TRNSMT Festival
glasgow
19th-21st June 2026
Photography by Evan McGill
Bella Platt
Full time student and live music enthusiast, actively involved in Manchester and Newcastle’s music scene, interviewing and reviewing grassroots bands and larger indie acts.
We headed down to Glasgow’s TRNSMT Festival for a huge weekend of music including CMAT, The Last Dinner Party and many more
After Friday’s unrelenting weather in Glasgow tested the resolve of even the most dedicated festival-goers, Saturday and Sunday arrived to TRNSMT as if in apology. Relentless sunshine, world-class acts, and crowds with room to breathe. Attendance was partly shaped by the 60,000 Scottish fans currently stateside for the World Cup, but Glasgow was far from quiet. The city hummed with its usual restless energy, and those who stayed were rewarded with a weekend that felt both intimate and genuinely special.
The Main Stage highlight of Saturday was The Last Dinner Party, wearing a uniform of glimmering satin and tartan ruched skirts. The transcendent shoegaze-pop guitar of ‘Scythe‘gave way to the raw, demanding energy of’Big Dog‘- a band now to entirely at home commanding a main stage in front of thousands.
The stage was also graced by Scottish fan favorites The Snuts, The Fratellisand Kasabian closing out the night. Serge took to the stage in skeleton denim and a fur jacket, screaming’Fire‘and’clubfoot‘Down the mic. Sunday brought Irish pop sensation CMAT as headliner, whose colorful set was full of songs of resistance from ‘EuroCountry,‘ full of pride at the large headline, and once again delivered masterful fun.
King Tuts Stage, sponsored by Glasgow’s beloved indie venue, continued its legacy of championing talented young musicians, with sets from Mother Salach, KeoRose Gray, and later a rare intimate show from Loyle Carner. Mother Salach were an immediate success, their incredible musicality and fresh take on Irish folk turning heads of audience and musicians alike. standout track ‘Man Who Seeks Pleasure’ rises them above their peers with its poetic lyricism of yearning and pain.
Keo followed with exactly what their reputation promised: a high-energy set of anthemic guitars and infectious momentum. Newest single’That’s Me,’ lifted from their upcoming album ‘Put A Smile On For Me‘, drew one of the day’s loudest reactions. There’s a contagious youth to Keo’s live show – it’ll be fascinating to see whether their new record channels that energy or begins to reveal something more considered.
The weekends smallest stage, BBC Introducing, punched well above its size. The hub of grassroot performance was made possible by BBC Introducing apprentices backstage learning the delicate intricacies of live music logistics. The great array of bands the stage hosted over the weekend gave it an infectious community feel, and provided the ideal spot to discover the next big thing early.
The perfect case in point: Basht. The Dublin rockers have been astounding crowds around Europe with heavy hitting guitars and controlled vocals. Their set leaned heavily into unreleased material – ‘Reptillion Vermillion’ and ‘Terror on the TV’ – among fan favorites like ‘Dirty White.’ Musically, they’ve matured; the newer songs are darker and more political, the progression feels earned. The result was a crowd of old and new fans stretching all the way back into the trees.
Melbourne’s Radio Free Alice followed, arriving straight from a London studio where they had been recording their new album. Noah’s distinctive vocals circled themes of home and the discomfort of youth, drawing from two acclaimed EPs, ‘Paris Is Gone‘and’on the ground‘that have quietly made them a sensation back home. The set carried an added charge with new single ‘Lunch Money,’ a moment that felt like a glimpse into the next chapter for a band already outgrowing the stages they’re playing.
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