It's been a little while since my review of the first day of FoxFest this year, and as I began to write this, I really wondered if I'd be able to remember it in any detail. But looking down the list of acts who played the second day of FoxFest 2010 a few short weeks ago on a rainy Sunday in south east London, it all came back to me without a problem.

Last year should have taught me to turn up in time for the first act, but much to my regret, I managed to miss out on what I learnt later to have been some fine acts before I managed to extract myself out of bed and get my arse over to Lewisham. They were Danny Banks, Ten City Nation and JD Smith. I saw Ten City Nation at FoxFest last year and was so blown away by them, I went to see them at the Dublin Castle. I reviewed that gig on this blog, and have to say I was disappointed at the time. But I'm pleased to say that from speaking to people who did see them this year, they were once again at their very best. Shame I missed them.

But thankfully I didn't miss the beautiful Angela Luzi. There are some moments in life that you know that you will remember for a long time, those sort of memories that you hold dear to you and tell those around you about the day something quite unexpected and out of the ordinary happened in your life. And so it was at just before 4 o'clock, I walked in to the darkness of the Fox and down to the main stage, not having put much thought into who might be playing next. As my eyes became more accustomed to the stage lights, I saw before me something quite special. The band members were wearing masks (in the masque style), with Angela herself wearing a magnificent three headed example. They looked special. Artistic and impressive. For those lucky to have been there at the time, there was quite a sense of anticipation as the performance started. The band were a five piece made up of drums, piano, bass and cello, with Angela singing. If the sight of the band transported us to the past, the music she writes took the audience off on a journey through her life, as she finds inpiration from her travels. She's an Italian living in London, and I got a sense from her music that she's not yet found her home. Expansive, yet intimate, her music is sometimes tinged with a touch of sadness that one might perhaps be reminded of the emotions of Fado, but offset with the sure footed playfulness of Ella Fitzgerald. It was such a pleasure to see her, and I hope to see her many times more in the future. In the meantime, I'll more than make do listening to her music on MySpace.

Dan German was up next on the acoustic stage, followed by Sunset Cinema Club and Elliot Mason. I think the previous day was catching up on me, as I seemed much more interested in my Fox standard issue pizza for breakfast than the music, but I do remember having a bit of a chuckle to Elliot Mason's song "The Day they turned Jif to Cif", which had the crowd in stitches.

Having convinced the cat in the garden that she was not getting any of my pizza largely on the grounds I'd eaten all of it, I decided it was time to head back in to see the next band arcs a four piece from London. They were loud. They were fast. They were good. I thought they were that good, I spent most of the time working out whether I'd seen them before, for I'm sure I recognised Mike the bass player. Not sure why really. But there you go. They're playing the Good Ship in Kilburn on the 19th June. The guy who runs it is a QPR fan. What more reason do you need to go?

And then we're back to what FoxFest does best. From the sounds of arcs to Adam Ainger & The Jazz Daddy. Now, I'm sure someone will point out my mistake if I'm wrong, but Adam Ainger is in Breton who were simply unbelievable last year. This wasn't anything like Breton though. The Jazz Daddy (who also played last year) plays the sax and Adam provided the accompaniment on drums. Thats all, but it was enough and it worked. My pal didn't quite get it, but for me to be entranced by a man playing a sax takes quite a performance. The Jazz Daddy did it again. Now, when can I see Breton again? Madame JoJo's on July 6th anyone?

I was back in the swing of FoxFest once more, so it was with real excitement that I turned round to see the quite superb Display Team. If you've never had the chance to see them (and this was my first, but by no means last time), they are a visual and aural smorgasbord. A bit of ska. A bit of punk. A bit of rock. Something else I can't even describe. I was moved to write at the time on the live blog that it surely couldn't work. But it does. It really does. They have an album out now. Buy it. And then if you like it, thats great - but it really doesn't give you a real idea as to what they're like live. Just go see them if you ever get the chance.

I needed a rest after that performance, so unfortunately missed Sycamore's set. But I came in to see Nocturnal Dance perform a dance set, which was fantastically well received by the now growing crowd at the fox. Can't say I was a big fan, but I think there was a general enthusiasm for alternative performance art at the fox this year. I didn't catch much of Dexy again this year, but I was able to catch the last couple of songs of his set which I enjoyed.

But I have to admit, I was looking forward to Special Benny. Their opener "Hungry", was entertaining and refreshing. Sax infused vibes made me think of a hot summers day in New York City in the 70s. Not that I ever went to New York City in the 70s. Or in summer for that matter. But noone wants to know about my experience of New York, so I'll leave the subject. It's a great tune. And it set up the set beautifully. And what a set it was. This was a band I fell in love with instantly. With all the endearing charm as the delightful Their Hearts Were Full of Spring but with greater musical breadth, Special Benny managed to jump quite effortlessly from playful melodic pop to folk all the way through to prog. Dan I think summed them up well "You just have to hear it. It's very pretty, and understated.". Couldn't agree more.

By this time, some other friends had arrived, and there were "welcome to FoxFest" drinks to be shared in the garden. So I missed out on Damien Renouf. And I almost missed Android Angel. That would have really annoyed me if I had. Last year on the acoustic stage, his solo performance was one of the stand out sets. This time he returned with the band. And what a band. This was nothing like last year's set. Oh no, this was a full on indie rock performance. And it was very, very good. Steve Matthews on the drums was battling in my attentions with Franck from King of Conspiracy for the best drumming performance of FoxFest. It was, without a doubt once again one of the highlights of my FoxFest. And, just as last year, percussion instruments were handed out to the audience for the finale of "Music of the Android Angel". I only wish I could get to see the Android Angel more.

And the next act for me to miss was Space Heroes of the People. Now I'm writing this up whilst listening to their music on MySpace, I'm regretting missing them. I like their music. Quite a lot as it happens. I did find the time to catch Milk Kan who were fun. They describe their music as "Hip Hop/Bluegrass/Punk" on their MySpace page. Right. But, listen to their music and it's not a bad description. Kind of. Although it's not nearly broad enough. You name it, they've been inspired by it. They've received a lot of attention recently - and rightly so. Have a listen to their music and you'll see what I mean. Huw Stephens likes them. Steve Lamacq likes them. And now, I like them.

My phone managed to rename Jarmean? to Parmesan as I rather drunkenly wrote up their performance. Were they in anyway related to cheese? Nope. Were they playing Eukeles? Yep. And tubas? Oh yes. And do they dress up a bit? Sure do. Any good? You bet. And did they sneakily play another cheeky rag time number at the end of the allotted time on the acoustic stage? Yes. You cheeky young scallywags you...

The last act. The finale. It fell to The Scaredy Cats do the honours. They played last year, and I remember how much fun they were. They enjoyed themselves again with another enthusiastic ska set. The crowd took the opportunity to jump around and squeeze the last bit of fun out of the night. There was some crazy dancing. I'm not confirming or denying if I participated.

And that was that for another year. The most fun you can have for a tenner. Prove me wrong.

Until next year. Is it that long?

It has been a year since my first visit to FoxFest. Not a word of a lie, but I've been looking forward to the next one since then. And last weekend, it finally arrived, after many months of anticipation and gossip about the lineup. To the astute readers of my blog (I know - it does actually surprise me that there are any), you may well have noticed that since then, my updates have dried up. It's not that I've stopped going to gigs. Far from it. But maybe, just maybe, all gigs since then have failed to measure up. And as you can see from my epic review from last year there's a lot to measure up to. But, again, after this year's FoxFest, I find myself wanting to write about it once more, and share with those who couldn't be there just what it's like and perhaps point people to some great talent out there.

But let me start with a correction from last year, and a word of thanks. Last year FoxFest was new to me - and I didn't mention in my review the hard work and love that Carl Twobob, and the entire crew puts into making FoxFest what it is.

Anyway - onto this year, and what a weekend it turned out to be again. Sadly, I missed a few bands at the start of both days, and on Saturday it was Nick Capocci, The Cherry Reds and Captain Backfire. I arrived just as Death of the Elephant, a loud, punk infused 3 piece came on. It was a good start for me. I needed waking up, and there's no doubt about it, these guys woke me up. Dee told us that "electric guitars suck" before launching into another punk infused, Nirvana influenced song. Anything but acoustic, and a flying start to my foxfest.

Next up was Ceri James, a singer songwriter of great versatility and depth. I wrote in the live blog at the time that I thought his music was dreamy, which it was as I started typing my thoughts. By the time I'd finished it, his next song was far from that. And listening to some of his music as I write this, all I can say is that his writing is well worth checking out sometime. I know I will again.

I confess I missed most of A Night at Sea's set as I went off to guide my friend through the tree lined boulevards of Lewisham into the beer garden at Fox, but what I heard was pretty good. It's just one of those things at a festival that you always have to accept - missing some fine acts. I hope to see more of them in the near future.

After a quick beer with my mate, we headed back in to hear Happy Mammoth. On their myspace page they say they sound like "Three acoustic guitars, three voices, and a small stolen glockenspiel". I can't add more to that, but let me say that this couldn't have been a better place to start for my friend. This set was perfect, quiet and blissful. A total world away from Miss Scarlett, who were up next. This is one of those bands who blow you away the first time you see them. I wrote at the time that bands don't get this good by accident. And what I meant that this band were seriously good, seriously tight and seriously good fun. A real favourite for those that caught the set. You can download their EP for free here and I recommend that you do.

Obviously, the excitement had been too much for me as I needed another beer after Miss Scarlett's set and sadly I missed most Shaun Grimsley's set on the acoustic stage. He's a Fox regular, and I'm sure I'll see him again there at some point, although I did manage to miss him at FoxFest last year. Next up were Hindley on the plugged stage. They list their influences as Sonic Youth and Joy Division on their myspace page, and you can definitely hear the connection. Noisy and brilliantly moody, they look good and sound good. Especially Nixie on the bass, one of the coolest bass players at foxfest. Oh why be shy? She's one of the coolest bass players ever. But it's been a while since I've heard such fine shoe gazey wall of noise. I can't wait to see them again.

I needed a rest at this point. One of my favourite bands was due on in a bit, and I missed out on Ben Cakebread at the acoustic stage, which was a shame. But I needed to steel myself for the arrival of up-c down-c left-c right-c abc + start. I like them. I like them a lot. It was a whole year since I saw them at FoxFest and it was a year too long. I stood right at the front, and I confess I have no idea how they went down with anyone else as I frankly didn't care what anyone else thought. I was going to try and describe the set, but the band have helpfully left some videos on their website. Have a look, and go see them. I really really need to see them again soon.

Next up on the acoustic stage was Russell Joslin, a man of obvious talent. Often there are people you see around who look as they sound. And Russell certainly looks the part. I remember after I saw him last year that his performance didn't grab me, but I was then taken with his recorded music. It's not that he can't perform, and to suggest so would be to do him a deep injustice. But I think his music deserves a great deal more concentration than I was able to give it again this year which is a pity. I would heartily recommend giving his music a listen and I hope to catch him headlining his own show at some point as I feel for the second year in a row, I've not made the effort to connect with his music. Don't make the same mistake.

I disappeared into the garden as the next band Nila & the Rajas were setting up. But it wasn't long before there was a strange rumour doing the rounds amongst the people reclining in the delightfully comfortable sofas behind the pub. There was much to see as well as hear. OK. I had to admit from where I was sat in one of the aforementioned sofas, it didn't sound great to me (but in fairness not much does), but I duly came in and immediately was struck by what the buzz was about. This was a band that wanted to be noticed, both visually and musically. And there was much admiration for Nila's hotpants. But, that wasn't all - the whole band was something exciting to look at. Can't say that the music was my kind of thing, but this was art-pop worth checking out nonetheless.

Raw Poo. Raw Poo. Raw Poo. I love the name. They're a punk band much loved at the fox, and this was something a little different. Raw Poo Unplugged. I enjoyed this quite a lot. I've never seen an acoustic act so joyously anarchic, yet somehow cosy and jovial. But here's a thought. Can a band singing a song called "noshing me off" be labelled cosy and jovial? I'll leave that to you to decide...

There was a bit of a buzz building for the next act, Black Daniel. Where do you start with this band? My fellow live blogger Dan suggested that this might not be a real band at all, but possibly a highly elaborate art project, "real but not". It's a band that you really struggle to put your finger on. Fantastically chaotic. Loud. Musical. Funny. Although the visual impact of the band is important, it's not essential. Listening to their music on your headphones at home is just as much an enjoyable experience. Go see them. Jump up and down and enjoy them as much as we did. I can assure you you won't be disappointed.

I loved David Goo and the Variety Band last year, but this year it was David Goo without the Variety Band. You might know his work from a rightmove.co.uk advert, but if you don't check it out on his website. So how was he on his own? I can't deny I was disappointed not to see him with the band, but this was still heaps of fun.

Next up on the plugged stage was King of Conspiracy. There was a time when French rock music was routinely mocked. In one fell swoop, this band simply demonstrate that this should now stop. This is a band like you've never seen before. Ooozing an assurance and credibility that they can justify and sustain throughout their set, they blew the Fox apart. Franck on the drums was immensely impressive, but this was not a band about indvidual performances. From beginning to end this band was electrifying. No wonder they're held in such high regard by the folks at Kooba Radio. For me this band stood head and shoulders above all others as the stand out act of the day. Just go see them.

Dr Vampire had a problem. How do you follow King of Conspiracy? They did just fine. In fact better than fine. A total change of direction musically, but this was still some great stuff. A great quiff, and some fine rockabilly sounds was probably not what I was expecting, but this is what FoxFest is all about. That's why we go and love it so much.

Then, before we all knew it, it was the end of the night and last to perform were Let Our Enemies Beware. They're not subtle, but I don't mean that in a bad way. I enjoyed the noise a lot. Although I'm becoming a bit of a folky in my old age, it's great to hear a band create a sound like this. Amongst their influences, they list The Deftones, and I think that's a good thing. They're a band to watch. BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe certainly is. A fine band to round of a fantastic day...

So, it was off home to try and get some sleep. For there was another day to come. More bands. More people. More beers. More smiles.

How I love Foxfest.