T In The Park, Friday 9th July 2010

Welsh pop-rockers Kids In Glass Houses kick off this year’s T In The Park; opening the NME stage, frontman Aled Phillips bursts on with the popular Scottish chant ‘Here we fucking go!’ (the first of many over the weekend). Opening with ‘YoungBlood’ before new single ‘Undercover Lover’ - normally featuring The Saturdays singer, Frankie Sandford - really gets the crowd jumping and clapping along. Songs from the bands debut album ‘Smart Casual’, ‘Give Me What I Want’ and ‘Saturday’, go down a treat with older fans. Philips encourages the crowd to sing along with him as they kick into ‘Sunshine’. Finishing their set with ‘Matters At All’, we see Phillips jump into the audience during the second chorus: “Let me get out! What a pickle. Get off my shoe!” Shouts the frontman as he struggles out of the crowd. A fantastically fun band, full of summer anthems.

Next up, energetic electro-pop duo from Colorado, 3OH!3, play to an almost completely packed King Tuts tent. Opening song ‘Starstrukk’ has the entire crowd jumping in a completely insane manner; more chants of ‘Here we fucking go!’ are shouted between the majority of songs. Completely flying through their set, the duo run about the stage, getting everyone to throw their hands in the air. Part-way through, Sean Foreman and Nat Motte even split the crowd in two for a cheering competition. New single ‘My First Kiss’, complete with Ke$ha backing track, has everyone singing along. As both frontmen jump offstage and onto the barrier during the final song, ‘Don’t Trust Me’, the crowd are sent into even more of a frenzy, ending their first performance here with a bang.

As the tent empties, we wait for the next band, Dirty Projectors. Hailing from New York, the melodic indie-rockers play to a fairly tiny crowd in comparison to the chaos beforehand. A set full of beautiful harmonies and innovative rhythms, this diverse group are lovely to simply listen to. It’s just a shame there are not more people here.

Off to the Main Stage to catch the last 20 minutes of Editors, we find clear crowd favourites ‘Munich’, ‘Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors’ and ‘Racing Rats’ are amongst the last songs on their set list. Their explosive playing and the intensity of Tom Smith’s vocals can be felt from even the very back of the crowd. As the chorus of last song, ‘Papillion’, kicks in, the whole crowd is jumping, leaving our festival goers a very satisfied bunch.

Back in the King Tuts tent, La Roux seems to be suffering from some throat issues. Elly Jackson however, asks the crowd to bare with her, before playing through a set of singles and album favourites including ‘I’m Not Your Toy’, ‘Quicksand’ and ‘In For The Kill’. A slightly weaker performance than usual, but she still manages to get through the set without too many issues.

Nearing the end of day one, we head to the T Break tent to check out some up and coming talent in the form of experimental Scottish band Meursault. Opening with the stunning ‘Crank Resolutions’ before ‘All Creatures Will Make Merry… Under Pain Of Death’, we can tell that we’re in for something special this evening. Just a few songs in, bubbles begin floating in from the side of the stage. An extremely wholesome set of both atmospheric music and strong vocals leaves us feeling elated; most definitely one of the best acts of the weekend, and brilliant wind down music for the end of a day.

As the darkness descends, the sense of anticipation is tangible. Almost all of the Friday night diehards are here for one thing, and they are about to get their wish: Muse know how to put on a show. Lasers, pyrotechnics and massive lighting rigs burst into life as Matt Bellamy steps onto the stage, and from the first crashing power chord of ‘Uprising’ to the final falsetto of ‘Knights of Cydonia’, the crowd are in the palm of his hand. Muse are neither self effacing or immodest, they are simply at the top of their game and expressing themselves with total freedom. So few people shouldn’t be able to create a sound this powerful. Intricate and detailed with highly politicised lyrics aren’t usually the ingredients for a sing a long, but the T crowd can’t get enough. By the time ‘Feeling Good’ rings out we are all either elated or exhausted and Muse are only half way through their greatest hits set. It’s been six years since they headlined the NME stage here, and every gig since is evident in their flawless stagecraft and crowd manipulation. We know we are being played, we just don’t care. Closing the set with ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ before returning with a crowd pleasing two track encore, you cant fail to realise we are in the presence of something very special tonight: a band at the peak of their creative power.