Slam Tent

T in the Park 2000 review

The impressive looking large Y shaped kayam tent at T has a spot in our heart this year. We spent a considerable amount of time there, mainly because of the incessant rain - it seemed a good place to shelter listen to some great tunes and sometimes just put our feet up.

The tent is the largest at T in the Park and seemed to never be full. Due to the layout and access points one half was always full whilst the other was nearly always half empty. We weren't going to complain though. The dance tents elsewhere can often seem too claustrophobic particularly if it's raining cats and dogs and the masses are trying to find a dry corner somewhere. Here that wasn't the case. The sound system was good with extra speaker stacks at the sides which meant the quality and volume was right almost everywhere. The stage was small but ideally located with a good view for most and it had 5 screens above and around it giving good close up views of the DJ's spinning their discs. We could tell exactly who was mixing/playing at any stage and of we were in any doubt they simply ran the names in large letters across the screens - surprisingly useful.

T in the Park regular Tom Middleton was the first act we saw, early afternoon on the Saturday, doing a 2 hour set of his deep house "I am Cosmos, Can you hear me?". A third of the way through the set he had the audience in the palm of his hand only to tone it down again which was a bit disappointing. We headed elsewhere before the end so didn't catch it all.

We caught some of the marathon DJ Sneak and Gene Farris vs Roger and Junior Sanchez later on and although the tent was a lot busier it still wasn't full. Heavy house and trance big beat mixes had the crowd going for it, our cue to leave for Morcheeba and Fun Lovin' Criminals came when they spun Duran Duran into the mix… toooo cheesy.

Sunday lunchtime saw Universal Principles at the decks. Scheduled for an hour and a half they ended up playing for two and a half hours due to the non show by James Lavelle. Good effort to keep the audience going right up to the end with a big beat/house mix, especially as the stage hands were busy right behind them preparing and sound testing for Death in Vegas. The tent was by now filling up as DIV were keenly anticipated.

Death In Vegas' live set is surprising in its intensity. Grinding guitars pushing the set along with a pounding beat behind. A combination of tunes, some not easily identifiable, from Contino Sessions and Dead Elvis were played. The audience were into it all from the start but the icing on the cake was a lengthy Dirge as the final number, which had the crowd bouncing away. No guest vocals this time just the original Dot Allison. We felt that this sound was perhaps best suited to a bigger stage but the crowd didn't seem to mind and besides it was still raining outside.

Onto part 1 of another marathon set, this time Carl Cox and Jim Masters vs Slams own Stuart McMillan and Orde Meikle. The big man seemed to be humming from the start bobbing along, more than usual, to his trance mixes waving his discs in the air and generally enjoying himself. He worked the crowd like the master he is and it was the liveliest we had seen the Slam Tent yet. The audience were in a lather ready for Leftfield if they had any energy left. We left them to it to go and check on Macy and Travis. In conclusion though a big thumbs up for the Slam Tent, a lifesaver this weekend.