How to rescue TITP

[devilman]

It never sold out last year. It hasn't since 2011.

[DGrant261]

It never sold out last year. It hasn't since 2011.

 

Looking back at that line up, it's not too dissimilar to what we had this year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T_in_the_Park_2011 

 

Only real differences are that there's some big names at the top (Granted hard to come by), a reduced amount of edm in the undercard and more longer established rock bands lower down. 

 

Would making those three changes push it closer to sell out again, I'm not so sure

[kingcrawler]

Looking back at that line up, it's not too dissimilar to what we had this year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T_in_the_Park_2011

Only real differences are that there's some big names at the top (Granted hard to come by), a reduced amount of edm in the undercard and more longer established rock bands lower down.

Would making those three changes push it closer to sell out again, I'm not so sure

They won't ever come close to having a lineup as strong as 2011 again, not they realistically can given the amount of big names they had that year. The undercard was great too though and had a bit of everything, although I suppose you could argue so did this year with Modest Mouse, Hot Chip, St. Vincent etc among the more generic indie rock and pop acts even though those bands are definitley in the minority. There's not really any established rock bands this year though like you say.

I think booking a more rounded lineup like 2011 would certainly help with sales but would it sell out? Probably not.

Edit: Not sure why the rest of your post (the bit after the url) is only showing in the quote and not the actual post.

Edited July 12, 2015 by kingcrawler

[Gparsfan]

2011 was my first year, cracking year. First times always the best though.

2012 was a bit naff though.

[devilman]

Your interpretation of genres and band names must be different to mine. The last great T.

[GodlikeYeezus]

Noel Gallagher appeared to be the answer

[Gparsfan]

The Saturday was alright, the rest of it was poor though, Kasabian and Snow Patrol were two of the headliners! The weather didn't help either mind you.

2013 was far,far better.

[Dr Baker]

I agree with many of the comments made about the decline of T. I've been going every year since 1995 and have been increasingly disappointed with the line-ups in the last 3 years. Mainly due to the lack of variety & the decision to get rid of the Pet Sounds/Transmission stage which had increasingly been my main haunt. I thought last year's line-up was the worst since 1997 until I saw this year's.

 

Despite that, I went yesterday. With modest expectations, which were fulfilled! Enjoyed St Vincent and one or two other moments but the 2 hour wait to get the shuttle bus to Perth was just one indication that the site isn't suitable for a festival this size. That was probably the final straw for me and it would take an exceptional line-up to get me back.

 

I suppose Geoff would argue that T is simply following audience tastes and even in the days when we had more varied line-ups, it was clear that the audience was changing. That was never more apparent to me than in 2009 when Nick Cave, headlining the Radio 1 stage, only attracted 4 or 5000, whereas there were 50,000 watching Kings of Leon doing much the same as the year before. The older audience and those with more leftfield tastes have been drifting away over the years leaving the teenagers & those who like mainstream pop & EDM as the vast majority. I expect this will continue and it's probably too late to bring back the 6Music audience. A shame really, as there's nothing in Scotland that caters for this group, given that Connect didn't take off.

 

I'll have fond memories of so many great performances at T. From Portishead & Sigur Ros to Beck, Brian Wilson and Regina Spektor. Also the likes of Imelda May and Bellowhead.

 

As for alternatives, there are none better than Electric Picnic for someone with my tastes. I'll be going for the 5th time, this year. Diversity and brilliance are guaranteed, even when the bill isn't as strong as in previous years.

[DGrant261]

They won't ever come close to having a lineup as strong as 2011 again, not they realistically can given the amount of big names they had that year. The undercard was great too though and had a bit of everything, although I suppose you could argue so did this year with Modest Mouse, Hot Chip, St. Vincent etc among the more generic indie rock and pop acts even though those bands are definitley in the minority. There's not really any established rock bands this year though like you say.

I think booking a more rounded lineup like 2011 would certainly help with sales but would it sell out? Probably not.

Edit: Not sure why the rest of your post (the bit after the url) is only showing in the quote and not the actual post.

 

I'm not either, something dodgy has happened there. 

 

2011 was my first year, cracking year. First times always the best though.

2012 was a bit naff though.

 

2013 was far,far better.

 

2011/2013 both had strong varied undercards imo. 

Edited July 12, 2015 by DGrant261

[xtrmntr75]

DF would do well to look at the Electric Picnic lineup this year which has just sold out close to 50,000 tickets. There are some pop and dance acts but also a strong focus on 6music type artists too, there is obviously a big market for it.

Not according to efestivals

[Stuart1000]

We noticed earlier that this is the first year in a long time where the early bird tickets for next year's festival haven't been advertised across the site at every given opportunity. No mention in the programme, in the lanyards, no posters, no big screen adverts, no Geoff coming on after Noel trying to sell it. Made us think that it might not even be happening next year?

After venturing up twice this weekend, I wouldn't be sad to see T put out of its misery. It's had a great history but I hate what it's turned into. We were thinking that a Scottish Creamfields is exactly what the T crowd are now after. It genuinely wouldn't surprise me to see DF stage it in the next few years as an alternative to T. The indie headliners can quite easily be put on at big gigs in Glasgow Green or saved for Glasgow Summer Sessions but that's the way I see T going now unfortunately.

Every single person I spoke to this weekend said they wouldn't be back if it was held at Strathallan again. I really think they'll struggle to get back from this weekend.

[norainplease]

Belladrum sells out almost instantly without a single artist being named. Mind you they've started adding VIP extras and the like now so it'll be going down the same cash cow path to the slaughter house if they carry on down that route.

 

Belladrum is a more family oriented festival, or at least it used to be its been a few years since I last went, so that is part of the reason that it is popular  Also as it is, now that Rockness is gone, one of only two festivals this far north in Scotland - there is a bigger market for it......only my opinion of course

 

I think as long as Bella keep up being family friendly they will be fine  As festival goers get a bit older and start to have families, many want to take their children to a festival and Bella is (or was) perfect for families.  T in the Park most certainly isn't

[crowie]

Every single person I spoke to this weekend said they wouldn't be back if it was held at Strathallan again. I really think they'll struggle to get back from this weekend.

Strathallan is what will make or break TITPs future. If it stays there thousands, who were used to the relative smoothness of accessing a site such as Balado, will not go back. That was 18 Ts for me but definitely my last if that venue remains. It doesn't have the infrastructure or location to cope with a crowd half the size of TITP never mind how many were there at weekend.

The site was far far smaller than Balado. I know there was a bit mucking about closer to the time with the Ospreys and they lost a bit of ground due to that but even with what looked to be the extra ground behind the fencing in use then I don't think it would have made a massive difference.

One of my biggest gripes with the site being smaller was that they still managed to sell at least 10 areas to fairground rides. And these were LARGE areas of an already small site taken away. The result being less useable space for punters and sound interference, especially at Tuts from the f**king waltzers! I can see the big wheel as being a bit iconic and worth remaining but who seriously comes away from a TITP and says "F me I'm gutted I didn't get a chance to go on a ghost train/dodgems"?!

[devilman]

Belladrum is a more family oriented festival, or at least it used to be its been a few years since I last went, so that is part of the reason that it is popular  Also as it is, now that Rockness is gone, one of only two festivals this far north in Scotland - there is a bigger market for it......only my opinion of course

 

I think as long as Bella keep up being family friendly they will be fine  As festival goers get a bit older and start to have families, many want to take their children to a festival and Bella is (or was) perfect for families.  T in the Park most certainly isn't

 

True that Bella is more family orientated, mainly because it's still a festival. All the extra stuff hasn't been stripped back yet so it makes it a nice place to go for families, there's lots to do and see outside of standing in front of a stage.

There was an increase in teenagers after Rockness went down but not a huge amount.

There is now the Groove dance festival in August on the old Rockness site. I'm hoping it will do well and maybe take up where Rockness left off. There are many that rue the day when Rockness left its dance roots and started aiming for bigger headliners. Mind you, Daft Punk was helluva coup.

[norainplease]

True that Bella is more family orientated, mainly because it's still a festival. All the extra stuff hasn't been stripped back yet so it makes it a nice place to go for families, there's lots to do and see outside of standing in front of a stage.

There was an increase in teenagers after Rockness went down but not a huge amount.

There is now the Groove dance festival in August on the old Rockness site. I'm hoping it will do well and maybe take up where Rockness left off. There are many that rue the day when Rockness left its dance roots and started aiming for bigger headliners. Mind you, Daft Punk was helluva coup.

 

Yeah I remember the Daft Punk year, wasn't there but one of my friend's hubby was a policing that year and said it was nuts!!

 

I really hope that Bella keeps it roots, it's a lovely wee festival and I would hate to see it go the way of T  There are so few festivals up this neck of the woods, so it would be a shame if it did

 

Not heard of the Groove festival, but not really being that big a dance fan, its not something I would have been looking for - good luck to it though

[xtrmntr75]

I see Latitide has a 6music stage for their festival. Might be an idea for TITP.

[DGrant261]

I see Latitide has a 6music stage for their festival. Might be an idea for TITP.

I don't think TITP in it's current form chasing the 6Music crowd will do it any favours. War on Drugs/St Vincent & Alabama Shakes all had really small crowds.

[xtrmntr75]

You might be right. I suppose it's frustrating that these acts aren't given more exposure on R1/R2. I'll probably look elsewhere depending on the line-up

[DGrant261]

You might be right. I suppose it's frustrating that these acts aren't given more exposure on R1/R2. I'll probably look elsewhere depending on the line-up

 

TITP has made countless mistakes over the past few years don't get me wrong, but I think the ultimatley reason for it's decline along with decline of all other festivals bar Glastonbury has to be the decline in the quality of music in general over the past 6/7 years. If there was another band breaking through with the size and popularity of the Arctic Monkeys when they did and a strong and popular guitar music scene with large widespread cross generational appeal in 2015 as there was in 2007 I think festivals would still sell out. The problems have ultimatley derived from what is perceived overall to be the declining quality of music

[addicted2noise]

I don't think TITP in it's current form chasing the 6Music crowd will do it any favours. War on Drugs/St Vincent & Alabama Shakes all had really small crowds.

 

That's true but only because the fans of those type of acts don't bother with T anymore and having a full stage of them instead of 2 or 3 a day would probably entice them back and increase ticket sales. I mean Alabama Shakes have just had a number one album in America, its not that they don't have fans.  

[devilman]

That's true but only because the fans of those type of acts don't bother with T anymore and having a full stage of them instead of 2 or 3 a day would probably entice them back and increase ticket sales. I mean Alabama Shakes have just had a number one album in America, its not that they don't have fans.  

 

Disagree here. I want to come back to T. I used to go in a 20 odd strong group. None of us go anymore. We probably all would if a decent line up was announced EARLY or we could trust that there would be something there for us. We got shafted in 2012 and won't part with hard earned until there is something worth seeing. Trouble is T announces so late and confidence is now so low that we all plan something else. So unless they take a hit one year we'll never end up going back. Alabama Shakes are brilliant live. I stood in awe the first time I saw them. Her voice just blew us away.

[Red Day]

At RW last month it was a struggle to get into a 14000 capacity tent to see Alabama Shakes

[DGrant261]

At RW last month it was a struggle to get into a 14000 capacity tent to see Alabama Shakes

 

That can't have been too far off a mid day main stage crowd size for a band at a 60,000 capacity festival can it? 

[Red Day]

That can't have been too far off a mid day main stage crowd size for a band at a 60,000 capacity festival can it?

Werchter is 85k i think. The timings at RW are pretty clever and generally most decent bands will get a crowd. Seems sad they get a fantastic reception at RW and hardly anyone bothers with them at T. War on Drugs was a highlight at RW for me and again nobody bothers watching them at T. Bloody sad

[calise]

Werchter is 85k i think. The timings at RW are pretty clever and generally most decent bands will get a crowd. Seems sad they get a fantastic reception at RW and hardly anyone bothers with them at T. War on Drugs was a highlight at RW for me and again nobody bothers watching them at T. Bloody sad