Day three arrives and there’s no reprieve on the weather, meaning not only is the arena the muddiest I can remember attending, but that we’re a good half hour late on the gates as flooding has caused health and safety concerns.
These precautions seem more than granted, but unfortunately it does mean I only get to catch a small portion of Tongues.’s set, and hold ups do sadly affect the size of crowd the Glasgow four-piece could potentially have pulled
Still, what I do catch of their set is the band’s now familiar huge, bursting synth sound; singles ‘Religion’ and ‘Heartbeat’ sound like they would be equally at home on the bigger stages with thousands dancing along, while the rest of the set touches on Hot Chip tinged twinkling synth ballads that move into sky soaring electronics.
Following Tongues. on T Break is Glasgow based producer Edwin Organ and he keeps up the electronic vibe, with an array of head nodding organic synth sounding synth tones.
Playing as a trio the set comes as a welcoming hug for you to pick yourself up to for the final day of music, the band combine elements of soul and jazz with the singer’s melodic warbled tones; this is a set you can really get lost in, there’s certainly something special on the horizon.
Edinburgh ‘tropical pop’ foursome Indigo Velvet continue my streak at T Break and they’ve amassed quite a following; their sunshine kissed indie rock is a real foot stomping fare that more than leaves the large turnout happy.
The band possess a real confident swagger and a more than unique look, two of them have the hair of lions for god sake, and this along with some solid, fun filled tunes sets them apart comfortably from a lot of their contemporaries.
The fourth band I catch are at T Break again, and it’s at this stage that I should note there are a number of acts I would have liked to have caught at other stages; FIDLAR, John Grant, Maximo Park etc., however conditions under feet have quadrupled the time it takes to get from A to B so I’m back at the festival’s local act showcasing tent for one of Scotland’s most hyped up and comers, The Lapelles.
The East Kilbride five-piece are baby-faced to say the least, but woah does their live set pack a punch, these are indie rock anthems that really could hit the stratosphere.
On the road these guys are on they appear to have been earmarked to make it to the top, and judging by the crowd reaction they could be well on their way; they’re young, enthusiastic and have enough potential to see it through too, all the best to them.
A quick jaunt over to BBC Introducing and WOMPS are midway through single ‘Live A Little Less’ and are pounding out their lo-fi grunge tinged sound with a knowing presence.
Ewan Grant’s engaging songwriting sits at the centre of their sound, and while his material as Algernon Doll is still missed, WOMPS more than pack enough energy and craft into their set to keep your eyes peeled for; dingy the hair though… and maybe the shout outs to Bathgate too (it appears all drummer Owen Wicksted’s school pals have made it along).
Dunfermline’s FOREIGNFOX keep everyone partying back at T Break as the five-piece is perfecting the soaring, post rock indie anthem a la Jetpacks, and seem to be pretty much hitting the nail on the head.
Jonny Watt’s heavily Scottish tones are emphatic and the band’s soundscape filled sound is engulfing; it’s easy to see them emulating their heroes pretty soon.
ISLE, grown out of the ashes of Monogram, are an alt pop duo with a real punch of a sound; a pounding array of effects, welcoming twinkled samples and a whole cacophony of other things going on are all placed into a remarkably catchy composition that settles into simple but effective sections before letting go once more.
Musically it’s a real master class from the Borders duo, with this kind of sound it’s easy to go over the top, but what ISLE do produce is slick and hugely entertaining.
Declan Welsh has drawn a solid crowd at T Break and the young man seems to be revelling in it.
His spoken word/poetry sections are enchanting and the songs come with plenty of attitude as Welsh delivers with a real conviction; the sound and overall message in his music is emphatic and well worth believing in, this boy deserves to have more folk listening to him and he will have very soon.
Waiting it out at T Break for the last band of the night we see a big criticism of the stage; the band that plays last very rarely plays to anyone at all due to clashes with the festival headliners.
This is true for Sweaty Palms as the Glasgow five-piece fight for prominence with Jeff Mills, LCD Soundsystem and the Chilli Peppers; perhaps you would have thought T in the Park would take a lesson from the BBC Introducing showcase stage, which finishes much earlier in the night.
Still there’s no humour lost in the situation from the Palms with singer Robbie Houston snidely thanking DF Concerts for putting them on, who seem in no way deluded that this set is a big deal for the band in any way at all.
Their set is the same all encompassing dark, sneery post punk frenzy that you get from these guys every day of the week, but this could well be one of the smallest audiences they’ve played to this year.
Sweaty Palms may be the best act on the T Break list, but you can’t blame the punters for catching the some of the biggest names in music just ten minutes away.
Following this I head over to catch all but the first few songs of LCD Soundsystem’s set and despite nearly everyone I’ve spoken to today saying they’re going to end their night here, we find a crowd smaller that you could fit in the Barrowlands for what is for me the only big big draw of this year’s line up.
Whether the band care is questionable, but what they do deliver is a set full of forward thinking, encapsulating disco tinged anthems that get the hairs on the back of your neck standing up and you belting the lyrics back out to your pals.
By the time the set ends on one of the most defining songs of recent times, ‘All My Friends’, you’ve forgotten how quiet the sound is or how few people are actually here, you’re stuck in the moment celebrating that the band’s short-lived hiatus has ended.
Words: Iain Dawson
Photos: Cameron Brisbane
Rave Child 