If someone had told us a few weeks ago that we would have a full weekend of wall-to-wall sunshine for TRNSMT Festival they would have been laughed at … but yes it actually did happen! Bucket hats, sunglasses, summer clobber and (hopefully) suncream were the order of the opening day as Calum Bowie officially opened the festival shenanigans on the main stage, he played over at the King Tut’s Stage in 2023 and this is a big step up for the Edinburgh-based singer-songwriter. Calum plays with a full band now but we can still recall his acoustic performance at Sound City in 2023, he has matured so much musically since then and his recent Garage performance shows how much of a following he has, his next show in Glasgow at Barrowland will be his most ambitious yet. We really enjoyed We Are The River and Love Lost while Dancing In The Sun has the young crowd doing just that. We couldn’t have asked for a better opener for the weekend. 9/10
The 2025 UK Eurovision entrant Remember Monday were a late addition to the festival line-up and we thought it would be rude not to check them out. We’re glad we did as they played a half-hour of mellow indie country-pop, they may not have been too successful at Eurovision (finishing 19th overall) but that takes nothing away from the band who are fronted by three vocalists Lauren Byrne, Holly Anne-Hull and Charlotte Steele. Last year they took the leap and left their jobs to focus on music full-time, a bold move from the band that were formed in 2013. The crowd were delighted to hear Remember Monday play covers of Sabrina Carpenter’s track Please Please Please and Chappell Roan hit Pink Pony Club, their new song Happier also sounded really good. They left Eurovision track What The Hell Just Happened to the end of the set and by this point had definitely won over more than a few new fans. They will be back in Glasgow on 28th October when they play a headline show at SWG3. 9/10
We made a quick dash back to the main stage where James Bay had already began his set. We caught the last twenty-five minutes of the set and this is actually our first time seeing James Bay live. He definitely left a good impression as he ran through a classic collection of hits including Let It Go and Hold Back The River, these two songs collectively have well over two billion streams now proving just how popular this talented musician is. The crowd singalong during Hold Back The River was delightful, many amongst the crowd are here for a party that’s for sure, James played a memorable guitar solo during his latest release You And Me Time. 8/10
Back over at the King Tut’s stage we can confirm that NOFUN! were actually very fun, the Los Angeles based band have members from around the globe. They would have been glad of the bigger stage today as there are no fewer than nine musicians on there with most of them taking turns on vocals as they work through a set filled with alternative rock and hip-hop, with 50 Cent, Schoolboy Q and Bemz all playing later this gives the fans a taster of what to expect from their performances. 7/10
After playing two headline shows at the O2 Academy last year Twin Atlantic are back to bring the energy to the TRNSMT main stage as Sam McTrusty, Ross McNae, Barry McKenna and Craig Kneale wowed the home crowd with a set packed with big hits such as Heart And Soul, No Sleep and World Class Entertainment. New track Meltdown has Sam commenting, “this is a heavy sad one, don’t cry!” the song is taken from the Meltdown album that was released in 2024. Salvation is also sounding very fresh after being released back in May, the crowd interactions during the performance were decent and it was good to see a Glaswegian band playing the main stage. Twin Atlantic later played the after party at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut for the Friday wind-down that ran on until well after midnight. 8/10
We decided to chill in the sun for half an hour at the main stage as we awaited Liverpool’s Jamie Webster taking to the stage, this guy knows how to pull a big crowd as he did last time in 2023 when his performance went down a storm. When the crowd begin chanting “f*ck the Tories” Jamie soon shouts them down telling them to leave the world for the politicians to sort out. This is a new grown-up Jamie Webster then, his shows used to be filled with angst against whatever politician was annoying him that day! Voice Of The Voiceless opens the set to a decent crowd response but the crowd all know what songs they want to hear. They have to wait until the end of the performance for This Place and the fantastic Weekend In Paradise that has the crowd chanting back to the stage “was it a pointless three day bender or a weekend in paradise my friend”, this was one of our highlights of the day. Jamie always comments how much he loves playing in Glasgow and how it is like a second home city to him, the crowd were fantastic during this one, the young crowd have been so energetic and enthusiastic so far today and crucially also well-behaved. The new track Across The River went down a treat in the blazing sunshine. 10/10
We first came across Good Neighbours in 2024 at Sound City and have been a fan ever since, they announced that debut album Blue Sky Mentality would be released on 26th September, which is another one to look forward to. London-based duo Oli Fox and Scott Verrill took the crowd through a half hour set that included the massive hit Home that has amassed well over 400 million streams, the vocalist is on drums for that particular song showing off his musical talents while Starry Eyed was also a standout. 9/10
For our first visit down to the BBC Introducing Stage that replaces The River Stage, it seemed so well organised as one of our recent favourite bands Cliffords take to the stage. The Cork band are quickly gaining a reputation for playing full-on live sets, we have been lucky enough to see them twice already since May so knew what to expect. Singer Iona Lynch has an incredibly powerful vocal range that gets the crowd on side straight away, the pick of the set for us are My Favourite Monster, Bittersweet and Sleeping With Ghosts. Cliffords seem to be playing just about every festival this summer and deservedly so, they could potentially be the next breakout band from across the Irish sea. 10/10
The timings couldn’t have been better as we walked across to the King Tut’s stage once again just as Welsh indie rockers The Royston Club were about to perform, They last played at TRNSMT in 2023 down at the River Stage and drew a massive crowd, likewise they do today, they have built quite a fanbase around the UK. The eleven-track set begian with The Patch Where Nothing Grows, singer Tom Faithfull is solid throughout and Ben Matthias on guitar is also a standout, the summer of 2025 is definitely a massive one for the indie scene with the return of the Gallagher brothers helping this along. We really do hope guitar music is here to stay now, Mrs Narcissistic was incredible today with the crowd helping it along in singing the words back to the stage. They played a couple of new tracks too with 30/20 and Curses & Spit suggesting more new music is on the way this year. These guys should be playing the main stage next time around. 10/10
We last saw Wet Leg a few years ago at Barrowland supporting Inhaler and thought they were a bit flat … but now they are unrecognisable from back then, vocalist Rhian Teasdale owns the main stage today as she struts around interacting with the crowd in hotpants and a bra that would give Amy Taylor of Amyl & The Sniffers a run for her money! They have definitely developed a punkier edge with the new music, talking of which they released new album Moisturizer this very day, we were well prepared and had a listen on the way up on the train. They would play seven from Moisturizer and seven from debut album Wet Leg during the hour long set that was one of the best of the weekend for us. Recent single Catch These Fists opens the set, Hester Chambers always takes a low profile on the stage standing facing away some of the time but she did make a very important speech around world politics and free speech. Teasdale has the crowd let out an almighty scream during Ur Mum to make sure everyone is awake, Wet Dream and Mangetout were also the pick of the bunch. They are back in Glasgow on 24th November at the O2 Academy after a prolonged tour of North America and Europe. 10/10
Back down at the BBC Introducing Glasgow rapper Bemz closes the stage for the night with a forty-five minute set and a decent sized crowd. This is our first time seeing him live and we thought it was a fitting end to the day. He gets a family friend Neil up on stage to play bass for a song while Zidane and 26 are the standouts from the set. 9/10
We were so excited to see Australian four-piece Confidence Man again after their storming set at Barrowland in November last year and they didn’t let us down. The stage antics of Janet Planet and Sugar Bones are always incredible to watch alongside the keyboard player and drummer who were wearing the usual trademark veils. From the first song Now U Do to the last one Holiday the energy was unreal, the King Tut’s stage is bouncing away to every song, these guys are the real headliners today for us. They both put so much energy into the performance while the veiled guys provide the extra entertainment while Janet and Sugar Bones head backstage for three costume changes during the hour-long set. There was unreal energy from the crowd here, wild scenes and the pick of the day alongside Wet Leg. 10/10
We hung around for an hour of the 50 Cent set but need to be honest here it wasn’t really something that got us fired up, don’t get us wrong those around us in pen 2 were all singing along and having a great time, however it’s not really a genre that we would normally cover. Curtis Jackson has the usual backing dancers on the stage, great visuals on the screen and even acrobatic dancers! Day one of TRNSMT is over, the crowd were so well behaved today in the sun and we can’t wait for tomorrow now, DF Concerts were highly organised with every aspect of the day running smoothly.
Written by: Alan Brown
