Twin Atlantic make a triumphant return on first day of Belladrum Tartan Heart

Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival 2013

Friday 2nd to Saturday 3rd August 2013
Belladrum Estate, Beauly, Inverness-shire, IV4 7BA, Scotland MAP
£95 / deposit £50 - SOLD OUT

Daily capacity: 13,500

The Tartan Heart festival, held each year in Beauly a few miles north-west of Inverness in the Highlands, this year celebrated its 10th anniversary and organisers pulled out all the stops to ensure that this was a very special event.

The celebrations saw the return of some big names who had previously graced various stages at Bella, including headliners James, and Twin Atlantic as well as the legend that is Seasick Steve and other Bella favourites such as Alabama 3, The Dangleberries, and Potting Shed regular Davy Cowan.

Belladrum sold out weeks in advance for the fifth consecutive year, despite an increase in capacity from 13,500 to nearly 16,000 this year. It is one of the most successful events on the Scottish calendar and its popularity shows no sign of waning.

However, this year did see a slightly different element amongst the audience. Although the family friendly vibe was still very much in evidence, there was a definite increase in the number of other-big-Scottish-festival-that-shall-remain-nameless-types at Bella this year.

But on to the music. First up on Friday for us was Fatherson, a Kilmarnock four piece very much in the Frightened Rabbit mould. Singer Ross Leighton has an emotive voice and grabbed the early afternoon crowd's attention, appearing alone on stage for 'Islands' before being joined by the rest of the band for a kicking version of 'Hometown'. The band gave it their all, gaining new fans and interest in their forthcoming debut album.

I would have gone to see Victorian Trout Conspiracy for their name alone, then it turns out that they are an Edinburgh-based ten piece ska collective, and I love a good Scottish ska collective. They gave a high octane performance, grabbing the audience by the scruff of the neck and getting them all - young and old - skanking in the Belladrum garden. Such was the energy force involved in the performance that the bassist snapped a bass string. And most of the band ended up playing "taps aff", as we say in Scotland.

Then it was time for perennial faves the Peatbog Faeries, another band making a welcome return to Bella for the anniversary celebrations. Theirs was a perfect mid-afternoon high energy performance, the Tartan Heart veterans and award-winning live act from the Isle of Skye showing yet again why they are one of the most popular bands in the country.

Miniature Dinosaurs, and Dingus Khan (I love a band with multiple drum kits) were the hot tips of the day on the Seedlings stage, unfortunately we missed both, opting for food and the roller disco instead.

The food was as ever, awesome, tasty and generously proportioned, with Loch Fyne and the Food from Argyll now a long-held Bella tradition in our family. Husband, however, broke with tradition and chose some springbok sausages from the new Bella African Kitchen.

And the roller disco, the 2013 incarnation of Jock the Reaper, was a great hit with the Bella crowd, with parents entertaining their kids with their long-forgotten roller skating talents, although unlike riding a bike, it would appear that one can forget how to roller skate...

We stayed for the start of We Are The Ocean's set, persuaded by the masses of teenagers running down to the Hothouse tent for them and who then sang along to every anthemic song they played, before heading back to the Garden Stage for Seasick Steve.

As he said in that characteristic drawl of his, Bella was the first festival he played, way back in 2006, and before Jools Holland "and everything". Before that, the last festival he had been to was in 1969 and he "didn't like it very much". His affection for Bella was real and genuine and absolutely reciprocated by the packed crowd, at least one of whom was wearing John Deere overalls. Within the first few chords of his opening song though, he had broken a string on his cigarbox guitar, strings that he had never had to change in six years.

Swapping to a hubcap guitar, and in the process instantly winning over a new fan in the shape of my car-obsessed son, he recites a poem about farms and segways right into 'Down on the Farm'. 'Started Out with Nothing', 'Don’t Know Why She Love Me But She Do' and 'Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks' got the crowd singing and dancing, while 'Walkin' Man' and 'It's a Long Way' see more audience participation, with a girl plucked from the audience to be serenaded by the legendary bluesman for the former and a heartfelt singalong for the latter. And after his set, with the crowd dispersing, a lucky and patient few fans were treated to a handshake or a smile from the seventy-plus musician as he came down from the stage and worked his way along the front row.

While Seasick Steve meant we missed the much-hyped The 1975 at the Hothouse Stage, Alabama 3's headline slot there meant that we would miss all but the first three songs of Twin Atlantic's triumphant return to Bella, this time headlining the Garden Stage. This was Twin Atlantic's first festival headline slot but such was the level of excitement from the crowd, it didn't seem to matter. It was almost a natural progression for the Scottish band that started out on the Seedlings Stage just five years ago.

For me though, Alabama 3 are still one of the best live bands around and I put my camera and my notebook away to pay homage at the church of the country techno rock 'n' blues peddlars, and, as they say, "SING!" By the time we got there, the Hothouse Stage tent was overflowing and we were consigned to spot on the hill. No matter, more room to dance. With an hour-long set containing tunes such as 'Woke up this morning', 'Hello, I'm Johnny Cash', 'Mao Tse Tung Said', and 'Hypo Full of Love', the relentless thumping techno beat was the perfect end to a pretty perfect day.

review by: Clare Damodaran

photos by: Clare Damodaran