T IN THE PARK - Sunday 11th July
I decide not to turn up TOO early cos it's going to be a long day. It seems that the Radio 1 Evening Session tent is the place to be - I own LPs by only 2 bands on today - the Rev and the Manics who are playing at the same time. No contest. Elsewhere I own singles by Dark Star, switched from the Saturday, the Happy Mondays (on at the same time as the Rev) and James. So why am I here? The Rev of course.
Im just in time to catch the end of STROKE. The first song seems a bit uninspiring proto-grunge, but the last couple have decent enough melodies. The sound however is dire.
Outside to check the weather - its really sunny and I try to find out whats scheduled for the rest of the day. I do, but it still seems uninspiring. I get some water and head back to the tent for INDIAN ROPEMAN, about whom I know nothing. The gear set up on stage suggests that they are dance-orientated and that turns out to be correct. With loud bass and drums, the sound is fine for this lot, whose main gimmick seems to be a guy dressed in a white coat wearing shades and doing nothing but acting as a sitar stand for the main man when hes playing keyboards. I stay longer than I expected, theyre okay - the third song sounds like a rocked-up "Funky Town", much better than it sounds, but it becomes compulsory to dance and punch the air so I leave.
I hear the start of the BARE-NAKED LADIES getting the security guy on stage but dont realise whats going on until I see it on TV later on. Weathers still nice. The main arena seems huge. Dont know about you, but I prefer to be in the same county as the bands Im watching.
Its back to the tent for DARK STAR, the only other band I definitely want to see today. I missed them supporting Bob and Mercury Rev in October so Im definitely curious as the singles have been good. The sound unfortunately is worse than shite, half of the vocals on "I Am The Sun" are inaudible, and the band are fighting a losing battle. The smallest person in the tent asks me who the band is at this point - next time I look round shes gone! Next up is "About 3 am" and thats both the songs I know over already. The rest of the set wobbles between the noisier songs and the ones with a bit of light, but the sounds still shite. The bassist (who looks uncannily like Neil Pearson from Drop The Dead Donkey) announces the last song by saying "This has been the Dark Star Tent Emptying Experience" and its soon over. A shame really but they didnt rise above their difficulties today and I dont know if I want to buy the album now or soon.
Spirits have plummeted by this point and it seems a long may until 9.45 for the Rev. However given my ignorance of the bands to date I decide to risk DEUS, although if theyre a gay East European Electro duo Im off. I dont know what gave me that idea, but theyre not and they turn out to be the surprise of the day. But theyre OLD or very hairy anyway! Well the singer, second guitarist and the drummer are. Good crowd to see them too. But the start is delayed, sound problems, although the time taken to sort them out seems well spent as you can hear whats going on. Strong melodies, bits rock out but nice little kinks too. No idea what they played, but after 6 songs (about half an hour) thats it. The singer apologises for the delay in starting but T in the Park is a well oiled machine so they get no latitude. Off shamble the band, although the second guitarist is less than chuffed and joins the bass player in mike stand abuse. They huddle at the side and decide f*** it theyre going to do another one regardless. They do and, although its worryingly close to an East European electro number, its nonetheless damn fine. Deus spring to the top of the records to check out list.
Spirits raised its a choice of James or the DELGADOS. I catch James first song from the water queue but its too damn sunny and theres still no guarantee of getting in the same county as the band. Back to the tent then. Id imagined the Delgados to be a bit whimsical, but theyre punchier than I expected. They play one song Ive heard before and theyre pretty good, although theyre better when the girl sings (very short - shed fail an audition for Throwing Muses on her height alone - and thats saying something) as shes got a much better voice than the post-Glasgow rock voice of the guy. Theres even a baby with Delgados on the back of its romper suit. Bizarre stuff for a rock gig.
Then onto IDLEWILD who attract the biggest crowd of the day. Very little to say about them, but its a long time since Ive seen a band with such energy. No real tunes, although the last couple are a bit more ambitious than the thrash of the majority, but fine for the setting. Dont particularly want to hear the records though. The set almost never gets started as the guitarist has problems in the middle of the first song (and the closing bars prove that you must hear the guitar at an Idlewild gig!) but things get sorted. One last thing about Idlewild - they attracted the first sighting of that festival staple in the tent - the wankers who lob cups full of beer from the side into the middle of the crowd, running no risk of getting any lobbed back in their direction. Tossers.
And at last onto the Rev who are described in full elsewhere.
Leaving, the Manics are still on - I hear "My Little Empire" and "Australia" in the car park and "Design For Life" driving past the site, but my head was splitting by this time and I didnt fancy spending 3 hours in a field in Kinross-shire in the middle of the night anyway, so I was glad I didnt try and catch part of their set.
So my first true festival experience (at my age!). Wouldnt have gone but for the Rev, but ultimately it wasnt a bad way to spend a Sunday. Next year? Who knows!