The Move festival yesterday, in the rain. I got there by a convoluted route, involving a lift out to Eccles New Road and hopping off the tram to catch a shot of The Mirrorcow.

I met my sister at the tram station. Security were asking everyone with glass bottles to get rid of them. I had the brainwave of dumping two bottles of Stella into my water bottle and donating the other two to security. But it turned out we weren’t supposed to bring any alcohol in. It’s all part of a scheme to fleece the punters by selling them overpriced booze once they’re inside the festival. I downed the two bottles I’d opened and tithed the other two to the good natured but confused bloke who’d stopped us.

That much beer that quickly made me a bit fuzzy for a while. Thankfully Jo and I had both planned to avoid the expensive food stalls and there was quiche, chocolate brownies, cold mega-veg roast and jasmine tea to keep us going. We bagsied seats in the stands and kept them until the pixies set.

First up were the 22-20s. Raucous indie- guitar stuff, which I’m always a sucker for. Very good. They released a single- Shot Your Gun at the end of last month.

Second set was The Stands. Folksy tinged stuff. Not as good as 22-20s. Album- All Years Leaving.

Tim Booth has a very distinctive voice and his current music is a progression from his days in James. Good stuff. He still dances like he’s pissing on the middle rail, though. New album, Bone, released last month. (The Best of James is worth a listen as well.

Goldfrapp. Perspex guitars, theremins and a singer so high pitched windows must have been shattering for a mile around. Strict Machine is their most recent single, Black Cherry the album.

I’ve seen Frank Black a couple of times, but this was the first time I’d seen Pixies and was the main reason I bought a ticket. Absolutely awesome. The rain started coming down hard for the last two songs, but that made the atmosphere better, if anything. Wave of Mutilation is the recent best of. Last Splash by The Breeders and Frank Black for an idea of what Frank ‘n Kim have been doing in the meantime.

Stereophonics were going to be a disappointment after the might of one of the most important bands ever. They make a nice enough noise, and have done some songs I really like. They just weren’t good enough to hang around in the heavy drizzle for the whole set. A couple of good songs then we left to avoid the mad charge for the Metro. Best Stereophonics album is their first one, Word Gets Around, where they document small town Welsh life, which is so much like small town Cumbrian life that it holds a special place in my heart.

All in all, a great day and well worth the money. Sunshine would have been nice, but rain was so much more Mancunian.

(Cool as Kim Deal, Dandy Warhols)