I recall going to see Brian Wilson - before he toured all the time - and it seemed so unlikely that he was playing live. Wilson delivered a killer set list of the obvious and not so obvious, though propped up by his band, not speaking to the audience, and clearly damaged.

It seemed even more unlikely that the legendary Roky Erickson of the 13th Floor Elevators would follow the same path - then again, the similarly dysfunctional Daniel Johnston tours regularly these days.

I'd probably direct you to Paul Drummond's encyclopaedic biography Eye Mind for the full story - the short story is that a fairly dysfunctional bunch of individuals released three mind-blowing records on a fairly dysfunctional label and Erickson found himself on a drugs charge. In a situation reminiscent of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Erickson chose being sectioned over a prison sentence - though like the rumour that Erickson had a lobotomy, this isn't quite accurate. Like Syd Barrett, drugs clearly unearthed mental illness and Erickson was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and received electroconvulsive therapy - just like Lou Reed and R.P. McMurphy.

In the years that followed, Erickson made solo records that reflected an interest in aliens and The Bible, declaring in 1982 that a Martian had inhabited his body and wanted this fact acknowledged by the public. In an indictment of the U.S. mental health system, Erickson was left unmedicated and was rumoured to live above a porn-shop where several TV-sets played at once (perhaps he was The Man Who Fell to Earth?) Around this point a charge of mail-theft was made, while the charges were dropped, Julian Cope's Droolian and the covers LP Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye were released.

Erickson as a solo artist and member of the Elevators had influenced many acts and cover versions from Cope, Primal Scream, REM, and Spacemen 3 followed (the best cover was Bongwater's take on 'You Don't Love Me Yet'). Recent box-sets and 'You're Gonna Miss Me' have bought Erickson back into the spotlight - though I was as surprised as many to hear of Erickson's recovery and return to the stage a few years ago.

Erickson & band were probably on the wrong stage - within a few minutes of opener 'Two Headed Dog', the beautiful people of The Green Man scattered and bad vibes probably stayed in the air for Animal Collective's weak headlining set. Erickson did indeed shuffle on and off like someone with learning disabilities and had to be stopped from playing each song. But he was in great vocal form and played along with the band who sounded as clunky as some of Dylan's backing bands.

Due to bad vibes, Erickson stayed away from the Elevators' back-catalogue - though the set did climax with The Spades' 'You're Gonna Miss Me' which sounded quite a lot like Screaming Trees playing the Stones. The set mainly focused on the solo work which like Captain Beefheart was indebted to stuff like Howlin' Wolf as well as sci-fi of the 50's and 60's.

Bashing out songs like 'Don't Shake Me Lucifer', 'I Walked with a Zombie', 'Night of the Vampire', 'Bloody Hammer', 'A Cold Night for Alligators' etc was never going to be a crowd-pleasing set. Maybe Roky should have been on the Far Out-stage after Wooden Shjips?

It was amazing to see both such a legend and casualty live and in relatively fine form - I wasn't expecting any Elevators' tunes and am aware that the one he has played ('Splash #1') has been less than great. Still, Roky's a legend and I'd definitely catch him again if he returns - plus he brought down a black cloud on the festival, which it probably needs!