The TRNSMT 2019 Lineup - Why Is There Backlash?

It's a beautiful time of the year Ladies and Gentlemen, not exactly for weather, but it is finally the time when the biggest Music Festivals from around the world announce their Lineups for Summer 2019. From Coachella to Glastonbury and our very own Electric Picnic, Festival Lineup's can be met with reactions of either pure joy, the 'it looks sh*t but I'll still go' feeling, or bitter disappointment. Now I'll be reporting on the big Lineup's as they're released, but following the Lineup Announcement of Scottish festival 'TRNSMT' on Monday, it's fair to say it's apparent cult following has turned on the festival.

TRNSMT 2018; Headlined by Stereophonics, Liam Gallagher, Arctic Monkeys, Queen + Adam Lambert and The Killers.

TRNSMT is Scotland's biggest Music Festival, and can be considered one of the biggest in the UK, alongside Glastonbury and Reading/Leeds. It replaced the much beloved 'T in the Park' Festival following the final installment of it in 2016. So TRNSMT has only taken place twice as of writing this, 2017 and 2018, and with only those two events it's gained a fantastic reputation. This is because of absolutely stellar Lineup's, capitalising perfectly on what was popular at the time and what fans crave to see.

Kasabian's Tom Meghan peforming at TRNSMT in 2017.

For their first run out in 2017, TRNSMT delivered a Lineup seemingly too good for a first time festival. Taking place between July 7th-9th, day 1 saw Radiohead, day 2 had Kasabian, Catfish & The Bottlemen, The Kooks, George Ezra and Stormzy, and day 3 had Biffy Clyro backed by the 1975 and Two Door Cinema Club. Huge. Notice the difference in artists there, you have rock colliding with pop and rap, its brilliant.

TRNSMT's 2017 Lineup.

So, jump forward a year to 2018. TRNSMT had good reputation to live up to but nobody expected this. What they announced was pure insanity. Doubling in length, the festival now took place over two weekends, June 29th - July 8th. This Lineup is an actual dream, day 1 had Stereophonics backed by The Script, day 2 had Liam Gallagher and Wolf Alice, day 3 included Arctic Monkeys, Interpol, Blossoms and Miles Kane. Day 4 (second weekend) had Queen + Adam Lambert and the final day saw The Killers, Chvrches and Franz Ferdinand! What!

TRNSMT's 2018 Lineup.

So yeah, TRNSMT was the sh*t. Notice I say 'was' there. This 2018 Lineup is impossible to match, and we have to understand Festival Lineups are based on who's touring at the time, with headliners likely touring behind a new album release, so timing is key for the people booking these events. But for 2019's Lineup, announced last Monday (Feb 18th), to say it's not living up to last years is a big understatement.

Now abandoning the 2nd weekend, TRNSMT 2019 will take place between July 12th and 14th. Day 1 is being headlined by Stormzy, backed by Gerry Cinnamon and Years & Years. Stormzy and Cinnamon were previously quite low down on TRNSMT Lineup's, so it is nice to see them progress, however it lacks pure star power which I'll get back to. Day 2 will see now headliners, Catfish & The Bottlemen, Bastille and Richard Ashcroft. And finally day 3 consists of George Ezra, Snow Patrol, Jess Glynne and The Kooks. It's not horrible, not at all, but compared to last year the lack of megastars is very noticeable. 

TRNSMT's 2019 Lineup.

Now I understand hundreds of Festivals take place all over the world, with many taking place at the same time, but considering what musicians are touring this Summer, this lineup is very poor. Acts like Fleetwood Mac, Florence & The Machine, The Strokes, Muse, Foo Fighters, The Cure, have all taken festival bookings for this Summer, and it seems TRNSMT has chosen to take the route of what the kids will want, a casual music audience, seemingly neglecting to book acts who have been around for more than 6 years. They're trying to be, 'hip', I hate to say. Fan reaction on Twitter following the announcement was leaning towards the negative, but as we know, hate is louder than love, and the festival will still probably sell out, but here's what the main Twitter reactions looked like.

Now, there are some fantastic acts scattered in there, Catfish & The Bottlemen are brilliant and are soon releasing a new album, but they're not Festival Headliners in my opinion. The Kooks are, past their prime, Richard Ashcroft is good but is mainly nostalgic. It's up and coming acts like Sam Fender, The Snuts, The Hunna, Jade Bird and SWMRS that stand out for me and make TRNSMT original. But that's the problem here, all the names that stand out are down the very bottom. The lack of big mainstream names is too obvious.

TRNSMT 2018.

As an outsider looking in, TRNSMT will be more of a life experience than a musical awakening, no act on the top half of that poster will blow you away to the point of as you leave they're show you'll want their lyrics tattooed on your arm. I think if anyone is attending TRNSMT 2019, they should stick to the smaller stages mostly, that's where you'll find the magic of originality. Obviously get your moneys worth, hear 'Shotgun' by George Ezra for the millionth time except, live and in the rain, in the exact same spot where a year previous people were watching Queen. Enjoy that.