Friday

Entertainment started properly at lunchtime Friday, and the nerve-wracking honour of opening the festival fell to Scotland's Sound Development Agency. These guys cut the mustard though, and delivered a punchy very tight set of well crafted funk inspired songs with a whole lot of soul. For raw energy this band are very, very hard to beat.

Next up Poor Old Ben, also from Scotland. Poor Old Ben have recently signed a publishing deal with Universal, and just a few minutes of their set tells you why. This Glasgow based three piece are responsible for some seriously well crafted indie songs, with a big sound that makes you believe they must surely have more band members hidden under the stage.

The Riffs, and Mohair take us through to Anti Product, a kind of explosion in a paint factory PVC clad frenzy of noise and entertainment that had me simultaneously laughing and applauding in equal measure. This band have enough energy to power a small city, enough fun to run a TV station and make enough noise to provoke environmental protests - I recommend them.

A radical change of direction was provided by the redoubtable Neville Staple, who took the stage under suitably bright skies. and in front of a number of pork pie hats that seemed to appear from nowhere. If you've not yet seen this Ska maestro then that's a situation that you need to put right, and quickly. His set is a superb mix or original material, much from his new album "The rude boy returns", as well as a number of Ska classics, and of course choice selections from the Specials like "Ghost Town" and "Monkey Man". Towards the end of the set he stops and announces that according to his grandchildren he's "getting too old for all this". Not on this evidence!

A short break and we're on to the Stranglers, who frankly i was really disappointed with the last time I saw them a year ago. Tonight however, they are steaming, and it's difficult tonight to believe that there ever was a lineup of the band that preceded this one. Burnel still strides about the stage, while Greenfield and Black still lurk almost imperceptible behind their kit. Paul Roberts on vocals now looks like a man that fronts the Stranglers, confident, loud and well, a man in black.

Stage entertainment ends with for what many consider one of the Ultimate festival bands, Dreadzone, and they don't disappoint, delivering a killer set that set the crowd alight.

As the evening drew to a close it was time to move on to the Votan Stage, that was serving up some really impressive Psy Trance. Moving through the stage I came across a group performing some of the most impressive fire poi I've ever seen, though whether they were there officially, or were just a group having fun, I really couldn't tell you. I eventually made it back to the tent at 5 when the Votan stage shut, exhausted, but very happy.

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