REVIEW: T in the Park
- Posted on July 16, 2008 10:31 AM
- 1 comment
T in the Park Festival
Scotland
11th - 13th July
Review by Tim Kernutt
They say that success often goes to one's head. Could it be that this has happened to the organisers of T in the Park in Scotland?
Boasting a stellar line-up, ostensibly the festival would be difficult to dislike. Unfortunately, the organisers did their best to create a logistical and administrative nightmare for the fans, especially the campers.
However, despite the organiser's utmost attempts to create havoc, the bands and DJs managed to put on such good performances that arguably T in the Park's reputation as Scotland's premier - if not the UK's - festival is cemented forever. Year after year the festival's organisers seem to deliver up prime acts. And it's hard to be complacent about a festival that delivers the likes of REM, the Verve, Kings of Leon, The Prodigy, and the Chemical Brothers amongst other big names.
It was the final day the boasted the best line-up. Amy Winehouse starred by the sheer act of showing up. So common is it for her to cancel performances citing "exhaustion", her supporters often are over-the-moon with excitement on merely spotting her. Ms Winehouse may well be unreliable, but she certainly justified her celebrity status with a passionate performance. Surprisingly, it looked like she may have even enjoyed herself, and she smiled and laughed at the antics of her male dancers through her act. From "Rehab" and "You Know I'm No Good" to "Back to Black", this was truly a showcase of her hits.
Completing the magical day were the Kings of Leon - who go from strength to strength with their music and performances - to the racous and eccentric Prodigy, who flicked between various hits including "Voodoo Doll" and "Breathe", and finally REM donned the stage to push the audience into sing-along mode with their string of catchy down-tempo tunes. Mixed in with these bands were performances by the Zutons, the mad Australian dance-band Pendulum, Primal Scream and the amazing Powderfinger, once again hailing from Australia.
If this wasn't enough, the Chemical Brothers, the classic Eddy Grant, young-guns We Are Scientists and the exhausting Kaiser Chiefs also graced various stages across the the weekend.
However, the stand-out act of the festival was the Verve. It would have been impossible not to experience goose-bumps watching the Verve perform, but it was "Bitter Sweet Symphony" that induced the most melancholic interest. Richard Ashcroft, lead singer of the band, modestly asked the rhetorical question of whether the crowd knew what it was like to create a classic song, before launching into the song that launched the Verve onto an international audience. Equally as impressive live were "Sonnet", "The Drugs Don't Work" and "Rolling". And they even managed to draw a massive crowd away from the Chemical Brothers who played an electronic and lighting extravaganza.
With that kind of range of bands, it is easy to see why the fans persist in returning to the rough old fields of Scotland for T in the Park.
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Comments (1)
Wiz
I was at T in the Park, and found the organisers had done a brilliant job. It was the best organised festival I have ever been to (and I have been to many) Even the toilets were well maintained (apart from the ones in the camp site though)
Got my tickets already for next year! Yay!
Posted on July 18, 2008 12:40 PM
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