Having lost the will to stay out and see the final bands last night it seemed only fair to catch the early performers today. So, after a walk around the town and a pint in The Alex openers Fever Dream were checked out. The trio turned out to be excellent purveyors of good, fast shoegaze so this was definitely the right decision. Singer Adrian Fleet even owned up to having been born in Bognor and the fact that his Mum had at one time worked for Butlin's. A nice homecoming touch to an already rewarding performance. 

Zyna Hel were on next door in the Skyline tent, bringing to mind Sarah Brightman fronting the likes of CHVRCHES or Daughter. They'd a decent line in beats but failed to engage me. Something more traditionally indie was required and Orange Yellow Red duly supplied that, along with an excursion into rumbling instrumental work over impassioned vocal samples. They've a nice line in jangly material, particularly on 'Time Slows Down' and a surprising number of spare guitars.

Back in the Skyline Glasgow's St. Deluxe were making a glorious noise, fusing all of the best parts of grunge together into a great racket that was well served by the sound desk but which should really have been experienced in a far more intimate setting. Still, they seemed to enjoy the amount of space afforded them by the stage and got stuck right in. Taking up more room on the main stage were the Band Of Holy Joy, a group who it seemed had chosen that name as an ironic moniker for their singer's dead pan delivery. Droning Puritanism as opposed to the fire & brimstone of John Knox Sex Club yesterday. They brought to mind a performance from over a decade ago by The Nectarine No. 9 and I wasn't impressed by them either.

The Monochrome Set are another of this weekend's longer in the tooth acts and so have a good solid fanbase in tow for their main stage performance. They're another band originating in the tail end of the Seventies that up until now I've only been aware of by name. Those who have known what to expect are clearly well served by the band but for me they lack any real oomph so I head off for more modern fare, albeit as it's Ghostpoet I've equally little acquaintance with his tunes.

He and his band are in full flight when I make it into the Red stage and the crowd are fully involved dancing and jumping about. There's a real Saturday night party atmosphere been created and the songs have a far greater urgency live than on record it seems. Ghostpoet himself is sweating cobbs as he bounds about the stage, whoping up the crowd and band alike. A fellow audience member is overheard comparing the show to the work of the Lost Poets and that's pretty fair. I need to give his albums another listen in a new light.

Back on the main stage Nadine Shah is a performer I'm more familiar with, albeit more from her time in Trans Global Underground (which wasn't exactly yesterday). I'm therefore not really expecting her to be weilding a guitar in a fairly standard rock and roll kind of way. Initial adjustments of perception made her set's one of great radiance, despite a recurring farty bass sound. Current album Fast Food gets a good work through and all round this is the sort of performance you'd expect from a strong act of Shah's calibre. One of the clear highlights of the three days.

Shah was though, by my reckoning, around about 30 minutes late hitting the stage. Public Service Broadcasting appear to have topped that by 15 minutes as I'm expecting them to be well into their alloted 90 minutes when I get back into Reds yet sound levels still seem to be getting tested and equipment plugged in. The downside of making use of a lot of techy stuff beside guitar, bass & drums maybe. The audience aren't phased though and greet the successful start of the show with a resounding cheer. Similar to the Ghostpoet set elements of the band's work that aren't readily obvious on their records come to the fore here, particularly the drumming and therefore the danceability of many songs.

The stage here isn't maybe quite large enough to give full rein to the projections they employ and the Sputnik-like model they have sticking out of the back wall ends up looking rather more Carry On than was probably intended but, for a bunch of guys looking like runners up in a Dr. Who impersonation contest, this is a seriously enjoyable show, not least for their Speak & Spell-like take on the fact they're playing Butlin's in Bognor.

The final act on the main stage tonight is another old hand whose earlier work is where my familiarity lies. Johnny Marr's done the guitarist-for-hire bit for a few years now but with the release of The Messenger and last year's Playland he's back taking centre stage as both singer and guitarist. The latter of those jobs is a sight that anyone with a love of top class guitar playing should make a point of seeing at least once, both in terms of ability and the way in which the instrument is dealt with as if it were a part of Marr himself. However, as with a couple of other performances I seem to be at odds with the bulk of the crowd as the kind of dad rock of 'New Town Velocity' and other songs saps my energy rather than leaving me wanting more. A trip back to see PSB finds them doing a slow number and so, lacking the will to stay up until possibly 2am to see Teeth Of The Sea again (assuming my calculations of the earlier delays are correct) I slink off to bed.

Photo: Lee Hammond

Having followed Bear's Den for a number of years now, it's encouraging to see them grow from the little-known folk three-piece they were, in to the rapidly accelerating force they're becoming. And, as if their burgeoning visibility isn't proof enough, tonight's venue has been up-scaled from Academy 2 to The Ritz, in order to accommodate the fans that clamored for tickets. Indeed such an up-scaling in venue certainly attests to the band's popularity, whilst keeping fans happy, but where does it leave Bear's Den themselves? Can a band that thrives on intimacy make a venue such as The Ritz feel as intimate as those early shows at the likes of The Deaf Institute or Ruby Lounge?

Both yes, and no. By its nature the Ritz isn't the most intimate of venues, and this is something that Bear's Den seem to have factored in to tonight's set; the likes of 'Elysium' and 'Don't Let the Sun Steal You Away' are factored in early on, providing the crowd with ample sing-along opportunities, each taken from their debut LP. As the set progresses however, tracks from earlier EPs are introduced. 'Sophie' for instance, marks the half way point, and is the first occasion that guitars are unplugged and the band rely on both their voices and the venue's acoustics to carry the track. Unfortunately this is the first time the set seems to stumble slightly, though through no fault of the band. Pockets of the crowd refuse simply to just shut up, and as such our position near the sound-desk means the collective voices of the band are half-lost on their journey from stage to the rooms rear, taking with them any feeling of frisson the track might otherwise have offered.

A couple of new songs pepper the setlist; both 'Red Earth and Pouring Rain' and 'Roses On A Breeze' suggest the band have undergone yet another maturing process since the release of Islands and as such give a brief insight in to what we can expect next from the band. Unsurprisingly, however, it's the haunting 'Isaac' and the soaring 'Above The Clouds of Pompeii' that find the crowd in full voice, something that's carried over the final track of the evening 'Agape'.

Before that, we're treated to the band once again unplugging their guitars, but this time entering the crowd for a rendition of 'Bad Blood'. It's a typical trope for the band, and those who have seen them before are anticipating it, but that doesn't mean to say it's any less impressive. Fortunately as well, the bands location in the centre of the crowd allows their sound to carry far better than it during 'Sophie' and even though the track does promote another sing-along, this time it's more of a whisper, and each fraught annunciation or deft guitar slide is audible above the crowd's collective voice.

Bear's Den are a band faced with a difficult decision. Their popularity is on the up, and looks set to continue to remain as such for a long while yet, but in this, they're also faced with a decision about the kind of venues they play. Their live show is one based around intimacy, and such intimacy is difficult, if not impossible, to maintain should they progress to the Apollo's and the arenas of the UK's touring circuit. So is it in their best interests to focus instead on writing more tracks like 'Elysium' and 'The Love We Stole', both of which are atmospheric in their own right, but also anthemic. Or, do they focus on the hauntingly understated beauty of tracks such as 'Bad Blood', which lend themselves perfectly to the kind of performance mentioned above, yet wouldn't stand a chance of having the same 'pin drop' effect in a crowd of a couple of thousand? We don't know what direction they'll take, but we do know we'll be there to watch them when they do. 

Butlin's at Bognor Regis brings us the inaugural Rockaway Beach, a necessary move as Sixties artists and disco hasbeens won't be around for ever so a new direction is required for music events at such resorts. ATP have obviously lead the way with this over the years and it makes sense that their format be taken on by the sort of places they themselves have utilised.

Awareness of this doesn't though lessen the surprise of seeing Du Blonde playing on stage in a tent-enclosed fairground whilst ordinary holidaymakers wander about their business and the odd grandparent or two looks on and wonders at the change in entertainment style since their day. The band are clearly not really expecting the scenario either despite having signed up for it. They're a game bunch and make the most of it with Beth Jeans Houghton ribbing guitarist Michael and chatting away to the crowd about the generally surreal nature of the experience. A surrealism that you expect will last the duration of the weekend.

'After The Show' and much of Welcome Back To Milk are run through as well as a couple of good new songs which show there's no end date in sight for performing in this guise just yet. A pleasing fact. Unfortunately they're the last act on this particular stage today so it's time to get a quick bit of dinner then hunt down the other two stages which, although very close by, are not initially very obvious.

The successful identification of the Red stage found John Knox Sex Club hard at work. Picture David Morrisey in The Walking Dead firing up a sparse, post-apocalyptic crowd of fellow survivors and you'll have some idea of the powerful goings on as Sean Cumming made the most of the extra space available in front of the stage, taking ownership and hugging many punters into the bargain. A performance enjoyed by the crowd and band alike, as confirmed by a chance encounter in the hotel lift the following morning.

A swift trip next door to the main stage where the unknown quantity of Grasscut are playing. The hall's about as densely populated as the Highlands but there are clearly some dedicated fans of the group's folk-meets-Public Service Broadcasting style with one chap very keen to hear older song 'Richardson Road' although he's ultimately out of luck. 'The Field', 'Red Kite' and others go over well and all concerned get the most from the combined experience.

Volume levels are up and the music far noisier back in the Red once The Telescopes come on. They've drawn a bigger crowd too and proceed to make the sort of racket you'd expect from current album Hidden Fields with no deviations into their more shoegazy older material. A lack of engagement with the crowd makes the show a touch self-indulgent as it progresses, however, so stimulation needs to be sought elsewhere. Luckily Emma Pollock is on hand to provide just that with 'Adrenaline' from 2007 album Watch The Fireworks and songs from her most recent album The Law Of Large Numbers. Apologetic that she and the band haven't played together much of late she's engaging, chatty and clearly very much at home in a live setting with the only minor issue coming from her AAA pass slipping between her guitar strings, requring it to be ripped off and chucked on the floor.

Audience sizes are obviously increasing with each new act in Red as John Robb and The Membranes enjoy a good reception when they bring punk into the proceedings. Most folk are to polite too pogo but there's more movement than witnessed up until this point and the band are tight and leave few gaps in the set. Robb expresses his liking for Bognor Regis, being a seaside boy himself. It's lack of a tower does though make it lower down the pecking order than his native Blackpool. Next door the clear, bright sounds of Errors provide a more restful alternative for those in need of it. Looking good on a large stage as opposed to the ground level performance of their Incubate set last month, the extra height lends their material an element of gravitas and melancholy somehow, making for a performance that satisfies on a number of different levels.

The Fall seem to have been the main draw for many of this first night's attendees and their lateness appearing onstage fairly heightens the partisan crowd's excitement. The band come on first, leaving Mark E. Smith to lurk, golem-like in the wings for a short time as they kick things off. A great roar greets him and he's on predictable form in his ramshackle way. Fiddling with the volume and other knobs of the various amps, making some largely unintelligible comment about Bognor being in Wales and later on singing through two mikes at once he's up to all his tricks. The audience noticeably thins out by the halfway point, leaving the hardcore to enjoy their hero so many have obviously expected something different but MES won't be losing any sleep over that.

Tonight's other headliners are Echo & The Bunnymen, an act I've never previously seen before having not been greatly exposed to their work in the past. Their prescence has lead to the main hall being practically full and, following the odd use of a Gregorian chant entrance tape, they launch into playing with no preamble and a garage-like urgency. Ian McCulloch is obviously a bit hot as he queries whether the fan before him is working but performing without a coat on might have been of some benefit in terms of overheating. He knows his audience well and exchanges a good bit of banter between the first few songs but I opt for a bit more of The Fall when an odd medley of 'Roadhouse Blues' and 'Jean Genie' is embarked upon. A comment on the nature of playing a show at Butlin's? Whatever the reason it seemed utterly pointless for a band with as much of its own material to do such a thing in their main set, let alone as an encore, after such a promising start.

Words:Alex Watt

Photos: Julia Stryj

A Tuesday night in the Liquid Rooms with a band and audience hell-bent on having a good time. What could be better?

The View are promoting their new album Ropewalk released on 4th September this year. Tonight is the last night of three sold out ones in Edinburgh. Why the demand for tickets? – loyal fans and the first new material since Cheeky For A Reason in July 2012.

It is obvious from about 15 minutes before the gig begins that the audience are prepared and ready to go – chanting the familiar cry ‘The View are on fire!’ They couldn’t be more right and wrong at the same time. Musically they are bang on, but in the sweat soaked pit that the venue becomes you couldn’t have started a fire with napalm and a box of Zippos.

The View launch into familiar old favourites to raise the temperature. An initially up-tempo version of ‘5 Rebeccas’ seems at odds with the nostalgic sadness of the lyrics but is turned around by a perfect soft, keening finish to the vocals from Kyle Falconer. A fine, bouncy outing of bad neighbour ‘Grace’ keeps the mood going and even in the chastising of ‘the Don’ the uplifting atmosphere is maintained.

Bringing their latest work into play, initially, the band seems almost as unfamiliar with the newer styling as the audience, who are slightly unsure of the lyrics but this is merely warming things up as we reach Pete Reilly’s excellent guitar jangling ‘Under the Rug’.

If there were any criticisms then the two noticeable ones are a lack of tightness of the band and the failure to capitalise on some fine lyrics by sometimes chewing and grumbling them like Marlon Brando. But, overall, the View know what they are about and have the material to close out a 90 minute gig with a rendition of their hit, ‘Superstar Tradesman’, that moves the crowd like waves in a force 10.

In an old interview, Kyle Falconer once said, “All I ever need is to see people dancing.” His desires were fulfilled tonight at least.