Endorse-It delivers a terrific weekend of quality acts

The weather improved over the weekend which started dark, cloudy and drizzly and ended in blistering sunshine. I had intended to see an act and if it did nothing for me move on, however every act I saw over the weekend held my attention which meant I didn't get the opportunity to see much of the programme in the Wig-On Casino which judging from both the noises emanating from it and the crowds both inside and out meant I missed a lot of decent acts in there.

Friday's precipitation meant we spent a while in the campsite making new friends, spending time with old friends, and longer still near the Bus Bar sampling scrumpy and only moved for the legends that are Subhumans who deliver a superb set, and rave maestro Eat Static before a visit to the dance magic that is Wig On Casino and then Strummerville where the warm campfire induced the a desire for my sleeping bag.

Saturday's similarly damp start resulted in more hanging out in the campsite meeting folk and consuming wee alcoholic drinks brought from home which were not allowed in the arena. It took Fat Drunk Stupid's set of singalong punk classics to tempt us into the arena, where a delayed stage meant their clash in times with the excellent Inner Terrestrials was less of an upset. The hugely entertaining stand-ins last year Alphalfa are rewarded with a bigger slot, and this time covered in a Glee inspired jacket of soft toys their crazy singer provided a good set of covers, accompanied by a swimming costume wearing ape - mental!

Next up the old time music delights of The Curst Sons who delivered a set of traditional blues music you can stomp along to. The green painted drummer and the antics of The Urban Voodoo Machine were entertaining and their an act surely earmarked for bigger things. The act of the weekend for me followed Symarip with a fanastically rich backing band the two singers grooved with us to the phat tunes.

A quick chance to catch a little of Optic Nerves and their psychobilly tunes and a little of the psychedelic dub mix of Depot at Strummerville, before the hoedown with our hosts Pronghorn and a stage packed with their kids, there's more every year!

A proper headlining performance from legends The Damned and an awesome rendition of 'Eloise', was followed by the mighty Subgiant and an old school style rave set complete with glo sticks brought the main stage to a close. Whilst The Highliners delivered another high powered set of favourites including, our festival favourite 'Henry The Wasp' even more applicable this year due to the amount of jaspers on site.

It's an early start with the Sunday Service and Hobo Jones & The Junkyard Dogs to start the day with guest members brought on at the end for a fantastic skunk climax. The best way to work out the aches and pains is to get down to the ska punk energy of Flippant Malarkism who also recommend The Junk later today. Another singalong to the fantastic Cash Converted and their great renditions of classic Man In Black tunes, bolstered with a bit of humour too.

Scrumpy Sunday was in full swing with Kentucky Fight Club (boasting some very junior members - awww) in a noise clash with The Curst Sons appearing on the Buskers Caravan. It would perhaps be a little easier on the ears if both acts had played the same tune! Best dressed bass player award winners Farmageddon deliver a scorching set and Quinns Quinney provide another chance to participate in their songs before and another helping of Hobo Jones this time in the Wildcat tent with a good old fashioned singalong and I think nearly everyone there had seen them before. They even deliver a few new tunes, and their usual mix of entertaining favourites, jokes and patter.

A quick drop in on Oxjam Bournemouth's shenanigans before a return to more apple worshippin' and the bizarreness which is Surfin' Turnips who I guess made up slightly for the loss of Who's Afear'd and prove hugely entertaining with songs all us West Country folk have grown up with about cider and Blackbirds whilst presenting us with marrows, having one band member outdo Bez with marracas, donning bizarre masks and using weird bucket on string contraptions.

Between them and the upbeat 'dance around spillin' yer scrumpy' set of The Boot Hill All Stars complete with backing vocal lovelies The Fluffers is the award of Cultural symbol of Dorset given to The King Of Dorset (who even has a house named after him just down the road) and the judging of the 'Queen' competition. It's worth mentioning Beans on Toast's evening performance on Strummerville, who despite being all over the place, still pulled off an MDMA-zing set. Back at Scrumpy Sunday the ska flavoured Skank Tank are keeping the evening going. A high energy show from P.N.U.K. with a lively frontman provide a burst of punk feel good tunes, the chance to singalong continues with the Fat Drunk Stupid punk karaoke.

Another great reggae flavoured set from Macka B who between the skankin' tunes, has great patter and tells us to love women as they are more than women and avoid Macca Ds(MacDonalds). Tonight's secret special guests are revealed as Dreadzone Sound System and not the Stones after all. Well, as festival regulars Gred Dread, and MC Spee had to be there. I'd not seen this incarnation before and loved the mix of Dreadzone tunes and big beats, combined with double drop trcks like The Beach Boys' 'Good Vibrations' and the much used sample from Loleatta Holloway's 'Love Sensation'. They conclude by dropping 'Gangster', triffic!

It's left to 2-tone legend Pauline Black to close the evening on the main stage with some well loved Selector specials, and The Junk to destroy what semblance of sanity our minds had left in the Wildcat tent. What a smashin' weekend! The kind that recharges your batteries, despite the noise and the chaos. We drive out of the dusty scrumpy coloured fields with grins on our faces, as we slip on the brand new 2010 compilation CD of this year's festival.

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