³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

This Friday I went down, as every year for the last three years, to the Cardiff Big Weekend's site outside City Hall. I picked my way past the burly security fellows (who checked I wasn't smuggling moonshine in my camera bag) and through the wonderful sea of kohl-smothered humanity to the backstage area.

Cardiff Big Weekend featured Welsh acts on the Friday from 1997 to 2001, and then again from 2009. Each year there's something revelatory or celebratory that sticks in the mind. Stereophonics, Lostprophets, The Blackout and Kids In Glass Houses have all played great shows early in their careers.

This year, Funeral For A Friend headlined, a full decade into their career. Instead of winning fans to a new, unknown quantity, they played a blinder of a set which demonstrated to me how mature they are now, able to marry 'old hand' professionalism with a passionate vigour.

I talked to Matt Davies of the band before they went on (apologies for the poor sound quality of these clips; such is life when you're at a festival):

Another band who played this time was Attack! Attack! Neil Starr talked to me too, about recording with Romesh Dodangoda, their songwriting and grunge music:

Attack! Attack! also played well; the tracks from The Latest Fashion (2010) lending themselves very nicely to an open-air rock-friendly festival atmosphere. Their choruses are seriously impressive, if you've not heard them yet.

But it was who were the surprise hit of the day for me. They seemed to win over a sceptical audience that initially wrote off their indie demeanour. By alternating between a kind-of Kinks/Blur British Chas and Dave-inflected chirpiness and an American indie wig-out style of guitar thrashing, they showed a danceable rockularity that had the audience attempting an improbable moshpit.

2011 won't go down as one of the classic line-ups of the Big Weekend, but all three bands deserved their place. Like The Blackout and Kids In Glass Houses in the last two years, Funeral For A Friend rose to the occasion and were as triumphant as I think I've ever seen them.

Do you have pictures from the weekend? .

Comment below and share what you thought of the bands. If you want to have your say, on this or any other ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ blog, you will need to sign in to your ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ iD account. If you don't have a ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ iD account, you can - it'll allow you to contribute to a range of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ sites and services using a single login.

Need some assistance? , or get some .