My third and final visit to T in the Park was in the summer of 2001. It was the usual crew of Uncle George, John Dewhurst, Gill and I with the addition of a new name in the ranks as one of Gill’s younger sisters Justine made her virgin festival appearance.
We encountered a dramatic start to the weekend’s proceedings as I had a tyre blowout on the M6 near Lancaster necessitating the always challenging spare tyre change on the hard shoulder.
I have always been a big tennis fan, and this 2001 event was in the days when Tim Henman was burdening the British responsibility, a few years before Andy Murray broke the glass ceiling in terms of historic achievements. Thus, we were listening to his Wimbledon semi-final against Goran Ivanisevic in the car and he was in control of the match on the journey up before a cruel and sustained rain delay.
We were back in residence at the tranquil Glenfarg Hotel which was a welcome sight after a long drive. We caught Top of the Pops on TV presented by Gail Porter with what I believe was The Strokes debut performance, their track of choice was ‘New York City Cops’. I had seen a stellar sold-out show by them 16 days earlier at Manchester Hop and Grape.
After dinner, we foolishly decamped to the hotel back bar and started sampling the local single malt which had repercussions the following day! Due to the hotel being full on the first night the ladies were staying in an annex about 10 minutes’ walk away, so we escorted them over there, swaying all the way!
The weather for the weekend was a tad iffy, but obviously no patch on the monsoon apocalypse of the previous year. On the Saturday we headed into Perth for couple of liveners before heading to the site in a cab. The route from the cab drop to the entrance took us past a rather fragrant battery chicken farm.
In the King Tuts Tent I witnessed the gentle sounds of Kurt Wagner’s Lambchop. On the main stage we saw ‘Mr Wobbly Head’ David Gray and a decent headlining set from the Stereophonics. In the NME tent I caught My Vitriol.
The highlight of the day for me though were the Proclaimers though everyone disrespectfully disowned me, and I attended on my own though they patently missed a treat. The tent was packed to the rafters, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The audience camaraderie was wholly evident exemplified by the fact that when I needed a comfort break, I managed to sneak in and out mid set under the canvas assisted by some generous fellow punters. If I had to return to the main entrance, I would not have gained re-entry!
On arrival back at the hotel, I discovered the Henman match had progressed, but further rain delays meant it remained unfinished.
The following day we decided to travel directly from the hotel and prior to lunch saw on a back-room bar portable TV Henman finally lose his 3-day epic battle. Another plucky British defeat, we have sporting pedigree in that particular pursuit! That said, I am posting this blog on the day of England playing Italy in the Euro Football final, so hopefully we can lay that curse to bed this evening.
A gentle lunch and a few sherbets proceeded the taxi ride. Most of my time that day was spent in the NME Stage Tent witnessing Cosmic Rough Riders, Goldfinger, Ash and the headliners JJ72. My favourite act of the day there was a sparkling set from Grandaddy who played a crunchier set than when I had seen them a year earlier.
I caught portions of Toploader and Texas on the main stage. The other highlight was a terrifically noisy set from the laconic Scottish miserabilists Arab Strap.
We then encountered some taxi trauma when initially it did not turn up as scheduled until I gave them a rollicking and the taxi eventually surfaced to take us home and provide an ending to my T in the Park trilogy!
On an unrelated point I attended my first gig yesterday post pandemic at the Manchester International Festival after a unprecedented break of 487 days and hopefully we can all attend more in the coming months.