ARE the Arctic Monkeys planning a surprise appearance at Scotland’s newest music festival tomorrow?
That’s the rumour doing the rounds on social media, with fans of the Sheffield four piece salivating at the prospect of TRNSMT festival hosting the band who stormed the charts in 2005 with their debut single, I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor.
The rumours stem from anonymous Twitter account Absolute Anthems, who claim that the end of headliners Kasabian’s set, Alex Turner and bandmates will play a 45 minute set, and that workers on site had seen the band’s iconic ‘AM’ logo sign and Helders’ drum kit.
“Arctic Monkeys rumoured to be making their reunion at TRNSMT Festival in Glasgow, Scotland this Saturday,” they posted on Twitter. “On Saturday July 8, 2017, Kasabian will finish their set at 22:50. Alex Turner and his band are expected make a ‘surprise’ return at 23:00. The band will perform for around 45-50 minutes on the main stage in Glasgow Green.”
They continued: “I live in the Glasgow area and I have friends who are working/volunteering at TRNSMT festival. They have seen large ‘A’ and ‘M’ signs. Also they (and many other workers) have reported to have seen a drum kit with ‘duct taped writing’ however, were unable to read what it said.”
However, when NME approached the Monkeys’ label Domino Records for a response, a spokesman replied: “There are no plans for Arctic Monkeys to be in Scotland at the weekend.”
The TRNSMT Festival also states that the site has a strict curfew of 11pm on Saturday. It’s unlikely the lack of Arctic Monkeys will leave festival fans too downhearted.
TRNSMT kicks off tonight with headline sets from Radiohead, Kasabian and Biffy Clyro throughout the weekend.
The town was buzzing with excitement. DF supremo Geoff Ellis confirmed the festival will become a permanent fixture for the city, but admitted there were still question over the future of T in the Park next year.
Though Ellis insisted TRNSMT was “never a replacement” for T in the Park, he’d like the two to coexist.
He said: “It absolutely definitely is coming back next year. That was always the intention of TRNSMT — to be permanent. It was never meant it be a one off. You don’t want to say it’s happening every year until you see how the public react to it, but tickets sales have been fantastic and exceeded all our expectations.”
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