Twenty one years of age is a great age to be particularly if you are a whisky, but even better if you are T in the Park.
Last weekend marked the 21st anniversary of T in the Park, brought together by organisers DF Concerts and founding partner Tennent’s, a festival that, like thousands of others, I have grown up with and embraced as one Scotland is so very proud of.
For me, going to my first T in the Park was like coming of age, as I lived in Kinross. My parents hesitantly let me venture off to the festival when I was a teenager with my best friend Caroline and it forged our friendship for life. Nothing to do with the Tennent’s, of course, and all to do with the music, nearly cracking my ribs trying to get to the front for headliners The Prodigy. A tale we still recount after a few sherries…
It’s that kind of festival. A bit gallus, always bursting with the top musical talent on offer and set in the iconic site of Balado; we have come to know and love it so well. So, it’s with heavy hearts we see the festival move to its new site in Strathallan. A story that, I would argue, shows the Health and Safety Executive at its worst forcing the site to move for ‘safety reasons’ due to the Forties oil pipeline that lies underneath.
This is a pipeline HSE will let run underneath schools or Aberdeen airport runway yet is the reason it forces TITP to move, at a cost of more than £1 million to an important Scottish events business; and now it seems residents at the new site may mount a legal bid.
But, focusing on the positives, what TITP 2014 showed was an amazing line-up bursting with cultural confidence in what is now a festival many around the world covet.
I don’t know if DF Concerts’ CEO Geoff Ellis was nodding to this big year for Scotland with a particularly Scottish line-up, but it certainly didn’t go unnoticed.
More than 2,800 artists have played Balado over the years but, for me, TITP 2014 was all about Scotland. Biffy Clyro, Paolo Nutini, Calvin Harris, Chvrches, Franz Ferdinand, Twin Atlantic, Twilight Sad, Teen Canteen, the list goes on and on.
It’s a festival showing Scotland at its finest and with crime at a record low this year, there was a lot to be proud of.
According to TITP gurus, approximately 8,500 flags have been flown in the Balado countryside over the years.
And in case you didn’t notice, the year of Yes was pretty prominent at the festival, too. I nearly choked on my token Tennent’s at witnessing the sea of Yes flags and saltires among the festival-goers, with Biffy Clyro lead singer Simon Neil draping a big Yes saltire around his shoulders, much to the delight of the crowd.
Biffy Clyro made a historic 10th appearance on Friday, headlining the festival for the very first time and leaving Balado with an explosive, tartan-themed hurrah. Their “taps aff” policy didn’t go down too badly, either.
Even the BBC trying to zoom in on the solitary Union flag began to look a bit awkward, as their cameras had to face the crowd and see the evidence of Scotland’s big debate in all its glory.
On Saturday, when Paolo stepped out, it was saltire and Yes flags galore, as the mood of the country was on full display.
I would have loved to have known what he was thinking as he witnessed that sight in front of the 85,000 strong crowd. As he sang his iconic track Iron Sky, which many in the independence movement have claimed as their own, it was truly up there among T in the Park’s historic moments.
Being interviewed for The Herald recently, he told the reporter the track was where to find his views on the independence debate.
It features an extract of the political speech given by Charlie Chaplin at the end of The Great Dictator. The powerful lyrics command listeners to “rise” from our “cold society”. The opening line “we are proud individuals, living for the city” makes sense to many in the Indy movement, as does his claim we must put our “mind(s) over fear and into freedom”.
Then, on Sunday, indie rockers Franz Ferdinand blazoned their stage with Yes stickers and a Yes saltire as they stormed the King Tut’s tent.
Where the culture leads, the politics follows, that’s the theory, anyway; and if that’s accurate, Scotland’s artists are trail-blazing towards a new establishment for Scotland, one that sees Scotland in the driving seat and sovereign.
A bit rebellious, anti-establishment, a bit gallus. That’s Scotland, and that’s T in the Park. Always at the cutting edge of Scottish culture and pride. Here’s to the next 21 years.