I know, I know, it’s been FOREVER since TRNSMT but to be fair, I think my post T in the Park recovery time was a lot longer. We all know I’m the procrastination queen, but I actually have had the most horrendously busy summer, so here you go… better late than never!
TRNSMT 2018 was an absolute HOOT. I didn’t manage all five days, but the headliners I did see blew it out the park; in fact over the whole festival I didn’t see one act that I didn’t enjoy.
There’s a few videos linked throughout this piece for you to have a swatch at too; I had chats with Nina Nesbitt, Lewis Capaldi, Kodaline and Sam Fender – some of the loveliest people I’ve ever met, all of whom have new music out just now or coming out in the near future for you to keep an eye out for as well!
The festival as a whole is, in my opinion, the best thing to happen to Glasgow in a very long time. It attracts people from up and down the UK, (and even further) and to be honest with you, from what I saw anyway, Glasgow was on its best behavior. In comparison to other festivals, the bar queues are not horrendous – you’re not stood still for longer than thirty seconds, and there are plenty food stalls to choose from; not just your bog standard festival ‘burger or chips’ option either – there were lots of little independent food trucks offering healthier options too!
The organisers clearly know what kind of crowds they want to attract, and both years, have nailed the line-up, if you’re a fan of indie pop, this is the dream.
I’ll not bore you with a ten thousand word essay detailing the ins and outs of every single set, but I will give you a track from each set that I saw which I think is ‘worth a listen’ to if you’ve not listened before.
(Also apologies for the crummy iPad audio in the videos – turns out my SD card from my wee zoom mic had corrupted itself and didn’t wanna play ball.. and interviews in a green house/ behind the main stage was never the best idea… welcome to my life..)
Let’s start on Friday 29th July …
Picture This; “Take My Hand” – happy wee tune that just puts a smile on your face, no matter what. Also one of those ones that I can remember exactly where I was when I first heard it.
Sam Fender; “Millennial” – my favourite of Sam’s tracks that he’s released so far, hands in the air, singing along at the top of your voice type tune.
Kodaline; “Follow Your Fire”– from their forthcoming album which is being released later this year. Festival tune of dreams, and they had the pyro to match (which was possibly nearly as hot as the sun.)
James Bay; “Best Fake Smile” – from his first album, everyone knew the words and had a wee boogie and it was just great.
Pale Waves; “Kiss” – the band’s latest single at that point, however they’ve just released a track called “Eighteen” and it’s equally as catchy/brilliant/relatable if you want to have a listen to that too!
The Script; “For the First Time” – not my ‘one hundred percent favourite’ song by the Script but it did generate a mass singalong in our group and it makes me smile when I listen to it now.
Stereophonics; “C’est La Vie,” – jumping, chanting, trying to work out how Kelly Jones says all of those words in one breath… perfect. “Have a Nice Day” and “Just Looking” are also absolute all-time favourites.
Saturday 30th July…
The Snuts; “Glasgow” – this was my first experience of the Snuts and it was, over all, a bit crazy and brilliant. This was a stand out for me though!
Kyle Falconer; “Family Tree” – I’d only heard this track once, a couple of weeks before, acoustically, and it went down a storm… as did the couple of The View songs that he did.
Gerry Cinnamon; “Belter” – Unpopular opinion time! Not a huge Gerry fan… at all really… but the atmosphere during this particular track was the definition of ‘Glasgow Festival in the Sun.’
The Academic; “Bear Claws” – I’ve only listened to a few of their tracks and this one was the ‘instantly recognised this, bopping along’ track for me!
The Sherlocks; “Live for the Moment” – definitely had a ‘moment’.
The Courteeners; “Not Nineteen Forever” – absolutely no surprises here, but will any song ever beat it live at a festival?
Liam Gallagher; “Greedy Soul” – it’s just a song you cannot stand still while listening to it, and even more so when it’s live… (and because it’s technically an Oasis track and he was the headliner and I can’t not mention it… “Live Forever” – I’m just really glad I got to hear it live. Even if I cried.)
Sunday 1st July…
Miles Kane; “Hot Stuff” (Donna Summer cover) – I mean the set was fab but playing this while everyone was literally frying in the heat was maybe a stroke of genius. Also “Coup De Grace” is fab.
Nothing But Thieves; “Amsterdam” – the current single which people who had, ten minutes before, claimed they didn’t know who the band were, were singing along to anyway.
Declan McKenna; “Brazil” – not just because it was so hot we felt like we could’ve been. It’s a proper summer song!
Blossoms; “My Favourite Room” (with added snippets of Babybird’s “You’re Gorgeous”, Wham’s “Last Christmas” & Oasis’ “Half the World Away”) – possibly my favourite five minutes of the whole festival. Christmas songs at summer festivals more often please!
Fatherson; “Making Waves” – the lead single from their up and coming new album, which hasn’t been available very long at all, had people singing along regardless.
Interpol; I won’t lie, I’ve never listened to Interpol and didn’t recognise any of the tracks, but I did enjoy being sat in the shade and listening to them in the wee break we had before Arctic Monkeys.
Arctic Monkeys; “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor” or “505” (with Miles Kane) – purely because I wasn’t expecting to ever hear IBYLGotD live, ever, and everyone had an absolute ball. No doubt about it.
Sunday 8th July…
Hudson Taylor; “Chasing Rubies” – the first Hudson Taylor song I ever heard and still my favourite.
Lewis Capaldi; “Rush” (with Nina Nesbitt) – I love festivals for this sort of thing… it’s like artists all hang about backstage and pick who’s going to guest appear on each other’s sets. Brilliant.
Jessie Ware; “Alone,” “Champagne Kisses,” “Say You Love Me” – impossible to pick one track, but Jessie’s been one of my favourite artists to see live this year on more than one occasion. Squished our way right to the front for this one too, and I was in my absolute element.
Franz Ferdinand; “Take Me Out” – another festival favourite! We definitely missed the start of their set because the queue for the high flyer was ridiculous (needs must!) but when we got back down to the ground, they were already grabbing crowds from every angle and doing the most jumping about on stage that I saw all weekend!
Friendly Fires; “Paris” –Standing in a massive crowd when a band unintentionally conducts a mass singalong just makes me really happy.
Walking on Cars; “Ship Goes Down” – I’ve now heard this track live in both extreme sunshine and an extreme rain shower and it works magically in both situations. (fyi: also works well screaming along in the car)
Chvrches; “Recover” – my favourite Chvrches track! (and if anyone knows where I can get a skirt like the one Lauren Mayberry had on please let me know… *heart eyes*)
Nina Nesbitt; “Loyal To Me” – This hadn’t been released before her set; Nina did it acoustically with the audience singing backing vocals. The release date was pushed to August 10th, so you’ll be able to hear the full version of it now, and it really might be my favourite song of the year! “Mr C” is our favourite, and we literally said as she walked on stage ‘I hope she plays it.’ She did. Everyone’s happy.
The Killers; “Smile Like You Mean It,” “A Dustland Fairytale,” “When You Were Young” – okay so ‘Smile Like You Mean It’ makes me cheese from ear to ear, ‘A Dustland Fairytale’ has always been my favourite, and ‘When You Were Young’ because, as Brandon Flowers was standing 30ft away from me telling me that this was ‘how you imagined it when you were young’ I decided that yeah, it probably was.
gigs & glitter. 