Tin the Park

Scotland's biggest music festival is upon us once again in the beautiful area known as Balado near Kinross. The festival has a reputation for being a bit lairy, but is all taken in good spirit. This years main stage headliners will be moron led (sorry mormon!) american rockers The Killers, bedwetters Snow Patrol, the improving Kings of Leon and on a glorious comeback trail Blur. Here though are my five bands you must see over the three day weekend.

Manic Street Preachers
The Welsh trio have not played here for ten years when they headlined the main stage at their commercial peak. This year they will be headlining the King Tuts stage, effectively the third stage. In 1999 bassist Nicky Wire labelled Billy Bragg a big nosed twat, so expect more incendiary mayhem.

Blur
Fresh from their huge comeback shows at Hyde Park which were a massive success, this is Blur's last stop on their reunion tour. Co headlining the final night with Snow Patrol, Blur Im sure will stamp their authority all over Snow Patrol's sickly indie balladeering. Make sure you are down the front for Song 2 as at Hyde Park it was the best fun I have had at a gig all year.

Little Boots
A current personal favourite of mine after hearing two gorgeous electro pop singles Remedy and New In Town. Victoria Hesketh as her mom knows her will bring a touch of glamour to the Scottish countryside.

Bloc Party
This band are now seasoned festival campaigners, who seem to take on another life on stage. The records are not too shabby but seem so lo-fi in comparison to the bruising rock beast they turn into live.

Florence and the Machine
The buzz band at the moment which is all down to lead singer Florence Welch's captivating stage show. She is a performer right out of the top draw taking the music to another level. The songs are a mixture of orchestral pop, opera and indie that sound gloomy but at the same time seem to end up lifting you.

There are many acts playing across a variety of stages throughout the weekend check the official website for full details. The festival sold out a long time ago, so if you want to catch a bit of the action tune in to BBC 3 in the evening, plus Radio 1 has some of the best bits, plus there is BBC i Player for those who want to watch at their own leisure. At some point next week I will have some discussion on the Weekend.