Connect, Inveraray Castle, Argyll

Although it comes from the same organisation that runs T in the Park – one of the UK's biggest and liveliest music festivals – this inaugural Connect weekend turned out to be a very different beast. Headline sets by the Beastie Boys, Primal Scream and Björk were just the tip of a very satisfying three-day weekend.

Although there was the usual mud and rapidly deteriorating campsite facilities, Connect is aimed at a slightly older, more discerning crowd, and some small changes made a huge difference. The setting itself is stunning, with the main stage being surrounded by high, wooded hills and the beautiful Loch Fyne.

Alongside the usual noodle stalls, local oysters, mussels and salmon were offered as high-quality fast food, with a champagne tent nearby. It was this attention to detail that made the festival such a success, not least because it transferred itself to the music.

With 16,000 people in attendance, the event felt massive, but the fact that there were only four stages (two large outdoor arenas, a sizeable tent and a tiny stage for local acts) allowed a certain amount of quality control: there were just good bands and great bands here, all within 15 minutes' walk of each other.

As well as the Beastie Boys' Day-Glo, all-action set, Primal Scream's electro-rock'*'roll, and the same futuristic stage show that Björk took to Glastonbury, there were plenty of sets by fantastic bands.

After CSS's frantic disco-funk mood-setting, and Jarvis Cocker's all-action drollery, The Jesus and Mary Chain's penultimate set on the Friday was a growling cataclysm, a dry, ice-frosted return to the stage in their home country after many years away.

Excellent fellow-Scots Mogwai filled the same position and purpose on Saturday, after an afternoon that saw Glasgow's 1990s, Teenage Fanclub, and Sons and Daughters (the last debuting some amazing material from their forthcoming third album) appear alongside Edinburgh's veteran post-punk Fire Engines and electro-rocker X-Vectors.

Seasick Steve, the Kissaway Trail, Candie Payne and My Latest Novel were among many new acts who won fans on the Sunday, and the gaudy big-bassed urban style of MIA was a revelation, a stage invasion at the end confirming the crowd's approval.

Putting LCD Soundsystem on after Björk allowed the day-trippers to separate themselves from the clubbing campsite casualties, although hopefully all will find themselves back at this fine festival next year.