Sunday 12/07/09 T in the Park 2009, Day Three @ Balado Airfield, Kinross

Sunday was certainly the busiest day in terms of bands, with numerous crossovers and run-a-rounds in order to catch the high-calibre line up. Dananananaykroyd scooped it for the most difficult band name to slur three pints of T in, as well as being the highlight of the BBC Introducing stage, successfully orchestrating a ‘wall of cuddles’ as a friendly alternative to a mosh-pit.

The T-Break stage definitely housed few favourites of the day: Local boys We Were Promised Jetpacks completely packed out the tent, despite a rivalling timeslot with Lily Allen (bags of attitude – a shame she can’t sing) and TV on the Radio (who played to a disappointing half-filled tent). The modest Jetpacks were clearly shocked by the turn out, unable to contain their smiles while self-deprecatingly, and wrongly, labelling Quiet Little Voices as ‘their only decent song.’ They performed a fantastic set of cavernous howls, thundering guitars and energy, ensuring they will be promised more than just a jetpack in the coming year.  

Four boys, four guitars and a mass of facial hair, Cassidy were another T-break highlight. Roguish charm and rugged good looks in tow, Mercury Record’s latest golden boys demonstrated a mature sound beyond their years, with clear southern influences and melodic harmonies. Barrie-James has a brilliantly raw, unaffected voice, and we later discovered his salsa dancing wasn’t too bad either!

In terms of crowds, Tommy Reilly was the star of T-Break, having won CH4’s Orange Unsigned Act earlier in the year. Crowds spilled from the tent, chorusing chants of “Gimmie a Call”. A charming and modest display of emotive acoustics, Little Tommy has won the hearts of Britain and is still overwhelmed by his success, telling gigwise, “It’s just absolutely mad.”

The Slam Tent accommodated some of best in dance and techno, showcasing Boys Noize, Simian Mobile Disco and Tiga for an afternoon rave-cave of explosive electro-house, dirty synths and electronic beats.

The Petshop Boys debuted at T with a fun and theatrical show featuring a fantastic visual display of geometric costumes and set design. A mass of cubic forms were hung and stacked behind an stationary Neil Tennant, while figures outfitted in cube-heads and skyscraper-painted blocks danced around him to the synthetic-pop classics, which encored with ‘Westend Girls.’  Chris Lowe was perhaps left displeased after his mirrored jacket had been exceeded by Gaga earlier in the day.

Blur were the true stars of T in the Park though, with rumours of cancellation and a delayed set due to Graham Coxon being in hospital with food poisoning. A complete trooper, he was discharged just in time, stating ‘I walked out of hospital because we couldn’t let T in the Park down.” With suggestion that it might be their last gig ever, witnessing the Britpop legends was perhaps an epic moment in musical history.

T in the Park, Pee in the Dark, whatever you care to refer to it as, is a battleground; as the early morning bagpipes play each day as you walk to the main arena, channelled through metal fencing like cattle, you doubt your safety, sanity and return. The Monday morning after-math is a massacre of litter, capsized tents, scattered belongings and bodies. But even when you are knee-deep in trenches of cans, pizza boxes and Buckfast bottles, marching to the mantra of ‘Here we Fucking Go’, you will be filled with an overwhelming euphoria, in a crowd that is simply, as the Scottish say, 'mad-for-it'. Mad to dance, mad to camp, mad for the music and the party after; A place where face paint, cross-dressing and al-fresco urination are commonplace. A world of exceptional music and madness, roll on 2010.

Sunday in Photos: