Last week, for a short piece to accompany our cover feature interview with Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes, I inquired of the T in the Park team how many other acts would be making the journey to Auchterarder from across the Atlantic.
As I suspected, the answer totalled little more than would trouble the fingers of one hand. It was not always thus. Right from the start, T in the Park has had major international names in headline slots, and while some of the same names recur at regular intervals with the ubiquity of Kasabian recently, the diversity demonstrated by others is also often surprising and worth recalling.
The very first T in Strathclyde Park was topped by sets from Rage Against the Machine and Bjork, while the following year saw the formula swiftly challenged by the inclusion of one Kylie Minogue, establishing her alternative credentials by duetting with Nick Cave. 1996 welcomed Beck and, for the first time, Dave Grohl's Foofighters, as well as an underwhelming appearance by Dogstar, featuring one Keanu Reeves on bass. The new millennium began with Moby and Macy Gray, both at the height of their fame, while 2002 was a double-header of Foofighters and Green Day. That bill was repeated just three years later, while the intervening years featured REM, Flaming Lips, The Strokes, Pixies and Kind of Leon. 2006 was headlined by Red Hot Chili Peppers in their pomp.
In 2007, DF Concerts were also booking acts for the first Connect festival at Inveraray Castle, a brief flowering aimed at the more mature festivalgoer, which may well account for the distinctly un-T-like pairing of Brian Wilson and Rufus Wainwright on the bill that year. By the following year, which also included the second and last Connect, the differentiation was established and T welcomed back Rage and REM. 2009 saw Kings of Leon at their Sex on Fire top, alongside Nick Cave and Nine Inch Nails, and a recognition of hip-hop's rise in 2010 had Enimem and Black Eyed Peas in bill-topping slots. Black music's move out of the dance tent has continued since with appearances by Beyonce, Rihanna, Snoop Dogg and Pharrell Williams in recent years.
Does the relative absence of major US names for the first T at Strathallan matter? In some senses, obviously not, because there will be many among the 80,000 music fans who bought their tickets before any of this weekend's acts were revealed. The attraction of the festival is the event itself and the certainty that among the huge number of performances there is sure to be something for just about everybody. And if Scotland's biggest festival has become a showcase for homegrown talent, what of it? As the Scottish Album of the Year award annually demonstrates, there is plenty of fine music being produced on our Caledonian doorstep, never mind in the British Isles. The T Break stage has regularly provided an important - and competitive - showcase for new talent, and many T fans go to the weekend as much to discover new bands as to see headlining sets by the big names.
But equally I suspect that a trimming of costs by the promoters is the real explanation for the comparative lack of artistes from further afield. Performances fees are one thing, but flights and accommodation are another highly significant entry in the "expenditure" column. He'll hate the comparison, but just like George Osborne, DF's Geoff Ellis has had to make budget cuts. AusteriTy in the Park, you might say.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article