Music

Friday - Bedding in

The first thing that hits you about End Of The Road is that it is literally in the middle of nowhere, which is why my arrival on site is delayed by a mistrust of both map books and downloaded directions.

The venue for the festival

When I do finally turn into Larmer Tree Gardens, having missed much of the afternoon (a bad thing because it means missing bands, yet a good thing because there's been rain blowing about), the second and maybe most important thing about the festival hits you - just how small it is.

My experience of festivals is the enormity of Leeds, Reading and V, so to find that's there's simply one field for parking, one for camping and one for the music and stalls is something of a revelation.

Still, festivals are festivals, so for the sake of a good night's sleep (and the fact it's the first section you get to), we opt for family camping, which does mean being surrounded by kids, but then, at End Of The Road, that is pretty much order of the day.

It's a brilliantly family friendly festival and the presence of so many young smiling faces mean not only are there a myriad of distractions around the site, but also everyone seems to behave a little more respectfully.

Midlake

So, tent pitched, it's time to catch some music. End Of The Road's line-up is a refreshing mix of new bands, leftfield big names and unexpected delights, the first of which is Jim White, who supplied a suitably subtle country-indie soundtrack for a wander round the Gardens.

There was no time for a wander while Midlake were on though. The Texan meanderers are always a treat and they were on top form for End Of The Road, whipping up a soothing storm of layered vocals and textured rhythms so good, it topped the sprawling, squalling, unanchored frivolity of headliners Yo La Tengo.

But End Of The Road is about good music, not big names, and that's beautifully summed up around midnight in the snug confines of the Bimble Inn as house band Abanazar deliver a rocked-up cover of Jurassic 5's Concrete Schoolyard that has half the sleepy crowd on their feet.

It's the ideal end to a short but very sweet first day, though whether it'll seem the same in the morning is another question as, in a rush to get down to the festival, I managed to forget the air-bed...

Saturday - Here comes the sun

Saturday dawns in a surprisingly comfortable way. It seems that the sheer silence of the campsite and the warmth of a brand new sleeping bag means that there's none of the usual festival grogginess. The sun is high and hot already and the omens are good that this will be a beautiful day.

Piano in the woods

Such feelings are helped by the quality of the festival's food. Because it doesn't buy in to a corporate ideal and side-steps the usual burger van mentality, End Of The Road's food is excellent.

Across the weekend, I'll eat everything from Gloucester Old Spot sausages to Swedish meatballs, though particular kudos must be heaped on the single best piece of festival food I have ever eaten - a Mackeral Masala Dhal made with Cornish-caught fish that is good enough for any restaurant table.

Anyway, it's music time again and today there's only one place to be - the Garden Stage. Sitting in a sun-trap, the afternoon is spent watching a selection of fine performances, from Sunny Day Sets Fire's car-crash epic indie to King Creosote's beautifully serenity.

Tree fairies

The two stand-outs come from opposite ends of the musical spectrum. First up, I'm From Barcelona start with lead singer Emanual's mental crowd surf on a lilo and continue with the kind of feel-good set that you'd have to be dead not to enjoy, while later, the silky drawl of Joan As Police Woman polishes the afternoon off in considerable style.

This is a festival about more than music though. To simply sit and watch the bands would rob you off the chance to discover clothes peg fairies in the branches of surrounding trees, happen across a sitting room set up in a grove, take a book from an actual tree of knowledge or marvel at the unending pie queue.

Admittedly the last one wasn't put together by End Of The Road's creative types, but there's little doubt that it is a wonder of the weekend. As one wag puts it, if he managed to get to the front of it after a mere 45 minute wait and they asked what pie he wanted, he'd simply reply that he just wants 'a ******* pie!'

Super Furry Animals

Having traversed the back of the queue, it's time to head down to The Local, a marquee that will hold the most endearing set of the weekend. Rising star Liz Green comes on stage visibly shaking and admits that she's 'absolutely nervous as hell up here'.

Thankfully, she calms her nerves enough to deliver her curiously gorgeous music. Ending with a full-on singalong about booze, she is a unique talent and, judging by the packed tent's reaction, a much-loved one.

Tent-living is the order of the day at a festival, so it's on to the biggest on site, the Big Top Stage, to catch the madness and frivolity of Architecture In Helsinki, a band that are neither Finnish nor epically grand as their name may suggest, but a whole heap of danceable fun.

British Sea Power

All that's left for the day is choose the headline set - Super Furry Animals or British Sea Power? It's an easy pick when the Furries decide to take an extra half hour to come on stage and still start with technical problems.

Back in the Big Top, British Sea Power deliver their usual brutally serious set that has the hardcore fans and the simply curious grinning with satisfaction, especially when a flag man and three silver robots join them for a sprawling spinning finale.

Sunday - And now, the end is near...

Ah, Sunday, the day of rest, of papers and bacon sandwiches. Well, maybe there's no paperboy on site, but there is a mouth watering bacon, egg and mushroom baguette to get things moving. Sadly, the sunshine is quickly on the wane but hey, this is a festival, so you've got to have a bit of rain.

You've also got to have a bit of stamina, like Port O'Brien. The Californian four piece open the Garden Stage a mere 12 hours after closing the Bimble Inn last night, and they played before that too! Surprisingly, they still manage to muster enough energy to kick things off with a smile.

The increasingly changeable weather means that today is a day for exploration. So it's a case of watching the Massachusetts country charms The Young Republic from the shelter of Larmer Tree Gardens' utterly mad folly-stage, catching the Nick Cave-ian epicness of Salter Cane from the garden surrounding The Local, and communing with nature for Euros Childs' hippy-delic fun.

Camp fire

The rain meant stumbling into the Big Top to catch cartoonist Jeffrey Lewis' hugely enjoyable punked up set - from the looks on the faces of British Sea Power's Yan and Brakes' Eamon, they were pretty glad they stuck around for the extra day to catch him too.

Brilliantly, End Of The Road's clientele don't really go in for pushing and bullishly protecting their patch, so even though the tent was full, there was dancing and grins all round. Indeed, the only scrum of the weekend almost formed at the screenprinting stall when the owner said they only had 20 of the limited edition festival posters left!

The weather wasn't the only thing that was changeable. Sadly, Dan Sartain didn't make his slot at the Big Top, but Charlie Parr was on hand to fill in with a set of fine bluegrass-tinged blues that took the audience by surprise.

Following him, the more conventional Malcolm Middleton with his own brand of beautifully crafted but utterly miserable tunes. Oddly though, he does make you smile.

Drumming workshop

And that, sadly, was that. With Monday morning calling and my bed a long way away, it was time to shove everything into the car and head for home to the fast disappearing sounds of Seasick Steve.

There may have been a couple more hours for the more dedicated but this isn't a festival that requires you to push yourself beyond your limits (despite what Port O'Brien might think). It was a shame to miss the splendour of Lambchop but the reality was that my weekend had reached, well, the end of the road.