Torrential rain wasn’t the only thing pouring in over the weekend in Scotland. A sea of festival goers decanted through the T in the Park gates on Friday for an epic weekend of live music, excessive booze and mud wrestling. Gig Junkie packed their wellies and ventured down to Kinross to bring you all the exclusive coverage from backstage, side stage and front stage.

PALOMA FAITH
If it weren’t for the Duffy-esque vocal tones reverberating through the microphone I wouldn’t have recognised Paloma Faith as she was tightly clad in a black crystal encrusted floor length dress and was donning a peculiar red headpiece. She resembled the fiery red-headed woman on the ‘Redheads’ matchbox. The sunshine defiantly seeped through the clouds just as Paloma took the stage, which she constantly took time to acknowledge.
The British songstress delivered a string of her own hits before playing a well-received cover of The Korgis’ ‘Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime’. Even with her quirky backup singers and ‘Where’s Wally’ themed band, Paloma Faith was slightly boring compared to many of the other acts on the bill, however there is no denying she has a simple, yet wonderful voice.

THE TEMPER TRAP
Realistically, The Temper Trap only have one hit song. There is just one single tune that a whole crowd will flock to the stage for. That song is none other than ‘Sweet Disposition’ and the Australian quartet awoke the otherwise dormant crowd with that blissful summer pop hit towards the end of their set. Beforehand, they showcased a variety of their pulsating rhythms and atmospheric sounds, showed off their new single ‘Love Lost’ and even incorporated a bit of a South American vibe into the music in attempt to energise the crowd. I was particularly impressed by the instrumental ‘Drum Song’ which farewells the ‘Conditions’ album with thumping tom toms and scattered percussions.

EDITORS
Over on the main stage, British indie rockers Editors executed their storming performance with precision and flair. They are never ones to disappoint, especially with crowd-pleaser songs; ‘Munich’ and ‘The End Has A Start’.

SETLIST:
In This Light And On This Evening
An End Has A Start
Bones
Bullets
Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool
Munich
The Racing Rats
Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors
Bricks And Mortar
Papillon

FLORENCE + THE MACHINE
After frolicking around backstage in a surfeit of different outfits, Miss Florence Welsh waltzed onto the NME stage in a sheer, lace ivory number and knockout gold stilettos. Florence + The Machine performed a handful of songs to the massive crowd, including; ‘Howl,’ her Eclipse film soundtrack contribution ‘Heavy in Your Arms’ and of course the treasured ‘You Got The Love,’ which began with a verse of Coldplay’s ‘The Scientist’. Not too sure if it’s just Florence’s flaming red locks, but she has a transfixing stage presence that demands your attention. She delivered the last half of her set barefoot whilst scaling the speakers and beating the drummer’s kit.

SETLIST:
Howl
My Boy Builds Coffins
Drumming Song
Heavy In Your Arms
Cosmic Love
You've Got The Love
Dog Days Are Over
Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)

HOT CHIP
Here is Hot Chip doing their thing in King Tut’s Wah Wah tent just before experiencing a mid-set power cut that threatened to tarnish their reputation, but redeemed themselves with some remarkable pop moments through songs; ‘Over and Over’ and ‘Ready for the floor’.

 
SETLIST:
And I Was A Boy From School
One Pure Thought
One Life Stand
Over And Over
Hand Me Down Your Love
Take It In
We Have Love
Hold On
I Feel Better
Ready For The Floor

BLACK EYED PEAS
When the sun came down the Black Eyed Peas stormed the NME stage sporting robotic, crystal-drenched outfits and the usual superior attitude. Starting with the appropriately titled ‘Let’s Get It Started,’ which undeniably got the crowd moving to the palpable beat. A team of robots and lasers joined Black Eyed Peas onstage for their performance of ‘Rock Your Body,’ as the American quartet jumped energetically around stage inciting crowd participation. There were no urine/perspiration incidents this time around - Fergie had taken extra precautions against that possibility with a tightly clad aluminium full body suit. The international hip hop sensations treated their legion of fans to an exhilarating set list including latest chart toppers; ‘Boom Boom Pow,’ ‘Meet Me Halfway’ and ‘I Gotta Feeling’.

MUSE
Headlining the opening night for Scotland’s epic T in the Park was none other than rock royalty Muse. Naturally, the English trio attracted an enormous crowd for their highly commended stage show and had their fans thoroughly entertained and stimulated for a good hour and a half.
Muse gave the usual stratospheric performance, launching with ‘Uprising’ and continuing with a succession of turbo-charged songs from the bands triumphant back catalogue. Front man Matt Bellamy – who was donning a silver sparkly suit - pounded out a plethora of songs on an illuminated grand piano as well as demonstrating his might guitar playing skills in front of a sea of people.
Bellamy’s startling falsetto was revealed in the more intimate moments of ‘Starlight’ whilst the bands’ more explosive effect was showcased through ‘Resistance’ and ‘Supermassive Black Hole’. The crowd was also treated to a thunderous cover of Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley’s ‘Feeling Good’ along with the standard display of multicoloured lasers.

SETLIST:

Uprising
Supermassive Black Hole
Map of the Problematique
New Born
Interlude
Hysteria
Unnatural Selection
Nishe
United States Of Eurasia
Feeling Good (Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley cover)
Undisclosed Desires
Resistance
Time Is Running Out
Starlight
Stockholm Syndrome

-encore-

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Shannon Andreucci