Kasabian declared T In The Park “empire” as they brought this year’s festival to a close last night (July 8).
The Leicestershire band opened their set withDays Are Forgotten’ before kicking into ‘Shoot The Runner’ from their 2006 album ‘Empire’.
“Thanks for bearing the weather,” said singer Tom Meighan. “You survived,” added guitarist Serge Pizzorno before they played ‘Where Did All The Love Go?’ from 2009’s ‘West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum’ album.
Before ‘Let’s Roll Like We Used To’, Serge dedicated the track to “anyone who seen us at King Tut’s in 2004”. It was then followed with a solo trumpet rendition of ‘Flower Of Scotland’.
Then, after saluting The Stone Roses who headlined the Main Stage the night before, Kasabian declared T In The Park “empire”.
The group then launched into the titular track, and the crowd responded to their wishes by “getting wild”. “This is why I love T In The Park,” said Tom as he acknowledged the support.
Kasabian ended their set with ‘Vlad The Impaler’ and ‘Fire’, before fireworks signalled the end of T In The Park 2012.
Kev Cameron, 30, Kirkcaldy, said: “It’s all about Serge; he’s the man. He’s the greatest living guitarist, man. There’s no one who comes close. I’m pissed off they didn’t play ‘Doberman’ but it was still good, like.”
Gillian Cross, 34, Glasgow, raved: “Kasabian were brilliant. They were well worth wading through all this mud for. Those who went home early missed a great gig; they’re just all lightweights. I loved ‘Shoot The Runner’.
Meanwhile, Dominic Capaldi, 19, Dundee, added: “It was wet, cold and miserable but Kasabian made tonight bearable. I don’t think I could have handled it without them.”
Kasabian played:
‘Days Are Forgotten’
‘Shoot The Runner’
‘Velociraptor!’
‘Underdog’
‘Where Did All The Love Go?’
‘Let’s Roll Just Like We Used To’
‘Processed Beats’
‘ID’
‘Take Aim’
‘Club Foot’
‘Re-Wired’
‘Empire’
‘Fast Fuse’
‘LSF’
‘Switchblade Smiles’
‘Vlad The Impaler’
‘Fire’
Other acts to have played the final day of the three-day festival included Bombay Bicycle Club, Frank Turner, Miles Kane and The Enemy.
But it was US rap star Niki Minaj who proved to be the biggest talking point of the day, as the ‘Starships’ singer was an hour late for her scheduled slot on the NME/Radio 1 stage.
Once she finally arrived, Minaj barely acknowledged her tardiness and went on to play a short, 20-minute set that left many fans disgruntled.
An unhappy Charlotte Roseking, 20, from Newcastle, told NME that she was “fucking furious” with the singer and planned to burn her Nicki Minaj T-shirt as soon as she got home.
She added: “I’ve just waited longer than her whole set was; what is the point? I want to shove this glowstick up her arse.”
Earlier in the day, as the sun finally broke through the dark clouds, Bombay Bicycle Club brought their indie anthems to a muddy Balado. Opening with ‘How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep’, the band had a homecoming gig of sorts as their new backing singer, Amber Wilson, played her first ever gig in her home country of Scotland.
Over at the NME/Radio 1 stage, Frank Turner conducted the crowd into a mass singalong. The punk singer-songwriter led the audience as they sang tracks from his fourth studio album ‘England Keep My Bones’, including ‘Wessex Boy’ and ‘Peggy Sang The Blues’.
Meanwhile, Miles Kane played the King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut stage, performing songs from his most recent EP ‘First Of My Kind’ and his UK Top 20 album ‘Colour Of The Trap’.
Swedish House Mafia closed the NME/Radio 1 stage with their last ever Scottish show. The electronic dance trio, who recently announced they were splitting up at the end of their current tour, played a massive set that mixed pyrotechnics with their signature dance anthems.
Superintendent Rick Dunkerley, who is the festival’s event commander, paid tribute to the thousands of revellers for their behaviour over the weekend and revealed that, since Friday to Sunday afternoon, Tayside Police had made a total of 26 arrests – 75% of which were drug related.
Meanwhile, festival director Geoff Ellis spoke about the problems his team were faced with due to the torrential rain on Saturday, but declared the weekend a success.
He said: “The weather definitely brought some challenges but we were prepared and our team worked extremely hard to keep things on track, which was no mean feat.
“The sense of camaraderie was obvious throughout and when The Stone Roses took to the stage on Saturday night, it went off the scale. This was a moment that so many people were waiting for and the fans sang their hearts out. It was amazing.”
To read our definitive review of this year’s festival, pick up our special T In The Park issue of NME, which is available from UK newsstands on Wednesday, July 11.