ENDORSE IT IN DORSET: Probably Saturday... with some early Sunday chucked in

The pace started picking up a bit on Saturday and to be honest there were too many bands to mention here, but I will touch on the highlights.

The day started off gently though with a few hours in the kids area, including the gratuitous violence of Punch and Judy

New Look Tarantism, apart from a line up change magnus has also had a hair cut

Tarantism were a must see at midday. These lot are a LONG time favourite here at Iguana HQ. I cannot really mention them without dropping in that they did a gig for us the week that daughter number two was born, which had a lot to do with where Tara got her name. I got quite emotional at the thought that this was the first time Tara had seen the band perform live.

Anyway, I had not heard from, or indeed heard of, Tarantism for quite some time. I was beginning to think they had split, so to see them on the line up was quite exciting. This is something of a new line up from when I last saw them, but they still have that magical something that enables them to float between Celtic, ska, techno and dub seamlessly. The new line up gives them a slightly rockier edge than before and there are even hints of funk in the mix now.

Finding a new album on sale there was no hesitation to dig into me pocket, l also discovered there is now a re-mastered version of the original tape only first album which was obviously a must have.

Hayseed Dixie seem to spend more time in the UK than they do over in the US of A these days. Given the reception they get for their bluegrass metal mash up who can blame them. Metal classics such as ‘Hells Bells’ and ‘Ace of Spades’ were ripped apart and given the Dixie treatment and brought a smile to the faces of those that recognised them. Self-penned tracks such as ‘Kirby Hill’ and ‘Moonshiners Daughter’ also demonstrated that they are more than just a messed-up covers band and are quite handy at writing their own tunes. In fact, when the novelty of hearing stuff like ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ done country style wears off, the original stuff is actually better than the covers.

The Beat, still banging, and as sharp as ever

The Beat seem to be almost as popular now as they were back in the ska/mod revival of the early 80s. Tonight they demonstrated why; their infectious dubbed up ska with a conscience had everyone skanking. Mirror in the Bathroom’ was superb and when ‘Stand Down Margaret’ mutated into ‘Stand Down Tony’ and everyone joined in the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. They don’t make ‘em like this anymore.

Eat Static fried brains for over three hours with no let up

Eat Static finished the night off on the main stage with a massive three-hour set taking us into the wee small hours. As I have said previously, a couple of heads on stage playing with laptops and samplers is very rarely a spectator sport, but they managed to keep the masses grooving well into Sunday moring without ever risking becoming boring.

Even after Eat Static’s 3am finish there was still loads’ going on till about six. I ended up in such a state I could not decide which jacket I was supposed to be zipping up and found myself with two different jackets zipped together.