July 11, 2009 18:36

T In The Park chief Geoff Ellis hails 'fantastic' festival

He praises fans, bands and the sunshine

T In The Park festival chief Geoff Ellis has told NME.COM he's thrilled with the way the 2009 bash has started.

Ellis praised the Scottish festival, which has been blessed with good weather and well-received performances from the likes of Kings Of Leon, Jamie T and Lady Gaga.

"It's been going fantastically well," he explained, adding that the festival is one of the best in recent years.

Last year's festival was marred when a festival-goer was stabbed onsite.

Speaking about the music at T In The Park, Ellis said he enjoyed Kings Of Leon's Main Stage set last night (July 10), which saw them praise Scotland and call the bash one of their favourite festivals in the world.

"I think it's them being genuine," Ellis said about the band's comments. "The Scottish audience – though obviously we do get people from all around the world here – are just welcoming. They give a lot to bands and the bands enjoy playing here.

"It is quite full-on in many respects, but it's passive. Everyone's in really good spirits today – I've just walked right around the site - and it's like one big party. Though obviously, the sunshine is the cherry on the cake!"

The festival chief also revealed that he'd got into the festival spirit yesterday (July 10) by wearing fancy dress.

"It was a good start on Thursday, getting about 20,000 people in, and yesterday I think we had two-thirds of the audience in fancy dress. Even I dressed as Jack Sparrow. The girls in the office put eyeliner on and everything!"

Ellis added that he's looking forward to seeing The Specials, The Killers, Manic Street Preachers, Blur and Snow Patrol.

Photo Gallery - all the highlights from T In The Park

Blog - T In The Park: how was it for you?

NME.COM is coming live from T In The Park this weekend (July 10-12). Stay tuned for the latest news, photo galleries and video interviews.

Plus, make sure you get next week's issue of NME, on UK newsstands from July 15, for the ultimate T In The Park 2009 review.