By Alan Wilson, Rocktalk writer

Dundee will have a strong presence on the main stage at T in the Park this year after Belle and Sebastian and Placebo were confirmed to play at the festival on July 8.

Trumpeter and guitarist Mick Cooke of Belle and Sebastian is from Blackness Road in Dundee and Placebo frontman Brian Molko’s mother still lives in the city.

Speaking from Boston, where the outfit voted best Scottish band of all time last year were due to play on their biggest-ever US tour, Mick said the band finally felt the time was right to play T after they declined past offers.

He said, “The new album is much more upbeat and full-on and I think that, before, we all thought our sound would float away into the distance rather than being heard.

“There are problems reaching that kind of audience but I think our sound now will suit it more, the material is a bit more rocky.

“We’ve cut our teeth at festivals abroad and we played in front of 30,000 people at a festival in Spain, so it’s all really about feeling that we were up for it, and we are.”

Also to play are The Charlatans, The Who, Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, Sigur Ros, The Ordinary Boys, Damian “Junior Gong” Marley, Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, Primal Scream, The Magic Numbers, Richard Ashcroft, Felix da Housecat and Slam.

The final tickets for T in the Park sold out in under an hour two weeks ago.