The battle between mud and music…
Ordinarily a hardened festival camper, this year sense over came me and the purchase of a day tripper on the party bus never looked so appealing. I was reliably informed that the site saw some sun on the Friday making it soft under foot. By noon Saturday it was well and truly muddy.
Getting between stages and having a wee sit down with your pint of local brew was a non-starter so the choice was an obvious one for me… it was an afternoon in the company of the very welcoming King Tuts tent. There is no classification for their line up other than eclectic.
I missed Alt J – trippy alt folk two-steppers who were very well-received debuting tracks from their album An Awesome Wave, I will be sure to catch them at Oran Mor on the 29th October though. I arrived to the sounds of Blood Red Shoes, who took to the stage announcing they were the “Festival breakfast”. This is the second visit to T for this noisy two-piece, a Brighton based Meg and Jack White if you will, a role reversal of drummer boy and guitar girl. Belting out their rocky punky stuff in a very eager manner, it’s not for me – nah, on to the bar.
Trudging through the wellie clad crowd, pint in hand, we came across Shed Seven on the main stage at the back of 1pm. Not the biggest crowd these lads have ever played to but given the inclement conditions it was to their fans. People of a certain age swayed, discoed down and sang along to ‘Sale of the Century’ and ‘Chasing Rainbows’. Rick Witter has aged well and was stylishly mod looking, but on this occasion unfortunately Mr Witter was not the big hitter of years gone by. The brass section added extra bite to their well delivered set. If the sun had shone they could have opened the afternoon up.
Grabbed the bevies, headed back to Tuts. On arrival we were hit with a very different atmosphere. I had to check we were not in the SLAM tent as bodies bounced and hands thrown up in the air – the crowd jumping along to Flux Pavillion. Drum and Bass is my guilty pleasure and by the looks of the wellie warriors around me they were all over it too.
A very accomplished set around 2-ish set the tone for Childish Gambino, who kept the tempo high with his battle-ready rhymes working the audience. I’d heard this fella has just collaborated with Beck and was curious. There are many strings to this man’s bow being an actor and comedian, however safe to say, Eddie Murphy he ain’t. The band gave a bangin’ cover of Adele’s ‘Rolling in the Deep’. BOOM. The tent swelled and bounced along happily forgetting the monsoon outside.
With Tuts at capacity and listeners now drowning in rain and sound it was time for my favourites Alabama Shakes, the band which drew me into coming to T in the Park this year. A four-piece formed in 2009, their origins as a High School covers band, they released a four track EP in their home town of Athens, Alabama. Currently signed to Rough Trade in the UK and the ATO label in the States, they released their début ‘Boys and Girls’ on April 1st 2012 to critical acclaim. The Alabama Shakes are radio darlings and good ole’ Uncle Jools has had them on his show baptising them into the BBC.
So I wanted to see for myself did they really shake, rattle and roll ?
They have been playing all over Europe and after T were off to Rokslide. Having missed them at King Tuts in April, I barged my way to the barriers like a Brosette. Brittney and her Joplin-esque voice soared throughout the tent. She has some pipes on her and can play guitar effortlessly. For a band so young their mix of southern soul and dirty blues is impressive, shades of Otis and Creedence Clearwater Revival evident, which in my book ain’t bad. Stand-out songs for me are ‘Heartbreaker’ ‘I Ain’t The Same’ and ‘Hold On.’ Brittney sings sincerely and the band groove along with her. It’s an impressive and tight set – no messing with these fellas. They play the Barrowlands on 13th November and I look forward to dragging as many of my music loving mates with me as is possible.
In need of some air and beer we ventured out to see Jim Kerr announce “Come in, come outta the rain” – oh the irony. Simple Minds looked and sounded like they had stood the test of time really well and with ‘Waterfront’ and ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’. Their T in the Park crowd is far from stadium size, but new ears and matured music lovers enjoyed their set, and some reminisced of 80s movies, mix tapes and Patsy Kensit’s marriages.
The crowds all day were in really good form with less of the horrors seen when the sun has been out, nae taps aff the day!
The next couple of hours were spend on the mammoth task of meeting up with fellow revellers and drinking more (to keep us hydrated of course as it really is a hike from one part of the site to the other) and a wee stint in hospitality, leading us nicely onto the headliners …
Now I lost out on the Heaton Park tickets and was envious/gutted when I heard back from everyone else in my world how amazing it was. Last Scottish Gig for the Stone Roses was 17 years ago at Glasgow Green. It is a long-held heart-filled memory for many of my friends, so getting to see them now in their resurrected non-desecrated state was always going to be filled with trepidation.
As the opening bars to the 1970s Supremes’ number ‘Stoned Love’ hit the crowd, the waiting was over. As Ian swaggered on tying his tartan scarf to the mike stand – nice touch – John the tweeded country gent, Reni avec towel number on his head and a grinning Mani took to the stage. This was the Church of the Stone Roses where big men & wee men came to sing, appreciate tunes and celebrate their friends. It was a good place to be on that damp Saturday night. I even forgot the trauma of losing my pals as I carried the pints back through the quagmire. ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ broke them in for an impressive set with the Roses getting stronger by the song. Personal favourites would be ‘Sally Cinnamon’, ‘Waterfall’ and the backwards ‘Don’t Stop’ with the epically stretched ‘Fools Gold’ into the Beatles ‘Day Tripper’.
To coin a phrase I felt the love in the room for these four fellas. As ‘Love Spreads’ flowed through the air you had to agree that in this crowd it certainly did. For many, a steal for T in the Park to get the Stone Roses and for others, well… the great thing about T is that you are never short on music elsewhere. T is celebrating its 20th Birthday next year and it has evolved to be Scotland’s premier music event , rivaling the other UK festivals. Even in this political, financial and environmentally negative climate it is impressive that DF and Tennents consistently pull this off.
So the battle has been won. Music wins against weather on this occasion and as I boarded the dreechie Auld Reekie non-party bus I definitely felt that I had been shake rattled and rolled.
Stone Roses setlist:
I Wanna Be Adored
Mersey Paradise
(Song for My) Sugar Spun Sister
Sally Cinnamon
Where Angels Play
Shoot You Down
Standing Here
Fools Gold
Something’s Burning
Waterfall
Don’t Stop
Love Spreads
Made Of Stone
This Is the One
She Bangs The Drums
Elizabeth My Dear
I Am The Resurrection