Indiependence: Day 2 Review

As much fun as reliving the primary-coloured hippy hip hop of De La Soul was on Friday, two proved to be Indiependence '13's magic number as Saturday found the festival playing to its homegrown strengths on Saturday.

The Mitchelstown event has always been a great platform for the best Irish talent around and Day Two is the ultimate example of that.

Coaxing tired legs into the Big Top early in the afternoon are Halves, the Dublin band's intensely atmospheric sound swirling about and enveloping all who entered. Their debut album is something of a modern Irish classic and the freshly-released follow-up Boa Howl finds them maintaining standards and broadening their horizons. The latter makes up much of the opening, evoking King Of Limbs Radiohead at their most experimental.

With some sound spillage from a nearby dance stage to contend with, it's tough to get totally immersed in their dark, enticing world, but the boys take the typical festival hiccups in their stride and laugh it off. 'Tanager Peak', a set highlight, will not be denied. It's beauty would only be enhanced by the presence of Gemma Hayes (she lends them her voice on the album version) but hey, you could say that about most things.

Out of the Big Top darkness and into the fleetingly bright daylight, Leaders Of Men kick the Main Stage into life. A formidable live outfit, the Tallaght quintet have confidence in spades and you can understand why. Already boasting an impressive batch of surging rock songs, each new offering is more confident and robust than the last.

'Fear' is the best of these, a lightning-in-a-bottle song that could rub shoulders with The Walkmen's best. Another is a number that, singer Brian Ashe tells us, was "only written on Wednesday" and sounds ludicrously accomplished. As for Ashe, by the time the anthemic finale of 'Happy Here' arrives, he simply can't hide how in love he is with his own band. Turning to watch his players, he bounds back towards the microphone with the biggest of grins on his face. He has plenty of reason to smile.

Back to the Big Top, and VANN MUSIC are letting Cork know that the '80s never really ended. In Aaron Smyth they have a charming frontman, and bags of charisma in general as they run through their smart, synth-heavy songs. 'Colors' is our closer and a recent addition.

It's opening channels Kavinsky and Chromatics superbly, locating a moody riff to which Ryan Gosling could drive all night. As the vocals enter, that initial euphoria is replaced by something a bit more run-of-the-mill and indie, bu the spark of something is there.

Tips could be taken from Le Galaxie, who have that electro sound nailed. And whilst VANN MUSIC could well have left the wifebeater look in the Reagan erea, sartorially Mick Pope and co are as impressive as ever. The Point Break masks may be disappeared (apparently pinched by lesser acts) but those shimmering silver tops are visual shorthand for "okay, it's time to rave about like a demented person."

'Midnight Midnight' is an inevitable high in a set that never comes down.

Having just impressed in the Hot Press Hot Spot Bangor's Foy Vance somehow fills the Main Stage with just an acoustic guitar, a voice that recalls Paul Buchanan and hymnal songs of hope. You can hear why Ed Sheeran fans fell for the Bangor man when he recently toured with the flame-haired star.

The two final acts of the evening sum up the Indiependence spirit. Kodaline are now chart toppers and an international success story, but they're also just four Dublin music fans who have been coming to this Cork shindig for years and seem genuinely touched to finally be playing. Say what you will about their MOR, emotive hits-in-waiting, but they make a connection with the masses. Given that they're also camping at the festival, fans were likely treated to acoustic versions of their Main Stage set at half 3 in the morning.

Kodaline confess that, their own performance aside, they're really just there to see Bell X1. When the Kildare act arrive on stage, you can tell they're an act Kodaline aspire to be. The trio have always pushed the boundaries of their sound, slipping sonic quirks and intelligent words into pop songs, but at their heart they're musicians striving for that connection.

A Bell X1 Main Stage show is a communal, uplifting experience. They know their crowd, and whilst material from this year's Chop Chop suggests they're at the height of their songwriting powers, they also know to lean heavy on the old favourites. 'Rocky Took A Lover' is a case in point. A twinkling ode to love in times of extreme hardship, it arrives last and lingers long in the memory.