Part 129: T in the Park

To sum up in a word: EPIC.

I cannot think of anyway to explain this weekend because it was so... just... awesomely...awesome.... Good. Where to begin? So on Thursday, I went and got a hair cut then at 4.30 had all my stuff packed and made my way to the train station. I was pretty apathetic at this point because I didn't know anyone who was going to the be there and I didn't know really if I had a chance to see any music (oh how little I knew...)

When I got to the meeting spot I stood on my own and glared at the people I would be spending the next 4ish nights with. I was really shy and didn't talk to anyone until we were shoved on to this tiny bus and I was next to some guy whose name I dont know and I chatted to him the whole trip which was good, I guess. When we got there we all got to our massive marquee (Is that right?) which had just a wooden floor, thank GOD I could use Al's blow up matress otherwise I would have not been able to sleep or anything and my back would have been wrecked. The first night was pretty bad, I was just bored because I didn't talk to anyone so I ended up going to bed and trying to sleep with large amounts of people and crowds going crazy outside. Took a while, but I got there.

So Friday after having about 6 hours sleep I got up at 6am and was off to work. I was on the main gate for camping entry. The thing about this job is that the work is tedious and not interesting but time flies by and its pretty easy. All I had to do was scan tickets all day for 13 hours. It was just bad because my feet would get sore or I would get cramps in my hand from holding the scanner for so long. At the very start though, we got paid to stand for 2 hours before the gates even opened so we all just chatted and then when they did open the gates and literally thousands of people poured in we got sent on our break. It was funny because we didnt do anything for like 3 hours (Oh we get paid for breaks too, woo!) but seriously, time just goes so quick that 13 hours is just over and it feels like about 2. Its great. We also got paid to have breakfast and all that. Oh, and I got moved to the main gate for day entry at one point too where I met Vicky who I ended up hanging out with for most of the weekend and and Eiledh who I hung out with for most of the Friday.

When our shift was over, at 8 we had a walk back to our marquee (which was quite a hike, this place was MASSIVE) through the park. It was great because I caught some La Roux as I was going through singing 'The Kill' which was awesome. However, I did get attacked by someone who picked me up and started dancing in circle and had my arms stuck under me and my legs off the ground, I was stuck but it was funny because the dude got spear tackled. God, I am useless when it comes to actual security. All I am good for is scanning haha.

When we got back Eiledh and I talked for a while and sat to relax our feet then went out to check out T in the P. Fortunately, being on staff, our wristbands let us in where to places even the V.I.Ps couldn't use. Amazing. We first went in and saw the last half of 'Florence and the Machine's' set which was awesome. She was not bad live. I dont know if shes well known in Australia but she is pretty big here and I really like her stuff. It was great. I then got soooo pumped because MUSE was playing next at the main stage so we ran over to it and squished throught the epic crowd of over 80,000 people and made our way to about midway back, but with still an awesome view of Mr. Balamy blasting out Supermassive Black Hole and other awesome Muse songs. SO much fun to shout out those lyrics alongside the actual singer live. Argh. I love Muse sooo much and to see them live was just the best thing ever. We left about 3/4 through the Muse set unfortunately(ish) because Eilidh wanted to go check out the Black Eyed Peas who were on the second stage. There I was leaving one of my favorite bands to see my old favorite band. Couldn't complain.

We snuck round to the V.I.P entrance of the BEPs and got right to the front to watch them play and awesome mix of their new stuff and their old stuff. There old stuff was great because its what I love but their new stuff was amazing becuase the music is so good to dance and jump around in a mosh pit too. Friggen hell. I mean, Muse, I love you but Black Eyed Peas really held their own against you which was a shock. I've seen them live on TV and Fergie always seems to be terrible live but she practiced and her voice was incredible. Omg. It was incredible. Just the best. That night was probably the best because it was 2 bands that had been my favorite at one point in my life.

Bed at 1 struggle to sleep from the high. Get up at 6.

Saturday I was on the main gate for campers again which again just flew by. It was really busy but there was a few too many people on staff so we just got breaks every 20 minutes for 20 minutes and God, it was so easy. The only bad thing was that it was raining and it made the scanners stuff up and all the drunks (at 8am) got angry because it took a while to scan sometimes. I was on the same gate all day but was shocked when I was sent off to lunch. I thought it was like maybe 12 but it was actually 4. It was great because I saw Joshua Radin live while I was there whose music is exactly my genre of music and his song 'Closer' is in my top 25 played on my iPod. Best way to eat lunch. Ever. The food, if you were wondering, was not too bad it was filling and tasted pretty okay. Much healthier than what the people could buy at the festivals shops too so couldn't complain. On the way back to work, I also got The Proclaimers singing '500 miles' the only song of theirs I know and it was just awesome to catch the crowd loved them. I loved it.

I worked some more until dinner which was interupted midway because there was a riot as Stereophonics started so I had to run to the riot until someone picked my up in a jeep and drove me and some others to it. We jumped out like the a-team and started forming human barriers and stuff to break up the riot. Then stood around and watched Stereophonics who were really good to listen too (and I literally got paid for it) and then stand as Eminem, the headliner started. Vicky and I were really keen to see Eminem (for me because I really REALLY wanted to hear Lose Yourself live)

So when our shift finished we ran only to get held up by signing out and stuff which was annoying because I was going to miss Eminem. Fortunately, I could listen to The Prodigy playing a few songs which I knew so I caught them as well. Anyway, by the time we could sign out we were sure we were going to miss Eminem but we ran anyway got changed and grabbed another guy whose name I think was David and ran up and used the V.I.P Main stage entrance which gave us the most awesome spots in the mosh pit for Eminem who was still playing a few new songs and old ones and then finished. We caught the last 3 songs and then he left. Everyone in the mosh pit started clearing out but we stayed and yelled encore for a while and then when half the people had left, he came back out and did his envore- Lose Yourself. We moved up closer still and listened to his best song. It was such a great one to yell out to as well. He was surprisingly good live too. Everyone I saw was amazing live. I should probably stop saying it but holy crap it was such an awesome weekend. The only thing that annoyed me here was that I missed Mumford and Sons who played at the same time as Eminem MAAANNNN the would have been awesome.

Bed at 1 struggle to sleep from the high. Get up at 8.

I had a short shift on the Sunday (10 hours) so it was good because i could sleep in. I was shoved on to anothe gate which I dont even know what it was for. I just scanned tickets haha. Eventually I was sent for lunch which was another great lunch because I sat and listened to Rise against playing a couple a songs I recognised which was pretty cool. Then went to work on the gate again which was pretty fun because well it just skipped on by until dinner which was when my shift finished. After that Vicky, an Irish girl named Nicola and I ran down to check out the end of the festival. We met up with two other people who Vicky waited for which was unfortunate because Nicola and I kept going and she said we would meet them inside. Didn't happen. We did get free rum shots though which was good to drink as we started listening to Jay-Z. He played a heap of songs I didn't really know but he did play 'New York' or whatever its called (with Alicia Keys, but there was a different girl singer) and also the Numb Encore (with Linken Park, but without Linken Park) so it was great because I love both those songs. Also, with Irish, it was awesome because she could shove us pretty close (although we werent in the main mosh pit like we were for Eminem, we were a bit further back, but we could still see him really clearly.

When he finished we went up and checked out Madness (Our house, in the middle of our street! Haha) then went up to listen to Goldfrapp who was so much fun because we were in a tent and the lights where amazing and the crowd was incredible. Had an awesome vibe. We also caught Kasabian on the way which was okay, but I dont really know them that well. then to finish it all up we caught Frenchy, David Guetta, talking and playing part of his first song but we saw him, before rushing back to our bus which we were late for. On the way We got stopped by the working security who was just like 'wait there, Jay-Z is coming through' and so he did. That was pretty cool. Nicola, being a Jay-Z fanatic nearly had a heart attack, it was pretty legendary. we then ran and made it to the bus just on time because it was about to leave haha. Unfortunately, she was on the Edinburgh bus, so was Vicky but it was okay, because I could sleep and I also talked a bit to Eilidh about our weekends.

When I got back to Glasgow it was 12.30 at night and I was just exhausted. There were no buses or trains so I had to call a cab, hitch hike or wait till 6am and catch a bus. I was annoyed but I called a cab because I was dead. they were booked out for the next 3 hours so raged, I made my way to central station where there was a few spare cabs from a different company. 9 pounds later I was home and then crawled into bed (which I had to re-make because my sheets had been washed) and then just crashed.

Friggen hell, it was an AMAZING weekend. Seriously work festivals, dont pay for them. Its a thousand times better. I got paid to see these guys.

To some up:

I caught: Muse, Black Eyed Peas, Florence and the Machine, Biffy Clyro, La Roux, The Proclaimers, The Prodigy, Kasabian, Rise Against, David Guetta, Goldfrapp, Eminem, Jay-Z, Madness, Joshua Radin, Stereophonics aaaaannnd I think thats about it. Thats 17 for freeeeee :D

I dont even remember the work haha.

I'm exhausted today though, so dont expect and exciting blog tonight.

Cyaaaas