TRNSMT. The word comes with a certain imagery attached to it. Summer, sun’s out, pints and ridiculously overpriced fries in hand, one three day long bender full of music and joy and (quite importantly), sunshine. Day one this year round started off with some miserable weather, but if there’s one thing I believe to be true about living in Scotland, bad weather never has to mean a bad day. Anya and I embraced the muggy weather, kitted out in a poncho and a hoodie paired with boots to start the weekend off. We checked who was first on and prepared for what was going to be, the toughest start to the weekend.
Cammy Barnes opened the main stage, and after seeing him we headed to see Irish indie rockers Cliffords, one of the bands I was really looking forward to seeing this year. Despite the weather and, consequently, the rather subdued audience, I absolutely loved seeing these guys, and also finding out that after Glasgow, their hometown Fife, is the second-largest consumer of Buckfast in the world.
We made the harrowing journey through what felt like a very soggy maze carved into Glasgow Green to the main stage to catch the Ks, whose show, despite receiving some mixed reviews, I personally thoroughly enjoyed. After that, in the time it took me to interview Tommy from the one and only Soapbox ahead of their show at the BBC Introducing stage, get a refill of beer and some much-needed sit down time, I stepped out of the media tent and was pleasantly surprised at the clear skies painted pink and orange.
Just in time for one of my all-time favourite bands Wolf Alice. I came back to the main stage which was now dressed the part, with a backdrop of silver shimmering in the sunshine that finally decided to make an appearance and watched them belt out all their crowd favourites. I rejoined Anya and I was elated to see the London group take to a Glasgow stage once again.
Unapologetically fierce in her performance, Ellie Rowsell is a high contender for the best female performer this weekend. Her fiery demeanour on stage always seems to surprise me. “Yuk Foo”, insists on Ellie to voice its lyrics through a megaphone, giving the crowd a glimpse of how much energy Wolf Alice can deliver in a single track. As Ellie tips her water bottle over her head, it’s evident she is pumped to transition into “Play the Greatest Hits”. Their performance last December in Glasgow’s OVO Hydro was the first time I saw Wolf Alice grace a stage at this level, their festival appearances this summer only further excite me for the next stages they will play. Ending their set with “Bros”, moments were being felt by the women in the crowd embracing each other and singing along to, in my opinion, the most beautiful song Wolf Alice have ever created.
Between the weather and a fair chunk of the audience having just seen Nile Rogers and the Chic, everyone’s spirits had clearly been lifted in time for this one, and Glasgow Green became a glorious mess of dancing and singing and spilled pints and cup wars (you had to be there).
The last act on the main stage was Richard Ashcroft, the former frontman of The Verve. This guy is someone I’ve been dreaming of seeing live for years now. His one-liners before breaking into song each time are unmatched and would put the likes of Sabrina Carpenter’s to shame. “The Drugs Don’t Work” he informed us solemnly (cue the track). “Music is Power” is the anthem that has been circling on a loop in my mind. Especially on this Friday, given the challenging conditions, Richard Ashcroft’s encore emphasised that music unites us; even when our feet are squelching in our boots on the muddy terrain, while we scream at the top of our lungs to the tune, reminiscent of The Verve that we know and love.
One thing I never thought I’d live to see, however, is the brains behind Bittersweet Symphony freestyling and I was equal parts taken aback and transfixed by it. When the time came for the encore, he once again knowingly stated, “life’s a bittersweet symphony” (I love this guy). The instrumentals and deafening cheering started and when they did (at the risk of sounding unforgivably sappy). I took a moment to look around me. The sun was only just starting to set, I was surrounded by a crowd of music-loving people on one side, one of my favourite musicians on the other, about to sing to us one of my favourite songs ever. In the distance, the ferris wheel calmly spun against the gorgeous Glasgow sunset and I thought to myself, “This is it. This is the centre of the universe.” I still think it was. My #1 bleed out spot is Glasgow Green during Richard Ashcroft’s last song of the night.
Roll on day two and we were welcomed by the sun shining and some free ice creams and our precious tinnies (it was 8pm somewhere or something I think?) before rushing to see Rianne Downey, and I could honestly not have had a better start to my day. After being noticed by Paul Heaton of the Beautiful South, Rianne spent a few months filling in for their lead singer while she took some time off to focus on her health. I watched her sing one of my top 5 most listened to songs for the past few years, titled “Rotterdam (or anywhere)” – sun and ridiculously huge grin on my face. I was informed just a few minutes later I had an interview with her. While they weren’t too generous with the preparation time for this one, does one really need to prepare questions when it’s someone who sings for one of your favourite bands? Not really. Rianne was an absolute delight to talk to and one of the most fascinating people I’ve ever met, our interview is up on @discoverymusicscotland Instagram and Tiktok now.
Becky Hill’s secret set was, for some reason, seen as controversial by some audience members who believed that it was only their money’s worth to see songs they already knew being played live, whereas Becky decided to use this chance to show us some of her new work. Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed her set, and I do believe that since her set was a surprise and her name not on the original line-up, the boo-ers were quite out of line for this one. It’s not exactly the same as Lewis Capaldi refusing to sing Someone You Loved.
Rushing between sets and the mass of people, we got to the media tents to speak with Paul and Maxime from Madra Salach before their set, which is now up on the @discoverymusicscotland TikTok and Instagram. Their excitement pre-performance undoubtedly transferred to their engagement on stage. Warm messages from Paul showed how much ambition they had to play, as he told the crowd; “coming to Scotland is like coming a long way from home, you guys get us”. The on-stage banter was delightfully entertaining, the bands’ frontman Paul hilariously remarked as the audience craned their heads towards the main stage with The Fratellis tune “Chelsea Dagger” playing in the background; “we’re miserable enough to watch even without the rain!” – although I disagree. Paul additionally invited their band members to share some news while tuning their instruments; “there’s a new number between 4 and 5 called jombus.” Hilariously enough, Paul shook his head in disbelief, which showed us a picture of how effortlessly and naturally their personalities stood out.
While Prunella headed to the King Tut’s stage to see Madra Salech shortly after her interview with them, I went to the main stage to see yet another of my bucket-list bands the Fratellis (cue the cup wars starting again). This was when I got a taste of what I think the full TRNSMT feeling is, chaotic and a little bit sweaty and just a great time overall. After the Fratellis, The Snuts took to the stage, and when they played “Glasgow”, I almost wanted to cry a little bit.
With Keo to perform directly after the Irish 6 piece Madra Salach, I patiently waited amongst the rowdy audience. “Keo, keo, keo” chanted from every parameter of the stage as the crowd began to gather and fill in the space. To my knowledge, Keo’s only release on platforms is his EP “Siren”, which shocked me to see so many people recite back their lyrics. As they are due to release their album “Put A Smile On For Me”, unreleased songs like “Spent on you”, were slithered into the set-list and suddenly the crowd noise declined to take in their new music.
It was now time for the glamorous, out of this world The Last Dinner Party and I’d been on the edge of my (extremely metaphorical (the grass was still wet)) seat for them. The crowd had filled out a bit more for them as well, and everyone seemed to know nearly all the lyrics to their hits (my favourite kind of audience). This was, predictably, not nearly as much of the beer spilling and cup throwing crowd, because we’ve got to have our game face on for some of their semi-serious tracks. But it’s all good because if we’ve learnt one thing from them, nothing matters.
While Anya was amongst the crowd at the main stage, I parked myself at the BBC Introducing stage for a back-to-back line up of bands that are fresh to the scene. I waited for Tanzana to take the stage. This was their first time playing TRNSMT and they were all the rave. “Pulse, Pose, Position”, their song that just released this spring, was a lyrical masterpiece. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing them play at a wide scale venue and hope to see them on bigger stages in the near future. I thankfully had the chance to interview the lead singer, Freya, shortly after their debut. This is now live on our TikTok and Instagram platforms.
Up next, Basht. This was my first time seeing their live performance and as I stood at the barricade, people began to stream and stretch out to the top of the hill. Their control of the crowd was a memorable anecdote to take away, as frontman Jack Leavey held onto the metal fence to order the formation of a mosh pit. Several more were incited which from what you can imagine caused a rocky crowd. If I hadn’t had a few tinnies by this point this may have been a problem, but the occasional elbow doesn’t hurt anyone.
Last on the BBC Introducing stage today was the one and only Radio Free Alice. These guys have been at the top of my list to see this year after all their recent rave and my review of their performance at King Tuts Wah Wah Hut last November, if you’re keen to hear about how that went you can find the article on our website. Although seemingly nonchalant, these guys do not fall short on a stage. Lead singer Noah’s vocals, though rough around the edges, are polished going into their new song “Lunch Money”, which just released on the 5th of June. Since signing with their label, we can expect new tracks like their unreleased song they performed which had similar undertones. Signing off and closing the BBC Introducing stage on Saturday, they bid farewells and the crowd dispersed to see the headliner, Kasabian.
Day three rolled around and we started off with seeing Katie Gregson Macleod opening the main stage (who we also interviewed which will be up soon) after which we saw Westside Cowboy on the King Tut’s stage, both absolutely stunning acts. Red Rum Club were impeccable in terms of energy, lyrics, instrumentalism, what haven’t these guys perfected?
I headed to see Two door Cinema Club next, Sunday’s special announcement guests, who (obviously) killed it, not so softly. While Anya went to the main stage, I took myself over to the King Tuts stage to see Overpass. Their debut album “Everywhere, Always” released on the 5th of June, with EP’s dotted across 2024 and 2025. “Union Station”, one of their popular songs, really hit the mark for me seeing it live. The band made a few comments about the loud crowd singing “Undercover Martyn”, which could be heard from the main stage but inadvertently, audience members stood their ground to see this amazing band perform.
I got the opportunity, just before CMAT were due to play the main stage, to interview Elle Coves who was due to play on the BBC Introducing stage in a couple hours. Elle got her foot in the doors of the music industry by her large following on TikTok. I discovered her through her popular song “Body” (with over a million plays on Spotify) which I kept on replay post its release. Stay tuned to see what she had to say before her performance on stage.
Close to 8pm and Amy Macdonald was due on stage. Without turning this into another long-winded rant, I hadn’t had the chance to see her live before but I knew Amy Macdonald and her music before I even really knew how to spell. I vividly remember “Let’s start a band” “This is, the Life” “Mr Rock and Roll” “Poison Prince” and so many more blasting in my dad’s car while he drove me to school, or playing on our speakers at home. Seeing her on stage from the barricade was another one of my many, many “Am I dreaming?” moments this weekend. Blue confetti showered the audience as she belted out “Mr Rock and Roll”, her backing vocals covered by all of us. She ended on “Let’s Start a Band” and by the end of her set, I spotted a good few members of the audience wiping away a tear. The Bee Gee’s say in one of their better known songs, “This is the only way that we should die, this is the only way to go”, and that’s exactly how I feel about seeing this set from the barricade.
All in all, TRNSMT gave me the best weekend of my life, face time with some absolutely incredible musicians and a couple of scars on my arm from pinching myself. I whole-heartedly agree with Anya. I am so delighted to have been able to converse with such talented artists, to get an exclusive overlook and legitimately see what this festival is all about. It is an atmosphere where you can feel how encouraging the music scene is in Glasgow and what new talent can be brought to next year’s big weekend. Bring on 2027!