Críticas

Primavera Sound 2009:
Liars - Best band of an amazing weekend. Easily one of my favourite bands in the world so seeing them in Barcelona was always going to be a bit special. So many highlights from an impeccable set. Such good banter too, "we'd like to thank Neil Young for opening for us!" Brilliant.: 5/5

My Bloody Valentine - What's a word that means better than incredible? That's what MBV were. Being physically moved by You Made Me Realise is one of the greatest moments of live music I've ever experienced.: 5/5

Yo La Tengo - One of the bands I was most looking forward to, they played such a good set, nice mixture of old and new, Autumn Sweater was the highlight for me, I've been completely obsessed with that song for quite some time now, it was performed to perfection. The new stuff they played sounded great, high hopes for the upcoming album!: 4.5/5

Sonic Youth - Come on, it's Sonic flippin' Youth for crying out loud, they were never going to be anything other than amazing, quite a recent song dominated set but still, the perfect way to end the best music festival I've ever been to.: 4.5/5

Lightning Bolt - Insane, I think it's the first time they've ever played on stage (this may be wrong) but it worked really well! Totally blown away by them. Such a great start to the weekend.: 4.5/5

The Mae Shi - The Mae Shi are the most fun band in the world, that's not my opinion, it's fact. They were still a guitarist down but he was simply replaced by a laptop! I spent half the gig underneath a parachute, good times.: 4.5/5

Jason Lytle - Such a strange set, in one way it was a total disaster, they had borrowed all their equipment so weren't sure how everything worked, this really made the performance work though, just a few guys coming round to play a bunch of songs to friends, more gigs should be like that.: 4/5

Neil Young - I was pleasantly surprised by how many of his songs I actually knew. He really is such a great performer, I can see why he has the sort of fan base he has. Easily the biggest crowd of the weekend, the whole festival pretty much shut down to watch him.: 4/5

The Jesus Lizard - I only know a couple of their albums but as this is probably the last tour they'll ever do, I figured I should probably go see them, I even sacrificed the end of Yo La Tengo for them, worth it though, definitely.: 4/5

Bat For Lashes - Natasha Khan, in Barcelona... yes please! How many times can I go see her live before it counts as stalking? Reckon i'm not far off. I should probably say something about the music...: 4/5

The Bug - London Zoo is probably my most listened album from last year (I think it's actually Microcastle, but it's close) so I was really looking forward to seeing him, the bass was unbelievably heavy, just the way it should be. I thought Flowdan was a bit off though and wasn't keen on how he mixed a few of the songs, plus he got cut off half way through Poison Dart, bit disappointing.: 3.5/5

Aphex Twin - I reckon if I was drunk and wide awake, this would have been one of the best sets of the weekend, however, I was sober and sleepy (he started at 1:30am) so I wasn't really feeling it. So much love for AFX though, he really is a musical genius.: 3.5/5


Other bands I saw/bands I didn't manage to catch full sets of.:

Deerhunter - Humbled.
Sunn O))) - Slow and doomy goodness.
Phoenix - Acoustic lovelyness.
Shearwater - What a voice!
Jesu - Doomy post rockage.
Bloc Party - Kele's deadly, Mercury isn't.
Dan Deacon - Not everyone here speaks English, dummy!
F*cked Up - F*cked Up.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Pleasant surprise.
Marnie Stern - Filthy.
Spiritulized - Gospely.
Herman Dune - Folky.


May 23rd 2009:
The Mae Shi - Been wanting to see them for a while now ever since hearing of their incredible live shows. The fact that it was in a venue as small as Captain's Rest was just ridiculous, and following Dananana as well was just a total fun overload, they were completely brilliant, even a guitarist down, they still managed to pull off a great set. The I Get Almost Everything sing-a-long afterwards was superb!: 4.5/5

Dananananaykroyd - The 5th time I've seen them in a year! This was definitely the best they've been. The venue (Captain's Rest) was perfect for them as it's way too small, meaning that everyone had to dance, like it or not! So much fun!!: 4.5/5

Tubelord - They've totally stepped up their game since I last saw them, seemed like a totally different band, cannot wait for their debut album, it's gonna contain an unhealthy amount of awesome.: 4/5


May 20th 2009:
Deerhunter - Bradford seems like such a decent bloke, really good banter. Nice set, Nothing Ever Happened the definite highlight for me, absolutely love that song. "Remember this gig for better than it actually was", okay!: 4/5


May 12th 2009:
Pivot - Hmmm, not so good, they were a totally off form, that fact that their bass amp broke didn't help matters either, first gig in a long time I actually considered leaving half way through.: 2/5


May 11th 2009:
Holy Fuck - They were the best band I saw at T in the Park last year so I had high expectations for this gig, it didn't disappoint. Definitely one of my favourite live acts, they just seem so involved in what they're doing all the time, none of this pressing play on a laptop nonsense! Support was from It Hugs Back, really enjoyed them, will check them out.: 4.5/5


May 2nd 2009:
Art Brut - Good fun as always, the new tracks sound really good, I should probably give the new album a few more listens. We arrived a bit late so were stuck at the back with our view obscured by a big pillar!: 3.5/5


April 26th 2009:
Camera Obscura - First time at the Barrowlands in way too long! Easily the best venue in Glasgow. Camera Obscura were great, seem like genuinely nice people too which always helps! "We're playing The Barrowlands... wits that aw aboot?!": 4/5

Attic Lights - Good stuff, surprised how much I liked them, will definitely investigate further!: 3/5


April 22nd 2009:
65Daysofstatic - Great band, great gig. Set was brilliant, good mixture of new stuff and old. Retreat! Retreat! was the highlight for me, what an amazing song! Support from Amusement Parks on Fire was top notch too.: 4/5


April 8th 2009:
Bat for Lashes - What a truly fantastic woman. The new album sounds so much better live than recorded, really hope she releases a live album so everyone can appreciate it's brilliance.: 4.5/5


April 6th 2009:
Dananananaykroyd - Album launch in The Arches, they played the album right through, start to finish, great fun as always!: 4/5


March 31st 2009:
David Byrne - Unbelievably good. Easily one of the best gigs i've ever been to. Probably the closest i'll ever come to seeing Talking Heads, he played a 'Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno' set. So many highlights from the night, a Remain in Light three-in-a-row and Help Me Somebody with Byrne performing the vocals were probably the standouts for me. Each song was brilliantly choreographed with dancers performing each song. The man is a living legend.: 5/5


March 31st 2009:
Frightened Rabbit - Matinee show in the Captain's Rest, they were as brilliant as ever, Poke was again the highlight, with Scott coming into the crowd and playing it totally acoustic, looking forward to hearing some new stuff now.: 4/5


February 26th 2009:
Passion Pit - Sleeeeepyheeeeeeeeeaaaaaddd!!: 2.5/5


February 20th 2009:
Modeselektor - Incredible, the best gig i've been to since Bjork. Speaking of which, they even did a Bjork remix!! So many highlights of the night I don't even know where to start. My ambition in life is now to see Modeselektor as many times as possible.: 5/5


February 12th 2009:
Ra Ra Riot - Happy bands make for happy gigs, everyone knows that! Good gig, again, debut album so they just played everything and even chucked in a cheeky wee new one.: 3/5


February 8th 2009:
Late of the Pier - Oran Mor twice is the space of a couple weeks? Good times! Great gig, I love debut album tours as you know they'll just play everything they've got, Focker lacked a bit of it's energy live but really good other than that.: 4/5


January 26th 2009:
of Montreal - They've somehow managed to release 9 albums without ever playing Scotland, so they had a lot to make up for! They're like no live band i've seen before, each song a few extra people would come on stage and 'act' out the song as the band performed it, it was amazing!: 4.5/5


January 13th 2009:
Animal Collective - After releasing one of the the most fantabulicious albums in forages, couldn't wait to see them perform it live, Art School wasn't quite bassy enough to do the album justice but great gig nonetheless!: 4/5


GIG OF THE YEAR: TV ON THE RADIO - PARIS


December 23rd 2008:
The Twilight Sad - Four new songs and a Joy Division cover!: 4/5


November 19th 2008:
High Places - Probably the least people I've ever seen at a gig, maybe 15 of us in total! No idea why as High Places are awesome!: 3/5


November 16th 2008:
TV on the Radio - Easily one of my favourite bands around just now, they played a few songs they missed out in Paris, good times!: 4.5/5


November 11th 2008:
Art Brut - So much fun! Spent the whole gig in stitches laughing or with a massive cheeser on my face! Plus free JD and a free tshirt!: 4.5/5


November 8th 2008:
Built to Spill - Really good gig, kinda disappointed by the set though, they were supposed to play their best album in full, they didn't. Their cover of Paper Planes was brilliant and they ended with an amazing 15 minute instrumental!: 3.5/5


November 6th 2008:
Leonard Cohen - 3 hours of non-stop classics and 4 encores! He's 74 and still manages to pull off the same charm that he had on albums he recorded over 40 years ago. One of the greatest poets of all time, a true legend of a man.: 5/5


October 29th 2008:
The Bronx - The best punk rock band in the world? Yeah, pretty much. Could have done with a better venue though.: 4/5


October 26th 2008:
M83 - Brilliant, such a strong set. King Tut's really suited their sound too, good times!: 4/5


October 13th 2008:
This Will Destroy You - The 'stage' in Captain's Rest is so small that they couldn't even fit their keyboard on it!: 3/5


October 3rd 2008:
Pivot - Went to see them without having heard any of their stuff before, just because the Manngina keeps yapping on about them, really good, very impressed!: 3.5/5


September 30th 2008:
TV on the Radio - TV on the Radio... in Paris. How could this not be one of the greatest moments of my life?!: 5/5


September 28th 2008:
Islands - Tiny wee venue, pretty much standing face-to-face with the band, played a good mix of both albums, good times.: 3.5/5


September 25th 2008:
Frightened Rabbit - Free gig in Edinburgh, what's not to like?! Could have done with a being a bit louder, gutted we missed We Were Promised Jet Packs.: 2.5/5


September 17th 2008:
Bon Iver - Sitting in a church pew and paying £3.60 for a pint made it probably the poshest gig i've been to! Bon Iver and band were completely brilliant, pretty much just played the album from start to finish, with a few cheeky covers chucked in.: 4/5


Connect 2008:
Sigur Ros - Mesmerizing, seriously beautiful music.: 4.5/5

Franz Ferdinand - So much fun, great way to end the weekend!: 4/5

Stephen Malkmus - What a legend of a man, really good set with The Jicks: 3/5


August 14th 2008:
The Twilight Sad - Incredible. How they can make so much 'noise' sound so good is beyond me, even better than they were at Belladrum. They are without doubt the best Scottish band around right now.: 4.5/5

Frightened Rabbit - Possibly the best support act I've seen, saying that, it was more of a double headliner than a Twilight Sad show. They played Poke totally acoustic (no mics or anything), it was amazing, can't wait to see them again!: 4.5/5


Belladrum 2008:
The Twilight Sad - FINALLY got to see them (on the 4th attempt!) They were the only band I saw all weekend so definitely band of the festival for me!: 4/5


T in the Park 2008:
Holy F**k - Band of the weekend, absolutely amazing, there's no one else quite like them. Spent half the time wondering how they were managing to play half the stuff they were playing and the other half completely blown away by the some of the best music I've heard live!: 5/5

Rage Against The Machine - Insanely good, better than I thought they could be, everyone sitting down with their fists in the air during the Wake Up speech is one of the best moments of any gig I've been to!: 5/5

Band of Horses – Incredible, there's just so much to love about this band! Ben Bridwell is a total legend!: 4.5/5

Ghost of a Thousand - Insane! Probably the craziest band I've seen at a festival. Never seen a band enjoy playing their music as much as they do. There was about 30 people there but every single one of us were going completely mental and screaming every word of every song, brilliant fun!: 4.5/5

Battles - Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaringadungadinga
dungadingadungadaaa!!: 4.5/5

The National - Left Justice to go see them! They were pretty good, one of the "will go see them no matter who they clash with" bands of the weekend!: 4/5

Jaguar Love - Second year in a row that I've seen Johnny Whitney play to a crowd of about 50 people at T in the Park, people seriously need to realise the mans genius!: 4/5

The Hold Steady - Only saw about half their set due to them clashing with Ghost of a Thousand, luckily they played Chips Ahoy in that time! One of the songs of the weekend.: 4/5

Los Campesinos! - The best start to a festival, surprisingly big crowd, quite right too, they are so much fun live!: 3.5/5

Johnny Foreigner - I love Johnny Foreigner, gutted I couldn't stay for the whole set but what I saw of them was brilliant! Met Alexei at The National, had a good chat to him about the amazingness of Band of Horses, good times!!: 3/5


June 27th 2008:
Radiohead - Pretty much my favourite band of all time, this gig was never going to be anything other than mind-blowing. The strongest set i've ever seen, brilliant mix of In Rainbows and previous stuff. Fake Plastic Trees, National Anthem, 2+2=5 and Idioteque are easily amongst the best live songs performed by anyone... ever! Idioteque is probably my favourite song of all time and seeing Radiohead end with it was pretty much life-changingly good!: 5/5

Bat For Lashes - To say i'm in love with Natasha Khan is a massive understatement, she is simply the greatest woman in the world, she's got a pretty good voice on her too! Can't wait to see her on her own tour, too many people in the crowd didn't realise her absolute genius!: 4/5


May 31st 2008:
Tapes 'n Tapes - Really good gig, Stereo is a good wee venue. Insistor and Omaha were absolutely brilliant live!: 3/5


May 20th 2008:
Animal Collective - Great gig, easily one of my favourite bands of all time, still a bit glandular fevery so I didn't get to dance about as much as i'd like!: 4.5/5


May 16th 2008:
Finch - Stupid glandular fever couldn't stop me going no matter how much it tried! Finch are one of my all time favourite bands so needless to say, I was quite excited about this gig! The setlist was absolutely perfect, exactly the right mix of the two albums, getting the cheesy singles out of the way quickly before getting back to the good stuff.: 4.5/5


May 10th 2008:
Crystal Castles - The lead singer scares me! Pretty good gig, first i've been to in the Arches, total rave! Vocals were way too quiet though and the set was too short.: 2.5/5


May 4th 2008:
Vampire Weekend - Finally got to see them after multiple attempts, they didn't disappoint, one of the tightest sounding live bands i've seen.: 4/5


May 2nd 2008:
Dananananaykroyd - Free gig in the GoMA, brilliant, one of my favourite live bands. EP is out end of the month!: 3.5/5


April 22nd 2008:
Alabama 3 - Put on such a good show, plus they play the best country-acid-house-music in the world!: 3/5


April 9th 2008:
Future of the Left - Colin is a pussy, a very pretty pussy, Colin is a pussy, a very pretty pussycat!!: 3.5/5


March 18th 2008:
Dananananayroyd - Easily one of the best live bands around, they should be big!: 4/5


March 11th 2008:
The Mars Volta - The Mars Volta... in Scotland...: 3.5/5


February 28th 2008:
Young Knives - I was only going to this gig to see the support band (Vampire Weekend) who cancelled! Young Knives weren't that bad.: 2.5/5


February 20th 2008:
The Mars Volta - The Mars Volta... in Sweden!!!: 5/5


February 14th 2008:
Los Campesinos! - I love King Tuts and I love Los Campesinos!, that's a whole lotta Valentine's Day lovin'!!: 4/5


February 11th 2008:
Art Brut - One of the best gigs i've been to, definitely the most fun!! There is no one even remotely like them, can't wait to see them again, and again and again...: 5/5


February 4th 2008:
Coheed and Cambria - Been wanting to see them for ages! Welcome Home is awesome live! Claudio is so freakin' awesome!!: 3/5

Madina Lake - Emo rubbish: 1/5

Fightstar - Awful, I don't know how anyone can take them seriously (sorry Kath!): 0/5

Circa Survive - Best support band of the night... by a mile, he has such a cool voice!: 3.5/5


January 24th 2008:
Futureheads - Pretty good, never been to a gig in strath union before.: 2.5/5


GIG OF THE YEAR: BJORK - CONNECT


December 3rd 2007:
Kings of Leon - Best free gig i've ever been to! Oh yeah! SECC is actually awesome now!: 4/5

Manchester Orchestra - Easily one of the best support bands i've seen!: 3/5


November 26th 2007:
Matt Berry - Legend: 4.5/5


November 8th 2007:
Biffy Clyro - Mon the Biff! The whole place went mental when they finally came on after waiting like 40 minutes, Gardner almost died!: 3/5

Nine Black Alps - Pretty good for a support band, Unsatisfied is a choon!: 2/5


October 26th 2007:
Enter Shikari - Gig was insane! Why does barrowlands have to be so damn hot though?! Gutted I missed Hundred Reasons!: 3/5


Connect 2007:
Bjork - Been wanting to see her live for ages, there really is no one else quite like her. Probably the highlight of my life so far.: 5/5

Modest Mouse - Unbelievable, Modest Mouse and Johnny Marr... in Inverary!: 5/5

The Beastie Boys - So good, what a way to end the first night!: 4.5/5

Seasick Steve - What a man, one of the performances of the weekend!: 4.5/5

Bat for Lashes - Brilliant, totally chilled just sitting watching them while destroying a hog burger!: 4/5

Rilo Kiley - One of the best bands of the weekend, would definitely go see them again!: 4/5


T in the Park 2007:
The Blood Brothers - Possibly the best band in the world.: 5/5

Queens of the Stone Age - Josh Homme is a freaking Leg End, such a good way to end the weekend: 5/5

Hot Chip - Unbelievably good, they remixed their whole album, it was just so good in the Slam Tent!: 4.5/5

Enter Shikari - Ladies and gentlemen, show your appreciation for Johnny Smeaton!!: 4/5

CSS - The lead singer is a nutcase, so funny, great show!: 3/5


June 13th 2007:
Stephen Lynch - Hilarious, anyone who makes fun of jews, "special" people and Christopher Reeves all in one show is a genius!!: 4/5


June 7th 2007:
Billy Talent - Really good live band in a really good wee venue.: 4.5/5


June 1st 2007:
Biffy Clyro - So good but so damn hot! Plus, a ten tonne chick landed on my head! Mon the Biff!: 3.5/5


May 28th 2007:
Paramore - Hayley is proper awesome, she totally wanted me...: 3.5/5


April 30th 2007:
yourcodenameis:milo - Amazing band in an awesome wee venue: 5/5


April 18th 2007:
Lostprophets - Insane, Shinobi was deadly, biggest. mosh pit. ever.: 3/5

Taking Back Sunday - Best i've seen them.: 2.5/5

Aiden - Didn't know any of their songs... plus, they were awful.: 1/5

After a bit of thought and a couple tweaks, here's my musical year in the form of a few lists:

Top 10 Albums:
1. Portishead - Third
2. Deerhunter - Microcastle/Weird Era Cont
3. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
4. The Bug - London Zoo
5. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
6. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
7. The Mae Shi - HLLLYH
8. DJ /rupture - Uproot
9. Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
10. Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight

Top 5 EPs:
1. Animal Collective - Water Curses
2. Air France - No Way Down
3. Dananananaykroyd - Sissy Hits
4. Passion Pit - Chunk of Change
5. Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant

Honorable mentions: Flying Lotus, David Byrne & Brian Eno, Vampire Weekend, Late of the Pier, Lykke Li, The Bronx, Beck, Fuck Buttons, Santogold, Hercules and Love Affair, The Hold Steady, Los Campesinos, M83, WHY?


Top 10 Gigs:
1. TV on the Radio - Nouveau Casino, Paris
2. Leonard Cohen - Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow
3. Radiohead/Bat For Lashes - Glasgow Green
4. Holy Fuck - T in the Park
5. Mars Volta - Cirkus, Stockholm
6. Rage Against the Machine - T in the Park
7. Animal Collective - Oran Mor, Glasgow
8. Twilight Sad/Frightened Rabbit - Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh
9. Band of Horses - T in the Park
10. Art Brut - The Hive, Edinburgh

T IN THE PARK
Balado, Scotland
11th-13th of July, 2008




DAY ONE

On Friday the 11th of July my bus arrived to the site of Scotland’s biggest music festival, T in the Park. This was going to be epic, and my first ever UK weekend festival. After an extremely long line, and carrying my bag through it I finally arrived at the entrance of T in the Park. Once my mate, his girlfriend and I found a decent camping spot, we made pitched our tents and could call Scotland home for a few days.

The T in The Park campsite was much different to any festival campsite I had been before; it had gambling facilities, a few dance tents, carnival rides and stores to buy camping and shopping items.

Later that day I entered the festival grounds for Day One of T In The Park.



Los Campesinos! : 18:15-18:35 (King Tut's Tent)
Watched: 18:15-18:35
I arrived late due to judging the amount of time it would take to walk to the tent wrong, although I did see the second half of the set from the bright upbeat youngsters from Los Campesinos!. It was very easy to get a decent spot at the tent. I walked in during the performance of 'This Is How You Spell "HAHAHA I've Destroyed The Hopes And Dreams Of A Generation Of Faux-romantics"' I was very pleased to hear my two favourite tunes from the welsh indie-pop band. Both 'My Year In Lists' and 'You! Me! Dancing!' were brilliant tunes live, and the set closer 'You! Me! Dancing!' got everyone on their feet dancing along.
Rating: 7.5/10


Alphabeat : 18:15-18:35 (King Tut's Tent)
Watched: 19:05-19:40
I hadn't heard any material from the Denmark popstars , 'Alphabeat' before going into the tent. I managed to get a second row spot, and was caught off-guard thinking that the crowd would be calm...however it was opposite, at one point I and a few others were knocked to the fall into a pile of people on the floor. The highlight of the set was crowd-pleaser tune, 'Fascination' which encouraged the Scotland crowd to chant "The word is on your lips - say the word" repeatedly.
Rating: 7/10

The Down & Outs : 18:15-18:35 (T Break Stage)
Watched: 19:45-20:10
For those who don't know the T Break Stage is for Scotland unsigned artists to play at T In The Park. I stumbled across 'The Down & Outs' and was surprised how much I enjoyed their performance. The three-piece band had a preppy look going, also the lead singer look similar to Pete Doherty. At one point during the gig, the band's frontman jumped the barrier and gave out to CD's to members of the crowd who were dancing to their tunes. Overall a good set, and hope to see more of this band in the future.
Rating: 6.5/10

Stereophonics : 18:15-18:35 (Main Stage)
Watched: 20:30-21:40
I'm not a big fan of Stereophonics, but who can not like their trademark single which catapulted them into the mainstream eye 'Dakota'. 'Dakota' was fantastic to hear live, and got the crowd jumping up and down on the Scotland soil (including me). The band's frontman had the rockstar look with his brown jacket and dark sunnies, but for British rockstars I felt that the set was a little disappointing.
Rating: 6.5/10


The Verve : 18:15-18:35 (Main Stage)
Watched: 22:15-23:45
Setlist:
'This Is Music'
'Sonnet'
'Space And Time'
'Sit And Wonder'
'History'
'Come On'
'Life's An Ocean'
'The Rolling People'
'The Drugs Don't Work'
'Lucky Man'
'Bitter Sweet Symphony'
'Love Is Noise'

With only a handful of reunion gigs under their belt, Richard Ashcroft and co took the T in The Park Main Stage to headline the Friday night (the Friday Night bands could only be seen to the people who were camping on the TITP grounds). The first half of the set lacked something...the "hits" that most of the happy campers were waiting for...and it was during the second half of The Verve's set when they blew the crowd away (or one their friends shoulders at least). Richard Ashcroft spoke very few words on stage, but he did give some time to dedicate 'Lucky Man' to his wife, as it was their anniversary on the day of their performance. 'The Drugs Don't Work' was another standout tune live, then once again Mr Ashcroft spoke to the crowd, "Everybody has ONE classic tune, I want everyone here to write one classic tune, and this is ours...", pre-arranged audio of violins sounded as the crowd knew exactly what they were getting into. The cameras were out, the friends were on each others shoulders and the crowd was mouthing the lyrics to The Verve's "classic tune", 'Bittersweet Symphony'. The Verve followed the amazing performance with their first single ('Love Is Noise') from their reunion album. I hadn't really been a fan of the single, until I heard it live. I was glad that The Verve reunited because I would not have ever known what I missed during the late 90’s.
Rating: 8.5/10




DAY TWO

The Blackout : 12:10-12:40 (Radio 1/NME Stage)
Watched: ALL OF SET
As day two of the festival begun, I made my way over to the Radio 1/NME Stage to explore 'The Blackout' (Who I'd never heard of before the festival). It turned out that The Blackout were a 6-piece post-hardcore band from Wales. I managed to get a front row spot, as there was not much of a crowd at the stage. They played many of their tunes from their debut LP 'We Are The Dynamite' (which they promoted constantly during the set) including 'I've Got Better Things To Do Tonight Than Die'. The band consisted of two vocalists who kept the crowd entertain with their non-stop movement on-stage including swinging microphones around like an experience cowboy. My personal highlight of the set was the catchy-chorus of 'Prepare For A Wound'.
Rating: 7/10


I went over to the T-Break Stage, where I caught a glimpse of 'Twisted Wheel' and 'Bryn Christopher'. I found both artists not too appealing, and during the second song of Bryn Christopher's set I opted to instead have a walk around T in the Park's festival ground. My friends and I even had a go at a few rides including the ghost ride (which wasn't all that scary).


Kate Nash : 14:40-15:20 (Main Stage)
Watched: ALL OF SET
Setlist:
'Pumpkin Soup'
'We Get On'
'Birds'
'Do Wah Do'
'Don't You Want To Share The Guilt'
'Mouthwash'
'Skeleton Song'
'Foundations'
'Merry Happy'

Kate Nash came on stage 10 minutes prior to her timetable starting time. The stage-set was fabulous; it featured an underwater mermaid theme with a blue aquatic backdrop. The main stage was packed out with Kate Nash fans as Kate Nash made her way onto her sea-shell decorated piano (which kept to the Mermaid theme). The London singer-songwriter performed two new songs ('Do Wah Do' & 'Don't You Want To Share The Guilt') during her set. After 'Skeleton Song', which featured dancers wearing skeleton costumes, Kate Nash performed crowd-favourite 'Foundations' much to the Scottish crowd's delight. Nash played 'Merry Happy' to complete her wonderful set at T in the Park.
Rating: 8/10



The Subways : 15:20-16:00 (Radio 1/NME Stage)
Watched: ALL OF SET
The warm weather showed up in Scotland, along with many Subways which huddled around the NME Stage. The atmosphere thickened as Billy and Josh (the two males) from The Subways walked out shirtless (unfortunately for the male fans, Charlotte kept her gear on). Although Charlotte looked just as good, as she paced across the stage rocking out with her bass guitar. The Subways belted out tunes such as ‘Oh Yeah’, ‘I Want To Hear What You’ve Got To Say’ and ‘Mary’. I hadn’t heard too many Subways songs before their performance at T in The Park, but due to their great live sound and stage presence it has turned me into a Subways fan. The Subways ended their 40 minute set with a fantastic performance of ‘Rock & Roll Queen’, which had the crowd screaming “Be My, Be My, Be My Rock And Roll Queen” over and over again.
Rating: 8/10


The Courteeners : 16:30-17:10 (Radio 1/NME Stage)
Watched: ALL OF SET
Setlist:
'Aftershow'
'Cavorting'
'Acrylic'
'Please Don't'
'Bide Your Time'
'Fallowfield Hillbilly'
'No You Didn't, No You Don't'
'Yesterday, Today & Probably Tomorrow'
'Not Nineteen Forever'
'What Took You So Long?'

The Courteeners supplied a solid set, featuring songs from their debut album ‘St.Jude’. After Courteeners’ lead singer (Liam Fray) thanked the crowd for coming to see them, he then commented “"If you had told us last year we would be playing here we wouldn't have believed you. We would have thought we'd be on the Main Stage”. The Courteeners finished their set with two of my favourite songs from their debut record. ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ got the indie crowd jumping and chanting, likewise with set-closer ‘What Took You So Long?’.
Rating: 7/10


We Are Scientists : 17:40-18:20 (Radio 1/NME Stage)
Watched: ALL OF SET
Setlist: (Rough setlist and order)
'Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt'
'Chick Lit'
'This Scene Is Dead'
'Inaction'
'Impatient'
'Let's See It'
'Cash Cow'
'After Hours'
'It's A Hit'
'Lethal Enforcer'
'The Great Escape'

We Are Scientists were one of my highlighted acts that I wanted to see at T in The Park and they did not disappoint. I managed to get a second row spot at the American indie acts performance on the NME Stage. During the set We Are Scientist made quirky but funny remarks including; “Its good to see so many flags here represented by different nations, look I can see the nation of Smiley Face, and Bob Marley as well as Visa/Mastercard (naming flags the crowd were holding up)”. We Are Scientists mentioned that the crowd would be rewarded for watching their set, and the reward was 50 free rides at the Ferris wheel if you mention a song from We Are Scientists. Although WAS were not all about odd jokes, but also fantastic tunes. Everyone song kept the crowd moving. For the entire length of the set I could hardly even move my hands to clap to the beats that the scientists behind We Are Scientists were producing. Highlights of the set included ‘Inaction’, ‘It’s A Hit’ and ‘Chick Lit’.
Rating: 9/10


The Kooks : 18:25-17:25 (Main Stage)
Watched: ALL OF SET
I had seen The Kooks in Berlin only a month before their performance at T In The Park, and chose to see them again over The Pigeon Detectives. Wrong choice. I felt The Kooks songs lacked communication to the audience, and it didn’t help that I was a fair way away from the Brighton Boy’s stage. Luke Pritchard explained to the crowd “Paul [Garred, drummer] has fucked his arm”. The Kooks covered songs from their two previous albums which included ‘Naïve’, ‘Do You Wanna’ and ‘Ooh La’. During the Kooks 55 minute set a small fight in the crowd broke out between a drunk male and female, the fight was saved by an innocent on-looker which got a clap from the surrounding crowd. Towards the end of the set, the band left the stage, leaving Kook’s frontman (Luke Pritchard) performing solo-acoustic versions of ‘Seaside’ and ‘See The Sun’. The band reunited with Luke on stage for one final song, ‘Always Where I Need To Be’. Overall the set was not as impressive as the previous time I had seen The Kooks, a very average performance at T In The Park.
Rating: 6/10

To fill in time as I waited for The Fratellis to begin their set, I walked around T In The Park and came across the T Break Stage. On the stage were Scottish locals ‘The Twilight Sad’, of the 15 minutes I saw of the band, I thought they were decent.



The Fratellis : 19:55-20:55 (Main Stage)
Watched: ALL OF SET
Setlist:
'Mistress Mabel'
'Flathead'
'Look Out Sunshine'
'Baby Fratelli'
'Shameless'
''Ole Black 'n' Blue Eyes'
'Got Ma Nuts From A Hippy'
'Tell Me A Lie'
'Whistle For The Choir'
'My Friend John'
'Henrietta'
'A Heady Tale'
'Chelsea Dagger'
'Milk And Money'

Once again I was quite a distance away from the stage, but I could see most of the stage clearly. I was unfamiliar with The Fratellis second album material, but even the songs I did know brought me disappointment. The atmosphere then turned upside down, when the crowd went crazy for signature tune and Scottish sing-a-long ‘Chelsea Dagger'. Another highlight of the Glasgow rockers set was slow-paced ‘Whistle For The Choir'.
Rating: 6/10


I was intending to watch the performance of former Stone Roses frontman, ‘Ian Brown’, but due to an uncertainty of even getting into the packed out tent I opted to see New York’s Interpol. This time I was NOT disappointed. Overall I was glad to not see Ian Brown as he did not end up playing my personal favourite tune (Illegal Attacks).


Interpol : 21:50-22:50 (Main Stage)
Watched: ALL OF SET
Setlist: (rough order, not accurate setlist)
’Pioneer To The Falls’
’Slow Hands’
’PDA’
’Narc’
‘C'mere’
‘Hands Away’
‘Not Even Jail’
‘The Lighthouse’
’Mammoth’
’Rest My Chemistry’
’NYC’
’Obstacle 1’
’Evil’
’Roland’

Interpol blasted away the T In The Park festival goers who opted to see the New Yorkers instead of watching cult favourites, Rage Against The Machine (whom were headlining the Main Stage). Interpol came on stage formally dressed and begun their night with ‘Pioneer To The Falls’, which features a brilliant guitar intro and a great start to any gig. I was lucky to have a great spot in the second row, although the crowd was so jammed and tightly packed that I could barely even clap or move. Interpol played ‘Slow Hands’ much to the crowds delight. As Interpol reached the half-way point of the set Interpol’s frontman, Paul Banks, had not said a word to the crowd. But it did not matter one bit, as Interpol are a replica as their studio album sound when playing live. Interestingly the band opted to play experimental track ‘The Lighthouse’ which the setlist could of lived without, as it is something that should be played at a solo gig. Overall, the set was one of the most outstanding performances at T In The Park 2008.
Rating: 9/10


DAY THREE


Bowling for Soup : 12:00-12:35 (Main Stage)
Watched: ALL OF SET
Setlist:
'Punk Rock 101'
'Almost'
'I'm Gay'
'Ohio (Come Back To Texas)'
'High School Never Ends'
'Girl All The Bad Guys Want'
'The Bitch Song'
'1985'
'Sedated'

The sunshine came out brightly on day three of the festival, and pop-punkers, Bowling For Soup were ever so bright for the Scottish crowd. The American rockers put on quite a show, and exceeded my expectations of the band. BFS frontman, Jaret Reddick praised the crowd, "You guys are all so clean. You look like you've all taken a shower. In Ireland everyone looked so dirty". Bowling For Soup showed their humorous side for the majority of their set, telling the crowd, “The reason why they put us on so early, is that if you had been drinking and partying all day and then see us, you’ll all explode”. During their 35 minute set, Bowling For Soup played 9 tunes including ‘Almost’, ‘Girl All The Bad Guys Want’, and crowd sing-a-long ‘1985’. Overall Bowling For Soup used their fun side to win the crowd over (including me), and made sure everyone was enjoying themselves with their songs and/or jokes.
Rating: 7.5/10


Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly : 12:45-13:15 (King Tut’s Wah Wah Tent)
Watched: ALL OF SET
Setlist:
'Chronicles Of A Bohemian Teenager Part Two'
'I Spy'
'Find The Time'
'Let The Journey Begin'
'Call Me Ishmael'
'War Of The Worlds'
'Chronicles Of A Bohemian Teenager Part One'

Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly put on a solid set at King Tut's Tent. The 22 year old Samuel Duckworth gave his praise to Saturday night headliners, Rage Against The Machine, "Did anyone see Rage Against The Machine last night?... I've been waiting seven years to see them…They smashed it”. The highlight of the performance was the acoustic based ballad ‘I Spy’.
Rating: 7/10


Delays : 13:40-14:10 (King Tut’s Wah Wah Tent)
Watched: ALL OF SET
Setlist:
'Lost In A Melody’
‘Touchdown’
‘Panic Attacks’
‘Friends Are False’
‘Keep It Simple’
‘Long Time Coming’
‘Valentine’

I wasn’t familiar with the Delays material before T In The Park, and the Englishmen’s performance didn’t attract me to check out their material after T In The Park. I had secured a front row spot, but the main reason for securing that spot was to watch Vampire Weekend and The Ting Tings in prime position later in the day. The indie-rocker’s sound was not awful, it was good to have a dance too, but every song sounded very similar. Although, the highlight of the set came when Delay’s frontman, Greg Gilbert leaped off the stage, and got close and personal with the crowd.
Rating: 7/10




The Ting Tings : 14:35-15:05 (King Tut’s Wah Wah Tent)
Watched: ALL OF SET
Setlist:
'Great DJ'
'Fruit Machine'
'Keep Your Head'
'Shut Up And Let Me Go'
'We Started Nothing'
'That's Not My Name'

The energy inside the King Tut's Wah-Wah Tent was enormous as the crowd awaited the next big thing in music, The Ting Tings. The tent was packed out 20 minutes before the English act was even due to come on stage, and I had the best position in the tent…front and centre. The Ting Tings started off with a bang as they performed ‘Great DJ’, and they did not drop down a notch for the entire set. The crowd was loving every moment, and it was to see the short set come to an end. Set-closer ‘That’s Not My Name’ got the biggest roar from the enthused crowd, which had the entire tent singing out “That’s not my name, that’s not my name, that’s not my….name!”.
Rating: 9/10


British Sea Power : 15:30-16:00 (King Tut’s Wah Wah Tent)
Watched: ALL OF SET
Setlist:
'Remember Me'
'Lights Out For Darker Skies'
'Waving Flags'
'No Lucifer'
'Carrion'

The half time entertainment had arrived, as British Sea Power were sandwiched between two of indie’s biggest new names at TITP. The set was short, but sweet. The South English indie boys ignored their second album when choosing the setlist, but it didn’t bother the crowd who were enjoying new hits such as ‘Waving Flags’, inspiring track ‘No Lucifer’ and my personal favourite track ‘Lights Out For Darker Skies’. The crowd did not seem to enjoy the set, but I definitely did as British Sea Power reminded me of Australian band, Dappled Cities Fly.
Rating: 7/10



Vampire Weekend : 16:30-17:05 (King Tut’s Wah Wah Tent)
Watched: ALL OF SET

Setlist:
'Mansard Roof'
'Campus'
'Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa'
'M79'
'Bryn'
'A-Punk'
'One'
'I Stand Corrected'
'Oxford Comma'
'Walcott'
A crowd packed into the tent before the commencement of Vampire Weekend’s set, much like The Ting Tings performance earlier in the afternoon. I still managed to keep my perfect position in front of the stage. The eager crowd greeted the band with the chant of, “Vampire! Vampire! Vampire fucking Weekend". The New Yorkers then began their performance with ‘Mansard Roof’ which led to a crowd eruption, causing me to be squished between hundreds and hundreds of fans and the front barricade for the entire set. But I could feel no pain, as Vampire Weekend were putting on one awesome set. Vampire Weekend frontman, Ezra Koenig, asked the crowd to help sing-along to ‘One’. He asked the Scottish crowd to sing back “Blake’s got a new face” back to him during the chorus. ‘Oxford Comma’ got the crowd to an all new drug-free “high”, followed by the last song of the set, ‘Walcott’. A great performance indeed!
Rating: 8/10



Counting Crows : 16:45-17:35 (Main Stage)
Watched: 17:10-17:35
After Vampire Weekend’s performance I rushed over to catch the last thirty minutes of the Counting Crows. Sadly I did not recognise too many songs in the second half of their set, as the Californian band played their well-known songs earlier. Notably, Counting Crows’ vocalist (Adam Duritz) was walking around the stage on crutches, but I did not find out why due to not seeing the entire set. His leg may have not been 100%, but his vocals sure were. Counting Crows were the perfect band to play on the Sunday late afternoon slot, it was a very relaxed set, although the alternative rockers didn’t pull a big crowd as I expected.
Rating: Did not see enough of set to judge



Amy Winehouse : 18:05-19:05 (Main Stage)
Watched: ALL OF SET
Setlist:
'Addicted'
'Just Friends'
'Tears Dry On Their Own'
'Cupid'
'Back To Black'
'Wake Up Alone'
'Some Unholy War'
'Love Is A Losing Game'
'Hey Little Rich Girl'
'You're Wondering Now'
'You Know I'm No Good’
'Rehab'
'Me And Mr. Jones'
'Valerie'

All eyes were set on Amy Winehouse in the late afternoon of July 13th. Last year Amy Winehouse cancelled her T in the Park appearance, but this year the Londoner turned up to the Scottish festival. I wasn’t expecting a “mind-blowing” performance from Amy, in fact it turned out to be the exact opposite. She was the worse performer of the entire weekend. Amy was out of time with her vocals, and slurry her words…with help of her alcoholic drink in her hand. Luckily Mrs Winehouse had some decent backup singers to help her sound listenable throughout her set. Sure, it was fun to sing-along to “Rehab”, but that was the one and only highlight from T in the Park slot.
Rating: 3.5/10



The National : 19:00-19:50 (Pet Sounds Arena)
Watched: ALL OF SET
Setlist:
’Start a War’
’Brainy’
’Secret Meeting’
’Baby, We'll Be Fine’
’Slow Show’
’Mistaken For Strangers’
’Abel’
’Squalor Victoria’
’Racing Like a Pro’
’Apartment Story’
’Ada’
’Fake Empire’
’Mr. November’

I had previously seen The National the week prior to T in the Park and was surprised on their great performance. But I was not intending to be overwhelmed for a second time, but I was wrong. The crowd was very relaxed, and they are one of those bands that you can just sit back and appreciate. The National were pure amazing; introducing their set with slow-mover ‘Start A War’. Matt Berninger’s deep and distinctive baritone sung “We expected something, something better than before. We expected something more”, which is what exactly sums up the entire performance; it was “better than before”. The National pulled out plenty of beautiful classics from their previous two albums, which included ‘Slow Show’ and ‘Secret Meeting’. Although nothing can be more memorable than the deep and breathtaking sounds of the piano intro of ‘Fake Empire’.
Rating: 9/10



Hot Chip : 20:20-21:10 (Pet Sounds Arena)
Watched: ALL OF SET
Setlist:
'Out At The Pictures'
'And I Was A Boy From School'
'Hold On'
'Over And Over'
'No Fit State'
'One Pure Thought'
'Ready For The Floor'
'Nothing Compares 2 U'/'In The Privacy Of Our Love'

I scored myself a front row spot at the Pet Sounds Arena for England’s Hot Chip. Frontman, Alexis Taylor was unusually dressed in a white chemical-warehouse attire (which included gumboots/wellingtons). The electro-rockers got the crowd moving with popular tunes, ‘Over and Over’ and ‘Ready For The Floor’. Hot Chip then closed their 50 minute set with Prince’s version of Sinead O'Connor’s hit, 'Nothing Compares 2 U’, which then blended into Hot Chip’s ‘The Privacy Of Our Love’.
Rating: 7.5/10



R.E.M. : 21:20-22:50 (Main Stage)
Watched: ALL OF SET
Setlist:
'Living Well Is The Best Revenge'
'These Days'
'What's The Frequency, Kenneth?'
'Begin The Begin'
'Man-Sized Wreath'
'Drive'
'Ignoreland'
'The Great Beyond'
'Hollow Man'
'Imitation Of Life'
'(Don't Go Back To) Rockville'
'Electrolite'
'The One I Love'
'Losing My Religion'
'Fall On Me'
'Let Me In'
'Horse To Water'
'Bad Day'
'I'm Gonna DJ'
'Orange Crush'
'Supernatural Superserious'
'It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)'
'Man On The Moon'

R.E.M arrived on stage as the closing act of 2008’s T In The Park. The American alternative rocker’s mixed up their setlist with a range of songs from their extensive back catalogue including recently released album ‘Accelerate’. The only negative towards Michael Stipe’s band’s set, was playing too many tracks from ‘Accelerate’. It is nice to have a few songs from a new album, but R.E.M. performed six of Accelerate’s eleven songs. There were plenty of “hits” that could have been played including; ‘Everybody Hurts’, ‘The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite’ and ‘Nightswimming’. Michael Stipe proved still to be one of the greatest front-men of all time as he had the thousands and thousands of spectators dazzled by his every move. During ‘Losing My Religion’, Stipe went down to the front barricade and sung the song with the keen and dedicated R.E.M. fans which proved to one of the many highlights of the set. R.E.M. ended T In The Park with a climax; as the rock legends conducted a massive sing-a-long to ‘Man On The Moon’.
Rating: 9/10

As I then made my way to the campsite from the festival grounds bagpipes begun to play across the T in the Park location, followed by fireworks to end an amazing experience.


----------------------------


BEST PERFORMANCES OF T IN THE PARK:
*The Verve
*R.E.M.
*Interpol
*We Are Scientists
*The Ting Tings
*The National
*Los Campesinos!

T IN THE PARK 2008 GREATEST MOMENTS:
*REM’s set closer ‘Man On The Moon’.
*The (between song) comedy of We Are Scientists
*The atmosphere and performances of new indie stars The Ting Tings & Vampire Weekend.

T IN THE PARK 2008 GREATEST SONGS:
*The Verve- Love Is Noise
*The Verve- Bittersweet Symphony
*Los Campesinos!- You! Me! Dancing!
*The Subways- Rock And Roll Queen
*Interpol- Pioneer To The Falls
*The Ting Tings- That’s Not My Name
*Vampire Weekend- One
*The National- Slow Show
*Stereophonics- Dakota
*The Courteeners- Not Nineteen Forever
*REM- Man On The Moon
*REM- Losing My Religion

MOST SURPRISING ARTIST:
The National

MOST DISAPPOINTING ARTIST :
The Fratellis

BANDS I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO SEE (But Clashed with other bands):
*Glasvegas
*The Hold Steady
*The Raconteurs
*Justice
*Blood Red Shoes
*Ben Folds
*MGMT


Fri 11 Jul – T in the Park