Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival 2023 - The Review

And just like that, kinda suddenly almost, it’s the 20th anniversary of Belladrum. 

Since starting out in 2004 with just a few thousand people and a handful of bands, the Tartan Heart festival in the Highlands of Scotland is now the country’s largest three-day festival with camping, and celebrated 20 years of memories and good vibes in spectacular style at the end of July. 

Some 20,000 folk from all over Scotland and beyond attended the event, enjoying music, art and entertainment from hundreds of artists and performers across 11 stages and three days in almost perfect weather. 

And there was no repeat of the traffic issues experienced by many at last year’s event, with organisers having worked hard with the local council to put in place an effective traffic management plan for this year that kept delays getting on and off site to a minimum.

The majority of stages opened on Thursday afternoon around 4pm, giving people plenty of time to get their homes for the weekend set up. 

Thursday - Beats, Ballads, and Brollies

On the Trailer Trash stage it was Matt Morrow Snr who kicked off proceedings with a set that featured a mix of covers including Have You Ever Seen The Rain, an old Willie Dixon number, Tide Lines’ Walking on the Waves and the Tumbling Paddies’ The Way I Am, as well as his own material. 

Over on the Garden Stage it was Clann an Drumma who opened the weekend’s entertainment with their passionate and raw tribal drum and pipes tunes, which pulled in an ever-increasing crowd, while the Hothouse Stage featured a performance from the winner of the BBC Alba talent competition, Cameron Ferguson. 
 
One of the discoveries of the weekend was undoubtedly young Michael Lewis, who opened the Icehouse stage and blew the crowd away. Despite being just 16 years old, Michael, supported by a big band which included his music teacher from school, performed like a seasoned pro, taking on his idol Frank Sinatra’s most well-known numbers - Fly Me to the Moon, That’s Life, Send in the Clowns, My Way, and of course, New York New York – impressing and delighting the packed audience with his powerful voice.

Irish band Pillow Queens made their Garden Stage debut on Thursday and impressed with their thoughtful, melodic sound. February 8th, Like a Lesson, Be By Your Side, Hearts and Minds, Gone, new song Heavy Pour, Love II, and So Kind all received an airing.

Back at the Icehouse Stage, or the ‘cool’ stage as it is rapidly becoming known, the Great Glen Swing Band played the first of two sets over the weekend. Opening number I Feel Good set the scene for an hour of popular classics of various vintages that went down a treat with the crowd. 

Meanwhile, Nathan Evans was taking to the Garden Stage. The former postie shot to fame a few years ago after a video of him singing sea shanty ‘Wellerman’ went viral; the song topped the charts and has been viewed an incredible 400 million times in the three years since. 

Supported on stage by the lads from Saint Phnx, he attracted a huge crowd despite the increasingly heavy rain, opening with Told You So and quickly followed up by Perfect Storm - which was accompanied by a rainbow over the festival site – and Wagon Wheel. “Sing it as loud as you can!” he shouted to the crowd, and they were only too happy to oblige. The singalong continued with Home, which he wrote for Scotland in the Euros, and a wee rendition of ‘No Scotland No Party’ before Dougie Maclean’s classic, Caledonia. Banks of Eden Water and Driving to Nowhere were followed by a Saint Phnx song, Happy Place - kinda fitting for Belladrum which is many people’s happy place – and Country Roads. His latest release, 100 Miles, and the song that made him famous, Wellerman, were also both on the set list.

And his set also included what was billed as “the world’s fastest wedding”, that of Alan and Vicky, who enjoyed their first dance to Heather on the Hill on stage with Nathan and the boys – again, kinda fitting for a festival celebrating its 20th anniversary with the theme of love and an artist who unashamedly admits most of his songs are about love. 

Glasgow contemporary blues band The Lynsey Dolan Band were onstage at the Icehouse and held the crowd despite the heavens opening, getting people dancing and feeling good. The heavy rain also affected initial crowd numbers for Sunderland’s post-punks The Futureheads over on the Garden Stage. 

At the Hothouse Stage, a dazzling Sophie Ellis Bextor took to the stage in the downpour, dressed in an incredible sequined rainbow-coloured dress, and announcing that she didn’t care if it was raining, we were going to dance anyway. And the Kitchen Disco Queen was as good as her word, leading the crowd in an energetic set, dancing the rain away and bringing the blue skies back - and barely stopping to catch a breath the whole time other than to point out the rainbow above the crowd. 

From Crying at the Discotheque, Take Me Home, Music Gets The Best of Me, Hypnotized, Young Blood and Lady (Hear me tonight) to Get Over You, Groovejet (If this ain’t love), Can’t Fight This Feeling, Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)– which sent the crowd wild – and Heartbreak (Make me a Dancer) she gave it her all and had an amazing – and genuine - connection with the audience. When the crowd started a rendition of ‘Here we, here we, here we f****** go’ she said it was the highest compliment, adding that “in Scotland you really know how to party”, which was obviously followed up by the crowd singing ‘No Scotland, no party.’ The party continued with what she introduced as one of her favourite songs to sing at the Kitchen Disco, Madonna’s Like A Prayer – “I love love love playing gigs up here, it’s the best” she said, before finishing her outstanding set with the iconic Murder on the Dancefloor.

While one of Scotland’s most beloved bands (for people of a certain age at least), Teenage Fanclub, headlined the Garden Stage, the original Sugababes line-up were Thursday night’s Hothouse Stage headliners and brought an impressive first day at Bella ’24 to an equally impressive close. 

Fresh from storming sets at Glastonbury and Trsnmt, Mutya, Siobhán and Keisha hit the stage with another big performance. Songs like Freak Like Me, Too Lost In You, Overload, Stronger, Round Round, Hole in the Head, Push the Button and Shape may be around 20 years old now but they have certainly stood the test of time. Set-closer About You Now had around 15,000 people singing along to every word. 

Bella isn’t Bella without a Rhythm N Reel set in the Grassroots tent on a Thursday night and the guys and gal duly delivered another barn-storming set mashing up traditional tunes with the likes of AC/DC. It’s a winning formula that still pulls in the crowds and helps set the tone for the weekend’s festivities.

The Thursday night tribute act is also popular with crowds who aren’t quite ready for the evening’s entertainment to finish. This year it was The Counterfeit Beatles who took the Hothouse Stage audience on a whistlestop tour of the Fab Four’s hits from 1963’s Please Please Me to 1968’s Hey Jude, taking in All My Loving, Mr Postman, Love Me Do, I saw her standing there, Twist and Shout, She Loves You, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Help, Day Tripper, Yesterday, All You Need Is Love and Get Back along the way. 

Friday - Bagpipes, Bangers, and Boogie Fever

There’s something special about waking up to the sound of bagpipes of a morning and delighted to say that someone in the campervan section delivered on that front on the Friday morning. No Scotland no party after all. 

The weather was a wee bit colder on Friday morning but a wee bit drier which is always welcome. Sets started from 11.30am but even if you were on site from 11am to 1am you wouldn’t have time to take everything in. 

One of the many beautiful things about festivals is that you catch bands or artists that you may not ordinarily go and see and be wonderfully surprised by what you find – whether that is new and up and coming young acts or seasoned performers who may not be your usual taste. 

Wandering about the Belladrum site with no real plan can throw up some amazing discoveries and really special moments, one of which on Friday afternoon was youngsters Devil’s Wrath, part of Balintore Youth Group, who had the chance to perform at Bella – delighting many with their version of classics by The Ramones and others. 

Leith-born and Dundee-based singer-songwriter Roseanne Reid was one of the early acts on the Grassroots Stage and a beautifully mellow way to start the day. Hers was a quietly assured set featuring Passing Through from 2021’s Horticulture EP, an acoustic version of Call It Love – the first single from her latest album – and Leave Her from her 2019 album Trails. 

Over at the Bella Bar, Thurso rockers Forgetting The Future performed a teaser set ahead of their main stage appearance on Saturday. It was another blistering set from the lads who tore through Chemtrails, Alligator, Lepricon, the first public performance of Play With My Ego, and Small Town Syndrome. More from them later.

Ullapool’s Ruairidh Maclean, or RuMac as he’s also known, had just 36 hours-notice that he had a slot at Bella this year, standing in for No Good Boyo who were no shows. His set comprised some surprising – and some not so surprising - covers including Cass Elliot’s Make Your Own Kind of Music, AC/DC’s Thunderstruck, Tom Jones’ Delilah and the Arctic Monkeys’ Do I Wanna Know, and his slightly bastardised version of Ring of Fire, illustrating just what a versatile instrument the accordion can be in such talented hands. 

From Grassroots to the Seedlings Stage where Edinburgh-based Californian Alas de Liona was performing. Alas moved to Scotland on a Global Talent visa and has worked with Idlewild’s Rod Jones and The Proclaimers’ manager. Her voice is beautiful and well-suited to the mellow musical style she performs, as highlighted in songs Summer Rain and 19.3, both taken from her new album Gravity of Gold. 

The Tartan Heart festival is not alone in celebrating a 20th anniversary this year – Highland folk rockers Torridon have also reached the milestone achievement, and marked the occasion with a storming Hothouse Stage set in Friday. 

The lads are old hands at Bella, featuring on the line-up many a time and leading the now traditional singalongs on the main stage after the end-of-festie fireworks. The perfect Highland party band described their 2024 set as “one of the best gigs we’ve had at Belladrum” and they certainly attracted a huge crowd who were most definitely up for a typically energetic Torridon party, singing “No Torridon, no party” in a wee twist to the festival favourite. Their powerhouse set had the crowd jumping to new(ish) single I Wanna Know, Here We Go Again and the customary jigs. 

The best way to follow a Torridon set is to do something completely different, and Toyah and Robert delivered just that. Proudly proclaiming herself to be a pensioner, 66-year-old Toyah Willcox has been married to husband Robert Fripp – the founder of King Crimson - since 1986 and claimed that “no one under 50” has heard of them, although I’m not sure exactly how true that is given the millions of views the 80s pop star and prog rock king’s YouTube channel has attracted in recent years. 

Set opener Thunder in the Mountains was quickly followed up by Lenny Kravitz number Are You Gonna Go My Way, Echo Beach and none other than Black Sabbath’s Paranoid, setting the scene for a mix of Toyah’s own material (It’s a Mystery, I wanna be free and new single Roses In Chains) with some pretty impressive interpretations of some rock classics such as Bowie’s Fashion and Heroes (which Toyah explained was the first time she heard her husband playing), Guns n Roses’ Sweet Child o’ Mine – apparently Slash is a big fan of Robert – Metallica’s Enter Sandman and the song made famous by Joan Jett, I Love Rock n Roll. It was a blistering set that turned out to be an unexpected highlight of the weekend. 

Ocean Colour Scene were back at Bella after headlining here some 15 years ago and in a crowd-pleasing move, they opened their set with their debut hit The Riverboat Song quickly followed up by You’ve Got it Bad. The Birmingham Britpop boys’ set also included Better Day, Profit in Peace, a cover of The Beatles’ Day Tripper, Get Blown Away and hits Travellers Tune and The Circle. Hundred Mile High City and The Day We Caught the Train got the biggest cheers of the set and had everyone singing along. 

The Vaselines took to the stage over in the Grassroots tent for what was a mellow performance of their back catalogue, featuring their trademark deceptively simple and simultaneously instantly catchy choruses such as those in High Tide Low Tide, Sex with an X and The Day I was a Horse. It was another understated but beautiful performance from the band whose songs were famously covered by Nirvana.

Talking of beautiful – but most definitely not understated – who else fell in love with Crissie Rhodes from The Shires’ sequined cowboy boots? The Garden Stage was certainly a sparklier place for their appearance, and of course Crissie and Ben’s! The country duo, who have been playing together for some 11 years now, performed a set packed full of songs with gorgeous harmonies and heartfelt lyrics. State Lines, Daddy’s Little Girl, Nashville Grey Skies, Tonight, all got an airing as well as the particularly apt Friday Night, a crowd-pleasing cover of Dolly and Kenny’s Islands In The Stream and set-closer A Thousand Hallelujahs. 

Friday’s Garden Stage headliner was the award-winning singer-songwriter Jake Bugg who is busy promoting his new album, Modern Day Distraction, and recently opened for Liam Gallagher. He played a mix of new material and some of his older stuff to the delight of the predominantly young crowd. His almost country and folk-esque style fused with rock and punk has hints of The Beatles, Johnny Cash and of course Oasis and The Arctic Monkeys. In a blistering set he tore through Simple As This, 2012’s Trouble Town and big hit Lightning Bolt – which was greeted with a huge cheer and hundreds of folk filming on their phones (and a wee rendition of HWHWHWFG) - new song Keep On Moving, Zombieland, Seen It All, All Kinds of People, Two Fingers – which the jumping crowd sang along to word for word - What Doesn’t Kill You and All I Need. 

One of the biggest names in the UK music scene at the moment – and one of the most streamed artists in the world since he won X Factor back in 2012 - James Arthur headlined the Hothouse Stage on Friday night in a much-anticipated and powerful set that at times moved some of the Bella crowd to tears. Opening with the title track from his chart-topping fifth album Bitter Sweet Love – which is already a firm favourite with his fans - quickly followed by Comeback Kid, he had the young audience singing along from the start – and from the heart. He slowed things down with Trainwreck and Car’s Outside before upping the tempo again. Blindside, Impossible and A Thousand Years were all on the set list in what was strong and heartfelt performance from an artist at the top of his game. 

The evening didn’t finish with James Arthur though – over on the Icehouse Stage six-piece funk band from Perth, Bohemian Monk Machine, were giving it their all, and back on the Hothouse Stage it was time for Brutus Gold and the Love Train and their cheese-tastic 70s disco party. They tried to teach the crowd the moves to the ‘Belladrum Hustle’, and played I Can Boogie, Rasputin, Gimme Gimme Gimmie (A Man after Midnight) and YMCA (no need to teach anyone the moves to that particular tune), to close.

Saturday - Sun, Surprises, and Show-Stoppers!

Saturday is always a busier day at Bella with lots of day-ticket holders joining in the merriment. And this year, it was also the sunniest day of the festival as well. 

The immense Forgetting The Future deservedly graduated to opening the main Hothouse Stage on Saturday after their legendary Seedlings Stage set last year. The boys, who have been coming to Bella since they were eight years old and have played here for the last three, drew a large crowd for early on a sunny Saturday afternoon – many of whom were sporting Forgetting the Future tour shirts, and a hardcore of which eagerly started several mosh pits.

It was another blistering and high energy performance from the boys from Thurso and Glasgow featuring Chemtrails, Lepricon, Have You Settled, Bluetooth, Cigarette, new song Playing With My Ego – which is due out very soon – and culminating with Small Town Syndrome and singer Robbie crowd-surfing. 

After such an intense start to the day it was time to chill in the sunshine and take in some of the trade stalls, many of whom return to Bella year after year, stroll through the Walled Garden enjoying some of the performances at the smaller Free Range and Burke & Hare stages, and the Verb Garden, catch some of the entertainers throughout the site, and – if you have kids – enjoy some of the many activities on offer for them, everything from making music, dancing, poetry, theatre shows, wrestling, skateboarding, a giant inflatable heart from Glasgow Science Centre, pottery making, hair braiding, sandpits, car-eoke, human foosball or aerial skills. If you can think of it, it’s probably at Belladrum in one form or another, along with many other things you may have never imagined. 

And that is one of the many beautiful things about Bella, the chance to discover, try-out, learn or experience something new every year, all in an amazing and inspiring location and a super-relaxed atmosphere. The Tartan Heart Festival may be one of Scotland’s best-loved music festivals but there is so much more to enjoy as well. 

The food experience at Bella is always good too, with many vendors – Food from Argyll, Churchill’s Venison and Mutley’s Crepes to mention just a few - also returning year after year, along with the wonderful Kiltarlity teas and the Co-op, which now has its own building. 

Back to the music, and talented accordionist and singer Calum MacPhail – one of the founders of award-winning trad band Ho-Ro - took to the Garden Stage for a set that perfectly suited the sunshine vibe of the afternoon. Calum’s voice is beautiful and he led the crowd in a wee singalong of some well-known covers – The Leavin’ of Liverpool, Wagon Wheel, Loch Maree, and the Bellamy Brothers’ Let Your Love Flow to name just a few – as well as some of his own material. He also graced the Tomatin Bothy Bar with a surprise set much to the delight of those lucky enough to catch it.

Saturday afternoon vibes continued with The Tumbling Souls at the Grassroots Stage. Willie Campbell and the band attracted a good crowd in the tent (in spite of the by now glorious sunshine!) with their Cajun, country and folk-infused tunes. Their harmonies are as glorious as the sunshine and the music as uplifting, although some of the lyrics are pretty through-provoking – not least of which is Nowhere in a Hurry which singer Willie introduced by reminding everyone that “there’s a sad song behind all the abandoned houses in the Highlands and Islands”, imploring the audience to bear that in mind when listening to the song. By way of contrast though, introducing Adelaide, he pointed out that, although his grandad was on a boat, the rest of the story in the song was “bullshit”! 

There was a surprise appearance by the hugely popular Callum Beattie at a stowed-out Tomatin Bothy. The Edinburgh-born singer-songwriter played acoustic and stripped back versions of Heart Stops Beating, Don’t Look Back In Anger, Salamander Street and Let Me Fall to an ecstatic crowd ahead of his Hothouse Stage set later in the day. It was an up close and personal performance that will be remembered for years by those that were there. 

More of Callum later, as it was time to head back to the Hothouse Stage to catch the by-now traditional Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5 set. 10 years after their first gig at the Tartan Heart Festival, they’re still drawing in the crowds with their infectious enthusiasm, catchy tunes and audience participation; the message of peace, love and mustard is still not getting old – and is even more appropriate this year when the Bella theme is love. Old favourites International Sex Hero, Gay Icon, Dance Off, Cross the Road, Capturado – the very first song they played at Bella - Bouncy Ball, and of course, Peace Love and Mustard left, as always, everyone happy and everyone smiling. 

Comedian, musician, writer, actor, director and Strictly Come Dancing champion, Bill Bailey drew another huge crowd to the Hothouse Stage, in what was a first for Belladrum. His set included a little bit of stand-up material and some of his trademark surreal comedy, mixed with some musical numbers. 

Having first caught the immensely talented Hamish Hawk at Celtic Connections in January (I know, late to the game on this one) where he blew everyone away, his was a set not to be missed. His earnest, intense, intelligent, uncompromising observational lyrics paired with almost 50s movie style music was perfectly showcased in a set that included Bakerloo, Unbecoming; Big Cat Tattoos; Calls to Tiree; the “country-tinged number” Rest and Veneers; Nancy Dearest; Elvis Look-alike Shadows; Desperately; Think of Us Kissing; most recent single Men Like Wire, and set-closer The Mauritian Badminton Doubles Champion, 1973. He shared that he’s been coming to Belladrum since he was a teen and that it was “just such a privilege to be here” – but I promise you the privilege was absolutely the audience’s. I see your Divine Comedy, your Brandon Flowers, your Niles Crane and I raise you a Hamish Hawk with his beautiful baritone, his wit, wisdom and near-perfect pop tunes. 

Taking to the Hothouse Stage, Callum Beattie said this was the biggest show they’ve ever played. His catchy, bouncy, singalong anthemic songs and energetic style perfectly matched the crowd’s enthusiasm, which was encapsulated when the guitarist instigated a chant of ‘Callum, Callum, Callum F**king Beattie’ to the traditional Scottish tune of HWHWHWFG. 

War on the Streets has an almost Pretenders-esque vibe to it, he kicked off Dead Man Walking with a nod to Robbie Williams’ Rock DJ, Let Me Fall has more than a hint of 90s Britpop to it, and his powerful, husky voice has echoes of Bowie, Sprinsgteen and The Stereophonics’ Kelly Jones. 25 Seconds included a wee snippet of We Built This City, Don’t Walk Alone was dedicated to Inverness-based mental health service Mikey’s Line – which Callum is an ambassador for – and Tears in my Eyes, new song Bed is Burning, and Daddy’s Eyes all got an airing in what was a crowd-pleasing and impressive set. 'F**kers' saw him head out to the crowd, he changed into a kilt for Salamander Street from his debut album and closed his set with rousing rendition of Heart Stops Beating. 
 
Over at the Bella Bar and it was the turn of a super-group of some of the best – and almost certainly most hard-working - musicians playing in and around Inverness at the moment. Billed as Davy Cowan and the Storm Chasers, they had the crowds at the bar dancing the early evening away with a range of classic covers – everything from The Ramones to Bad Manners – as well as some of Davy’s own material. 

At the Garden Stage it was time for Lucy Spraggan, who took to the stage and burst straight into Run, encouraging folk to sing along. She further endeared herself to Bella fans by telling them that she always says to “everybody” that it’s her “favourite festival in the world”, while Lighthouse saw another crowd singalong. It was an engaging and accomplished performance from the singer-songwriter who was the first X Factor contestant in the show’s history to score a Top 40 single and album before the live shows aired. She played Blues Song before really getting everyone singing at the top of their voices to a wonderfully melodic version of (I’m Gonna Be) 500 miles, and followed it up with the “ballady” but heartfelt and honest Balance. There was more audience participation for the empowering Unsinkable, the poignant Tea and Toast, and Lightning, while Last Night (Beer Fear) seemed to strike a chord with much of the crowd, and Fight For It closed her impressive set.

Hothouse Stage headliners Deacon Blue were also back at Bella, after previously headlining back in 2011. This wasn’t just a greatest hits revisited set though, as several of the 13 songs they played were new(ish) tunes. They kicked off with Queen of the New Year followed up by 2014’s A New House, Fergus Sings the Blues, Your Swaying Arms, Loaded, Your Town, Chocolate Girl, When Will You, 2012’s The Hipsters and Twist and Shout. Real Gone Kid was unsurprisingly a real highlight, while encore That’s What We Can Do was followed by the always beautiful Dignity to close. 

Saturday at the Garden Stage was headlined by Twin Atlantic, a band who have a long-standing relationship with Bella having played here several times over the years, starting out on the Seedlings Stage back in 2008 and headlining in 2013. From the opening chords of No Sleep, the Glasgow rockers had their devoted fans jumping and dancing, hands in the air and singing along. 

Despite singer Sam struggling with a sore throat – he told the crowd this festival means so much to them that they weren’t going to miss it – he powered through Hold On, Free, new song Sorry, Yes I was Drunk, The Chaser, Make a Beast of Myself - urging the audience to sing along as his voice started to go - Crash Land, which was dedicated to a young lad in the crowd who was singing along to all the words, and Meltdown, which was released the previous day and which saw the whole arena lit up with mobile phone torches. Heart and Soul brought their impressive set to a close as the end-of-festival fireworks lit up the night sky in what was a beautiful moment and a fitting finale to Bella’s perfect 20th anniversary celebrations. 

Bella 2024 Wrapped Up

The organisers have managed to keep the beating heart of Bella core to its feel even 20 years on, an achievement which shouldn’t be underestimated. Some of Team Bella have been involved since its inception, which must help, and contributed immensely to its development over the years, building it and adding to it, attracting new audiences without alienating those who have been going since the beginning. It has grown almost every year since it started and still has a magical vibe to it and retained its family friendly feel. There are teenagers who have been coming here since they were toddlers, people who have made friends for life, met and fallen in love here and got married here; this year even saw one festie-fan go into labour on Thursday, deliver her healthy baby at hospital in Inverness just down the road and come back on Friday with her less-than 12 hour-old new born – surely Bella’s youngest attendee!

Programming a festival is no easy task but year after year the team behind Bella curate an eclectic mix of rock, disco, country, blues and jazz alongside a packed kids’ area, some fantastic and varied food options, ensuring that this festival really does have something for everyone. There are old familiar favourites and there are always new bands and artists to discover and fall in love with. 

With something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue, the 2024 Tartan Heart festival certainly lived up to this year’s chosen theme of love, and continues to build a long-lasting relationship with its loyal Bella family, one that is built on good vibes and mutual commitment. 

Save the date, Bella will be back next year. All you need is love, and music – and tickets, which handily enough are on sale now.

 

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