Saturday 09/08/03 Weekend Festival: Ella Guru, the Mountaineers, Aiden Smith, the Cranebuilders, Mugison, Manitoba @ ICA, London

The Rough Trade sponsored Weekend Festival was a great idea in planning - put on an indoor festival so that for once mud just won't matter. Typically, it's a heatwave to end all heatwaves here in London which hasn't quite sent the crowds rushing indoors. Now festivals traditionally have changes to the line up, and this one has had so many you would think Gerard Houllier was in charge. Both the Hokum Clones and Jukes were left behind at the training ground which meant that Aidan Smith was chosen to fill the tricky holding role.

First up are the excellent Ella Guru, here to coincide with their Rough Trade single of the week "3 Songs From Liverpool". They are another fine example of the "not quite cosmic, not quite scouse" scene that is fast spreading through the Merseyside area. Being billed as soft country rock does not do justice to the atmospheric, heart tugging music that they produce. It's so good that you don't notice that apart from the bass section (that's right, both stand up and electric), everybody else sits down. They're also one of the quietest live bands that Gigwise has ever seen. Keep it down at the back, there's genius happening!

The Mountaineers arrive with a blast of Daft Punk techno - all vocodered vocals and exhibition hall shaking beats. For a band that started out on Deltasonic (home of the Coral) this might take lesser mortals by surprise. What really shocks Gigwise is the fact that Fish from Marillion appears to have a son, and that he appears to be centre stage in shorts and sandals - this is a festival after all though. It turns out that Fish Jnr (actual name Alex Germains) sings most of the songs, which have a very different folky influence. Mixing and matching influences is a fantastic thing, but for today at least, Ceri James' fantastic keyboards and sequences are too often at odds with the rather gruff, worthy delivery of the songs for the Mountaineers to really hit a peak.

Aidan Smith's late move from Sunday to Saturday means that we have the pleasure of his frankly bonkers songs. Whether it's a paean to Delia Smith or his kazoo solo during 'I Met Myself In A Bar', a huge wit shines through. A couple of decades ago, Richard Stilgoe, Peter Skellern and Victoria Wood (ask your mum and dad kids) were regularly appearing on TV, entertaining the nation with songs just like this. This perhaps is Aidan's problem. Writing entertaining songs isn't enough, and a rather embarrassed stage presence doesn't help the cause any. Watch out, or a guest spot on Countdown will be upon us without warning.

With the festival well and truly underway, it's rather disappointing to report that the Cranebuilders set is spectacularly ordinary. It really is a case of doing what they do really well, but playing spot the indie influences has never been a favourite pastime here at Gigwise. There's hints of early REM, the Wedding Present and the House of Love on show, and every now and then a little smattering of Lou Reed appears, but when the highlight of the set (the crazed Placebo like 'Bitch') only lasts what seems like seconds, it leaves too many people underwhelmed.

After the Cranebuilders, it seems that a lot of audience have finally succumbed to the heat (or possibly hunger) and so Mugison finds himself playing to a rather small audience. Mugison is billed as an Icelandic one man band, and with a little help from Apple Mac he's just that. It looks like the contents of his bedroom are up on stage with him and his collection of equipment is piled high on a table with it's own microphone stand. The first song is apparently called 'Sound Test', but Gigwise feels a bit of a leg pull here. The computer provides the backing, while Mugison puts guitar and vocals over the top. After a wobbly start, the guitar gets turned up and it all comes together on the excellent 'Ears'. As well as a captivating stage presence, Mugison is a master of technology. He frequently samples his vocals and layers sample upon sample to create a wall of sound, the perfect example being the 21st Century apocalyptic blues of 'I Am On Fire'. As a set closer, he even gets us all singing along to the fantastic 'Poke A Pal'. Give this man the next Bond soundtrack now!

Imagine if you will, three men, two drum kits, a couple of guitars, some keyboards and some inventive video and you have Manitoba in all their glory. The brainchild of Canadian Dan Snaith, this is not just music, but an all out assault on the senses. Tribal drumming battles against layers of organ, while the guitar does it's best to cut through with slashing rhythmic lines; psychedelic backing tracks synchronize perfectly with the huge video backdrop. And all the while, Manitoba wear red hooded tops and animal masks. Halfway through the set however, the pony does seem to be of the one trick variety and the interest wanes some when the video runs out and the next wave of crashing drum rolls hits again and again. Yes, this is very repetitive, but Manitoba give it all on stage and manage to keep the weary audience going to the end of their set when they rip off the masks and give it everything one last time. Climactic stuff!