The annual moans about the TRNSMT line-up grow louder each year. Yet, with another sell-out three-day event, the organisers of the Glasgow Green extravaganza are probably quite comfortable with their work. It’s likely major music events like Celtic Connections and the Glasgow Jazz Festival also face their share of critiques, but none loud enough, or mainstream enough, to whip social media into rage. Despite the noise, TRNSMT remains a massive staple in the festival calendar.
Sunshine and guitars wash over you
Nieve Ella offered a good way to ease into the day, with ‘Girlfriend’ whipping the crowd from the start. It was a short and choppy set, with the shoegaze vibe washing over, and a far more commercial vocal. Standing in a field with the sun shining on you and pleasant music filling your ears is always a joy, and it’s why festivals never lose their charm, even if you might struggle to recognise a growing number of acts.
The recent single ‘Sugarcoated’ went down well and seems a decent place to start for anyone looking to delve into this artist a bit more.
Can we bring yesterday back around?
This might annoy some indie purists but Sugababes are the ideal option for a mid-afternoon slot. The sun was shining, the temperature had us all feeling hot, hot, hot and while the original line-up (the current version of the group) had a moody and indifferent image, there were a lot of smiles and good vibes.
If you want great songs, you can’t argue with a set containing ‘Freak Like Me’, ‘Hole In The Head’, ‘Overload’, ‘Push The Button’, ‘Round and Round’, and ‘About You Now’. When this guy is shuffling away with his version of what passes for dancing, you know the music is good.
Full disclosure, this writer is a Heidi man, the group was more fun and easier to get into for the casual fans at that time, so ‘Push The Button’ and ‘About You Now’ were the highlights for me. The volume and intensity of the ‘About You Now’ singalong suggest this was the crowd’s favourite too, which was a surprise, but maybe a logical choice.
UK Garage never grabbed hold of Glasgow’s attention the way it did in London, and while the cover of ‘Flowers’ got some of the crowd involved, some people just do nothing. (Yes, that was a shoehorned Kurupt FM and UK garage reference, you’re welcome!)
And aside from the gripes of no Heidi, it’s great to see the original band back together, being friends, getting their props and maybe even money. See, it can be done…although maybe not in the case of this evening’s headliner.
Wunderhorse bring some angst to Glasgow Green
That’s for later though, and anyone liking guitar music should have made their way to Wunderhorse on the King Tut’s stage. There’s so much going on with this band, and it’s easy to see why ‘Cub’ was a critic’s favourite. They tap into many familiar styles and sounds, bringing a Springsteen or Neil Young air to proceedings.
There’s a new album dropping soon, and the set closed out with tracks from it: ‘Silver’ and ‘July’. Both sounded big with swooning choruses and a bit of angst thrown in, especially on the latter track which had that grunge ethos to a tee. This is apt given the number of Nirvana t-shirts on display throughout the day.
All the drama and theatre you want…
While festivals are a brilliant way to see bands you love, they’re also an ideal way to check out bands you are unsure of, or bands you wish to bury. There’s been a lot written about The Last Dinner Party ever since they bounded onto the scene and supported The Rolling Stones in the same breath. A lot of it is unfavourable and nasty. There’s no doubt a lot of jealousy in that, and many men were outraged at their rapid success (yes, not all men). There’s probably also a lot of confusion.
Music and theatre go hand in hand, that’s probably why musical theatre is so popular. And you have great art-school bands like Roxy Music bringing a dash of drama to pop. At their best, TLDP showed glimpses of Roxy at their best, of the moments ABBA shine, and the stomping choruses that draw people back to major shows time and time again.
And with those moments, TLDP is good, such as ‘Sinner’ and ‘The Feminine Urge’, you can see why they’ve climbed so high, so quickly. Every member of the band has a unique style, sweeping up all the demographics of their audience (something which also plays into the manufactured suspicions around them), but equally, that’s just kids today, isn’t it?
The biggest gripe for me, and it’s something that turns me off the entire musical theatre genre, is there are too many boring bits. Yes, it’s these boring bits that make the sky-scraping bits even better, and of course, in a play there is a need to drive the narrative. Live gigs shouldn’t be all pow-pow-pow, a bit of shade mixed with light creates a better blend. However, for a band who are so theatrical and engrossing, there were some periods where the crowd lost attention. And that’s before evacuees from The Snuts and early-arrivals for Example contaminated the previously adoring or curious audience.
The thing is, you’re free to hold whatever opinion on The Last Dinner Party you like, and there’s nothing wrong with being wary about bands until you know more about their background and trust them as people. As important as the music is, you can like songs by anyone, but to me you shouldn’t love a band unless they are worthy of your adoration. We’ve all got criteria for this, and for me, a band has to be genuine. There’s a growing number of posh kids treating a band as a fine activity for a gap year adventure before settling into a lucrative career, and while that doesn’t impact their music, it means I’ll not wear a t-shirt advocating them.
If you think their authenticity makes them nothing more than a modern-day Sigue Sigue Sputnik with ever so slightly flatter hair, that’s fine. Just don’t be misogynistic about it, if you’re going to hate them, hate them for what they do, not who they are!
And, even if you don’t like them, you can still enjoy elements of their music. Andrew Lloyd-Webber is a complete prick and he has made amazing musical moments amidst a massive bundle of dross, so why can’t women do the same? They can, and should, if they want.
Anyways, TLDP, aye, they’re alright. They’re pretty brilliant at times.
Shirley Manson remains of Scotland’s best musical exports
Back to the Main Stage and Garbage laid it on thick. Shirley Manson was resplendent in tartan, they dragged a piper on stage, and the set ended in a touch of confusion with Manson angrily calling out someone being on their stage.
It was a shame because throughout the set, Shirley showed why she’s one of Scotland’s best musical exports, and the band reminded everyone they had a brilliant bundle of hits. The debut album material was the best, ‘Stupid Girl’ and a twisted ‘Only Happy When It Rains’ going down a storm. There’s also something magically cheery about ‘When I Grow Up’, (especially the end section where Shirley freewheels as she tells us to rip it all to shreds) and even though it’s over 25 years since that song dropped…we’ve grown older, yet not up! There’s a good chance that you have a lot of fond memories of Garbage without them being near your favourite band, and that’s okay, you can never have too many good bands and fond memories in your mind.
And on that note…
So, it’s 30 years since Definitely Maybe, but the 30th anniversary of T in the Park has slipped under the radar. Admittedly the actual anniversary date is still to come, but still, you’d think there would have been more of a reminder. By which I mean, cash-in!
Thirty years
So much has changed and yet I’m still the wide-eyed music lover buzzing about live bands and Liam Gallagher was on stage, belting out the same songs. Outsiders might criticise the lack of progress shown here, but if you’re lucky enough to do things you enjoy, keep doing them!
If you think about it logically, it’s understandable the TRNSMT gig wasn’t as punchy as the recent OVO Hydro shows. This was outdoors, the end of a long day, the crowd was bigger and with so many more ideas on what constitutes their ideal night out.
For all that though, it was the songs. Sure, the mass of phones made it a very different setting but when Glasgow tore into the opening lines of ‘Rock n Roll Star’, the little problems or concerns melted away. The set ran to form, the crowd ebbed and flowed, drifting away during some of the B-sides but returning as one for a magical singalong to ‘Half The World Away’.
And for the couple of moments where you miss Noel, ‘Slide Away’ remains Liam’s crowning glory, that’s his song, and he still nails it. Then you had ‘Live Forever’ where he didn’t have to sing a note; that’s a song floating around in people’s blood.
Truth be told, and this was a first for me in just short of 30 years of seeing this man perform it, ‘I Am The Walrus’ fell flat, the crowd around the middle to back didn’t want to know. Understandably, I battered everyone in the vicinity to teach them a lesson in great music, and by battered, I mean, I said nothing but felt let down by others!
And that was that, day one of TRNSMT 2024 over, and it was everything you might have expected, with a little more.
TRNSMT 2025 dates
TRNSMT 2025 dates are Friday 11th – Sunday 13th July 2025
TRNSMT 2025 tickets are on sale now.
