Unpack your air guitar, rock's back for T in the Park

Published on 22/02/2011 14:40

BIG-name rock acts will dominate T in the Park's main stages this year, with the announcement that Coldplay and Arctic Monkeys will play alongside veteran rockers Foo Fighters.

The line-up for the festival, now in its 18th year, will include many veteran names, with the likes of re-formed Britpop act Pulp, new-wavers Blondie and rock acts Blink-182 and Manic Street Preachers all appearing.

Former Oasis singer Liam Gallagher's new band, Beady Eye, will also be playing, along with the legendary Tom Jones, whose career is enjoying another in a series of revivals.

This year's line-up contrasts with the hip-hop and R'n'B-heavy 2010, which saw Eminem, Jay-Z and The Black Eyed Peas on the main stages, along with dance acts Faithless and Groove Armada.

However, while established outfits dominated yesterday's announcement, some newer acts were also revealed, with the likes of Ke$ha, The Vaccines and Brits winners Tinie Tempah and Plan B all slated to play.

Unveiling the headline acts at a press conference in the Lighthouse in Glasgow, festival director Geoff Ellis said: "The headliners are huge and the Foo Fighters are one of the biggest bands on the planet, but it is about strength and depth and about having a real diverse line-up and something for everybody in there. If you're a fan of leftfield, up-and-coming bands, T in the Park is still great."

A further 140 artists performing on the various stages will be announced at a later date, including unsigned acts who will showcase their talent on the T Break stage.

Scottish DJ Jim Gellatly said he thought it was a "decent line-up", adding that the familiar big names were necessary as a way of drawing in people, who would then be exposed to the up-and-coming acts.

"There are also quite a few big pop names appearing that weren't even mentioned during the press conference, like Eliza Doolittle, The Saturdays and Hurts, which I think shows the size and reach of the festival now," he added.

Speaking after the press conference, Mr Ellis dismissed reports that the future of the festival was under threat because of concerns from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) relating to a potential rupturing of the underground Forties Pipeline, which runs through part of Balado Park, near Kinross, to where T in the Park moved in 1997.

He described the issue as a "storm in a teacup", adding that any previous HSE concerns had been addressed and all organisations involved in monitoring the festival's safety were satisfied: "We wouldn't be there if it wasn't safe; we wouldn't be getting a licence if it wasn't safe."

The HSE has insisted the presence of the pipeline should halt the annual event. A spokesman said yesterday: "In HSE's expert opinion, there are such significant potential safety concerns with this application it should not be granted permission."Though tickets will go on sale on Friday, Mr Ellis said that, because of advance sales, the festival was in the unique position of having only a third of its briefs left.

Geoff Ellis: "We've sold two-thirds of our tickets already. Having gone on sale straight after the event as usual (last year], plus going on sale for a brief period before Christmas, we've sold around 60,000 tickets, so going on sale on Friday at 9am will be 30,000 tickets and we've never gone on sale with so few tickets in February."

He claimed that this was due in part to people buying tickets in December in order to avoid the VAT increase.

The festival will take place across the weekend of July 8-10.

The line-up

Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Blink 182, Pulp, The Script, My Chemical Romance, Plan B, Deadmau5, Pendulum, Brandon Flowers, Beady Eye, Weezer, Tinie Tempah, Manic Street Preachers, Jimmy Eat World, Tom Jones, Shase and Status, All Time Low, White Lies, The View, Jessie J, KT Tunstall, Blondie, Ke$ha, Cast, You Me at Six, Crystal Castles, Hurts, The Saturdays, Eels, Bright Eyes, The Streets, The Vaccines, Noah and the Whale, House of Pain, Slam, Imelda May, Josh Wink, Bloody Beetroots, Death Crew 77, Miles Kane, Vitalic, Eliza Doolittle, Diplo, Stornoway.