For anyone that knows me, the headline will confuse you massively. Surely you would be upset by the news?
One by one, festivals across the country are reluctantly racing to social media to announce that their beloved annual gatherings are not going ahead this year because of the times we are living in. It’s obviously not a thing we wanted to see but it’s something that can’t surprise any of us given the current situation.
All of our diaries are suddenly empty and our only live music fix for the foreseeable will be rewatching old footage or viewing social media gigs which have been a welcome addition to our lives.
This morning, TRNSMT announced that they are postponing until next year “due to the comments made by the First Minister yesterday”.
This press release highlights that DF probably were holding off postponing this years event as long as they possibly could. Social media had been rife with comments over the last few days questioning why it hadn’t been cancelled yet considering Glasto and the majority of gigs and events had went down that road a few weeks ago.
Very much like Glastonbury, ticket holders will have the chance to keep their tickets for next years event and have promised to bring back as much of the bill as they possibly can for the biggest party at Glasgow Green yet.
2020 was going to be a unique TRNSMT for me…
2020 was going to be the first TRNSMT festival I wasn’t going to attend. This is for a number of reasons that I’ll come to but the main one…the line up offered nothing different from what I’ve already seen at the festival before.
Understandably, in order to keep as much of the revenue they can, they will try and bring back as many artists that should have been at the green this year as they possibly can to bring back the people who have bought tickets. I don’t think anybody can argue with that at all. The issue I have is…it’s been something they’ve been doing over the past few years anyway!
2020 Headliners – Courteeners, Liam G, Capaldi. Capaldi has played every year (yes I know last year was a last minute replacement) and I saw the other headliners back to back during the 2018 festival.
This isn’t something new. Last year’s headliners, Stormzy, Catfish and Ezra, all played on the same day in 2017. There’s a lot of repetition going on for a festival that would only be experiencing its 4th event this year. Some of these acts are my favourites but I want a bit of variety at a festival…especially Scotland’s main one!
This year’s festival would also see a first for me at TRNSMT…
I’ve been incredibly lucky. Working for some of Scotland’s biggest radio stations meant for many years, I could attend the biggest festival of the year for free. As a music geek, this was an absolute dream – and meant I had more money to spend on pints at £5.50 a piece.
The free option wasn’t going to be on the table for me this year, meaning for the first time in a while, I would have to part with my hard earned cash just to get access to the green. Hundreds of pounds spent before I’ve even got the train into town.
This ain’t me being miserable! I would rather splash out on a festival than a holiday! I love festivals! Especially in my city! **looks up lineup** – oh!
It just looked so uninspired to me (and dare I say it, not worth the money) The same artists. The same vibe. After 4 years, is it too much to ask for something slightly different for next year? Would they be able to land a huge band or an act that you would never expect to play the green? Or at least hasn’t yet?
For someone like me who’s been to every TRNSMT, paying out for tickets this year would be a bit like spending hundreds on a DVD or a stream of a film you’ve seen at the cinema with a few unseen bits added in (any new music) and that’s it. It’s the same thing! That’s why I decided not to go this year.
Remember the days of TITP when somebody or a band would come on stage and you couldn’t believe they had travelled all the way to a big field in the middle of nowhere which is 99% mud to perform some of their biggest hits. You could never really predict a TITP line up…TRNSMT is somewhat different. Very different.
If the 2020 line up moves to next year then that’s understandable. All I ask is that we get a little surprise of some sort in 2022.
Cheers
RB x
Ryan Borthwick 