It was “taps aff” in July 2003 when T in the Park’s 10th anniversary festival had the feelgood factor rising higher than the mercury levels.
For a weekend almost synonymous with rain, mud and waterproofs, Balado’s gentle Kinross-shire scenery was the place to be for bands, bare bellies and bouncing fans.
R.E.M. and Coldplay provided glorious headline performances for the birthday celebrations on July 12 and 13 to go with a glorious few days of sunshine.
The festival had originally launched at Strathclyde Park in Lanarkshire in 1994, with sets from Primal Scream, Blur, Bjork, Pulp, Oasis and Rage Against the Machine.
When it all began, just 1,000 campers paid £2 to pitch a tent.
If they needed the loo they simply popped into a nearby service station.
It moved to a disused airfield at Balado in 1997 where it grew in size and stature.
The golden age of T in the Park had begun.
Festival organiser Geoff Ellis said the firm plan was to remain at Balado for the foreseeable future following the fastest sell-out in the event’s history in 2003.
Ellis said: “We are all extremely proud that T in the Park has sold out in record time on its tenth birthday, thanks to one of the best line-ups of any UK festival and the promise of an amazing party.
“2003 has already been a great year for us and for live music in Scotland, and T in the Park will undoubtedly be the highlight for music fans.”
More than 55,000 T fans each day would be partying along to 120 bands including headliners R.E.M. and Coldplay, and dozens of other brilliant acts like the White Stripes, The Charlatans, Supergrass, The Proclaimers and The Coral.
Not to mention The Music, The Polyphonic Spree, Feeder, Turin Brakes, Echo and the Bunnymen and Carnoustie’s own Idlewild.
The White Stripes wouldn’t be there to blow out the candles.
The Detroit duo of Jack and Meg White pulled out after singer/guitarist Jack broke the index finger of his left hand after being involved in a car accident in his hometown.
It appeared to be too late notice to add anyone new to the line-up.
It wasn’t all bad news though.
There was glorious relief for the tens of thousands who may have feared a weekend trudging through mud when the Met Office forecast temperatures of up to 25 degrees.
T in the Park 2003 was awarded the ultimate badge of respectability in the form of a visit from the First Minister.
Jack McConnell was a bit long in the tooth for linking arms, holding a lighter aloft and belting out a chorus, but he did enjoy the Sugababes as well as watch some newcomers.
The party really kicked off when Charlie and Craig Reid, otherwise known as The Proclaimers, took to the stage on the Saturday afternoon.
Fans in the packed main field bounced and pogoed as one and sang with the band to all the old favourites, and of course the collective voices of around 30,000 people almost completely drowned out the PA system for Letter From America, 500 Miles and the anthemic Sunshine On Leith.
One young fan who was extremely excited to see them was five-year-old Samantha Gardiner from Glenrothes who was dressed in a fairy suit for the performance.
Mum Lizzie told the Sunday Post: “Samantha loves the Proclaimers. Shrek’s her favourite film and she loves their song I’m On My Way, which features in the film.”
Every festival needs a comedy moment, and that was provided by the Flaming Lips, who had been pushed up to second on the bill after Jack White’s accident.
As a tribute to The White Stripes, the band came on stage dressed entirely in red and white alongside some dancing fans in animal costumes either side of the band.
The opening song was a cover of Seven Nation Army and there was a mass singalong with a sugary (and belated) rendition of Happy Birthday for the absent Mr White.
The Evening Telegraph reported: “R.E.M. provided a brilliant ending to the night, Michael Stipe introducing Losing My Religion as: ‘This song is yours, we just cover it,’ and Man On The Moon, Everybody Hurts and It’s The End Of The World the other highlights.
“Sunday dawned even brighter and hotter with, ironically, The Darkness opening on the main stage.
“The first highlights though were provided by The Grim Northern Social and The Thrills in the King Tut’s tent, before Echo and the Bunnymen rolled back the years on the main stage.
“The Coral justified their high-profile position on the big stage with a brilliant rocking set, including an epic 10-minute instrumental jam before Supergrass’ greatest hits set had the crowd grinning from ear to ear.”
Revellers turned lobster red
The Tayside Primary Care NHS Trust stall ran out of sun cream as temperatures soared and extra bottles were brought on site to cope with the demand on Sunday afternoon.
But by evening, supplies were again exhausted and health workers were only able to offer after-sun to burnt revellers, some of whom had now turned lobster red.
The stall was also promoting safe sex and by 6pm it had given out the last of its supply of 10,000 condoms as the temperature cranked up a notch in the heat off stage.
So how did the birthday party finish?
Coldplay brought some genuine class and a fitting end to the weekend.
Set highlights included God Put A Smile Upon Your Face, Everything’s Not Lost, Clocks, Amsterdam and a cover version of Louis Armstrong’s What A Wonderful World.
Coldplay included Kirkcaldy-born Guy Berryman on bass guitar who was the solitary Scot alongside band-mates Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland and Will Champion.
The Evening Telegraph said: “Frontman Chris Martin had the crowd in the palm of his hand and it was a truly great set from a band who have risen from obscurity to greatness in the space of three years.
“Martin continually apologised to the audience for not having too many crowd-pleasing hits, but he needn’t have worried as the entire field sang almost every word along with him.
“A brilliant ending to yet another superb T in the Park at Balado, which sent a total of 110,000 fans home in raptures.”
Rise and fall of T in the Park
As a massive clear-up operation got under way following T in the Park, police reported a weekend relatively free from trouble with 41 arrests compared to 66 in 2002.
The site medical team dealt with 463 people in total, 30 of whom were referred to hospital.
But of all the statistics being banded around perhaps the most impressive was from sponsors Tennent’s that 250,000 pints of lager were consumed over the weekend.
T was drunk on success and the big names kept coming with Oasis, Rihanna, Arctic Monkeys, Amy Winehouse, The Who and Beyoncé all appearing over the years.
The festival then moved to a brand new site at Strathallan Castle in Auchterarder in 2015 after an underground gas pipeline sparked health and safety fears.
Bad traffic management resulted in chaotic scenes in 2015 and things got worse when 2016 was marred by the deaths of three festival-goers and anti-social behaviour.
Scotland’s biggest music festival was cancelled.
But you can never stop the music.
T was followed in 2017 by the non-camping TRNSMIT at Glasgow Green which was not a like-for-like replacement but offers headline acts of similar stature.
This summer would have been T’s 30th year.
