Supersonic Festival 2009

As the organisers of the excellent Supersonic festival, Capsule, are quick to point out, the independent UK music scene has suffered in the last ten years, damaging the fortunes of both musicians and retailers alike. It's encouraging then that this festival, sporting some of Europe's most exciting cult acts, continues to grow in prestige annually. This time around they've managed the coup of the decade, persuading Italian prog legends Goblin to perform in the UK for the first time in two decades. That band are also one of a number of speakers doing Q+A sessions during 3 days of performances and general nutritious musical goodness.

In a line-up peppered with some seriously appetising talent, lucky punters can also witness more Italian prog legends-in-the-making, Zu, whose performance at last year's Patton-curated ATP was nothing short of phenomenal. Its almost incidental to point out that 65 Days of Static, Pram, Jarboe, Monotonix, Thorr's Hammer, Skullflower, Venetian Snares and Army Of The Flying Robots will also be playing and rendering your weekend very bloody exciting. Not something often said about trips to Birmingham.