Hi folks! I'm very sorry for the lack of posts over the past couple of weeks- but I've had good reason. This past weekend I headed off to Balado, the home ground of the biggest festival in Scotland- T in the Park. It was my first year at T and despite the fact that I'm writing this blog post from bed feeling extremely tender- I had the most amazing time, and can honestly say it was one of the best weekends of my entire life.
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| Cheesin' on day 3 |
I saw around 20 bands and artists over the course of the weekend, and I'll do a short breakdown/review of them all so you can see who my favourites were- but in general the entire festival experience was unreal. We were lucky enough to have amazing weather on the Friday and the Sunday, and on Saturday the downpours were so torrential at times that everyone just went with it and danced (particuarly for Calvin Harris!) This year was the last year T in the Park will ever be hosted at Balado as next year the festival is being moved to Strathallan Castle, which thankfully for me is still within Perthshire (and is only 18 miles from Balado!)
This years line up looked a lil' something like this;
FRIDAY 11TH JULY; Day One
Neon Jungle;
The first act we saw, I knew very few of their songs and it was absolutely sweltering but they got the crowd bouncing and in terms of a way to start a festival, they certainly set up the party atmosphere!
You Me At Six;
My all time favourite band, they were brilliant but due to them being on so early on the Friday it didn't feel like a proper way to enjoy them. I still belted out every single word though- and I'm definitely going to see them the next time they tour!
Imagine Dragons;
Brilliant. I adore ID and they were flawless in their performance- particuarly when they covered The Proclaimers' 500 Miles, which ended up being one of my highlights of the weekend- the crowd belting out the lyrics was one of the most intrinsically Scottish experiences I've ever had.
Haim;
The first act that I got close to the front for, my friend Hannah- who I was with- is a big fan of Haim and they generally put on a really good performance. Extra points for the ridiculous faces the 3 sisters pull while performing, especially during 80's style guitar solos.
Chvrches;
My favourite band on the Friday by a mile- Chvrches lit up King Tuts and getting to the front for them was amazing, although being right in front of the amps made for an interesting ear-experience. They ended up putting in 3 sets over the weekend, with a cameo in the BBC Introducing Tent and filling in for London Grammar on the Sunday after their lead singer lost her voice. Wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if they got a Main Stage billing next year. One to watch.
Ed Sheeran;
I'm barely 5 foot, so I saw very little of the acts where I wasn't close to the front, but despite only getting a few glimpses of Ed, he was wonderful. I absolutely cannot wait to see him for the 3rd time in October! 'Sing' became one of the anthems of the weekend.
Biffy Clyro;
I'm not a huge Biffy fan, I've never really invested myself into getting to know many of their songs- but I was still able to appreciate just how amazing their performance was. As we often say in Scotland, 'no pyro- no party' and my god, did Biffy stick to that saying!
SATURDAY 12TH JULY; Day Two
We headed out with sore feet and jackets on the Saturday as the weather had taken a turn for the worse, and this wasn't helped by the Saturday rush created queues that lasted almost an hour. We made it in eventually though, and it ended up being one of my favourite days, ever.
Duke Dumont;
We started the Saturday by heading up to the Slam Tent, which was essentially one big smoke filled tent filled with folk doing drugs. It wasn't exactly my scene and it was like a sauna in their, but I appreciate that if you were more into that kinda music then you'd enjoy it! It was all part of the T experience!
Katy B;
I stood at the edge to see her set and wasn't particularly expecting much, but Katy B has a wonderful voice and despite the murky weather, she had everyone dancing.
George Ezra;
If you have any sort of interest in music you'll likely of heard of George Ezra over the last year, the kid has sky-rocketed into the charts with an extremely successful single in the form of 'Budapest.' One of my closest friends recommended him to me about 8 months ago and I cannot thank him enough for that as I absolutely adore Ezra's new album 'Wanted on Voyage.' I left his set a little bit early in order to see Twin Atlantic, but he put on one of the best sets I saw all weekend!
Twin Atlantic;
My favourite act of the weekend, I had a 'Twin phase' in the summer of 2012 and they bring back serious memories for me, but when Sam McTrusty and co. took to the stage on Saturday in the pissing rain and cold- they were immense. The entire crowd was belting out the songs and even the ones I didn't know had everyone dancing. Definitely a band I'll be rediscovering this summer, and firmly back in my favourites! They also had the most touching tribute to Balado as they thanked everyone and said that 'this was the festival we saved up for.'
Nina Nesbitt;
Another Scottish act that was wonderful this weekend, Nina was another act that used to come to T as a teenager and you could see she was loving being on the King Tuts stage. She finished her set with the second rendition of 500 Miles I'd seen during the weekend and had the whole tent bouncing, wouldn't be surprised to see her much further up the bill next year too. Certainly one of Scotland's finest musical exports in recent years.
Pharrell Williams;
Pharrell was good, he wasn't great, and by far the highlight of his set was when he brought out a woman who had just beaten cancer, which was wonderfully heartfelt and despite the rain made everyone feel a hell of a lot more hopeful. He's clearly a lovely guy but at that stage I wasn't really feeling it, although his performance of 'Happy' did get everyone going mental, and his backing dancers were super impressive.
Paolo Nutini;
I got right to the front for Paolo and was surrounded by people who obviously loved him, and his performance was one of the best of the weekend- he remixed some of his older stuff which was fab, but when he finished with a beautiful rendition of 'Last Request' which had the whole crowd belting out the lyrics, you could see how much it meant, both to him and to the crowd. I was so glad to see him back with new material on the main stage. He also did a cover of Chvrches 'Recover' which was incredible!
Calvin Harris;
Four words. Oh. My. Fucking. God.
Before Calvin Harris had even started, Will Smith randomly walked out onto the stage to introduce him. This sent the entire crowd, including me, into a delirious state of confused elation. What followed was the most insane hour and a bit of my life, I was relatively central near the front and the crowd moved as one, sore feet were forgotten and as the rain started in the most torrential way I've seen in months, it was the strangest feeling, in all honesty- it was the most purely alive I've ever felt. Utterly insane and incredible.
SUNDAY 13TH JULY; Day Three
By some miracle, the sun reappeared for the Sunday, and I- totally unprepared- got 100% sunburnt. I took the Sunday at a much steadier pace as I was knackered, and there were fewer acts that I was really really fussed for seeing!
Kodaline;
I adore Kodaline, and they were the perfect band to start a slightly slower Sunday in the sun, the Irish bands album was one of favourites of 2013 and they were really wonderful, another excellent band live, and they looked thrilled to be playing the main stage.
Kaiser Chiefs;
I wasn't expecting much from the KC's but OH MY GOD did they exceed my expectations, Ricky Wilson was far and away the best performer of the weekend and he made the crowd go mental as he sprinted about the stage while singing several of their hits that I had either totally forgotten about, or hadn't realised were by the Kaiser Chiefs. They finished with 'Oh My God' and I think everybody there had the anthemic hook of 'oh my god I can't believe it, I've never been this far away from home.' in their heads all day. I know I did.
Bastille;
Bastille's album was up their with The 1975's (who I was gutted to miss) Kodaline's and Imagine Dragon's in terms of the albums I truly binge-listened to last year, and they didn't disappoint live. Their lead singer, Dan Smith had everybody crouching down at one stage in order to make himself feel less stupid but when everyone bounced back up to start dancing, I don't think anyone felt like an idiot. Flaws and Pompeii were the undeniable highlights.
Jake Bugg;
By far and away the biggest disappointment of the weekend, while I'm sure Jake Bugg is a lovely guy, he has absolutely 0 charisma on stage and barely spoke. Unless you were already a big fan, I find it hard to believe that you enjoyed anything other than his big hits. Two Fingers, Seen It All, Broken and Lightning Bolt were all great, but in general the set was incredibly boring.
Arctic Monkeys;
I love the AM's but I have to admit that while their set was amazing, it really was, it felt a little disappointing- Alex Turner never really got the crowd going and they definitely played far too many songs from AM, rather than playing from the likes of WPSIATWIN or Favourite Worst Nightmare. When they did play songs from that era, such as Dancing Shoes, it was excellent. I just really miss the old Arctic Monkeys performances where you were struggling to take a breath in between belting out the lyrics, rather than feeling like you were in some seedy gentleman's club with Turner's seductive new style. I wasn't gutted, and they were vocally and musically excellent, but I'm in no way exaggerating when I say that I think the Kaiser Chiefs would have made better headliners.
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| Fireworks at the end of it all. |
Without a doubt, I'll be back at Strathallan Castle next year to do it all again, but I had the most amazing time this weekend. My feet and shoulders are killing me, but 'worth it' doesn't even cover it. One of the best experiences I'll probably ever have, and as one extremely drunk guy slurred to me on Friday night 'you never forget your first T in the fucking Park.'
I have a Glossybox Unboxing for tomorrow, but until then- have a lovely day!
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