On the Road Again
Live Reviews:
T in the Park Festival
July 10-11
Balado, Scotland
During my recent visit to the United Kingdom, I was fortunate to take in the sights and sounds of the T in the Park festival in Scotland. T in the Park is probably one of the best-kept secrets of the summer festival season. Everyone talks about Glastonbury, Reading or the now 2-year absent Phoenix festivals, but the T in the Park festival boasts over 100 acts on 7 stages (including a traditional Scottish stage), many of them up and coming artists not present at the other festivals.
We've all seen or read about Blur or UK faves the Manic Street Preachers, so I decided stick to the smaller tents and watch some bands at arms' length that we'll be hearing about in the not-too-distant future. The five of us arrived Friday night on a shuttle from Edinburgh to set up our tents, as we witnessed the first festival casualty being carried out on a stretcher — a day before the event's official beginning!
The weather was warm and sunny in the picturesque location of Balado, Scotland (about an hour north of Edinburgh) on an abandoned airfield. The first band up was Dark Star on the Radio One Evening session stage; immediately they caught our interest with their early 90's indie-type grooves and cosmic melodies fronted by ex-House of Love member Terry Bickers.
Journeying to the second stage tent we arrived to catch a DJ combo called The Jengeheads spinning big beat and hip-hop styled grooves. The next act was Ooberman who did little to impress with their "sweet indie pop" that came off sounding like Abba more than the suggested early 90's indie stylings (a common theme of description in the festival program). Strangely enough, Abba cover band Björn Again were playing the next day. Next up was Regular Fries, a Madchester-esque act that the festival program slammed as being "Another bunch of Mondays wannabes", strange for a festival to give its talent bad press. That aside, we were thoroughly impressed with the spaced-out grooves and excellent guitar work and soon we weren't even thinking about the Mondays (who also appear the next day).
After the Fries' set we took a walk past the main stage to witness a few songs from New York's own Fun Lovin' Criminals who are big in the UK. It's fun to watch for singer Huey's New York-Mafioso persona. I'm surprised he hasn't acted alongside DeNiro or starred in a Tarantino flick yet. I remember seeing them at The Rivoli a few years ago, now it's in front of 80,000 plus rowdy Scottish fans.
After a brief nap and a visit to the 'Watering Hole' for a few more Lagers, it was time to prepare for some of the best acts the festival had to offer and the long anticipated set by Scotland's own Mogwai. After a futile attempt to see the Scottish act Travis on the overcrowded second stage, we decided to see Bis, an 80's-style pop band from Scotland. They reminded me of Blondie with a cute singer — sexier than Deborah Harry!?
It was then over to the second stage for Shed Seven playing songs from their recent greatest hits compilation. Extravagant singer Rick Witter was in fine form, even on the heels of the ill-fated Britpop scene. I only stuck around for 5 songs, then hopped over to the slam tent to catch a bit of Richie Hawtin's set. We decided to leave the muggy tent, and the lack of ecstacy made it all the more unbearable. It was time to see the best event the festival had to offer...Mogwai.
As we waited for the band to set up for what seemed like an hour, we witnessed a stagehand fall victim to one of Mogwai's disco ball props as it plummted from the rafters. The chaos had already begun. Beginning with "Punk Rock", the first track off of this year's Come On Die Young release, Mogwai burst into the best instrumental post-rock heard for some time. From the quiet 'Helps Both Ways' to the all out explosive 'Ex-Cowboy', Mogwai's set went from tranquil to intense and beyond to the last song that featured guitarist Stuart Braithwaite on percussion, a violin player and several roadies on guitars. Unbelievable. Mogwai have generated a lot of press about their feud with Blur and their shirts that read 'Blur:are Shite'.
Apparently Blur hired extra security to keep Mogwai away from them, and festival organizers put both bands on stage at the same time to avoid further confrontation. Obviously I missed Blur.
We retired to the camping area, indulged in more lager, ate wild boar and partied to the wee hours.
Sunday
Feeling a little worn out from the previous day (or was it the wild boar), we didn't see near as many bands. After dragging ourselves back to the festival we went to the 'Slam Tent' which featured high profile DJ's like Fatboy Slim, Carl Cox, and Plastikman throughout the weekend. Veteran DJ Freddy Fresh, who Fatboy Slim sites as influential, spun a mix of hip-hop and drum and bass grooves as we anticipated arrival of Philly rap crew The Roots. Although front row, we were disappointed by the obstruction of the turntables and DJ gear across the front of the stage, something The Roots didn't need. The Roots perform all their music live — bass, drums, Rhodes piano, two rappers and a human turntable named Scratch. A third of the set was comprised of rapper Scratch's beatbox skills and various members showcasing their DJ abilities. Relatively new to the UK, The Roots attempts in having a Scottish sing along to chorus of 'You Got Me' in Erykah Badu's absence went unsung. We were interviewed by the BBC radio as the token Canadians visiting a Scottish festival as we left the tent.
It was time to rest again as we walked past the main stage to the sound of Canada's own Barenaked Ladies' As "Be My Yoko Ono" played in the background, it would have been a proud Canadian moment..if I liked them.
Upon arriving at the festival site again (and after purchasing more lager), we took in a disappointing set by the UK's latest media darlings Gay Dad. I wandered over to catch Massive Attack on the main stage but decided that watching them from half a mile away wasn't going to have the same intimacy as last year's show at The Warehouse in Toronto. So I headed back to the second stage tent in anticipation of the Happy Mondays.
Unfortunately, everyone else seemed to have had the same idea, as we sat outside listening to Björn Again with hundreds of other eager Mondays fans. One of the most anticipated events of the whole festival, The Happy Mondays were back with the trademark Madchester grooves that have inspired everyone from Primal Scream to Fatboy Slim to the Super Furry Animals. Playing faves such as "Wrote for luck", "Mad Cyril", "Step On", "Kinky Afro" and "Lazyitis". Unfortunately I had to leave Bez, Shaun Ryder and co. to catch the final act — Mercury Rev — at the Radio One evening Session stage.
Performing in a time slot adjacent to The Manic Street Preachers, The Mondays, and Fatboy Slim, I knew I could secure a front row position for this excellent band from upstate New York. I'd already seen Mercury Rev two times this year, but there's something about their lush, beautiful disc Deserter's Songs and their mesmerizing live shows that leave me wanting to see them again and again. The set was similar to the last two shows I had seen; they closed with a stunning version of Neil Young's "Cortez The Killer".
The show was over, and we stumbled back to the campsite where we drank more lager. Sadly missed: Fatboy Slim, James, Placebo, The Delgados, Gomez, Travis, Death In Vegas, Blur, Joe Strummer, Lamb. Other artists: Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Everlast, Eagle Eye Cherry, Reef, The Beautiful South, Faithless.
In closing: What a better place to hold a festival than in the beautiful Scottish countryside with a bunch of rowdy countrymen? All in all, a great weekend with no apparent problems. They really know how to throw festivals over here; I think North American promoters should take a lesson, maybe they can learn something.
— review by Brad ketchen
