Bringing the bright lights of Vegas to the Scottish countryside, The Killers are sure to get the 20th year party going with their epic synth-driven rock ‘n’ roll. The group have a special bond with T in the Park– frontman Brandon Flowers joined his heroes New Order on stage for a stunning rendition of Crystalin 2005, and the band hailed their T in the Park set as one of their greatest ever gigs in 2007. Firm fan favourites, they shot straight to the top of the UK album chart in September with the release of their fourth consecutive Number 1 album Battle Born, and will make a triumphant return to the Main Stage next July.
Festival Director Geoff Ellis said: “The Killers topped our fan poll as the artist our audience most wanted to see in 2013, and we are absolutely thrilled to announce them as our third headliners for T in the Park’s 20th edition. They’re one of the biggest bands in the world, and when we last brought them to Scotland, demand was so high we could have sold out the show four times over. With the exception of their Wembley Stadium gig, this is their only announced UK gig of 2013, and we’re really excited to announce this spread of acts as a starter for 20 for our 20th year celebrations.”
George Kyle, Head of Sponsorship at Tennent’s Lager said: “As founding partner of T in the Park, Tennent’s are exceptionally proud to have been part of this fantastic festival since it began back in 1994. With yet more great artists announced today, T in the Park 2013 is already shaping up to be an incredible weekend, and we can’t wait to celebrate the festival’s 20th year with the T in the Parkfans.”
The Script,alt-J, Paloma Faith, Jake Bugg and Of Monsters and Men also join the bill.
T20 is already shaping up to be a truly stellar affair and an unmissable weekend, and music lovers don’t have to wait long before they can get their hands on the ultimate festival ticket of 2013 as a limited batch of T in the Park tickets will go on sale this Friday from 9am at 2012 prices.
Converting a whole new generation to folk-informed music with their five million selling debut releaseSigh No More, Mumford & Sons returned in 2012 with its follow-up Babel – the number 1 album which has become the fastest selling album of the year in both the UK and US. A phenomenal live band, Mumford & Sons will headline T in the Park’s 20th year, with what promises to be a hotly anticipated performance.
Rihanna is currently dominating global charts with Diamonds – the fastest-rising single of her career to date, and the first single from UNAPOLOGETIC – her 7th studio album in just 7 years. The recipient of six Grammy Awards and seven Billboard Music Awards, Rihanna has sold over 37 million albums and 146 million digital tracks worldwide, and currently holds the record as the top-selling digital artist of all time.
The past four years have seen The Script sell a staggering four million albums, ten million singles and wrack up an incredible 100 million YouTube views. The Dublin trio make a welcome return to T in the Park since releasing their third album #3, which spawned the smash hit single Hall of Fame – the band’s biggest selling so far and their first UK Number 1.
alt-J were one of the hottest breakthrough acts on the T in the Park 2012 bill, and the quartet became a household name earlier this month when their debut album An Awesome Wave scooped the prestigious Mercury Music Prize. Their sophisticated, sublime songwriting talent has earned them rave reviews and an army of admirers, and their T20 set is not to be missed.
alt-J said:"It's an absolute honour to be invited back to play at Scotland's biggest and best music festival – WE CAN'T WAIT!"
A captivating chanteuse and theatrical performer, Paloma Faith’s sassy, retro soul-pop blend will add a touch of vintage glamour to the T20 bill. The huge success of her platinum-selling debut album Do You Want the Truth, or Something Beautiful? earned her a Brit award nomination, and she released its follow-up Fall To Grace earlier this year to yet more critical acclaim.
Jake Bugg became the youngest British male to debut at number one when his self-titled album was released earlier this year. The 18 year-old from Nottingham counts The Stone Roses and Noel Gallagher amongst his many fans (and joined Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds on their US tour in October), and is one of the most exciting singer-songwriters to emerge from the UK scene in recent years.
Since Of Monsters and Men hit number 1 in their native Iceland with smash-hit single Little Talks, they’ve dominated airwaves across the globe with their infectious, majestic folk-pop. One of the biggest breakthrough acts of 2012, they’re not to be missed at T in the Park.
Festival Director Geoff Ellis said: “Seems like only yesterday that the first band took to the stage at Strathclyde Park for our inaugural T in the Park in 94, now here we are in 2012 announcing 2 of the of the world’s biggest and best acts to headline our 20th edition. We have always worked incredibly hard to bring our T in the Park fans the best line-up possible, and this year is no exception. We are unbelievably excited that Mumford & Sons and Rihanna will be taking to the Main Stage in Kinross as we are sure our audience will be. We have many more fantastic acts in store for everyone and will announce these next year, but it’s shaping up to be one hell of celebration.”
George Kyle, Head of Sponsorship at Tennent’s Lager said: “From a meeting of minds back in ‘93, to the first festival for 17,000 Scottish music fans in ‘94, to today – standing at the brink of the 20thyear. It’s been an incredible journey for Tennent’s as founding partner in this amazing festival and we are exceptionally proud to have put the T in T in the Park for the past 20 years. Since the first outing in ’94, Tennent’s’ passion for and commitment to the festival has remained constant, as has our unswerving support for music through incredibly important initiatives such as T Break, supporting the very best in new music across Scotland.”
Celebrate 20 years of musical memories and experience the 20th year of T in the Park.A limited number of T in the Park 2013 tickets will be available at 2012 prices at 9am on Friday 7th December – go towww.tinthepark.com or www.ticketmaster.co.uk or call 08444 999 990.
If you’re a Vodafone VIP customer, you can also buy tickets 48 hours before they go on general sale from 9.00am on Wednesday 5th December, simply go to vodafone.co.uk/vip
Boutique camping options in The Residence will also be available for those looking for luxury living at T in the Park – check out www.tinthepark.com/theresidence.
So if the prospect of feeling the awesome energy of MUMFORD & SONS’ unmissable Friday Main Stage performance up close, or joining ED SHEERAN in what will be one massive sing-along of all his brilliant hits, or being completely blown away by the mighty BIFFY CLYRO as they bring RockNess 2012 to a thunderous close on the Sunday, then this is one competition you do not want to miss entering.
If you’ve already got your weekend ticket then to be in with a chance of winning it couldn’t be easier, simply go to http://rockness.us2.list-manage2.com/subscribe?u=847210feaa3e8fa7d0ff3ce85&id=ee1f63ee0a.
And for those day ticket holders thinking about upgrading to a weekend ticket – and be in with a chance of walking off with this once in a lifetime prize – now’s the time to do it. Simply go to WWW.ROCKNESS.CO.UK/BUY-TICKETS then get entering! Entries have to be completed by midnight on Thursday May 31st with the draw happening on Friday June 1st so you must have bought your ticket prior to this date to qualify. Good luck everyone and watch this space for the winners!
In another new announcement, and as if popping up by magic, the incredible MAGICAL BONES will make a Special Guest appearances in the VIP Arena. Starting out his career as a professional hip-hop dancer, MAGICAL BONES has worked with some of the biggest names including Madonna, Black Eyed Peas and Alicia Keys, and was the star of the Mint Royale number 1 hit single ‘Singing In the Rain’. An exceptionally skilled breakdancer and gifted showman, he has gone on to establish himself as one of the most respected and prominent figures within the UK hip hop scene. Now focusing primarily as a magician, which he has uniquely combined with his love of hip hop culture, his passion for the art of magic is as he describes, an experience of “soulful astonishment”.
MAGICAL BONES has to be seen to be believed…and even then you won’t believe what you’re seeing!
Finally those legendary RockNess feel good vibes are set to get a big new injection of fun this year as fans are encouraged to get their fancy dress glad rags on for their big Saturday night out with the launch of MONSTERS & ALIENS Fancy Dress. There’s nothing at stake other than how creative you can be…and how much FUN you can have in the process!.
Commenting on these latest fun filled announcements and the once in a lifetime competition, Festival Director Jim King said ”I always like to catch my favourite bands for at least some of their set from the side of stage. There's nothing more exciting than seeing one of your idols walk past you and take their position on stage. When the lights go up and you look out across a sea of 35,000 people and then the music kicks in, the hairs on the back of my neck always reach levels I never knew existed. This really is a must enter competition.”
Getting the party started on day one of the Most Beautiful Festival In The World – is the quite excellent MUMFORD & SONS who along with NOAH & THE WHALE, THE DRUMS, MYSTERY JETS and ADMIRAL FALLOWcharge the MAIN STAGE, whilst Breakthrough Star ED SHEERAN,WRETCH 32 and ETIENNE DE CRECY head up the GOLDEN VOICE ARENA. The first class electro for which RockNess is famed commences in awesome form with EATS EVERYTHING and HUDSON MOHAWKE headlining the mighty CLASH presents SUB CLUB SOUND SYSTEM, with Baron of Techno DAVE CLARKE and CLAUDE VONSTROKE assuming control of the new ARCADIA UFO presented by SOMA RECORDS. The HOWARDS END ARENA in association with SOUND CITY presents the finest new music including THEOPHILUS LONDON and STARBOY NATHAN, topped with the much lovedROCKNESS CEILIDH ALL STARS.
Day two of RockNess – NME award winning ‘Best Small Festival’ for two consecutive years running – promises to be a moment of quite simply epic proportions as two of the world’s biggest names in dance head to Scotland. With what is arguably the most spectacular show out of all the major electronic headliners right now, Californian superstar DJ and producer DEADMAU5 on the MAIN STAGE precluded by ANNIE MAC and DJ FRESHwill be truly unmissable. And in a double whammy, there is no bigger act to headline the GOLDEN VOICE ARENA on Saturday night than French electro Gods JUSTICE! Not since Daft Punk played RockNess – a moment so iconic and mind bogglingly awesome that it is now widely acknowledged as one of the most seminal moments in Scottish music history – has there been an act that so frequently tops the wishlist of fans. With an all-French support of BUSY P, JACQUES LU CONT and MADEON, the GOLDEN VOICE roof will without any shadow of doubt be blown off.
International comedy superstar TIM MINCHIN heads up a first class comedy proposition at this year’s festival and is guaranteed a full house in Saturday afternoon’s GOLDEN VOICE ARENA with fast rising Scottish star DANIEL SLOSS and a host of other supremely talented funnymen (and ladies!) on the weekend bill too. Saturday’s CLASH ARENA welcomes Special Guests THE VIEW to what is sure to be an ecstatic home crowd welcome. THE PIGEON DETECTIVES and GUILLEMOTS precede the Dundee rockers in the CLASH ARENA. And as day becomes night, the CLASH ARENA transforms into the hedonistic clubbing utopia of the SUB CLUB SOUND SYSTEM with HARRI & DOMENIC headlining alongside LEVON VINCENT, IVAN SMAGGHE and SENSU. Over on the ARCADIA UFO, in a techno treat of cosmic proportions, BEN SIMS, JAMES HOLDEN and SILICONE SOUL are joined by ANDREW WEATHERALL and SEAN JOHNSTON who present ‘A Love From Outer Space’.
New music is well represented in Saturday’s HOWARDS END ARENA with BASTILLE, SAINT SAVIOUR and others, plus fun and games from BEARDED KITTEN (who also get the RockNess Express party antics going!).
From start to finish, day three of RockNess 2012 is simply heaving with quality. Last time they played, the response was thunderous. This time they’re back and bringing the festival to an almighty close on the Sunday. Get set for the biggest finale you’ve ever seen as Scotland’s rock superstars BIFFY CLYRO bring the MAIN STAGE to a close! Joining BIFFY CLYRO on Sunday’s MAIN STAGE is ZANE LOWE whipping the crowd into a frenzy as only he does best, the brilliant FRIENDLY FIRES, and the legend that is NILE RODGERS who along with CHIC will deliver a set of back to back all time disco classics.
Sunday’s GOLDEN VOICE ARENA is a stormer as THE KNIFE, METRONOMY and ROB DA BANK get the party well and truly rocking, while the CLASH ARENA sees ASH headline with a very special 20th Anniversary set alongside RIFLES and ERRORS. Changing over into the SUB CLUB SOUND SYSTEM once dusk falls over Loch Ness, the arena goes into full effect with an exclusive 3 hour set from Detroit legend JEFF MILLS. Over on the ARCADIA UFO, MYLO brings his famed EPP Party to Dores in another amazing exclusive with YUKSEK and TIGERandWOODS joining the Skye born maestro. Sunday’s new music proposition includes FOXES, CHARLOTTE O’CONNOR and STEALING SHEEP.
Plus there’s more! As one of Scotland’s premier destinations for DJs and clubbers, RockNess is delighted to welcome back Aberdeen’s CLUB SNAFU for more exemplary beats and good times to the new intimate Kopparberg Kube. Epitomising the sublime music policy of CLUB SNAFU, the boutique space will be headlined by Hot Creation’s funk and disco groovemeisters WiLDKATS, with the outstanding BIGFOOT’S TEA PARTY back to tear up the dancefloor again after last year’s exhilarating performance. CLUB SNAFU resident (and inaugural RockNess DJ Competition Winner) FUAD is one of the most hotly tipped producers on the scene, packing out the club on a Saturday night and we’re really happy to say he too is Dores bound along with fellow CLUB SNAFU resident KRAZZY MARTIN. A key member of Aberdeen’s clubbing community, KRAZZY MARTIN has staged some of the North’s most legendary parties in recent years. So he’ll be right at home at RockNess!
It is with much excitement we can announce our friends at the sublime LUCKY ME collective will take control of the decks in the Kopparberg Kube on Sunday. Firmly at the fore of new hip hop, RnB, house and all things musically experimental, besides releasing vinyl and clothing, LUCKY ME direct in music and fashion. Founded in Glasgow by Mike Slott, Dominic Sum Flannigan, Martyn Flyn, and Ross Birchard (aka previously announced Sub Club Sound System penultimate headliner HUDSON MOHAWKE), LUCKY ME present a triple whammy of outstanding talent with S-TYPE, THE BLESSINGS and DEMA.
Endorsed by Paul Weller, cult cockney mods THE RIFLES are packing out venues across the land and scooping rave reviews as they go with their no nonsense, no frills approach. Recently released album ‘Freedom Run’, the Chingford band’s third, offers tracks that burst into life with the brightest of harmonies. Catch them at RockNess for as good a guitar pop set as you’re likely to hear in 2012.
Multi-national, multi-instrumentalist and multi-talented. GUILLEMOTS don’t do understatement. Mercury Prize and Brit nominated, their music is a lesson in modern brilliance. Ambitious arrangements, expansive beauty and some seriously large-scale emotion, the quartet make music that is, according to charismatic frontman Fyfe Dangerfield “to be heard across the night sky". And where more seductive than Loch Ness. Unmissable.
The most recent spinoff of the Wu Tang-like Odd Future collective, THE INTERNET is a hip hop soul duo consisting of female DJ, singer and producer SYD THA KYD and producer MATT MARTIANS of LA skateboarding hip hop collective OFWGKTA (Wolf Gang Kill Them All). The brilliant young duo’s skeletal beats and smoothed out cooing hit the internet a few months back and RockNess is extremely pleased to be welcoming THE INTERNET to Scotland for the first time.
Arriving with her Neon Gold Records debut ‘Youth’ late last year, the resplendent synths, industrial percussion and soaring vocals of FOXES (Louisa Rose Allen) were the talk of the town. Now the 22 year old from Southampton returns with eagerly awaited follow up EP, ‘Warrior’ on 1st July, with RockNess the perfect precursor to showcase the new material live.
The exquisite STEALING SHEEP have had an impressive rise over the last twelve months. Show stealing performances across the UK and a nod from Sir Paul McCartney has seen the all-female Liverpool trio gain a growing audience. Far from just another folk clone, the influence of 60's psychedelic rock and pop can be clearly heard across their beautifully crafted songs and unusual instrumentation.
Folky and soulful, CHARLOTTE O’CONNOR admits her musical influences are far reaching. Growing up in Blackburn with a half-Malawian/half-Indian mum and an Irish father, she was exposed to all kinds of sounds. And for that we should be thankful. Debut album ‘For Kenny’ released in March was “romantic and fun with a lot of energy” and is set to be swiftly followed up with an as yet untitled EP late summer.
Last but certainly by no means least, Inverness’ KOBI aka Steve Robertson, Gary Thain and Dave Smith have a big vision for 2012. Having spent several years honing their multifaceted, voyeuristic sound on the live circuit, which most notably included a support slot to Shaun Ryder, the recording of the trio’s debut album is soon to commence in Spain. Catch them this summer at Dores and hear the new material in full effect.
