'Out of tune' at a 'sorry site'

The Scotsman has been kind enough to publish a letter I sent it regarding T in the Park and in response to previous correspondence from a visitor from the USA who described the behaviour and cleanliness at the event in unflattering terms. Indeed it's essentially an abridged version of my post from earlier in the week, and the newspaper's letters editor has (as I expected!) deleted the acts on the festival line up that I namechecked, which means my abbreviation of the Manic Street Preachers to mere 'the Manics' in order to both help keep the letter to a reasonable length and (try to) demonstrate that I'm 'down wiv da kidz' was in vain. ('Down wiv da kidz' doesn't sound very T in the Park-ish, but I'm sure you get my middle-aged drift.)

Anyway, I wouldn't normally reproduce a published letter on here if it's just a rehash of another blogpost, but I do so in this case just to add that I drove past the Balado site on Thursday night - it's adjacent to the M90 near the Kinross service station - and there were so many seagulls circling round it that anyone passing by would be forgiven for thinking it was a municipal dump.

In fact I pulled off the motorway to have a wee lookie, but the site is surrounded by barriers and there were security guards on duty at all the exits, so I assumed that they would tell me to go forth and multiply if I'd asked if I could come in and take a few piccies of the mess, or whatever.

Indeed - and I may be wrong here - I think that in previous years the barriers surrounding the site weren't restrictive enough that people passing by couldn't see in, and it's also my recollection that press access after the event was restricted because the published photos of the mess left behind were detracting from the official version of events mentioned in my letter (below).

Interestingly, the Scotsman has an aerial photograph of the mess in today's online edition (which I've taken the liberty of including above) together with a very brief piece niftily titled 'Sorry site', and although the image is too small and taken from too far away to show the 'wreckage' in all its glory, perhaps the paper edition manages to portray it more, er, graphically.

Of course, many reading this will be wondering what all the fuss is about, since the Balado site is private property, and the mess will be cleaned up eventually anyway.

Which is to an extent a plausible opinion, but what's perhaps more important is what it all says about wider society. For example, our attitude to the environment (particular among younger people), the response of police and politicians, and the interface between them all.

By the same token, the T in the Park scenario is essentially our Saturday night towns and cities writ large, and to that extent perhaps provides evidence that minimum pricing for alcohol would barely scratch the surface of the consumption and related crime problems.

Anyway, here's the version of the published letter sent to the Scotsman,which the newspaper has titled 'Out of tune':

It was interesting to compare Christopher Lochhead's description of T in the Park with the official version of events.

Thus the visitor from the USA complains of "offensive" and "disturbing" behaviour, a "sea of trash", a "garbage dump", an indescribable smell and the whole event turned into a "toilet".

Meanwhile, police praised the "community spirit", an organiser talked of "positive community behaviour", while a councillor called the festival a "jewel in the crown".

Then there's the Citizen T initiative to encourage responsible behaviour, and we should all be grateful for the fact that the event is carbon neutral.

But when the powers that be indulge in such language and gimmicks there's a fair chance that it's just attempting to put a gloss on something that's to an extent the complete opposite, but professional, commercial and political imperatives result in a classic triumph of spin over substance.

Indeed, while I would love to see some of the acts who performed at Balado - such as the Foo Fighters, Coldplay, the Manics, Slash, the Strokes, KT Tunstall and Pulp - I think I'll stick to the more civilised environment of my iPod.

Of course, despite the odd disgruntled customer and people like myself the event is guaranteed to be a sell out anyway, thus the bottom line is unaffected.