Somehow in my scan around the site I managed to miss a key change. The Guinness Tent had a great big Pimms side outside. A look of panic set in on my friend’s face. “It can’t be true!!” But it was.

Fortunately it wasn’t as bad as it looked, the branding focus may have changed, but everyone knew it as the Guinness tent and it was still selling large quantities of the black stuff.

That shock over, it really was time to catch the first band.

The band had asked the compere to mention that their average age was just 15, in terms of years this is a young band, in terms of ability, NO I.D are right up there at the front. Quite simply if you were listening from the side of stage, rather than watching you’d swear the band were well into their thirties.

A five piece, Adam Brown(bodhran, bouziki), Alan McLeod(accordion, melodeon, bodhran), Bryony Lemon(accordion whistle), whom I think I last saw when she performed on the club stage as part of the Lemon Family band, Erin Ella Brown(fiddle, vocals) and Sean Clery(fiddle, banjo) perform Celtic fuelled dance music, plus a song or two.

The band has a number of All-Ireland and All-Britain Champions within the line up. I’m not a great fan of music as a competition, but I guess if you’re a winner and you get music line this, it works.

There were two fantastic solos during the course of the band’s set. A stunning bodhran solo that was simply the best I’ve ever heard, full stop, no qualifiers. The sounds that Adam drew out of his instrument and the variation in textures was extraordinary. You could almost here older bodhran players muttering under their breath.

That was followed by a few tunes later, by Erin Ella performing a solo unaccompanied vocal piece, a great voice with so much potential. The band thanked the people that loan them a cellar for their rehearsal, before announcing that they will have a cd out at the end of August, I’m already in the queue.

Next up it’s the Broken Family Band, they’re playing other sets, this festival so I’m off to the club tent to catch Mise. It’s a decision that means I miss a guest appearance from Inga of Drop The Box fame.

It was a bad choice. I was disappointed with Mise. The band is a four piece that play Irish music. Like NO I.D, Mise also have a number of All-Ireland Champions in their line-up, including the Griffin Brothers.

Technically the band played very well, but for me the set liked life and spirit. It seemed like music, by numbers and no matter how good those numbers are, it doesn’t make for quite such a good show.

Maybe it was an off day, maybe it was because I’d just heard something that overflowed with vitality, whatever it was Mise simply didn’t float my boat.