FOR years Geoff Ellis has masterminded T In The Park.

Yet the DF Concerts boss reckons even that pales into comparison with his current task of heading up the Ryder Cup Gala Concert at the SSE Hydro tomorrow.

The bash will welcome both the European and American sides ahead of their Gleneagles golf showdown, and will also feature a variety of musical talent, from homegrown acts like Texas and Twin Atlantic to Stateside stars like Chic main man Nile Rodgers.

It will also bring together four of Scotland's main cultural bodies - Scottish Ballet, the National Theatre of Scotland, Scottish Opera and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO).

"Once we were awarded the concert, we wanted to make it unique," explains Geoff.

"You can go and see great bands at the Hydro regularly, so we wanted to make this a bit special.

"If you go to an awards ceremony like the VMAs [Video Music Awards] or the Brits you get a series of acts coming on and it's all about having a great evening, not just building up to a crescendo."

Tomorrow's event will feature a house band, who've previously backed pop superstars Take That, while the event's creative director is Kim Gavin, who helmed the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics.

Musically, the first half of the night will feature sets by Twin Atlantic, rising songstress Nina Nesbitt, Eddi Reader and re-formed popsters Danny Wilson.

The evening's second half sees a solo set by singer-songwriter Jake Bugg and the RSNO collaborating with Texas, Midge Ure and Nile Rodgers, as well as the captains and teams of Europe and America going onstage.

"There are going to be a lot of Europeans and a lot of Americans in the room, and it is a sporting competition, but it's not about cheering one side or booing the other,"

"It's lighting the touch paper to an extent," he says. "The Ryder Cup is the rock 'n' roll of golf, it's the third biggest sporting event in the world and it coming to Scotland is a massive, massive thing."

The night will emphasise one-off collaborations, particularly with the RSNO, and Geoff was keen to try and put together a bill filled with relevant acts, not just relying on familiar Scottish faces.

"It would have been very easy to just do a retro bill, but that wouldn't have worked," he adds.

"It's generally people that are very relevant now - Nina's a bright young star, Texas are still making good records, Eddi still packs out theatres and Jake Bugg's one of the hottest and most successful stars since the Arctic Monkeys.

"You can bring your teenage son or daughter and they'll enjoy it, and even if you're at the older end of the gig-going market, you'll still enjoy Nina as much as you would Danny Wilson."

Netting Nile Rodgers was a particular coup for Geoff, especially as the Get Lucky star had headed back to America after a summer on the road.

"Nile will play some Chic and Sister Sledge hits with the RSNO backing him and I was delighted he agreed to fly over from LA to do this," says Geoff.

"I told him this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to play with the RSNO and at the curtain-raiser for the Ryder Cup, and he said he'd fly back especially for it."

Given it's the Ryder Cup, it seems fair to ask Geoff whether he's a golfing man…

"Most of my golf growing up was played on concrete at a crazy golf courses," he says with a chuckle.

"I got to play at Loch Lomond, and that was my second game of golf. I started terribly but I got better as I went around the course, especially once I realised it was all about the swing and not just hitting it as hard as I could."

The Ryder Cup continues a sporting summer for Scotland that included a memorable Commonwealth Games.

While Geoff deftly avoids giving an opinion on the dancing Tunnock's teacakes at the opening ceremony, he does stress how impressed he was at the atmosphere the Games generated.

"There was such a warm atmosphere at the ceremonies," he says.

"While the weather being fantastic obviously helped, at the opening ceremony what I enjoyed was the presentation of the teams and the reaction to them coming out.

"There was a real feel-good factor. It showed how well Glasgow can do things when it puts its mind to it."

l Ryder Cup Gala Concert, SSE Hydro, Wednesday, £55/£45, 6.30pm.