulation in the States could compare to this. This was a homecoming and a half, so when they finished with the now customary ‘The greys’ into ‘Square 9’ the tent was at fever pitch. If ever a band were to prove themselves worthy of a bigger stage, it was glaringly obvious here that the organisers had made a major faux pas in not putting them on the sort of platform they deserve. This was an incendiary performance!
Anyone following that set was going to have a lot to do but surprisingly the next band I saw were not too far away. I wandered along an unfamiliar path to the Relentless Energy stage, passing a woman sitting down with her pants round her ankles next to a bin presumably urinating or perhaps worse, to see Canadian experimental outfit Holy Fuck! A band I had only discovered recently but had become enthralled with, I was excited about seeing them live without having heard much of their music.
Their pulsating, uplifting blend of Krautrock meets electronica is a joy to behold and despite the lowly stage which had the back and sides open like a village fete, they whip the crowd into a frenzy and by the time they finish with the amazing ‘Lovely Allen’ they have made a mockery of their billing. Indeed Michael Stipe himself said if he hadn’t been playing at the same time, he would have been there to see them too. There was something quite satisfying,yet also disappointing at being part of the select few who witnessed the set, satisfying in that it felt like you had been part of a special moment but at the same time the band’s performance deserved a far bigger crowd.
A wee jaunt across to see a bit of REM on the main stage just in time to hear one of my favourite tracks ‘Ignoreland’ which is apparently rarely played live was good but they didn’t really hold my attention and I decided to end my festival with another great new Scottish band, Zoey Van Goey. It was always going to be a difficult slot to fill as they were obviously competing with some serious heavyweights in REM, The Prodigy and Primal Scream but they rose to the challenge with impressive vigour and played a charming, and at times rocking, set including new single ‘Sweethearts in Disguise’ Indeed, drummer Matt threatened to “(Soft)Rock” a jovial crowd which included Scott, Grant and Billy of Frightened Rabbit, prompting a fair bit of drunken dancing. It was a great way to end the festival and further proof that despite the tracksuit clad, buckfast drinking element who can be found wandering the fields of Balado, there are plenty of places to avoid them, you just have to know where to look.