Near End of the Road’s second stage is a billboard with an “extremely sophisticated, algorithmic” flow chart asking very specific questions to determine which artist you should see this weekend. Since I dislike snakes but like rodents, it offers me Danish musician Astrid Sonne, who has sadly had to cancel ahead of the weekend. Nonetheless, the Top Tipper, by artists Mikesian Studio, is characteristic of the Wiltshire festival: playful, charming, with curation by an obviously human rather than algorithmic hand.
The 13,500 people at this year’s EOTR are generous and enthusiastic listeners. Texan guitarist Hayden Pedigo seems bowled over by how many people turn up to watch him open the glade-like Garden stage on Friday lunchtime. He only started playing live a couple of years ago and professes to have terrible stage fright – though you wouldn’t know in the least from his delightful stage presence, telling us about how his Amarillo home is so flat that locals joke about being able to see your dog run away for three days. His widescreen, open-tuned instrumentals contain multitudes: proggy drama, nimble scurrying, Earth-like doom country and plenty of space.
