Album Review - The Phantom Band - Fears Trending

At first glance, you may be forgiven for thinking that Fears Trending,  the latest offering from The Phantom Band, is a collection of outtakes picked from the cutting room floor; rejects from the acclaimed 2014 album Strange Friend,  thrown together in a shameless attempt to separate those of you so inclined, from your hard earned cash.  And in one aspect you would be correct.  A package of songs, some of which didn’t make the 2014 album - for various reasons, if you listen to what the band have to say - but nonetheless, this is an album in itself, in the true meaning of the word, with an identity all of its own.

Much like The Fall, with The Phantom Band you never quite know what you will get, and that which you expect is least likely to be delivered.  And that is what makes them so utterly compelling.  The contrast between this and Strange Friend  is best reflected in Rick Antony’s assertion that this is their 'dark side'.  And they do dark so, so well.  

From Checkmate Savage  in 2009 to The Wants  2010, then the seemingly endless wait for last years Strange Friend,  whilst solo projects filled the space for some in the band, their fondness for keeping us in suspense and delivering the unexpected, has now become a trademark for Scotland’s most eclectic and creative ensemble.

This release on Chemikal Underground heralds yet another foray into the unknown for the band, and all the time relying always on the familiar.  A sign of a fermenting and unique creativity.  Seven tracks are offered as an album, short on numbers possibly but brimming with depth and variety.

Tender Castle  is a fine opener and an comfortable transition for those familiar with the populist dalliances of Strange Friend.  Punctuated para-diddle drum patterns lay the foundations for sci-fi score keyboards.  A song which builds, breaks and distorts beautifully as you would expect from the Phantoms, and all the time the constant rhythmic tempo punctuated by those familiar crying vocals.  And always a darkness hiding in undergrowth – “And I’ll be watching as you speak”.

Local Zero  displays more conventional in its layout and structure than we have come to expect from them, and a gentler more apologetic vocal, the offbeat musical hook is interrupted only at times to deviate to pure melody followed by Tardis synth and oscillating bass.  Build, repeat and return to the start and go “from the left to the right and back again”

With a horseback headstrong drum rhythm, Denise Hopper  takes us to The Band’s vision of a spaghetti western set in a post-apocalyptic Dali-esque desert, where dancer tango in the searing heat of a flailing, barely audible haunting melody.  One of the strongest tracks on the album, it doesn’t bear thinking that this is a song which 'didn’t make it' onto the previous offering due any lack of quality.  This is The Phantom Band at their uncompromising best.  Oh yes.

On next track, Black Tape,  the somnambulists among you will welcome the dreamlike landscape.  So too the Poe aficionados, with the gothic horror gargoyles pulling the strings backstage to the beat of the military 'onwards' drum rhythm.  Those same gargoyles providing the offstage cries, accompanying the punctuated story.  Suitably soaked in suspense your attention doesn’t falter, but don’t look behind you

Spectrelegs  requires listeners to be ready for the weight of the metal onslaught riff pounding your chest after the beauty of the soft gentle keys lull the security from you.  It drives so hard you may have to curl your toes and grip your seat to gain purchase.  Again, the structure of build/fade/dark/light is utterly mesmerising.

Penultimate track The Kingfisher,  for me, is the masterpiece of the album.  A fine compliment indeed.  I was fortunate enough to see the live rendition of this recently at the Arches gig in Glasgow, such a powerful track which oozes Nick Cave at his Stagger Lee best.  The pounding rhythm from bass/drums/keyboards, lays a foundation which entraps and ensures that YOU WILL NOT TAKE YOURSELF AWAY FROM THIS.  And you cannot.  Even the beauty of the organ frequency, strains to take you to a kinder place but you’re hypnotised, you are with the vocals to the end.  And in the end, Quint breaks through the fade out and reminds us of the horror of the deep with his tale of those ladies of Spain.

And to end, and as gesture of kindness, we are wakened softly from the darkness with the most melodic and fitting end to this album in the form of Olden Golden.  A vista is opened to us, as the cinema curtains extend to show the feature.  A big sky, a rolling landscape of a song and familiar territory for The Phantom Band as they escort us back home, from a journey to the dark side and back.

- Bobby Motherwell

The Phantom Band - Fears Trending  is out now via Chemikal Underground and can be purchased here.

Scottish Fiction Podcast - 19th January 2015

We get into 2015 proper the same way we ended 2014; with excellent live music and all the best new music about.  My session guest for this episode is artist and musician Sarah J Stanley, who played three wonderful tracks live in the Pulse 98.4 studio. 

Dotted around the rest of the episode there's new music from stalwarts Idlewild and Belle and Sebastian from both their forthcoming albums, and fresh material from Le Thug, Tongues, Lilac Pin, Mt. Doubt and more.

Idlewild - Come on Ghost
BAD LUCK - F L O A T
The Phantom Band - Local Zero
Collapsible Mountain - Laid Plans
Sarah J Stanley - Farmer - Live in Pulse 98.4 Studio
Best Girl Athlete - Talk
CLASSIC TRACK - Endor - Chapel Doors
Belle & Sebastian - Nobody's Empire
Sarah J Stanley - Secretly Not - Live in Pulse 98.4 Studio
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off - As chosen by Sarah J Stanley
Tongues - Colours In The Dark
Mt. Doubt - Feathers
Algernon Doll - Justine
Lenin Death Mask - Tried To Confess
Sarah J Stanley - I Promise Mum - Live in Pulse 98.4 Studio
Django Django - First Light
Redolent - Auburn and Lime
Lilac Pin - Come Inside
RE-MIXING IT UP - Mogwai - The Lord Is Out Of Control (Nils Frahm Remix)
Le Thug - Basketball Land


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Scottish Fiction - 19th January 2015 by Scottish Fiction on Mixcloud

Scottish Fiction Podcast - 15th December 2014

Scottish Fiction gets Christmassy on this week's show as some Christmas tunes both old and new slip into the playlist along side new music from Errors, Collapsible Mountains, Turtle and Vasquez.  T'is the season and all that. 

Keeping things festive are my session guests Campfires In Winter, who joined me in the studio for a stripped back session ahead of their Christmas gig at Sloans on Wednesday 17th December.  The band played three tracks, including a never before heard exclusive, and chatted about their plans for an album next year.

Belle and Sebastian - The Party Line
The Son(s) - Christmas Song
Broken Records - My Beer Drunk Soul Is Sadder Than All The Dead Christmas Trees In The World
Campfires In Winter - We'll Exist - Live in Pulse 98.4 Studios
Collapsible Mountains - Hope
COVER LOVER - Randolph's Leap - One More Sleep 'til Christmas
Now Wakes The Sea - Bear
Errors - Lease Of Life
Campfires In Winter - Janus - Live in Pulse 98.4 Studios
Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers - Believe In Yourself - As chosen by Campfires In Winter
Lady North - Monster Wants A Kiss
Vasquez - Thumbmusic
RE-MIXING IT UP - The Phantom Band - Women of Ghent (Miaoux Miaoux Remix)
Turtle - Lavender
Campfires In Winter - White Lights - Live in Pulse 98.4 Studios
Deathcats - Sprint
Ballboy - Merry Christmas To The Drunks, Merry Christmas To The Lovers
Das McManus - Not My Words
Honeyblood - Biro
CLASSIC TRACK - Travis - Driftwood
Frightened Rabbit - It's Christmas So We'll Stop


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Facebook - www.facebook.com/thisisscottishfiction
Twitter - twitter.com/scotfiction984
E-mail - scottishfiction@mail.com

Scottish Fiction - 14th December 2014 by Scottish Fiction on Mixcloud

Album Review - The Phantom Band - Strange Friend

I was once driving to a Scouting reunion weekend away back in March 2009, two months after the release of The Phantom Band’s debut album Checkmate Savage,  when I impaled my car on a perfectly spherical boulder.  I had bought the album in Aberdeen’s lamentably now gone One-Up and had intentionally kept the album for the three hour lone drive down south. I was also, for the first time, rather erroneously using my then brand new iPhone 3G for sat nav and, as I drove deeper into the countryside and hills of Perthshire, my phone’s signal gave up.  A few moments later, I found my car stuck atop a large stone boulder in the middle of someone’s driveway, two kilometres from where I was aiming to be.

Thankfully, the owners of the house, driveway and boulder were more bemused than annoyed, helped me dig the boulder out from under the car and sent me on my way.  I arrived to the reunion late, covered in mud and a bit embarrassed about having gotten lost.  I bring this up because, throughout the whole drive, Checkmate Savage  had been playing and I had become entranced by it.  To my ears, it sounded like nothing else.

For the rest of 2009, I found it difficult to dissociate the events of that evening with the album – the whole weekend was a bit of a bust, as I later found that I’d pretty badly damaged my car when I tried to drive back to Aberdeen at 40mph with no rev counter.  The album still, to this day, reminds me of that night - the smell of the clutch, the sound of the boulder, the weight of the gravel.

The same can be said for its follow up, The Wants – I had just moved to Houston, Texas, when it was released and it soundtracked that shift in my life as well.  Even now, having just become a father, listening to the band’s third album, Strange Friend,  I am bemused at the way time has barrelled along.  Indeed, the four year gap between album two and album three is a long one for a band who left only 20 months between their debut and sophomore releases – a gap partly explained by Rick Antony’s foray into a solo guise of Rick Redbeard and the release of the spellbinding No Selfish Heart.

Strange Friend is, however, another leap for the band – where Checkmate Savage had been built on deconstructing the ‘folk’ influence and adding in electronic flourishes, as well as instrumental tracks and long passages of tension building repetition, The Wants  had been more sly-eyed, with a sexy feel and a dark theme.  Strange Friend  moves the band on once more, adding new electronic squelches and a more tongue in cheek feeling, one that admittedly isn’t new for the band’s sound.

Opener and lead single The Wind That Cried The World  feels like a boot up tone for the album – it re-establishes what The Phantom Band do and sound like and is followed by the direct and pulsing Clapshot,  which, with its wavering vocals on the chorus, stuns as it makes almost every part of my body tap along with its frenetic pace, something not seen from the band before.  It’s part of an opening one-two-three that is one of the strongest thirds of any album I’ve heard this year, as Doom Patrol  comes into view. Clapshot’s stand out moment comes halfway though as the frenetic pace dies down and Redbeard croons, “Over the Ocean’s broiling swell…,” slowly, over a lilting acoustic guitar line, before the rhythm section kicks back in and the track rises again, mimicking the, “rises to the surface air,” of the lyrics.

Doom Patrol,  an undoubted highlight on the album, is another on the record that sounds like nothing before, but still like The Phantom Band at heart.  It stands tall as the most anthemic moment of the album.  But, as someone who likes to think that previous tracks like Folk Song Oblivion  and O  are the band’s best, No Shoes Blues  rides in on a dark, slow and spooky sounding collage that stumbles and rumbles its way through its running time, sounding every bit like the band’s self-promoted title of ‘robo-folk’.  It has a hopeful air to it, unusually for the band, and it props up the latter half of the record well.

Another shift in the band’s machinery is Women of Ghent – another toe tapping, mid-tempo track with the rather sad, “no-one’s noticed you’ve gone,” lyric, which might explain why, after the astoundingly strong start, the back end of the album feels lightweight on first listen.  But, after a few replays, the catchy melodies uncover themselves, like stars in the sky that appear the longer you stare at them.  If I was to say that there was a weakness, it would be this sequencing, but that is a nit pick that I hate to level at albums.  Some parts of the latter half of the album remind me of Throwing Bones,  the penultimate track on Checkmate Savage,  in all honesty, which has a similar electronic pulse and fast pace throughout.

The band have had their quieter moments on previous albums, like Goodnight Arrow on The Wants,  and Atacama  acts as a gentle tease with its acoustic guitar to start, but opens up into the darker corners of the band’s mind, like a knowing wink to the rest of the album.  These moments aren’t as common on Strange Friend,  but closing track Galapagos  features discordant percussion, ambient drones of electronics and wistful, almost confessional vocals from Redbeard.  As it fades away, it acts as a coda for the album, for the mood, for the feeling.

I’ve yet to impale my car or move to Texas whilst listening to Strange Friend,  but, as a return, it is most welcome.  While it might not graft new converts to The Phantom Band ranks, it will please the band’s pals and fans for sure, whilst adding nine new tracks to the band’s catalogue. Strange Friend  feels just like that - a friend you’ve not seen in years that you remember being a little eccentric, but as loyal as you’ll find.

- Mark Shields

The Phantom Band - Strange Friend  is out now via Chemikal Underground Records and is available in all good record stores or via all good online retailers. You can purchase the album here.

Scottish Fiction Podcast - 17th April 2014

Drum roll please... Scottish Fiction is BACK.  Repackaged and reorganised as a condensed one hour podcast but still bringing you the best new Scottish music about.  As we've been away for nearly two months, this week's returning episode is all about catching up with what we've missed.  That includes tracks from Machines In Heaven, Secret Motorbikes, Call To Mind, Deathcats and a whole lot more.  Tuck in my friends, and dine at the banquet of indulgence.

Withered Hand - Horseshoe
The Second Hand Marching Band - You Will/My Body Is A Mess
King Post Kitsch - Sheep On A Beach
The Phantom Band - The Wind That Cried The World
Kill Surrrf - I Can't Sleep For Dreaming Of You
Machines In Heave - Parliament Is Made Of Rice Paper
Tuff Love - Flamingo
Secret Motorbikes - All Over Again
Deathcats - Alligator
Fatherson - James
Call To Mind - Energy // Blast
Prehistoric Friends - Bermuda Triangle
Randolph's Leap - Light Of The Moon

Subscribe/listen to the podcast via iTunes.

Scottish Fiction - 17th April 2014 by Scottish Fiction on Mixcloud

Scottish Fiction Podcast - 30th January 2013

May we present 'The Greatest Scottish Playlist' as chosen by us, and fine tuned by you.  Following on from our show on 23rd January as part of Scottish Fiction's 2nd birthday show, it was time to announce the 16 tracks chosen by public poll.  Once again I was joined by my panel of Raymond Weir, Bobby Motherwell and Carolynne McKendry, and our earnest judges were armed with a veto, meaning at any point they could chop one of the tracks and replace it with a track of their own choosing.  Cruel?  Yes.  Entertaining?  YES  So join us as we played out the 15 tracks you voted for in our poll, plus the public's choice track, and discuss the finer merits of each inclusion.


Orange Juice - Rip It Up
Mogwai - Batcat
Cocteau Twins - Bluebeard
Belle & Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap
Camera Obscura - Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken

FIRST VETO
Raymond used his veto to replace Primal Scream - 'I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have' with...
Danny Wilson - Aberdeen

The Proclaimers - Letter From America

SECOND VETO
Bobby used his veto to replace Edwyn Collins - 'A Girl Like You' with...
The Phantom Band - Folk Song Oblivion

Frightened Rabbit - The Modern Leper
Gerry Rafferty - Night Owl
Teenage Fanclub - Sparky's Dream

PUBLIC CHOICE - Big Country - In A Big Country

John Martyn - May You Never
Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat - The Greatest Story Ever Told

THIRD VETO
Carolynne used her veto to replace The Vaselines - 'Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam' with...
Calvin Harris - Bounce

Idlewild - In Remote Part (Scottish Fiction)


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Scottish Fiction Podcast - 30th January 2013 by Scottish Fiction on Mixcloud

Doune The Rabbit Hole - Friday Review

Back for it's third year, Doune The Rabbit Hole took place over the weekend of 24th to 26th August, with the DTRH team nestled into their new home.  And what a home it was, the picturesque Carron Forrest Valley, with it's views of Scottish hills, the glorious reservoir and the trees of the forest, adorned with decorations creating the illusion of a magical faraway forest.

Having had a fun time last year, my wife and I decided we'd take the kids along for the full weekend this year, and whilst I'd be on reviewing duties, they could enjoy the family based activities that the festival had to offer.  This included pottery, wood carving, story telling, and plenty more.

Arriving within the site to a pre-pitched tent (like the kind husband I am I drove up earlier to set up camp whilst the kids were in school), it was obvious we had descended into a slightly different beast of festival.  Gone were the vast 'quality' burger stalls that blight the culinary landscapes of bigger festivals, absent were the fairground rides whose music act like a buzz kill for the actual performing artists, and missing were the huge snaking queues to get in, get parked, or get your tent up.

Yet for these benefits there's a pay off.  At times things seemed to lack to organisation that one normally associates with larger events.  There wasn't much security, although granted there wasn't really a need for it, and certain things which were advertised didn't appear to happen.  I suppose this kind of spontaneity and care-free attitude added to the laid back approach of the festival itself, and I do know from speaking with festival organiser Jamie Murray that a helluva lot of effort, passion, and organisation did go into the festival, so it would be extremely unfair to criticise DTRH too much for this.  That said however, I can't over look the decision not to publish stage times (until late Sunday afternoon, some of which were wrong anyway).  Honestly, the idea of "time is an illusion, festival time doubly so" sounds interesting and fun in principle, but when you've got two kids to cater too, plus you want to see specific bands, for enjoyment as well as reviewing, it simply didn't work. 

However all that aside let's move onto the music eh?  If you were paying attention you'll have seen I tipped Behold, The Old Bear as 'ones to see', however sadly I missed them.  What I didn't miss though were SAY Award winners Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat.  Backed by their talented band, the duo proceeded to wow the crowd with tracks from their album 'Everything's Getting Older', playing songs almost in the album running order.  As I stood with my wife and two children a small part of me couldn't help but chuckle during 'Cages', where Moffat returns from a mundane shopping trip with his family, lamenting "freedom's over rated anyway".  Whereas later during 'Glasgow's Jubilee', the filth ridden tail of sex and infidelity a small part of me wondered if I should be covering the kids ears!  However, that would have deprived them of the glorious sounds of tracks such as 'The Cooper Top', '(If You) Keep Me In Your Heart' and 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' all of which were sung and played with passion and beauty.  Despite this, part of me was a little disappointed.  For me the greatest strength of Wells & Moffat live is the intimacy they effortlessly create.  The warmth of the piano and trumpet wraps the audience up, and the deep truthfulness of the lyrics hits home.  This was lost somewhat by the openness of the Jaberwocky stage, and the general movement that a festival brings.  This isn't to say the Wells & Moffat in any way underperformed, I just feel that their set doesn't suit festivals.

The next band however had no such worries.  No strangers to festival stages were Glasgow's The Phantom Band.  The band really made the Jaberwocky stage their own, and genuinely looked like they were having a ball of a time, with the bassist sporting a blonde Marilyn wig, and lead singer Rick joked about Avril Lavinge and Chad Krueger.  Their four vocals across the front, and three guitars plus bass really create a full, loud, deep sound.  The band treated the receptive crowd to songs off their latest album 'The Wants' such as 'A Glamour' and 'Mr Natural'.  The Phantom Band also revelled in creating little quirky electronic sounds to layer their set, like kids playing with electronic toys.  Their closer, old favourite, 'Crocodile' was one of the best moments of the festival and a great way to finish the evening.

And at that it was off to sleep in a tent and wait to start all over again tomorrow...

Scottish Fiction Podcast - 21st May 2012

After a fun Saturday spent rounding around Glasgow, firstly putting up posters for the upcoming Scottish Fiction Presents Gig, and then dashing between venues for Stag & Dagger, it was good to put my feet up and play some cracking new music.  On this week's show there's new music from The Winter Tradition, Penfold, North American War and Rachel Sermanni.  We play a stonking track from CHURCHES in the Peenko Friday Freebies track, and our featured artist is one of the highlights from Stag & Dagger, The Phantom Band.  For all that and more, have a listen below.

Joy Division - Atmosphere
Napoleon's Dogs - Kings & Queens
Rachel Sermanni - Eggshells
Bacchanal Party - You Won't Get Far
Mad Nurse - Submissive

Peenko Friday Freebie - CHURCHES - Lies

North American War - Ivory And

Classic Scottish Album - Mogwai - Batcat - The Hawk Is Howling

Delifinger - Escapes
Jesus H. Foxx - So Much Water
Crusades - Pseudo Andro
Miaoux Miaoux - Snow
Olympic Swimmers - Knots
Night Noise Team - Picking Up The Pieces
The Beautiful Lies - For Far Too Long
wherehumanseat - Loom
The Winter Tradition - San Diego

Featured Artist
The Phantom Band - Halfhound
The Phantom Band - Everybody Knows It's True

Penfold - Echoes
PAWS - Linus Van Pelt
Admiral Fallow - The Paper Trench

Scottish Fiction 21st May 2012 by Scottish Fiction on Mixcloud

Scottish Fiction Podcast 14th May 2012

You the good public were invited to vote for your favourite album for The SAY Award longlist on Monday.  The votes are now in, and the Shortlist of ten will be announced tomorrow.  On Monday's show we played a track from our ten picks, as well as plenty of great new music from Plastic Animals, Satellite Dub, PAWS and more!  There's also a track from Plum whose album we recently reviewed, a Peenko Friday Freebie and some previews of Stag & Dagger which takes place on Saturday.  Enjoy!

We Were Promised Jetpacks - Medicine
Die Hard - In The Garden
Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat - The Greatest Story Ever Told
Isobel Campbell - Walk Away
Plum - The Truth & The Knife
Remember Remember - White Castle
Wolves Of Winter - The Thaw
Happy Particles - Slowness
The Mouse That Ate The Cat - u.r.all.i.c
Django Django - Wor
Conquering Animal Sound - Crawl
Plastic Animals - Yellowcraig
Steve Mason & Dennis Bovell - Letter Dub
The Phantom Band - Mr. Natural
Satellite Dub - Plans Of Smoke And Mirrors

Peenko Friday Freebie - Randolph's Leap - Counting Sheep

Michael Cassidy - Till You
FOUND - Anti Climb Paint
PAWS - Misled Youth
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Your Own Spell
Jonny - Candyfloss
Miaoux Miaoux - Emitter
Mogwai - San Pedro

Scottish Fiction 14th May 2012 by Scottish Fiction on Mixcloud

T In The Park - Review

Here we, here we, here we fucking go!

Let's go, let's go, let go fucking mental!

T in the fucking park!

And all of the rest of it. Aye it's taken me a ridiculous amount of time to get this review up. I have no excuses to offer other than sheer incompetance. Anyhoo, enough of that, let's get down to business!

Last year at T In The Park, I lost my wallet, my ticket, my t-shirts, burst my shorts, got hit in the face with a can of Tennent's and generally lost all my dignity. It kind of put me off going back again. There is some truth in the nedfest beliefs which the top of this post jokingly alludes to. And to be honest, I was pretty much still the same after the announcement of the first lot of acts back in January this year.

However, the closer the weekend drew, the more I felt the itch. Despite last years mishaps, and the blaring obvious drawbacks of the festival, I have some pretty good memories from Balado and with the full announcement of the T-Break stage, the Sunday line up was looking taster than a salmon roll from the Healthy T (more on that later). So I grabbed a day ticket, roped in a friend, booked the bus, and prepared my Jagermeister concoction along with some warm cans of T. My 7th TITP was on!

An early start was essential, as local boys The Phantom Band were opening the NME / Radio 1 Stage at 12:30. Giving the inevitable walk, and the fact I had to pick up tickets at the box office, plus the hour and a half bus journey, we departed Buchanan Bus Station at 10am, which incidently is never too early for a warm can of T. The day started, pretty much as it would continue, bantering away to really friendly people. Spent the majority of the bus journey chatting to a guy, who's name now escapes me, but who shared my enthusiasm for United Fruit's set later in the day. A United Fruit fan on a bus of 50 people, most under 25 and likely to be Bruno Mars fans? That's what I call a result!

So we get there, and the day get's better as I get through what I like to refer to as the chicken run, a.k.a. the entrace to the arena, with my full cargo of 7 tins of Tennents and a 2 litre bottle of Jager and Red Bull (more on this later). A quick dash get's us to the NME / Radio 1 Stage to join the impressive crowd gathered to watch The Phantom Band. The are a dedicated bunch, and I'm sure there's a few hangovers being repressed right now. They are well assured on the stage, confident and giving of the vibe they could easily handle a slot further up the line up. The band deliver both good music and good chat, ending their set with 'The None Of One' which begins with an eerie acoustic mellowness, culminated in a orgy of heavy bass and funky electro keys. "She bared her teeth to the world" indeed!



Wooft! The Phantom Band rocked it. Now to go and have my face melted in an appropriate measure in the T-Break stage. United Fruit took to the stage, displaying their support for the blogging community with bassist Marco proudly sporting a GlasgowPodcart t-shirt (note to self, make some Scottish Fiction merchandise...) And they fucking killed it, playing with such a raw fury and passion it made me not even notice I was standing next to Scottish Radio DJ and all round legend, Vic Galloway until the last song. They deserved a bigger crowd to witness full on, balls out, no holding back rock. Sporadic head banging broke out amongst those lucky enough to be there.




We followed United Fruit, with a well deserved break in the Healthy T area. If you have never experienced Healthy T, then you are missing out big time. It puts paid to the theory that all festival food equals ring sting the next day. There is a fine selection of food on offer, but for the first of my three (yes three, I'm a fatty) meals that day I had a piri piri chicken baguette. Very tasty. On our way back to the T-Break tent, we popped in on New Zealanders The Naked And Famous. They were bang tidy, as I think I heard them describe their own set. Very well. The crowd were digging their indie vibes, and they certainly did sound good from what we heard.

With a bit of time to burn before FOUND, we decided to go for some log flume action, which was timed well as at that moment the heavens opened for the first time, and pished rain everywhere. Kind of makes paying a fiver for the priviledge of getting soaked on a fairground ride seem a bit pointless. Ho hum.

So to dry off, what better way to do so that by checking out art school rockers FOUND, whose album factorycraft is one of my favourites of this year so far. And they delivered with an excellent start to their set plying through the hits. 'You're No Vincent Gallow' came midway through, and single 'Anti-Climb Paint' a bit later. The sound of the synths and guitars combined well in the tent, however the one drawback was the excessive background noise, and many passerbys took shelter from the rain in the tent. Being an optimist myself, I'd like to think at least a few of them were intriguied enough to stay past the rain and hear the remainder of FOUND's set.



Time for some more fairground rides I hear you say? Ok, the dodgems it was, meaning I could legally drink and drive. However my stash of Tennents was dwindling, so a trip to the bar was in order. And for meal number two of the day as well, a lovely delicious Scottish salmon roll. Delish! And whilst sheltering from the rain, I heard possibly the greatest thing ever. A country cover version of Snoop Dogg's 'Gin & Juice'. Beaut!

It's noticable at this point, that alcohol was taking it's effect as my notes from this part onwards are rather incoherent. However, I'll continue as best I can, as there as more acts which deserve it. We plodded back to the now familiar T-Break stage to check out singer/songwriter Rachel Sermani  valiantly with My Chemical Romance and Bruno Mars for attention. Those of course with any degree of sanity avoid the latter and witnessed the former play a beautifully serene set of folk infused songs, which warmed the very cockles of my heart. And this leads to my one biggest bug bear of the day, that the T-Break tent is not sound proofed in the same way King Tut's tent is. The blarring music of the fairground rides outside the tent was like an unwelcome house guest, or an unruly ned barging in on our dainty little intimate affair.

And given that I've no more notes other than my hazy memory, this seems like a good point to address the T accusations. Yes T in the park does have a large proportion of neddish behaviour and patrons. There are reasons for this of course, and the main one in my opinion is the Slam tent. That's not a diss on dance music at all, but it has to be recognised that the crowd it draws is significantly different to those who would enjoy Rachel Sermani's delicate tunes. However, you can either choose to turn your nose up at the whole affair, or choose to find enjoyment in the elements of T which support and exhibit truly great Scottish music. I choose the latter. I then choose to start drinking Jager, meaning I'm probably no better than the buckie swilling morons. Ce la vie.

And so began the inveitable drifting towards the main stages. I had made a deal with my mate, that if he indulged me the morning to see the above acts, we would forgo the T-Break tent for the RAWK of Dave Grohl and friends, meaning Carnivores and Discopolis would need to wait for another time.

But before that, I enjoyed a wonderful returning set form Jarvis himself, with Brit pop legends Pulp playing on the Main Stage. The Jager was getting tanned, and continuing the theme of meeting friendly people, we got chatting to two lovely ladies from Fife, or somewhere like that, during Pulp. Pulp were all I expected, playing the hits, making me dance, and not staying quiet about the crashing of Rupert Murdoch's NOTW saga, which seems like an age ago now. After Pulp, I was convinced by a less than impartial facepaint artist that I would look good as a panda. Fifteen minutes and £5 later, I did indeed look good as a panda.

Onwards then to the Red Bull Tent for indie lovely's Noah And The Whale. This was a very good decisions. We enjoyed great music, with hits like '5 Years Time', 'Tonight's The Kind Of Night' and 'L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.' causing the packed tent to burst out in both song and dance. We enjoyed good company, with an older couple from Englandshire being our buddies this time, and many people being rather alarmed by my facepaint which I'm told looked more like a badger than a panda. And we enjoyed the rest of the Jager. Memories are now hard to come by.

So the night ended with the Foo Fighters on the Main Stage. I've seen the Foo's live many a time, and obviously they put on a show. And the have the tunes to back it up. Yes, recent offerings have lacked the same punch that classic album 'The Colour And The Shape' did, but when Dave starts bawling "One last thing before I quit..." there's not a drunk man with panda facepaint alive that wouldn't try and start a mosh pit with a 14 year old. The Foo's rocked, and I'm also reliably informed that Discopolis earned rave reviews in the T-Break stage. Good for them, they deserve it.

Bus time home, and to reflect on the day. Overall, it was a very good day musically. A wealth of talent, much of it from our bonnie borders. And socially TITP redeemed itself in my eyes. Yes there are downsides. The toilets are rank, the majority of the big acts booked are pretty pish, plenty of arseholes are about pishing and spewing everywhere. But throughout I experienced a commaradie, a bond which every person in that arena shares only for that day. You can be a snob and ignore that, but you're only losing out. We all go back to our lives afterwards, back to whatever makes us, us. But for that weekend in Balado, it's T IN THE FUCKING PARK!