Nancy Wallace serenades a smattering of early birds almost a bit nervously, her sweet voice and understated folk songs easing people from under their hangovers. Joined by Jennymay Logan on violin and backing vocals, these sparse arrangements of guitar or accordian are much more touching than the performance by Nancy's previous bandmates, The Memory Band, who play later that evening. Crowding many more voices and instruments into their set, renditions of bawdy old folk songs like The Landlord's Daughter are well arranged but nauseating.

  One-man-band Theo are: clever music-maker Sam Knight, a guitar, drum kit and some delay/looping equipment. By carefully cutting and pasting tappy guitar licks (kind of like birdsong) and affirmative chords he builds dynamic, odd-timed instrumental pieces. Happy with his swirling composition he turns to his drums and jams out some energetic, ever-evolving drum parts. Mix and repeat for a captivating show. Later Arbouretum bring their laid-back American rock to Birmingham, transporting the crowd from a wet and miserable British day to a hot and dusty porch, lazily slapping at flies and nodding their heads to these catchy grooves and soulful crooning vocals.

  On the Space 2 stage Esoteric provide maybe the heaviest sound of the day as they wade through their music slowly, ensuring a dirtily atmospheric feel. The doomy machinery of the band is spot on, but the vocals seem to be inaudible for most of the time. And now for something completely different as doom act is followed by an intimate set of Arabic sounds from Oud player Khyam Allami. Through partly improvisational pieces, the expert playing of the fretless 12 string Arabic lute mesmerises an audience who are endeared with an amusing interpretation of Black Sabbath's eponymous song which he describes as 'the three most important notes in metal'.

  65daysofstatic are an eagerly anticipated draw for the festival and they rush energetically into a set of precise musicianship and dynamic power. However something seems to be lost in the translation from their affecting instrumental music on CD to this live performance. The textures are less tangible and changing, with the instrumentation sounding almost generic and, while the young post-rockers from Sheffield are bouncing around like crazy on stage, they seem distant from the crowd they are playing to.

  Somehow one of the biggest draws of the weekend, the once obscure Italian prog-rock/soundtrack pioneers Goblin have a very warm reception awaiting them at their first ever UK show. The atmosphere is electric as they they play crowd-pleasing classics from Argento films like Profondo Rosso, Suspiria and Tenebre. Original arrangements are largely unchanged but some of the material feels considerably heavier with the impact of a modern live sound, especially Zombi from Dawn of the Dead, which is pure incitement to destroy the undead. This reformation of the long-serving band is missing original keyboard play Claudio Simonetti and they have added two new keyboard players (Maurizio Guarini and Aidan Zammit) in replacement. Fortunately, with the 2006 album Back to the Goblin being the child of this new group, the people on stage have the chemistry of a solid band and play a gratifying blast from the past. While fewer people in the audience recognise the climactic '...E Suono Rock' from the Bagarozzo Mark album, or the newer tracks from the most recent album (to which the band recommend you 'make your own movie in your head') each piece of music is lovingly reproduced under the wonderfully skillful hands of Massimo Morante, legendary bassist Fabio Pignatelli and precision drummer Agostino Marangolo. Wrapping up this successful weekend beautifully, a once-in-a-lifetime set for both audience and band.