Rain fails to dampen spirits at majestic End of the Road

Self Esteem and Father John Misty come out to play as revellers frolic in the downpour, writes Tristan Gatward

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End of the Road (EOTR) festival was overdue a bad weather year. The last time the rain truly came down in the ornate grounds of Dorset’s Larmer Tree Gardens was eight years ago, and even then, the shower felt less like an inconvenience than a paid-for prop to shine Perfume Genius's leather pants. Thanks to its perennial dryness, this de facto end-of-summer weekender has often stirred some hazy, communal belief that our long, warm days might last forever. But it's a belief misplaced this year; the rain comes early and doesn't leave.

Thursday night, despite its gloomy shadings, rumbles in with colour. The crisp hills of last week, now damp and in shadow, house a leftfield utopia - a summer night's dream of eclectic artistry and imagination. Down the A354 from Salisbury to Rio de Janeiro, the scruffy Brazilian soul of Rogê - both boyish and weary-eyed - is a mesmeric start to the Folly stage with hints of Sessa and Arthur Verocai, before the world and its dog withstands the elements for indie-rock heavyweight Sharon Van Etten's very first festival headline set, playing with her new band the Attachment Theory.

Van Etten is an inspired booking, true to everything a festival of EOTR's size should be in the making of all tomorrow's headliners. She fills the promise with power and humility, stumbling through some audience conversation (“It's hard to collectively laugh, but I know you're here with me”) before beaming, more resolutely: “Women