Sounding off at the Balado band feast

Jul 21 2009 by Andrew Welsh, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

ANYONE who says there was nothing worth seeing at T in the Park should give up on live music now!

This year’s Balado event boasted a bumper crop of new and established artists that was the equal of anything that’s been offered up on the UK’s festival circuit this year.

The essential viewing started on the opening Friday evening when a revitalised EDWYN COLLINS brought joy to thousands inside the King Tut’s Tent.

Going with a full electric line-up following his acoustic outing at Perth Theatre back in May, the former Orange Juice leader produced another life-affirming performance, aided considerably by some dazzling work from his band, guitar maestro Andy Hackett in particular.

Tracks from recent album Home Again and his new punk/soul/Sixties crossover I’m Losing Sleep nestled comfortably beside favourites like What Presence?, Make Me Feel Again and A Girl Like You.

Poignant

Best of all in Collins’ seven-song set was Rip It Up, an autobiographical classic that has been made all the more pertinent in the wake of its author’s courageous comeback from life-threatening illness.

A swift dash to the Main Stage afforded me the chance to take in the second half of MAXIMO PARK’s set, which was dominated by work from this year’s Quicken The Heart LP.

Blue-suited Paul Smith and his cohorts changed tack with an impressive new composition, Acrobat, before the MP adrenalin rush was provided at the death by the spiky jump-around Our Velocity.

An already huge crowd swelled considerably for Scots rockers FRANZ FERDINAND, who were greeted with a welcome fit for returning heroes.

Their opening salvo of Do You Want To, No You Girls and This Fire was a compelling sequence that was unmatched even by Take Me Out.

FF’s weakest moment was frontman Alex Kapranos attempting to lead the crowd in Freddie Mercury-style vocal exercises, which only served to show up the limitations of his own vocals.

The oh-so-arty singer and his sidekick Nick McCarthy draped themselves over keyboards for closer Lucid Dreams.

This extended electro wig-out engrossed and alienated listeners in equal measure, before drummer Paul Thomson was left alone for a final bow long after his cohorts had taken their leave.

As the opening evening reached its conclusion, THE TWANG delivered a typically celebratory set over at the Futures Stage, with NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS producing a resolute performance at Radio 1/NME.

It was a shame there was such a pitiful turnout for Cave’s set.

His splendid seven-piece - which included two drummers -produced memorable moments in Deanna, The Ship Song, Henry Lee, The Mercy Seat and The Author Must Explain.

Impressive

Saturday’s activities down at R1/NME may have got off to a belated start thanks to a late call-off by The Horrors, but that didn’t stop Eighties veterans THAT PETROL EMOTION seizing the moment.

Their power-packed riffs made for an impressive opening turn, with the arrival of Big Decision greeted with joy by many onlookers after the band’s lengthy absence.

Following a Main Stage show by LADY GAGA big on visual dazzle but short on melodies, London-based genre-hoppers NOISETTES earned their stripes in King Tut’s.

Long-legged singer/bassist Shingai Shoniwa emerged as one of the stars of T with a mesmerising performance that included a neat party trick of singing while hanging upside down from the rigging.

Emerging upstarts were also in evidence at the new BBC Introducing Stage, not least YOUNG FATHERS.

Onslaught

The Edinburgh-based rap trio unveiled some of the festival’s smartest dance moves as they let loose the trademark verbal onslaught that marks them down as one of Scotland’s undiscovered treasures.

Slightly further along the road to fame, FIGHT LIKE APES displayed a new found maturity at Futures.

Putting aside the chaotic in-fighting that marred so many of their early shows, singer MayKay quickly put a frontrow sexist in his place with a well-received lecture in gig decorum.

Tracks like Lend Me Your Face, Jake Summers and closer Battlestations soared where before they merely splintered, and when keyboardist Jamie Fox hurled his instrument to the floor at the end it seemed like an irrelevant gesture.

Ahead of the big GLASVEGAS / MANIC STREET PREACHERS finish, a set in the evening sun from THE SPECIALS proved to be another top hour.

The ska legends packed in almost every tune you’d wish to hear from their heyday, including Too Much Too Young, Blank Expression, Rat Race, Man At C&A and a still spine-tingling Ghost Town.

Their contemporaries, SQUEEZE, had the honour of opening the Main Stage the following day, and Difford, Tilbrook and co didn’t disappoint either.

Classic efforts like Up The Junction and Annie Get Your Gun kept spirits high despite some dismal weather, paving the way for unlikely hero SEASICK STEVE to win over scores of new fans with his winning blues formula.

With just a drummer for backing, the grizzled US songsmith produced some powerful sounds using homemade ‘guitars’ put together from the likes of cigar boxes and a 2x4 plank of wood with just a single string.

VV BROWN strived to make a similarly close connection with her audience at Futures, but the promising pop princess was hamstrung by overly lightweight material.

By contrast EAGLES OF DEATH METAL revived the feelgood vibe with their own hugely entertaining set at R1/NME.

With frontman Jesse Hughes lapping up the attention and indulging in plenty of good-humoured banter with the crowd, the band tore through their stock of hard rock staples to massed, head-shaking accompaniment.

Back at the Main Stage, ELBOW delighted their fans with a typically airy but accomplished set that was topped off with their signature One Day Like This.

Guy Garvey and his cohorts are experts at slowing proceedings down, and they did it with style and effect at T.

Theirs were moments of controlled calm before the likes of PET SHOP BOYS, MOGWAI and BLUR produced pulse-racing sets as the weekend drew to a close.