Verve Slam 'Haters' At T In The Park

The Verve played an epic headline slot at the T In The Park festival tonight (July 11), bringing 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' to the masses in Scotland.

During the set, frontman Richard Ashcroft slammed critics of the band, referring to an article in a newspaper published earlier today that had criticised them.

The show included old favourites such as 'The Drugs Don't Work' and 'History' as well as two new songs.

Shortly into the set, frontman Richard Ashcroft declared the T In The Park crowd to be the greatest audience on earth.

Ashcroft was wearing blue jeans, a yellow t-shirt and a leather jacket. He sank to his knees and gestured to the crowd as he took to the stage at 10.15pm (BST), leading his band through opener 'This Is Music'.

The singer then donned a semi-acoustic guitar to play 'Sonnet' with the band, making a hugging gesture as the song ended.

"Thank you, greatest live audience in the world," he said before playing 'Space And Time'. "That's something Guardian writers don't understand."

He was referring to an opinion column that appeared in the newspaper today, in which the band's relevance was questioned.

Later in the set, Ashcroft mysteriously asked the crowd: "Which lead singer of a '90s band told me he was now a mod? 'I've been baggy but now I'm a mod.' Any guesses?"

The band then played 'Sit And Wonder', a the opening track from the band's forthcoming album, 'Forth'.

Ashcroft later dedicated 'The Rolling People' to "['Scarface' character] Tony Montana, ['The Sopranos' character] Tony Soprano and all the haters."

He then shouted, "it's Friday night at T In The Park, let's have it!" before leading into the song and upping the ante of the set.

A large cheer erupted from the crowd as the singer later announced 'The Drugs Don't Work', while similar applause was heard for 'Lucky Man', which Ashcroft dedicated to his wife, Kate Radley.

"Do you know what it's like to write a classic?" he then said, triggering screams from the crowd as they guessed which song was coming next.

"Some of you in this crowd are going to write a classic tune," he added, before playing 'Bitter Sweet Symphony', which had fans in hysterics as they waved their hands in the air and sang along.

The song bled straight into new single 'Love Is Noise', which saw Ashcroft dancing down the wings of the stage then dropping to his knees and roaring, before heading off backstage.

The Verve played:

'This Is Music'
'Sonnet'
'Space And Time'
'Sit And Wonder'
'History'
'Come On'
'Life's An Ocean'
'The Rolling People'
'The Drugs Don't Work'
'Lucky Man'
'Bitter Sweet Symphony'
'Love Is Noise'