TRNSMT Festival June 19th - 21st 2026

Day Three: Sunday, June 21st

Story by Emily Strout

02/07/2026

The third and final day of TRNSMT festival happened to be the very day of the summer solstice—the longest day of the year. So I knew I had a very long day ahead of me, and thus planned accordingly. It began again on Glasgow Green, another burning sunny day, although I’d prepared a bit more with lathered suncream on my still-recovering burns from the day prior. I’d also arrived a bit later, if only to save my feet from the inevitable, but I was still just as full of enthusiasm.

Westside Cowboy My first act ended up being Westside Cowboy on the King Tut’s stage. I’d heard many things about Westside Cowboy, and they’d also recently been opening for everyone’s favourite band Geese, so expectations were high. Providing kind of a hazy indie rock, the band has coined a name for their special genre: “Britainicana”. I could see and hear these elements in the live performance; the band works really well together, all members coming together towards the end to crowd around a single microphone for their song “In the Morning”. Westside Cowboy just seems to emit a lot of joy, with members smiling broadly out at the crowd at many points in the set. One member even cheekily remarked on the live performance of Little Mix’s “Black Magic” concurrently performed by Perrie on the main stage, which bled down to us—“Is that live? You’re missing out, guys, c’mon!” overpass I stuck around King Tut’s for a personal favourite of mine, the indie band overpass. Though from Birmingham, this is the band’s fourth time performing in Glasgow in the past year, and alongside being slotted at the same time as the incredible Two Door Cinema Club, it would be tough for anyone to draw a large crowd. Still, a good amount of dedicated overpass fans (myself included, I suppose) clustered at the stage to catch their performance. (The lovely band members had even spent 30 minutes earlier that afternoon at the BBC Radio 1 Photo Booth, taking pictures with fans). Overpass has very recently released their debut album Elsewhere, Always, a brilliant ten-track LP which even managed to chart at #5—they seem unstoppable, and luckily, have a live act to match their momentum. Opening with “Union Station”, the anthemic belter and lead single of the album, the set was full of songs old and new, and the eager front row at the rail knew every word. I also adored “Take It Or Leave it” from their Dependent EP, which is as great live as it is recorded. I’d originally planned to leave a bit early and catch some of Two Door Cinema Club’s set, but I found I couldn’t tear myself away from overpass, and I don’t regret sticking around.

CMAT Then it was off to the main stage for CMAT, one of my most anticipated sets of the weekend. To describe CMAT in one word… radiant, perhaps? I loved every minute of her set. CMAT’s 2025 album Euro-Country and clever lyricism are what initially drew me to her, and she has a powerful set of vocals to back it up. She pranced around the stage—which was decorated with a large medallion of her face and the words “EURO-COUNTRY”—in a yellow and black polka-dotted dress, matching with her Very Sexy CMAT Band. Her dress, which resembled the classic Scottish Tennet’s can, prompted CMAT to crack open a can onstage alongside various musings on her love for Glasgow, calling it a home away from home. The ‘Dunboyne Diana’, as she refers to herself within the lyrics of “When a Good Man Cries”, performed that song with a sly shoutout to Olivia Rodrigo’s recent cover on BBC Radio 1. Then during “I Wanna Be a Cowboy, Baby!”, she had the crowd match her in a two-step, getting both front pens to sway along in unison. She even leapt down to the crowd, opening up a path and dashing through for the song “Stay For Something”. By the time her set came to a close, I was wishing it would go on forever; that’s just how fun being in a CMAT crowd is, and I’d be in another one in a heartbeat. Lewis Capaldi A quick dinner break, and a couple hours later I was back at the main stage for the headliner. The one, the only—Lewis Capaldi. Born in Glasgow, raised in West Lothian, he is deeply beloved here and for very good reason. Every person I’d spoken to throughout the day had said that he was who they were most excited to see. Although I admit I am only familiar with a few of his big radio hits, there was something magical about being in a dense crowd of Scottish-flag-hats and half-empty pints with people that seemed to know every word of every song. Especially in the context of the World Cup qualification, there was a lovely Scottish solidarity that seemed to blossom during his set. And truly, there’s nothing to say about Capaldi that hasn’t been said before. His voice is magnificent and almost identical to his recorded music, and it’s accompanied by a great charm and humor to balance out the sad content of his songs. Although he took some time to acknowledge his mental health break and the importance of it, he said he was better than ever, and it was plain to see (and hear) that Capaldi was in top form. The hit “Before You Go” was great, and he finished his encore with the incredibly popular “Someone You Loved” that caused phones to shoot into the air and drunk couples to sway together in the back. Fireworks blasted into the sky to conclude the night, and Capaldi’s voice rang in my ears on my way out, immensely satisfied. Despite being a month early, despite being soaking wet on the first day, despite the fact that I couldn’t find a bus to take me home afterwards and had to walk miles on defeated legs, I had a great time over the weekend at TRNSMT festival. My days were filled with both old, established artists and upcoming, promising youths—reminding me that it is such a time to be alive. Here’s to the next one, though perhaps without the rain, please.