Ocean Colour Scene and Futureheads latest additions to summer festivals

Mar 19 2010 By Michael Pringle

SPRING finally seems to be in the air, well sort of. It won't be long before the outdoor music festival season is once again upon us.

The biggest two commercial festivals, T in the Park and RockNess, have recently revealed the majority if not all of their headliners. The Connect Festival is again posted missing from the circuit and it looks as if it may well be a non-runner for quite some time if not permanently. The Wickerman Festival has today announced some of the main acts for this year. Ocean Colour Scene will headline the main stage on the Saturday night, also on the bill are Codeine Velvet Club - the new project by Jon Lawlor of The Fratellis and burlesque star Lou Hickey, The Saw Doctors, The Futureheads and The Undertones.

Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival are still keeping their line-up under wraps for the time being. no doubt they will be working hard behind the scenes trying to entice the best artists they can to the festival within their budgets, which are a lot more modest than the big two. The Wickerman and Belladrum have become progressively more commercial oer the years but are still family friendly affairs catering for wider and more alternative audiences.

Although not a festival, Snow Patrol have elected to play in Glasgow's Bellahouston park on the same weekend as RockNess takes place on the banks of Loch Ness.

Organisers at RockNess look as if they've pulled a few big names out of the hat with Pendulum playing a Scottish festival exclusive and Leftfield playing live for the first time in over a decade, Norman Cook aka Fat Boy Slim will also make a triumphant return to Dores, near Inverness. Also on the bill are The Strokes, Friendly Fires, Vampire Weekend, 2 Many DJs and the Dub Pistols.

Tickets for T in the Park have already sold out and those lucky enough to have got their's will be treated to a line-up including headliners; Eminem, Kasabian, Muse, The Prodigy, Black Eyed Peas, Madness. Others playing over the weekend on numerous stages will be; Stereophonics, Jay Z, Dizzee Rascal, Florence and the Machine, Biffy Clyro, Paulo Nutini and a whole host of others.