Photo: WENN
T in the Park christened its new home of Strathallan Castle with the same veracious intensity seen at Balado - the crowd and line-up, headlined by Kasabian, determined to prove it remains Scotland’s finest.
The enthusiasm to party hard was immediate with King Tut’s Wah Wah Tent and the Slam Arena packed from the early morning. Sigma, Afrojack and Duke Dumont set the tone for later night-time sets from David Guetta and Fatboy Slim – the 90s icon more than holding his own against France’s current day pop-dance monolith, filling the tent to capacity in minutes and leaving many simply peeking in through desperation. For those locked out, live sets at the cocktail bar kept the party going.
Over on the main stage, Annie Mac provided an afternoon dose of rave, whilst for the more rock initiated, The Cribs, young upstarts Slaves and veterans The Wombats provided a healthy dose of the current spice and noughties nostalgia. The ideal warm up for forthcoming appearances from Wolf Alice, The Libertines and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds this weekend.
Later, Hozier basked in the best of the afternoon sun. However, his performances of new tracks such as the typically bluesy, folk-driven ‘Good To Be Home’ failed to match the intensity of ‘Take Me To Church’. The fact the Irishman appeared to be taking swigs of coffee said it all.
The job to really set the day on fire fell to Rudimental, who underlined their status as one of the UK’s best live acts with an intoxicating mix of female vocalised drum 'n bass, dubstep and reggae beats, perfectly suited festival settings. As a band, they act as a synthesis of two decades of UK urban dance music, and as such wonderfully launched into a spontaneous cover of ‘Welcome To Jamrock’, which sent the crowd into a frenzy. Add drums, a trumpet and smash hits such as ‘Waiting All Night’ to this mix (sadly without an appearance from Ella Eyre) and it’s a combination impossible to ignore.
Strathallan was definitely free and feeling the love, ideal for Sam Smith’s emotional balladry and sultry tones. Cementing his meteoric rise to superstar status, he was at ease with the screams from the huge crowd he drew. Smile beaming wide, he admitted, almost apologetically, that his album was “a bit fucking depressing”, but explained his pride at it because “the record was the first honest thing I wrote”. This honesty has clearly served him well, with album tracks such as ‘Like I Can’ being lapped up by the crowd – mass handclapping included.
Smith also indulged in a number of covers, including Amy Winehouse’s ‘Tears Dry On Thier Own’ – a fitting tribute in light of the brilliant new documentary. This, coupled with ‘Stay With Me’, ensured there were few dry eyes remaining.
As night fell Kasabian, psych rockers War On Drugs and David Guetta rounded off the mayhem to make sure it really was a case of “here we fucking go”. Read a more detailed review of the headline sets here.
