T in the Park 2014: Sunday 13 July
And on the third day, let there be sun. Like Atom Tree the night before, another Glasgow electronic act assembles beneath the crimson glare of the T Break lights; this time it’s Kill The Waves and the material is suitably kinetic for their lunchtime slot. The crowd starts small but it isn’t long before the warm, melodic electropop draws folk in like moths to a glittery flame. Five hands (including a violinist) make light work – light, saccharine, danceable work – and Tim Kwant (a former Maths teacher)’s vocal is a potent ribbon, blessed with range and impact. Honorable mention goes to the drummer, too; he sure knows how to kick up a beat.
Opening with Holiday from breakout record Nights Out (“So you want me to yourself / well you must know, that won’t happen”), there’s a gleam in Joe Mount’s eye. Snappily dressed, on the most colourful (and outlandish) 60s-designed stage King Tut’s may have ever seen, Metronomy are squeaky clean and ready to jam: it’s wonky disco time. From Radio Ladio’s chanting chorus, to The Look’s rotary organ funk, to the best closing track they could have chosen - You Could Easily Have Me, a synth-toothed rottweiler of a track from instrumental debut Pip Paine (Pay That £5000 You Owe), we have proof they’re more than just matching white suits: this crowd is in love.
Australia’s very own lovable acid trip Tame Impala take to the King Tut’s stage amid swirling green visuals, as hypnotic as the prismatic grooves they beam from their instruments. Lead by Kevin Parker, the Impala are welcomed by the sunburnt masses, breathing in great lungfuls of gentle neo-pysch textures. Parker himself marvels at his own sun tan (and he jests not, this weekend has been virtually Antipodean in temperature) amid other affable anecdotes (“Check out our sound guy’s new haircut! He looks smashing!”), and between notable swoony numbers like Mind Mischief and Feels Like We Only Go Backwards (off second LP Lonerism).
Biffy Clyro, Twin Atlantic, CHVRCHES; all weekend, big-name Scottish acts have been netting earth-trembling cheers. Franz Ferdinand are no exception, and King Tut’s may well burst at the seams, so tightly packed is the crowd. Alex Kapranos knows these punters well, and they him: a dozen years in the game have turned this Glasgow quartet into seasoned pros. Each track is a highlight in its own right, contagiously electric hits earning hollers and singalongs from the front to the back: The Dark of the Matinée, Do You Want To, Walk Away, Michael, and of course the mighty Take Me Out. The Archduke are a band without gimmicks: no themed stage setup, no Mexican waves, just good solid dance-punk with a wealth of crowd-pleasers to pull out of the bag. Finishing with This Fire (from seminal debut Franz Ferdinand), there’s a feeling the next act won’t be able to touch ‘em. Sorry Example.
The seemingly infinite sun finally begins to dim, but in its flickering embers two brothers from Surrey mount the Radio 1 stage to combat the bellowing thunder from the Arctic Tax-dodgers[too strong, Dave?] some few hundred yards away. Guy and Howard Lawrence might not be twins, but together they’re Disclosure and tonight they’ve got guitars, live drums, and a couple of guests up their sleeves; move over, AM, we’re all about Settle over here. That said, the boys do pluck out a couple of early hits (including career-launching singles Tenderly/Flow) before running through a rearrangement of their sole album to date. The big guns are easy victories (future garage classics When a Fire Starts To Burn, White Noise, and F for You), but the live touches – including Eliza Doolittle singing on You & Me, and the less-than-surprising arrival of fellow act Sam Smith for cataclysmic closer Latch – upgrade this gig from a head-bopper to a gut-buster. With our shoes worn through and larynxes like sandpaper, the sun winks out over Balado’s final T in the Park.
Photography by Jassy Earl and Beth Chalmers. For a full look at our pictures from Friday, including The Twilight Sad and Arctic Monkeys see here.