By Alan Wilson, Rocktalk writer

ALMOST MIRACULOUSLY, given the atrocious conditions on Friday which closed the car parks and threatened the festival’s very ability to cope, T in the Park turned out to be yet another triumphant weekend at Balado.

And an almighty scramble to ensure the show went on paid off in style for Snow Patrol last night as they overcame the shock arrest of their Dundee-born keyboard player Tom Simpson on Saturday.

Around 40,000 fans crammed in front of the main stage to see the band, who formed at Dundee University, close the 14th T in the Park in triumph.

It was the culmination of yet another fantastic T in the Park at Balado, with Dundee bands to the fore on Saturday and Sunday.

Headlining the King Tut’s stage on Saturday night, The View put in a blistering performance in front of 15,000 adoring fans singing along to every word.

Meanwhile yesterday The Law played out of their skins in the packed-out T-Break stage to stake a genuine claim as the next band to emerge as a major force from the best Dundee music scene ever.

Not even the worst first day’s weather in its history could spoil the party at the first-ever three-day T in the Park as a total of 200,000 people danced and partied the weekend away at Balado.

Yet again the legendary feel-good spirit came good and completely overcame the conditions to make it once more the top-rated festival of contemporary pop, rock and dance music in Scotland, if not the UK.

Arctic Monkeys, Razorlight, Arcade Fire and The Killers produced blindingly-good sets on Friday and Saturday, while last night Snow Patrol showed just why they have conquered the world over the past three years.

The will-he-won’t-he guessing game ended when Tom walked on stage with the rest of the band to take up his usual place behind the keyboards.

Starting off with the title track from their most recent album, Eyes Open, lead singer Gary Lightbody led the band through a mainly hit-laden set, with singles Chocolate, Chasing Cars and the wonderful Run, which he dedicated to the two-day-old baby son of his lighting engineer.

That song, the perfect festival arms-in-the-air sing-along, was illuminated by thousands of lightsticks, creating a magical scene in front of the stage.

The band walked off stage to a massive roar, returning for an encore, finishing off splendidly with last year’s hit single You’re All I Have for the traditional piper and fireworks display to end the night.

Around 80,000 fans on Saturday and Sunday turned up to find many parts of the arena a sea of mud, with car parks out of bounds and churned up pools of mud everywhere threatening to become impossible to negotiate.

The damage to the site was done with Friday’s torrential downpour on top of several weeks of continuous rain, but warm sunshine and a drying wind on Saturday morning soon started the recovery process.

And although the mud remained, the water somehow drained away slowly and the mud dried up to help make the conditions much more comfortable.

Where Friday’s miserable conditions saw fans rushing to buy wellies and waterproofs, suddenly T-shirts and shorts were the order of the day, and thousands were caught out by the change in the weather, with more than a few showing signs of sunburn.

On top of the severe traffic problems, where some people endured 10-hour delays just to get to the festival site, the sludge had threatened to put a real damper on the event.

But the legendary T in the Park spirit shone through and the fans partied in their own special way, a spirit that has given the festival such a fantastic reputation over its 14 years.

After the chaos on Friday, in contrast the fans had no problems getting to the venue on Saturday, helped no doubt by the fact thousands of fans had heeded the warnings to leave their vehicles at home and use the shuttle buses instead.

Dundee band The View had a triumphant headline gig, producing an earsplitting reception in the packed out King Tut’s Tent after a race back from the Oxegen Festival in Ireland, being flown by helicopter between the events.

The sight of 15,000 clapping fans singing along to every word of Wasted Little DJs, Same Jeans and Superstar Tradesman was awe-inspiring.

Other than their famed Dryburgh fanbase, who this time last year would have predicted such a wonderful occasion for Kieren, Kyle, Steve and Pete? Main stage next year?

Quickly following in their footsteps, though, are The Law, whose TBreak stage gig mirrored that of The View’s fantastic, groundbreaking show there last year.

Cries of Ooh Aah Up The Law rang round the packed tent, with the audience providing a superb atmosphere and the band absolutely loving it.

The Law have made a big step up with this show and can now look forward to achieving similar status to their big mates The View.

And setting the tone on the T-break stage were Fifers and adopted Dundonians Sergeant, who pulled in a crowd of around 1000 for their Saturday set, as did fellow Fifers The Draymin.

Sergeant’s lead singer Nick Mercer, who at 22 is the elder statesman of the band, wasn’t getting carried away though.

“It was a great gig and we got an awesome reception, we didn’t expect to get so many people coming to see us.

“It was by far the best gig we’ve ever done, but we’ll take it with a pinch of salt, like we do everything good that everybody says about us.”

And drummer Rory Buchanan’s proud parents, Gordon and Irene, who are head and deputy head teachers respectively at Southwood School in Glenrothes, couldn’t disguise their pride in their son.

Beaming from ear to ear they said, “They were brilliant, they really were, we’re very proud of him.”

Other highlights yesterday were The Gossip, whose eccentric lead singer Beth Ditto stripped off most of her clothes again and crowd surfed, to the delight of the fans.

Kings Of Leon and The Scissor Sisters provided more quality entertainment, albeit in entirely different styles, while Irishman Damien Rice kept things intimate in the Pet Sounds tent before Snow Patrol pulled down the curtain on T In The Park 2007.

On Saturday, headliners The Killers rocked the main stage till well past curfew time after going on 20 minutes late, while former Beach Boy Brian Wilson rocked through his back catalogue with around 5000 delirious fans in the Pet Sounds tent, which was named after The Beach Boys’ classic album.

T in the Park organisers DF Concerts have a long tradition of including home-grown talent and Dumfries-based Calvin Harris didn’t let the side down with a pulsating set in the King Tut’s stage on Saturday.

Huge queues had the tent bulging by the time he belted out his debut hit single Acceptable in the 80s.

Paolo Nutini, The Fratellis, Biffy Clyro, The Hedrons and The Dykeenies all kept the Scottish flag flying over the weekend.

At the NME stage on Saturday The Thrills, fresh from their Fat Sam’s performance the previous weekend, delighted a sadly-sparse crowd with their infectious, singalong, west-coast American pop-rock.

Colourful Brazilians CSS followed them on stage and soon had the crowd dancing feverishly while extrovert lead singer Lovefoxxx leapt about the stage in her sparkly leotard, which was soon cast aside in her traditional manner for a psychedelic number.

Pete Doherty’s star seemed to be on the wane at the NME stage, though, as he and his band Babyshambles were hugely disappointing.

Big gaps in the crowd began to appear early in the set as a wasted Pete failed to inspire most but his adoring fans up the front.

In contrast, whipping up a mass singalong at the main stage were comeback kings James, who soon abandoned their attempts to play new songs, falling back instead on their greatest hits set to massive applause.

The non-appearance of Amy Winehouse, who pulled out of her show at the 11th hour due to “exhaustion” was a body blow to the organisers but My Chemical Romance and The Kooks produced some stunning sounds to soften the blow for fans.

Appearing on the Pet Sounds arena, meanwhile, was the superb Rufus Wainwright, whose inspiring vocals soared to the heavens and brushed aside every other singer appearing over the weekend.

The highlight of the night though, and for some the whole weekend, was former Beach Boy Brian Wilson, who followed him on stage with his 10-piece band, playing wall-to-wall hits from the sixties and seventies.

Sheer melodic pop magic, songwriting genius and never-bettered harmonies had the capacity audience in the tent in raptures, adoring every word from one of rock’s most deeply-revered figures, performing some of the most cherished music in rock history.

One of the most influential pop composers of the last 50 years, his drug-crazed past may have dimmed his output, never mind his movements, but this icon still loves a good old-fashioned hand-clap from the crowd.

He led the crowd into the intro for Do It Again, bringing the band in one by one and setting the tone for a fantastic, emotional rollercoaster through classic pop surfing songs Do You Wanna Dance, When I Grow Up To Be A Man and I Get Around, ballad In My Room, teen pop anthem Wouldn’t It Be Nice before the all-time classic God Only Knows sent the crowd through the roof.

Even appeals from Brian himself couldn’t quieten the full-on, mass singalong which brought tears from many of the fans.

Over on the King Tut’s stage meanwhile, Kyle, Steve, Pete and Kieren were playing the “gig of their lives” in front of 15,000 people.

Belting out all the songs from the debut number one album Hats Off To The Buskers, including their three hit singles, the audience reception was unbelievable.

Right to the back of the packed tent, hands were in the air and people were dancing their socks off, singing along to every word.

The Dryburgh lads, who just over a year ago were still relatively unknown outside of Dundee, rocked the tent with their Dundee street pop-rock which has charmed kids throughout the UK, Europe and Japan.

“I think that was the best gig I’ve ever played,” lead guitarist Pete Reilly said afterwards.

“It was superb, a fantastic experience and I couldn’t believe the size of the crowd in that tent. The noise was unbelievable.

“We’ve played some amazing gigs over the past year but nothing compares with that.

“We all really enjoyed it and it was brilliant for our mates in the crowd, they’ve been fantastic over the past couple of years and to see all those familiar faces every time we play is fantastic. They deserve a lot of the credit for what’s happened to us.”

Sheer emotion in the aftermath of their superb gig struck The Law, with Stuart Purvey, Steve Anderson and brothers Simon and Martin Donald visibly moved by the reaction of the crowd in the T-break stage.

“That was brilliant, better than anything we’ve ever done before,” lead guitarist Steve said. “The best bit was walking on stage. The buzz was unbelievable, fantastic. We had to live up to the hype that’s been building up and we did it. The fans were brilliant.”

Tennent’s Lager head of sponsorship George Kyle said, “It’s great to have a sunny Sunday and great performances.”

Triumph yet again, then, for T in the Park and with a limited number of tickets for next year on sale tomorrow at this year’s prices, the rush is already on for 2008.