Walking in to the main arena the Kaleidoscope Club is the first tent to be seen, inside I found a group of street dancers performing to a small crowd. A crowd of ten men spinning on their heads later joined by the DJ, was definitely not the welcome I was expecting from T in the Park this year. Within five minutes of entering the site I find something new and exciting that had never been done in previous years and with only one reported arresting so far, that too was surprising. It seem T in the park is on the up, I just hope I'm continued to be surprised over the weekend.
I will admit, singing along to "I predict a riot" always made me feel that little bit cool, as if somewhere, deep, deep down I had a dangerous hidden streak but apart from that, I never have been that great a fan of the Kaiser Chiefs, that is until I heard them live. Oh, those boys can play, and can vocalist Ricky Wilson sing (probably why he was offered a coaching job on hit show "The Voice"!). At one point I also thought Ricky Wilson may have been a good contender for the GB team in this years Olympics judging by the amount of running back and forward he was doing. Putting aside the impressive stamina displayed by Ricky Wilson during the band's performance I believe the band's recorded songs play down how good they really are, I was extremely impressed by their live performance.
I did take time to celebrate the T, to the T in the Park (Tennents). Having a wee wander around the arena I saw the usual festival sights; collapsed drunk persons, noodles in mud, 6ft Smurfs, chips in mud, men urinating with poise and delicacy against peeling advertisement boards, all in all Scotland's finest!
Now, it is not because I had a cup of Tennents or because this gentleman is in fact VERY good looking in person, but Labrinth's set was brilliant. In between jumping around the stage and singing I lost count how many instruments he played. Album songs are not usually the highlight to anyone's performance but Labrinth's certainly made his more atmospheric, holding the standard of quality, very high, throughout every song he played. It was refreshing to see that an artist in the charts today, actually has his level of talent.
I did go see Example but well, he really is not worth the time I'm taking to type out this small review of his performance, he already stole precious minutes of my life I will never get back. He's well known for mocking artists that mime, but maybe he should follow in their footsteps because he really was awful.
Now, Florence and the Machine, I'm sure everyone has watched her perform live at some point, therefore there is not much I can say that hasn't already been said. Her angelic voice drew in one of the largest crowds of today so far, and it is no surprise why. She captured the crowd with her stunning voice and put on, as always, a phenomenal show.
Professor Green, having been delayed getting to T in the park apologised profusely to the crowd in his own witty way, the T in the park crowd held no grudges after he followed his apology with "there will be plenty more flights to Glasgow but only one T in the park 2012". He then proceeded to blow the crowd away. You could see when singing his songs, he was singing you the words, his performance seemed more personal than other artists I had seen so far (how you can do "personal" with lyrics like "Saw a chick walk in with a big behind, Now I'm stalking my victim out" I will never know, but he managed it.) An amazing performer, one I would not hesitate to go see again!
Having Tinie Tempah on after Professor Green, on the same stage was awfully nice of the organizers, no trekking to the other side of the arena! You could tell from Tinie's entrance that he was ready to put on a good performance, and that he did. He seemed impressed with the Scottish crowd, grinning as they sang all his songs back to him. His pretty sparkly microphone and cool patchwork leather jacket certainly took no attention away from his performance, he held the stage well with his presence alone, playing hit after hit pleasing the huge crowd that had come to see him.
Finally I sneaked away early to catch the end of The Blackout's set and I'm glad I did. Those Welsh men can put on a performance! Possibly not to everyone's music taste, which is okay but if you were to see them live you would undoubtedly have to appreciate their showmanship, in between their songs they communicated with the crowd like no other artist I had seen today had done, they thanked the crowd for coming, and it seemed more sincere than the odd "cheers for coming" you seem to get from some of the bigger artists. The two vocalists Sean Smith and Gavin Butler meshed well together, especially when they suggested to the crowd they make the most of the heavy security they were given. Without further hesitation the crowd turned in to a whirlpool of mosh pits and I counted at least 16 of the audience crowd surfing and having to be pulled out by security. Revealing new songs they have been working on over the last few months, The Blackout have the capability to go far, and I really hope they do. Their high energy performance gave the perfect ending to my Friday of T in the Park 2012.
Check out photos from Friday @ T in the Park
Check out photos from Saturday @ T in the Park
Check out photos from Sunday @ T in the Park
