Saturday 11/07/09 T in the Park 2009, Day Two @ Balado Airfield, Kinross

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By late Saturday evening panda eyes and toasted shoulders were fashioned across Balado, after a day of amazing sunshine, defying the wet weather warnings.

Friendly Fires put on a great show, including an impromptu performance from The Foals’ Jack Bevan. Charismatic front man Ed Macfarlane’s crazed dance moves made for an energetic live performance of hip shakes, thrusts, pops and punches. A tight performance, complete with an accolade to Tennants: “I started the day with a Tennants and I think I started the day well.” Having seen those dance moves, if that’s what Tennants does to you, we’re sold.

American female poppers Lady Gaga and Katy Perry dominated the afternoon, with Gaga perhaps having the edge over Perry’s faux lesbianism.  With her extensive and elaborate costume changes and theatrical performance, including bejewelled leotards, bubble-dresses and a vespa scooter, Gags proved that what she lacks in lyrical ability, she makes up for in bravado and showmanship. A pure pop spectacle of visuals and dance, hindered however by an uncomfortably slow-paced, piano rendition of Poker Face.

The Young Fathers were the highlight of Saturday’s BBC Introducing Stage. The Edinburgh born trio are an energetic mix of electro, hip-hop and rap. Yes – Scottish rap. But somehow it works, met with choreographed dance routines, style and charm.

Iglu and Hartley pulled in a crowd that comprised mainly of young girls hoping to bag a backstage pass with the sexually charged Californian pop-rockers. The band told Gigwise, “we just want to have a fucking good time and make love to the crowd.” They’re certainly not lyrical genius, and despite his efforts, Jarvis is not Justin Hawkins, but they are likeable pop. With one of them referring to themselves as Shifty Shellshock, they don’t take themselves too seriously, and neither should we.

Of Montreal were a psychedelic treat, as figures clad as a pigs and chickens skipped around stage to a backdrop of digital kaleidoscopic images, and two men bearing resemblance to a psychoactive take on the 1-1-8 boys in brightly coloured leotards scattered glitter into the crowd. The band themselves, dressed in robes and feathers, appeared oblivious to that around them, wandering off at the end, presumably for another spliff or a dose of mind-bending drugs.

Home-grown Twin Atlantic smashed about the Red Bull tent with a mass of facial hair, vigour and rock melodies; they are a refreshingly new and intelligent take on an genre often overrun with generic emo drawl, with a frantic crowd of loyal fans armed with rhino-horns and pogo jumps.  

After a day of watching lesser bands bust their gut to produce theatrical, energetic, dynamic performances, headliners The Killers sadly failed to deliver. Brandon Flower’s kneeling, keeling dance moves and hand gestures left us wondering where the man that NME listed ‘The Coolest Man on the Planet’ had gone.  They have a loyal fan base that ensured a typically pure-mad-mental Scottish crowd, and classic anthems like Mr Brightside did deliver, but they appeared to have lost their sparkle. Maybe they have simply never managed to top that first album; but even with a shower of pyrotechnics and a digital backdrop, a little more was expected from All American rockers.

And maybe it was because elsewhere Nine Inch Nails were blowing the stage away with what they claimed to be their ‘last ever Scottish performance’. Presumably initially booked along with Janes Addiction to satisfy the rock-quarter of the festival’s clientèle, the metal legends received a smaller crowd than deserved.  Mosh-pits ensued throughout the energetic set, which ended on an emotional rendition of ‘Hurt.’ Along with James who played earlier in the day, and Nick Cave from the night before, NIN proved that the elders still had it, blasting out a brilliant set that left Trent Razor dripping, and those impressive biceps trembling. Maybe Brandon needs a few nine-inch-nails to buck him up a little bit.

Elsewhere Florence and the Machine played to a packed out King Tuts tent, finishing with a cover of ‘You’ve Got the Love’ that sent the crowd into raptures.

Saturday in photos: