Squarehead, Crawdaddy Stage:
It's early Sunday afternoon, and Picnic patrons have a choice.
Ease themselves into the festival's home strait with the soothing sounds of the Dublin Gospel Choir, or blow away the cobwebs with some vigorous rock 'n' roll, courtesy of Dublin's Squarehead?
We choose the latter option and we think it's a good 'un. The addition of a guitarist to the Dublin trio's live set-up gives their laidback slacker-rock an extra bite; in fact, everything about the trio seems punchier, tighter and even louder than the last time we saw them.
A smattering of tunes from their great debut album Yeah Nothing are mixed with a clutch of promising, punk-tinged new songs - but closing their set with a brilliant rocked-up version of The Ronettes' Be My Baby is an inspired move, sending punters back out into the sunshine feeling a little better prepared to face the day.
Verdict: ***
