Frank Finlayson looks at Belladrum 2012 headliners, Travis and The Wombats.
Finally, after a winter of speculation the Belladrum headliners have been announced. As usual there were rumours, and some were more ridiculous than others. Did anyone really believe that we would have U2 on the Garden Stage? Probably the same sad lot that thought Coldplay were appearing at Dores. Anyway, back to reality….
Heading up the main stage on Saturday night, in their only Scottish festival appearance of 2012, are Travis. Travis come with a plethora of material including the singularly named singles Turn, Sing and Closer. This is backed up by 6 albums, including ‘The Man Who’ and ‘The Invisible Band’ which both debuted at No.1 in the UK album chart.
Travis are a truly professional and versatile band and their September 2008 appearance at the Ironworks turned into a double set due to a lack of support on the night. Fran Healy and co won’t be without their support on closing night at Bella even if we are singing ‘Why Does It Always Rain on Me?’
Anyone who was at Rockness last year wouldn’t have failed to notice the up and at ‘em set by The Wombats in the early Sunday evening. For the band comprising Liverpudlians Matthew Murphy and Dan Haggis alongside Norwegian Tord Øverland-Knudsen, this completed a hat-trick of appearances on the shores of Loch Ness. Their solid north support has been augmented by turns at the Ironworks, once as support to The Enemy and once headlining.
Between them they have produced two albums ‘A Guide to Love Loss & Desperation’ and ‘This Modern Glitch’ and from those have come memorable singles such as ‘Backfire at the Disco’, ‘Moving to New York’ and ‘Jump Into The Fog’.
The Wombats performances are always full of energy, and run at a frantic pace; a great way to end the Friday night. Let’s all dance to Joy Division? Nah! Dance to the Wombats!
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Belladrum 2012 will be held between the 2nd and 4th of August.
Advance adult weekend tickets are £95. They include parking and camping, except for campervans and caravans which will be charged £50 per vehicle or £130 to include electrical hook-up.. As in previous years, tickets for children 12 & under are free. Online e-tickets are available from Skiddle (www.skiddle.com); limited numbers of printed tickets are available from TicketScotland (www.tickets-scotland.com) in Edinburgh,and Glasgow, One-Up in Aberdeen, The Ironworks, Mania, Hootananny and Eden Court in Inverness; Sweet Treats in Dingwall, Sound & Vision in Elgin, Morrison’s Ironmongers in Beauly and Kiltarlity Post Office.
