T in the Park: the blog o' death episode III

Reggae. Surely the ideal musical genre to kick-start your summer festival. So as soon as I had been slapped with my wristband and directed through the muddy fields, I found myself facing a faded legend of the genre. Eddy Grant, he of Electric Avenue fame, did a decent job of bringing the Caribbean vibe - if not the Caribbean climate - to the early T crowd. A sparse but enthusiastic audience spurred Grant and his bountiful backing singers along to hits like I Don't Wanna Dance, Gimme Hope Jo'anna and the aforementioned Electric Avenue (which, being the least reggae, was his weakest song). The 60-year-old Grant can still put on a sprightly show, but he was clearly surprised by the reception: "I don't know how you have so much energy. It must be the oats!" No Eddy, we suspect it's something less wholesome.

One lager later and with the early afternoon proving unsurprisingly bereft of must-sees, it was time for a casual mosey on down to the T Break tent. Haight Ashbury, the Glasgow band named after the San Francisco hipster area, were obviously aiming to recreate something of that whole 60s vibe with their steel guitar and wispy hair. But their moody, plodding indie was just too morose for this phase of the festivities.

Blinking in the intermittent sunshine, I then find myself wandering past the main stage as Kate Nash does her spoken/uh-oh/Topshop angst thing far away on stage. With her set-up resembling a submarine school disco, it was kinda appropriate, if not satisfying, that the music that billowed over our heads sounded like a carefully orchestrated fart in the bath.

Which only left one option: Will Young. A swift appraisal of his Pet Sounds Arena set revealed a surprisingly enthusiastic crowd of onlookers singing along to his soppy hits. The standard-issue R'n'B backing band didn't look the least bit embarrassed by having to play with the Pop Idol warbler, but one song was really all we needed to hear. Such high hormone levels in such a confined space cannot be good for the health.