At Open'er festival in Poland Kasabian warm up for T in the Park slot

KASABIAN warmed up for their T in the Park headline set with a storming gig at a festival in the Polish city of Gdansk.
But the rockers revealed that their European tour has become such a blur that they have to print the name of the country at the top of their set list to keep track of where they are.
The Leicester band have had a hectic schedule of playing festivals and gigs throughout Europe but admit they can't wait to top the bill at T in the Park this weekend.
I caught up with the lads at the Open'er music festival in Poland.

Currently voted Europe's best major festival, Open'er also featured performances from Skunk Anansie and Ellie Goulding, who are both in the T in the Park line up.
Relaxing with the band backstage at the festival, Kasabian's guitarist and songwriter Serge Pizzorno admitted: "We flew into Poland this evening but if it didn't have the name of the country written at the top of the set list we wouldn't know where we are.
"It doesn't matter and I kind of like it like that. We are just here to play a show.
"Sometimes you don't know what day it is. It's a bubble.
"You've got to be built for touring as much as we do. If you're not built for it, it's over. The touring life is not for everyone. You've got to be wired up that way."
They'll have no such problems at T in the Park this weekend as Kasabian have been counting down to their prestigious main stage gig which will round o the festival in style.
They'll be performing directly after Jay-Z and before the reworks signal the end of the event, which gets under way at Balado, near Kinross on Friday.
Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan said: "T in the Park will be the first festival headliner for us and we can't wait because it is going to be amazing."
Serge added: "At T in the Park, you've got Muse, Eminem and Kasabian. If you are into music, you can't argue with that. It's going to be incredible whatever you're into."
At the Open'er festival, Kasabian gave the Razz an exclusive preview of their show.
They played a one-and-a-half-hour set on Saturday night for 60,000 ecstatic Polish fans, opening with Fast Fuse as frontman Tom asked the crowd: "Poland, how are you?"
Next up were Shoot The Runner, Underdog, Where Did All the Love Go? and Swarfiga.
They also belted out favourites including Cut O , Reason Is Treason and Mothman before thick As thieves, Take Aim and Empire.
The rockers' full on assault continued with Doberman, Stunt, Club Foot, Fire, Vlad The Impaler and LSF.
Kasabian also previewed a number of tracks from their forthcoming new album, which is due out in September.
It's been a fantastic year so far for them, winning Best British group at the Brits, Best British Album for West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum at the NME awards and Best Song for Fire at the Mojo awards.
But even with all those accolades, frontman Tom says the band's slot ahead of Jay-Z at T in the Park is a huge step for them.
He has nothing but praise for the rapper, who caused controversy by becoming the first hip-hop act to headline Glastonbury.
Tom said: "From doing that one Glastonbury gig he is now seen as a festival act, so fair play. He's going on before us. It's quite nice because we were his support act at a festival the other night. He is cool."
Meanwhile, Serge has admitted he is on cloud nine with the news that he and his girlfriend are expecting their first child.
He said: "I feel great. I'm looking forward to being a dad. e baby is due in September.
"I am buzzing and I am also looking forward to stopping worrying about myself.
"I am pretty cool about it and will carry on as before. I'll always be on tour. I'll be writing music through everything." Skunk Anansie also looked on top form in Gdansk at the festival which is held in a former airfield.
Singer Skin crowd surfed during their most famous hit single Weak.
She told the audience: "We haven't been in Poland for 10 years. It's absolutely incredible to be back."
And judging by the reaction of the crowd, the Balado audience will be in for a treat.

T in the Park line-up Three new additions

Added to T In The Park are Editors, Frightened Rabbit and Delta Maid have all been added, as Fancy Dress Friday returns for the third year running.
Chart topping Editors play T in the Park for the fourth time on Friday 9th July as part of the Line up Main stage, fresh from supporting Snow Patrol at their Bellahouston Park show in Glasgow.
One of Scotland's hottest bands, Frightened Rabbit, will play the King Tut's Wah Wah Tent on Saturday 10th July. With their star in the ascendancy, the band currently played a string of sold out shows and performed on 'Late Night With Jimmy Fallon' in the US.
Young Liverpudlian singer songwriter Delta Maid will perform her modern take on the blues when the artist makes her T in the Park debut, opening the Radio 1/NME Stage on Sunday 11th July.
The home of traditional Scottish music at T in the Park returns with the Ceilidh Tent, as this year mixes it up with Ceilidh acts of a traditional style performing alongside those with a contemporary take on the Scottish institution.
The Saturday 10th July line-up consists of Dunregan, Galik Bred, Skerryvore and Grousebeater Sound System, while Sunday 11th July includes Koda, Canongate Cadjers, Whiskey Kiss and The Big Shoogle.
Fancy Dress Friday will also return for the third year as festival goers are encouraged to get into the spirit of 'The Madder Hatters T Party', with Stetsons and sombreros, bonnets and boaters, panamas and porkpies the order of the day.
Any T in the Parkers still needing inspiration for an outfit should get their thinking caps on and hit the hat shop.
Festival goers who fully embrace the dress up shenanigans, whether sporting fabulous headgear or togged up in a terrific outfit of any theme, should attend 'The Mad Hatters T Party' in the Indie Disco in the campsite from 1pm to 4pm on Friday 9th July, to have a chance of winning tickets for T in the Park 2011.

T In The Park The View announce warm-up show and ticket details

T In The Park the View are set to play warm up gig ahead of this year's festival (July 9-11). The band will play Inverness Ironworks on July 7, before playing the event's main stage on Sunday (11)"T In The Park is our favourite festival of the summer, so it's great to be involved in the warm up gig to get us in the mood for it annacae aitwae!" declared frontman Kyle Falconer of the show.

Tickets go on sale on Monday (June 14) at 9am. To check the availability of The View tickets and get all the latest listings.

Exciting new additions added to T In The Park

Several more acts have been added to the T in the Park bill today (Thursday) including Canadian four piece Billy Talent, Lissie, who is due to release her debut album next month, and Daisy Dares You. All will appear on the T Break Stage along with Matthew P and White Belt Yellow Tag who will play on the Friday (9 July) whilst Astral Planes, Sparrow and the Workshop and Twisted Wheel will perform on Saturday (10 July).

Closing the stage on Sunday (11 July) will be A Band Called Quinn, Alex Gardner, Midnight Lion and Eliza Doolittle.

With just 42 days until the event the line-up already includes huge names such as Carl Cox, Bombay Bicycle Club, Laura Marling, Calvin Harris, David Guetta, Madness, The Prodigy, The Temper Trap along with Faithless, and Biffy Clyro.

Muse, Eminem and Kasabian will headline this year’s festival.

Jay-Z will be a massive hit at T in the Park, predicts Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys has tipped Jay Z to be a huge hit at this summer's T in the Park festival.

The R&B superstar says her hip hop pal, who faced controversy when he headlined Glastonbury two years ago, will have no problems when he heads to Balado in July.

Alicia, who sings on Jay-Z's Empire State Of Mind records, believes his headline slot will thrill the festival's 85,000 crowd.

She said: "Jay-Z is wonderful, so it's going to go great at T in the Park.

"Come on man, he has been in the business a long time and he has great songs and I know the people there are looking forward to him coming."

Jay-Z last headlined a festival in the UK at Glastonbury in 2008. His inclusion on the bill provoked a furious reaction from Noel Gallagher.

The former Oasis guitarist criticised the decision to go for a hip hop act from the US instead of a British guitar act.

Gallagher moaned: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you start to break it then people aren't going to go.

"I'm sorry, but Jay-Z? No chance." Despite his objection, Jay-Z went on to prove a highlight at Britain's biggest festival.

Alicia, 29, whose mum Terri is part-Scottish and part-Italian-Irish, insists he will come all guns blazing to Scotland.

He joins a line-up that includes rapper Eminem, rockers Muse, Black Eyed Peas and Kasabian.

She insists the only person that would make the bill better is ex-Eurythmics star Annie Lennox.

"Annie Lennox is amazing," she said. "I love her so much. She is a beautiful human being and is so special. She is just phenomenal."

Alicia now wants to find fans who will accompany her to Africa for the Keep A Child Alive foundation, of which she is a global ambassador.

She said: "Keep A Child Alive is about providing the medicine for children and families who have AIDS and wouldn't be able to afford the medicine, especially in places like Africa, and we are moving into India.

"We are taking five people who text the word Alive to 90999 with me to Africa when I go so they can experience what I did."

Alicia has sold 30 million records and won 12 Grammy Awards since her 2001 debut album, Songs In A Minor. She plays Glasgow's SECC on May 23.

Jay-Z to perform at T in the Park

ALICIA KEYS has tipped Jay-Z to be a huge hit at this summer's T in the Park festival.

The R&B superstar says her hip hop pal, who faced controversy when he headlined Glastonbury two years ago, will have no problems when he heads to Balado in July.

Alicia, who sings on Jay-Z's Empire State Of Mind records, believes his headline slot will thrill the festival's 85,000 crowd.

She said: "Jay-Z is wonderful, so it's going to go great at T in the Park.

T in the Park wins UK Festival Awards

Whilst this topic can be the butt of many a festival joke the Team at T in the Park think that it’s certainly nothing to be sniffed at. The loos at T in the Park in 2009 were the best yet; a fact, which was officially recognised at a top Awards show in London last night where fans voted Scotland’s favourite festival as having the most tip-top event-toilets in the UK, and we’re absolutely bursting to tell you why! At T in the Park we have approximately 1,270 toilets, which is 15% above the recommended toilet allowance (as suggested by The Purple Guide) and if these were piled on top of one and other they would be equal to the height of EIGHT Empire State Buildings Vacuum Tankers at T in the Park have a combined suction of 90,000 cubic feet per minute, the equivalent of 1,500 domestic Dyson’s and goodness knows how many standard vacuums and in 2009 those tankers (affectionately known by staff as Octopooey’s) pumped no less 2.4m litres over the weekend, the same as emptying an Olympic sized swimming pool 7m sheets of toilet paper were used at T in the Park over 4 Days, enough paper to go from Glasgow to London In 2009 there were a total of 259,000 T in the Park toilet visits – equivalent to the population of Newcastle upon Tyne T in the Park’s special “Refresh” zone, complete with luxury loo trailers, mirrors, home comforts, products, straighteners and numerous other treats has consistently surveyed as the festival female’s favourite luxury event feature