22.20, Carling Stage

It is to my great surprise that, right at the death, System Of A Down have their accolade as Fruitcakes Of The Day snatched back from them. The culprits? Cumbrian weirdos BRITISH SEA POWER. The stage is decked out with model owls and leafy branches, which band members stuff down their T-shirts; blocks of specially labelled Kendal Mint Cake are handed out to promote the band’s single ‘Remember Me’; and a gentleman wearing a Boer War-era army helmet appears onstage and then in the crowd with a drum which the guitarist, having descended from the top of one of the tent poles, proceeds to smash over his own head to end the set. All the madness (or gimmickry, if you want to look at it that way) goes some way to disguising the fact that their brand of gawky early 80s indie rock isn’t particularly memorable. An enjoyable experience live (and better than when I saw them in April 2002 supporting Six By Seven), but I won’t be rushing out to buy their album.

Bands or artists I would have seen in an ideal world but missed due to clashes / rearranged running orders / my own sheer laziness or stupidity: Grandaddy, Cardia, Squarepusher, The Stills, White Light Motorcade, Har Mar Superstar, Manitoba.