Sunday 02/07/06 Day 3 @ Eurokeennes Festival, Belfort, France

As we said in day two's report, Mike Ladd (if it was he) was disappointing, but Blackalicious seem to have suffered an even bigger fall from grace. They used to good, right? Remember 'A 2 G'? In hip-hop now, the biggest prize is the 'next'. Viva Timbaland. This hip-hop Darwinism has left some of the old guard trailing. Blackalicious brought us a full set of clichés. One side of the crowd was instructed to scream, then the other side. We were told to put our hands in the air. The incorrectly-titled ‘Gift of Gab’ tells us he is keeping it real and that we should be true to ourselves. Cheers. As they might say in rapsville: wackalicious.

How did Art Brut land a main stage slot? Not even Arctic Monkeys were there, nor Bloc Party last year. In your face, Kele (remember Mr Okereke had a ruck with Eddie Argos last year. Do keep up at the back of the class). Importantly, Art Brut weren't phased by the occasion. Argos sung of the ways he wanted to fold a woman, five years after Outkast did the same on the classic 'Ms Jackson'. Another clear influence was the guitar riff from Arctic Monkeys’ 'Mardy Bum' on one of Art Brut's new songs. Who was it that said genius steals? Art Brut's best use of the been-done-before was a song about bad sex in a tent at a festival "while Super Furry Animals were playing". The generic, Furryesque (and before the Furries, the Beach Boys) "woo, woo" backing vocals became part of the song's story.

The accusations levelled at Aberfeldy as a poor man’s Belle and Sebastian are lazy and wide of the mark. They are both Scottish, but Belle and Sebastian haven't sounded as good as Aberfeldy's set since 1996's 'If You're Feeling Sinister'. Plus, Aberfeldy don't have any sinister lyrics. Altogether now... "Everything will be alright, Heliopolis by night". Helium-taking is the experience most similar to Aberfeldy's guitar-pop. Everyone left giddy and smiling.

Sigur Ros started playing behind a veil that looked like a massive Turin shroud (nothing to do with the Juventus scandal, footie fans). The visuals for Sigur Ros were beautiful. After the veil moved to reveal the band, the big screen had a close-up of the drum kit. The cymbals looked like planets in the solar system. The music was appropriately galaxy-sized. At one point the band stopped mid-song for an eternity. This Mount Rushmore-esque stillness brought massive positive tension to the crowd - half cheered rapturously and half shushed like librarians on angel dust. Sigur Ros were at the top of their game and Jonsi Birgisson's voice made Jeff Buckley sound like a hoary-voiced country singer. Band members went into the lake and climbed a tree after their set, like animals from 'Planet Earth', for which they provided the theme tune. That kind of behaviour is scary from the most precious band on earth. Not to mention the messing about with electrical equipment at the waters edge. Sigur Ros should be wrapped in cotton wool. Tonight’s performance was possibly the greatest human achievement, in any field, ever.