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home » festivals » T in the Park » T in the Park 2004
OverviewT in the Park 2004Wednesday 14th July 2004 Over 100 bands, 60,000 people per day and 10,000 free condoms are given away over the weekend. That’s certainly one way to summarise this year’s T in the Park, but it doesn’t say everything. For a festival, a 12:30 start seems a bit late and I saunter in – wandering over to the NME stage to catch the last half of Kasabian’s set. After their unique and bass-driven sound finishes it’s a short rest and then its time for not just a warning about canine care – but the indie-stylings of Dogs Die in Hot Cars. A trip over to the King Tuts tent reveals rising metal stars The Glitterati, hated by some and loved by many, and The (somewhat average) Ordinary Boys that certainly focus on the ordinary part of their name.  Funeral For a Friend rock-out with emo as its meant to be done and Keane fill the NME stage with their keyboard-fuelled songs ringing out across the site.  As Saturday’s evening approaches Ash not only fill the King Tuts tent to the point of closure but set fire to their guitars. If that wasn’t enough, The Libertines then hit the NME stage performing without rehab-laden Pete. Having cancelled other performances this summer this is the first performance since Pete was banned from appearing with the band. Rumours are flying that he is trying to get on to site to invade the stage. He doesn’t. Muse close the night on the NME stage with more confetti than you can shake an overdriven guitar at, while The Darkness - who opened the Main Stage on Sunday last year - got to (in their own words) "headline by default" on the Main Stage after David Bowie cancelled due to illness.  Sunday sees full car parks and delays getting on to the site. After wandering about some more, the afternoon sees an average Razorlight and a patriotic performance by Franz Ferdinand that sees possibly the largest crowd of the weekend. A trip to the X-tent shows why The Open are currently rising through the ranks of UK rock.  The Thrills fail to impress and its then time to take a walk around the site. With a reverse bungee, the notorious big wheel, a funfair, a market, CD store and every kind of food under the sun it is safe to say that there is plenty of choice on site. The tip of the day definitely seems to be that you should buy food from the Aberdeen Angus steak van and steer clear of any kind of noodles.  Staying at the main stage for the rest of the night sees the Kings of Leon battling with the wind and a Pixie-laden crowd that are more than happy to see their heroes appearing afterwards. Armed with age, experience and bald patches to make Homer Simpson proud, the Pixies prove why they’re known as one of the most influential bands of the 1990s.  The festival concludes with The Strokes justifying their headling position as Drew Barrimore stands and watches them from the side of the stage.  The eleventh year of T has seen more variety than ever before. Despite a lot of bands being seemingly bland and average, The Open, Funeral For a Friend, The Gliteratti, Pixies and headliners The Strokes certainly make up for it. Hopefully the few glimmers of true musical performance over the weekend leave the mile-long queues for toilets, flooded urinals and piss-created mud unimportant. As the roads fill up with cars, the words of The Strokes’ front man Julian ring in my head: “Its fucking beautiful man”. review by Guy Powell photos by Neil Greenway 
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