T 2008, Episode V: Bringing angry back

Rage Against the Machine rolled back the years and brought down the curtain on day two of T in the Park in typically explosive style tonight (Saturday, 11 July).

Earlier in the afternoon, a set from Belgian indie rockers dEUS - who, like tomorrow’s Tut’s stage headliners Primal Scream, also shared the bill with Rage in 1994 - marked itself out as a rare highlight on the Radio One stage, with Tom Barman and co cranking out an energetic set of danceable numbers that spanned the first to their latest LP and featured a run through of Vantage Point centrepiece 'The Architect' in late dedication to American futurist Buckminister Fuller.

Also sprinkling a bit of A-grade rock’n’roll magic on proceedings today, The Hold Steady treated fans to a preview of new album Stay Positive (reviewed here) – in advance of its release this Monday – alongside a complimentary mixture of songs from last year’s sleeper Girls and Boys in America on the Pet Sounds Arena.

Having arrived at the Futures tent to find it literally bursting at the seams, Glasvegas were off the menu (at least for me, see Ally's full report and an interview with the band in the next T-digest) and the looming thought that I’d possibly missed the crowning moment of one of the country’s most dazzling propositions in recent times hung heavy. But, a few tunes from Band of Horses back at the Pet Sounds Arena would soon set that concern in the rear view; front man Ben Bridwell was in playful form, imploring the crowd to help him out with the ‘ooohs’ during ‘The Funeral’ as the band at times recalled Fleetwood Mac and Skynyrd. ‘Life-affirming’ might have been reduced to some tragic, throwaway bollocks term when some bloke on an advert used it to describe an Athlete album a few years ago, but the Horses are making quantum leaps towards taking it back.

However, one minute of Rage undoubtedly blew much of anything else that has or will occur this weekend clean out of the water. An air raid siren announced the band’s arrival and they kicked off their first gig on Scottish soil since they steamrollered the Barras in 1996 with ‘Testify’ before taking in various perennial staples such as ‘Bulls on Parade’ and ‘Know Your Emeny’, then inevitably ending on the bombastic ‘Killing in the Name’. Throughout it all - and similarly to the bloke on the cover of their seminal debut - Zack de la Rocha was a man on fire, urging a crowd of 70,000 to 'Wake Up' with his riling anti-Bush, anti-Fox, anti-consumerist rhetoric.

Rage Against the Machine’s set list:

‘Testify’
‘Bulls on Parade’
‘People of the Sun’
‘Bombtrack’
‘Vietnow’
‘Know Your Enemy’
‘Bullet in the Head’
‘Renegades of Funk’
‘Guerrilla Radio’
‘Calm Like a Bomb’
‘Sleep Now in the Fire’
‘Wake Up’

Encore
‘Freedom’ / ‘Township Rebellion’
‘Killing in the Name’

Still to come on Sunday: R.E.M, Yeasayer, The National, Holy Fuck, Frightened Rabbit and many more.