It’s frightfully hot at midday on Friday, but that doesn’t stop Peggy Sue being any less haunting. On the surface, the Brighton duo appears to be an upbeat, accordion-laden pop group but there’s a subtle undercurrent of darkness here. Their chilled folk sound combined with darker, more serious vocals was the perfect antidote for the hangovers and sun strokees littered across The Park field that afternoon. Highlights were the riotous Watchman (“I only came here to see you, see me”) and powerful debut single, Yo Mama.

Next up, Swedish electro-pop darlings Miike Snow played a hit-laden set at the John Peel Stage, working their crowd into the first dancing frenzy of the weekend. Canadian pop folk duo, Tegan & Sara drew in an impressive crowd even though they are relatively unknown by the British mainstream. The stunning short-haired twins gave a well-received run through of their new material, but it was the classics like ‘Back In Your Head’ and ‘Where Did the Good Go’ that really went down a storm.

Indie boy band of the moment Bombay Bicycle Club wooed the crowd with their lovesick ditties and Jack Steadman’s breathtakingly low and loving vocals, but this  band have a long way to go before they reach the success and adoration levels of The Maccabees and Friendly Fires.

The majority of those surrounding the Pyramid Stage at 5pm Friday were completely unaware that Snoop Dogg was about to become the unexpected highlight of the weekend. Swaggering onstage with a cocky smile and a knuckleduster that spelt out Snoop Dogg in diamonds, nothing could have rivalled his performance that afternoon.
Without any sort of introduction, the 38-year-old rapper launched straight into one of his biggest tracks – The Next Episode. To say the crowd went mental is an understatement.
“Have you all been smoking weeeeed?” The unashamed drugs-approver hollered across Worthy Farm. Even the most conservative of us screamed back, YES, YES, YES!
Snoop’s set was laden with favourites like ‘Beautiful’ and ‘Gin and Juice’, as well as a well-received cover of Tinie Tempah’s ‘Pass Out’ with the UK rap star himself making an appearance.
All in all, it was a ground-breaking set that once again, like Jay Z did in 2008, thrust hip hop into the hearts and minds of those who wouldn’t otherwise give it a second glance.

Special Guest slots at Glastonbury have always proved monumental and the appearance of Radiohead legends Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood was no exception. Even though a huge crowd had gathered around a Park Stage, we all still felt we were part of the greatest secret of the weekend. Thom did a quick run through of his solo favourites and then bought Johnny on to play a varied collection of Radiohead songs, old and new. It was the 1997 hit Karma Police however that truly sealed the deal that Friday evening at Glastonbury. Screaming “For a minute there, I lost myself” with the 100s of fellow Radiohead lovers around you is a truly irreplaceable feeling and will no doubt be forever remembered by everyone that witnessed it.

The Leftfield tent was crammed with people hoping to catch Carl Barat’s solo set Friday evening. More than likely they were hoping to catch a spontaneous reunion of The Libertines, but either way, everyone seemed up for a good knees up to either Carl’s solo lovesongs or some classic Libertines cover versions.

Delicate romanticists The XX headlined The Park stage on Friday. Their intense stage show of lighting effects and suffocating amounts of dry ice added whole new dimensions to their widely-acknowledged Album of the Year. Dividing their set with characteristically XX versions of Bronski Beat’s Smalltown Boy, they mesmerised their crowd into complete adoring submission.

Saturday was an intense day of girl power. Imogen Heap and Kate Nash played back to back, channelling poppy quirkiness from either side of the Atlantic. It was one of the first times Kate was able to show off her new album to a wide array of onlookers and the whole performance, piano-stamping included, left a lot of the fans shocked and dumbfounded. Her Glastonbury performance thoroughly put the nail in her floral-dressed coffin and cemented her new persona as brash, swearing, riot-grrl Nash. Impressive to those who like the underground girl-punk sound but not so much to those who preferred the twee cockney pop of 2006’s Made of Bricks.

Iconic women were gracing the stage over in the Pyramid field as well Saturday afternoon, with The Dead Weather’s dirty rock and roll vocals provided by the one-and-only Alison Mosshart. Silent yet (probably) deadly; the Kills/Dead Weather vocalist is a smouldering, dark haired vixen of the rock n’ roll scene, reserved and dedicated more to her bands than the spotlight. Combine Mosshart’s sultriness with the behemoth of rock that is Jack White and The Dead Weather deliver a terrifyingly good set of material that is only mediocre on record.

Even though she continually penetrates the chart with irresistible pop hits, Shakira had trouble having the same impact on the Pyramid Stage on Saturday evening. Ideal for a singalong but nothing more; Shakira’s brand of easy-listening Columbian pop has none of the edge necessary to really excite the pissed-up 7 ‘o’ clock crowd. Except maybe the blokes, but that’s a whole other sort of analysis.

The XX play their second set of the weekend in the John Peel Stage, reeling their set in from the open air ambience of the night before and allowing it to balloon inside the John Peel tent. The trio’s Saturday night set easily topped their set the previous night by playing their remix of Florence & the Machine’s ‘You Got The Love’ with a very special appearance from the fire-haired songstress herself.

Most would think Muse need no introduction. Whirling guitars, transcendental vocals, riffs that could make Hendrix weep with jealousy. The Muse live show is such a hyped up, expectation-laden proposition that when it comes down to it, the songs don’t sound much different than they do on the record. Although the band put on extravagant live shows, the effect is much like a firework display with no heart behind it. The highlight of this evening only comes when the Devon band are joined onstage by U2’s The Edge – a man obviously so gutted about dropping out of his own band’s headline slot that he persuaded this one to let him play with them. It was a truly electric version of ‘Where the Streets Have No Name’ that acted as a touching tribute to a deserving band who should have been on that stage this weekend.

Most festival goers were winding down on Sunday morning, but Avi Buffalo seemed to be just getting started.  Led by a very confident 19-year-old Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg, the band are a startling mix of tinkering folk sounds and piercing Bright Eyes-esque vocals. The most striking thing about Sunday’s performance was the band constantly asking the audience for assurance on how they sounded. With all that chat of time signatures and monitors, the majority of the non clued-up spectators just gawped and stared. Nonetheless, the band seemed to make a significant impact on their meagre early morning crowd, especially with fan favourite, “What’s In It For?”

Festival veterans We Are Scientists played a predictably good set, littered with new material but unavoidably, it will always be their early songs off their debut album that will go down the best.
Electro-pop irregulars MGMT emerged from the recent tide of second album criticism to perform a very entertaining, inspiring set. Branded as too experimental to be mainstream, the songs from the band’s second album actually went down very well as the sun was setting over the Other Stage on Sunday.
Long-lasting British dance outfit Faithless were unexpectedly very good at concluding the weekend. Playing a set full of recognizable hits, front man Rollo was incredibly humble; at one point, shedding a few tears while looking out at the adoring crowd in front of him.

Before Glastonbury, everyone said there was no better way to send off the 40th anniversary this year than to have the legendary Stevie Wonder sing Happy Birthday to Michael Eavis. The evening panned out even better and more magical that we could ever have imagined.
Stevie Wonder started out in a time when performing was a real art form and this man has performance down to a tee. Onstage, Stevie is charming, accommodating and such a laugh. The fifty thousand-strong audience feels as if they’re listening to a mate play in a living room, rather that watching a great spectacle on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury.
Stevie rolls out the classics (‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’, ‘Superstition’ and ‘Signed Sealed Delivered’) with as much passion and enthusiasm as a smalltime band trying to make it big. There’s no doubt about it; Stevie Wonder is a golden hearted talent and it shines through his music and infects the entire crowd.
Michael Eavis was invited onstage for the grand finale of Happy Birthday. Eavis sounded like your Dad on karaoke but by that point, the whole crowd had been deluded by their own adoration for a man who had just delivered a cracking set of 80s nostalgia along with another man who has delivered 40 years of incomparable, life-changing music festivals.

It was only right that Glastonbury Festival 2010 ended with Michael Eavis being truly bombarded with the appreciation he deserved, whether it be from a 60-year-old Soul legend or tens of thousands of festival goers forever grateful that one man was inspired to host his own festival in September, 1970.
As one journalist said, “We might be terrible at football, but at least we have the best music festival in the world.”

Phil from UKMusicreview grabs a few days away to enjoy what is becoming an essential festival to visit every year...

So my first festival of 2010 was a bit of an odd affair. Having navigated into the depths of Derbyshire with trusty sat nav I managed to put my cheap £20 ten up without hammering any fingers into the ground, and proceeded to the main festival enclosure. I was a bit bewildered with what I found. Grown men were wandering around in medieval attire, kids were adorned with face paint, I saw various people attempting to hula hoop at the same time, and whilst a folk band graced the main stage I could hear strains of techno music drifting over from another tent in the distance.
This fairly sums of the experience of Bearded Theory 2010. A folk festival based near the town of Ashbourne, in Derbyshire. For three days there are bands, solo musicians, circus performers, dj’s, homeopathic practitioners, and blokes dressed as Smurfs; what more do you want?

I would say this is very much a folk festival with a variety of other genres of music to keep everybody happy. With a line up that includes New Model Army, Dodgy, and the Cheeky Girls you cannot say that there was a limited amount of music on offer. It is also a very family friendly festival, and well managed. The security staff were polite and friendly, you felt like they were there to do a job and not just along for the ride. The bands kept to deadlines on stage, there were no mess ups or long delays, the sound was professional, and everything seemed to run very smoothly.
The facilities for children at this festival were also extremely good. A separate wristband system for parents to allow ease of contact in case of a losing their child gave peace of mind, and also there was a lost child tent very prominent near the entrance to the festival. At night the noise was limited, the toilets were cleaned at regular intervals, and also child only loos were helpful.  I saw no drugs on site, and there was a multitude of activities for kids in the ‘Enchanted Garden’ section of the festival. Some of the activities included face painting, an inflatable slide, fairground games, drums sessions, a train ride, and various arts and crafts stalls. The enchanted garden also lit up beautifully at night and this created a peaceful meditative atmosphere.

The general vibe on site was of peace, love, and all that hippy malarkey. I felt slightly out of place in my Primark jumper and jeans, but was still treated fairly by everyone I came across. When you find yourself in a queue for fish and chips with a bloke dressed as ‘Moaning Lisa’ from the famous Van Gogh painting, then all boundaries and pretences disappear anyway. If the stress of festival life gets too much then there’s always the free sauna to go to, plus massage (with a donation) or even just a nice hot shower, free also. Perhaps the general good value and facilities on offer contributed to the feel good factor all round the site.

Musically there was a lot to keep everybody going.  Friday saw the likes of Dodgy and The Wonder Stuff play on the main stage, and that kind of positive energy flowed through till the end of the festival. The Wonder Stuff in particular got the crowd going. On the ‘Beard Top’ stage, lesser known band The Pyrates were also good fun and combined light heartedness with rollicking tunes. Rounding off the first day in style The King Blues put in a storming set. You might have heard recent single ‘Headbutt’ on XFM, it’s a stonking head rush of punk and pop with a brilliant sing along chorus.  Another song ‘I got Love’ is also a perfect piece of song writing, and sounded great at the festival. ‘Save the World Get the Girl’ proves that this band can write a catchy pop song seemingly at will, and I enjoyed discovering this band.

Saturday brought fairer weather and the festival really felt like it got going. First band up on the main stage three piece New York Alcoholic Anxiety Attack gave us some good old fashioned punk rock. Sounding like the Ramones mixed with Nirvana and Joy Divison they kick started the day and probably aggravated a few hangovers. The front man combined cockiness with charm and won me over in no time. Some of their tunes are pretty decent too; this is a band worth keeping an eye out for if they build on their set. The Men They Couldn’t Hang gave us pure folk dynamite and proved popular mid afternoon, although I did get a bit tired of political comments about Margaret Thatcher, she left power nearly twenty years ago lads, get over it! Pronghorn from Dorset kept the folksy vibe going and comments about politics were kept to a minimum. Veteran hip hop/rock act Senser blasted us with distorted chords and rap choruses and lit up the evening.  Featuring dual vocals from front man Heitham Al Sayed and front woman Kerstin Haigh this band rocked our world and probably woke up a few hippies in the surrounding fields, who knows what the nearby cows thought of it. It was heavy, rifftastic stuff and set the stage nicely for some straight forward punk from Goldblade, and then the grungy folk of New Model Army to wow the crowd.

With three stages, an acoustic tent, and a dance tent there’s always plenty of other acts on if the people on the main stage don’t take your fancy. Probably the highlight of the festival, and the band that stole the show for me were relative newcomers Arcadian Kicks. These youngsters from Birmingham know how to write a good tune, they performed like professionals, had the crowd captivated by the second song, and are so good looking they could probably front a commercial for Levi’s. They played on the ‘Baaar Stage’ but were far better than most of the other acts on the other stages. Lead vocalist Rebecca Wilson has a great voice for someone so young, sounding a little like Amy Macdonald but with more range. The guitar player Thomas Holloway held his instrument with authority and composure and added some interesting parts to the songs, which made him stand out and seem just that bit more special than the average guitar player, and he’s probably only about 18. I really liked a lot of his lead lines and he made the songs reach out and grab the listener. Add to the mix some sassy saxophone and backup vocals from Rebbekeh Pennington, floppy haired inventive drumming from Harry Grainger, and tight bass playing from Tommy Kelly then your on to a winner.  

Songs such as ‘White Noise’, ‘Walk Alone’, and ‘19 Days’ stood out and with choruses so big you could pitch a hundred tents in. They had the crowd begging for an encore and seemed a little bit flustered by being asked back for more. Get used to it guys, you’re that good! They will surely be supporting a big act later this year so go see them whilst they are still young and bright eyed, they’re going to be big soon.  Another hidden gem from this stage was ‘Vandeville Falls’ who write songs with emotional depth and have a lot of heart. They do melodic guitar based pop with gorgeous choruses and are well worth checking out if you like songs that tug at the emotions.

Two of the highlights from Sunday were Pama International and of course Dreadzone who ended the festival in style.  Dreadzone have been around for a while and have plenty of material to choose from. So they played a few new ones and mixed in some old classics and pretty much did what was to be expected, but it was still a great set.

All in all this was a great festival experience.  There were a lot of good bands, and solo performers. I enjoyed the friendly, peaceful atmosphere. T here was a wide range of food and beers available, and different activities to keep young and old amused between bands. Where else can you listen to a piano version of Stairway to Heaven whilst getting a drink from the bar, see fire eaters perform, or watch burlesque dancers with beards all in one night? Get yourself down to Derbyshire if that gets your beard in a twist.

FRIDAY MAIN STAGE SUBGIANT ESKIMO FIRES AOS3	SATURDAY MAIN STAGE SENSER DR & THE MEDICS MEN THEY COULDNT HANG BLYTH POWER TRUE DECIEVERS	SUNDAY MAIN STAGE BACK TO THE PLANET TRAGIC ROUNDABOUT HOBO JONES & THE JUNK YARD DOGS NEW YORK ALCOHOLIC ANXIETY ATTACK KILNABOY
MAGICAL SOUNDS ARENA UNION JACK MAGICLANTERN DJ/VJ SUNFISH SOLAR BUD ZUBZUB SAM HOMER TETCHI	MAGICAL SOUNDS ARENA ED TANGENT ATOMGRINDER ZETAN SPORE PSY-CLONE TECHNO HIPPY LORRAINE	MAGICAL SOUNDS ARENA BANCO DE GAIA KANGAROO MOON THE IMPOSSIBLE HONKY DUB DJ DISORIENTAL MAGICLANTERN DJ/VJ
BEARD TOP TARANTISM BABAR LUCK INNER TERRESTRIALS ANDY ROBINSON GREENMAN RISING NIMMING NED	BEARD TOP SPECIAL BT GUESTS JERZEY STREET BAND REV HAMMER/DAN DONNELLY SCUTTY NEIGHBOURS BEMIS THE VIOLET MAYS RENEGADE BRASS BAND BOOT HILL ALL STARS HARD LUCK CAFE	BEARD TOP LEATHERAT JO HAMILTON PLEASE Y’SELF DAVID GIBB BEANS ON TOAST JODY WILDGOOSE COCOS LOVERS CHEEKY GIRLS
	SKIFFLE SATURDAY  PLEASE Y’SELF RAILROAD BILL RAGATI STING BAND SKIFFLE WORKSHOP WALL OF SKIFFLE KICK ‘N’ RUSH BIGGLES WARTIME BAND

As this years summer festival season starts to seriously gear up, Plymouth's Volksfest event is the latest new entry to join the heaving pack. Now in it's second year Volksfest is part Volkswagen get together, part music festival and part open air market.

Building on last years quiet beginnings, this years Volksfest is a bigger, better and busier event; with all weekend and camping tickets sold out, the sun shining and a relaxed, feel good vibe, this is one of the more impressive small festivals on the UK calender this year.

On paper, the actual musical line up is somewhat less than impressive, headliners The Sex Pistols Experience, Dreadzone, Stereo MC's and Hazel O'Connor a mix of covers bands, eighties has beens and early nineties one hit wonders. In actuality though Volksfest proves a much more satisfying experience than initial impressions suggest, the overall vibe and feel of the whole making it much more than a sum of its parts.

With three smallish marquee's comprising the main musical venues, there's enough going on at all times to keep you entertained during the three days, the usual festival experience of flitting between stages and discovering new bands and artists amidst the more established names proving the real draw.

The Belfast Busker is an acoustic troubadour who does pretty much exactly what you'd expect, bashing out alcohol fueled cover versions interspersed with good natured Irish banter. Takes on the likes of Snow Patrol and The Pogues prove the most audience friendly, with The Belfast Busker interpreting the originals with gravel throated ease; uninspired and nothing you won't hear being banged out by an acoustic wielding singer outside the majority of train stations and shopping centres across the world, but feel good and satisfyingly familiar all the same.

The Van Daniels, Cosmo Jarvis and Two Spot Gobi offer up decent indie rock experiences, perhaps not the most incendiary, inspired bands you'll ever hear, but again satisfyingly good natured sets. Two Spot Gobi prove the best of the evenings bunch, this a band infused with enough charisma and stage presence to genuinely impress; certainly ones to watch in the coming years and a band you could well excel with a touch more experience, exposure and a few more impressive songs.

Plymouth's own Mad Dog McRea offer up a set of spirited folk as the night draws in, obviously a band inspired by the Irish bluster of The Waterboys, the band deliver a crowd pleasing hours worth of material all fiddles blazing and gruff melodies. With enough anthemic folk singalongs to keep things buoyant and bustling, Mad Dog McRea prove one of Volksfest's more energetic moments so far.

Closing the night, dub-dance pioneers Dreadzone take to the stage and unleash their familiar sounding bass heavy sound. Though looking a little older and grizzled than their early nineties heyday, Dreadzone still know how to deliver the goods, their anthemic calling card Little Britain still proving to be the most familiar and satisfying number, going down particularly well tonight.

All in all, Plymouth Volksfest 2009 proves to be a rousing success, it may not have the most impressive musical lineup or the recognition; but as an up and coming festival on the calender it is quickly establishing itself as one of the better small events. A winning blend of sunshine, feel good atmosphere and a decent musical diversity makes Plymouth Volksfest 2009 a winning start to the summer.

Mud, mayhem, an absolute plethora of quality live bands and rumors that Michael Jackson is dead; welcome to Glastonbury 2009. Despite the biblical downpours that welcome in Friday morning, it's business as usual here. Well, what is Glastonbury without the slippy sliddy mud trenches and wellington boot sales after all.

First up is Irish pop punkers General Fiasco on the John Peel stage ? bashing out giddy, fizzy indie rock, General Fiasco bound through their set with a mixture of nervous energy and emo tinged attitude, clearly in thrall to the likes of Jimmy Eat World and Superchunk, this is a decent start to events, if a little uninspiring and vanilla.

Over on the Other Stage, The Whip bang out some electro dance to a rainy field of mud. Clearly better suited to sweaty dancefloors than mid morning, hungover audiences, the band deal in storming electro pop just the right side of anthemic, and closing with a rousing take on their finest moment thus far, Trash ? they deliver a winning performance despite the daylight and storms.

Regina Spektor takes to the Pyramid Stage under similarly weather challenged conditions, and plods through a pleasant but ultimately underwhelming set. Front loading it with the hits perhaps works against her here and we're left with about an hours worth of middle of the road piano ballads and the odd expletive strewn acoustic campfire sing along. A fit of the giggles midway through also suggests Spektor is perhaps having a better time onstage than a large percentage of the audience watching.

In Glastonbury '09's first truly spectacular moment so far, it comes down to American hardcore band Fucked Up. The John Peel stage is packed and heaving as a fired up and bare chested Pink Eyes hollers and screams his way through a tight set of melodically inclined anthemic hardcore punk like a version of Henry Rollins without the lifetime gym membership and raised on a steady diet of McDonalds and KFC. Certainly the most visceral and thrilling performance so far, Fucked Up absolutely kill it on the John Peel Stage, and as Pink Eyes growls the words, ?forget MJ and remember John Peel, a true legend? as they close their set, the band win more than a few hearts and minds here this afternoon. N.E.R.D take to the Pyramid Stage in confrontational mood, berating security and time constraints, ultimately refusing to leave, despite having their power cut mid song at the climax of their set. Clearly upset and riled up about something, front man Pharell Williams whines on about the length of their set throughout the performance, an irritation only made up for on account of their winning combination of smooth soul, melodic rap metal and true stage presence. The likes of Rockstar and Lapdance induce excitable crowd participation and a stage invasion as they climax gives the performance an edgy punk rock attitude sadly lacking in your more conventional so called modern day punk rockers. Still singing despite having their power cut for going over their alloted time, Pharell stands defiantly at the edge of the pit, howling acappella for a good five minutes; cutting a passionate, inspirational, if a little petulant and childish vision.

Fleet Foxes take to the stage as the sun finally breaks through the clouds and exacts its blazing, sun burning revenge on pale and pasty skin everywhere. Never quite buying totally into the hype surrounding the critically lauded album, Fleet Foxes finally click into place here this sunny afternoon. Their glorious folk harmonies brush gently up against the mesmerizing guitar playing, giving headliner Neil Young a bit of healthy competition. Effortlessly gliding through their gorgeous set, the band exchange nervous glances and stumble through the odd awkward attempt at stadium rocking banter, clearly still struggling with their impending stardom; all of which however somehow adds even more to their Southern rocking charm. Dumbest comment of the festival so far ought to be handed to a voice overhead commenting midway throughout the set, ?I never knew they were American? though, yeah its something about the plaid shirts, soothing country folk, mountain man beards, choral southern folk and general aura of uber Americana they maybe should have tipped you off somewhere along the way.

White Lies on the Other Stage do their moody Joy Division anthemic indie rock thing, banging out anthemically inclined pop; though the fact that it's a take on Bruce Springsteen's Dancing In The Dark towards the climax of their set that draws the biggest cheers and reactions is perhaps a little telling and worrying for the band.

Scott Matthews runs through some sublime balladeering over at the acoustic Tent; closing up with an elegiatic take on his sublime, Elusive, this is hairs on the back of your neck, spine tingling stuff. Neil Young does the wrinkly rocker thing over on the Pyramid Stage as darkness finally draws in. Delivering all the hits and still raging after all these years, he ploughs through the likes of Cinnamon Girl and Rockin' In The Free World, all guitars blazing and yearningly cracked vocals delicately aching; you really wouldn't expect anything less.

Animal Collective close things up over at the seemingly miles away Park Stage ? playing to a packed, appreciative audience and delivering euphoric dance infused beats married to anthemic, quirky chanting and the odd glimmer of freak folk. Lengthy drum jams and playful experimentation prove that despite headlining the stage, Animal Collective haven't lost any of their pioneering sonic inventiveness or spirit.

Day Two and saturday brings the sunshine back in full force as the mud begins to dry and its finally time to abandon the sweaty, cumbersome wellies. Baddies take to the John Peel Stage early on the saturday morning and bang out a tight set of taut muscular indie rock. Imagining the Futureheads bashing heads with Fugazi, the four piece make an energized racket here, playing to a small but enthusiastic audience.

The droning post-rocking wall of noise that The Big Pink emits is another reason to stick with The John Peel Stage this morning, their Velvet Underground meets My Bloody Valentine meets Mogwai sound is perhaps enjoyed in darker, less sunnier surroundings, yet they somehow manage to make it all work perfectly here, the moody gloomy atmospherics transcending location and drawing you into their gloriously sullen post-rocking headspace; one of those unexpected Glastonbury delights. Esser on the other hand fail to conjure nearly the same euphoria, banging out dull indie dance grooves that fail to really hit the mark here this afternoon.

It's left to Australian collective The Temper Trap to bring things back to life, delivering THE set of Glastonbury 2009 so far. Opening with a metallic sounding instrumental that's more Black Sabbath than their usual anthemic alt-pop, the band soon transition into the glorious Sweet Disposition, proving themselves the band most likely to succeed of this years admittedly impressive John Peel Stage line up. Dual drumming mayhem sees the band shifting into excitable dance pop territory mid set and as they close proceedings with Science Of Fear, The Temper Trap leave stage to an ecstatic, euphoric uproar, a healthy indication that this band are clearly headed for very big things.

Portland, Oregon dance rockers Hockey deliver bouncy punk funk workouts next, not forgetting to inject enough hyperactive sing along hooks amidst all the angular riffing to ensure they're equal parts The Strokes, LCD Soundsystem and Gang Of Four. With their Replacements esque anthemic rock, The Gaslight Anthem conjure up rock n roll spirit by the bucket load next, careering through the majority of their latest record, The '59 Sound with full throttle attitude and energy, effectively upping the ante for headliner Bruce Springsteen later tonight.

Passion Pit play to a rammed, sweaty and heaving John Peel Stage next, riding on the back of a wave of hype and anticipation following their hipster blogosphere word of mouth and sparkling debut album, Manners. Doing nothing to disappoint today, the bands collision of melodic falsettos and sparkly electro synth pop comes together effortlessly, the US collective rocking a set that proves them as wonderfully capable and captivating live as they are on record.

Making the Pyramid Stage their own, Kasabian draw on three albums worth of anthemic indie dance rock, blasting out hit after hit with a crowd pleasing set. Newer material from the just released West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum is amongst the strongest songwriting of their career so far, already sounding instantly familiar and epic; though its still the likes of Empire, Fire and Shoot The Runner that go over the strongest.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band perform a lengthy but enjoyable closing set on the Pyramid Stage. Opening with a cover of Joe Strummer's Glastonbury themed Coma Girl and eventually closing with a rousing Born To Run, Springsteen and his band run through a two and a half plus hour performance. Though perhaps benefitting from a little shorter run time, Springsteen remains energized and sprightly throughout, constantly bounding around the stage, leaping into the audience and offering friendly everyman banter with the audience; highlights include The Gaslight Anthem front man Brian Fallon duetting on No Surrender, glorious renditions of Thunder Road and a surprisingly spirited run through of recent single Working On A Dream. Sure, they could've shaved the odd half hour off proceedings and banged out a few more high profile hits along the way, but ultimately Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band deliver a rousing and spirited set here tonight.

Sunday at Glastonbury 2009 closes the festival in typically spirited fashion. A mixture of more family friendly fare like Tom Jones, Rolf Harris, Madness and Status Quo amidst the more intriguing fare, Sunday is always a more eclectically flecked affair.

Over at the John Peel Stage, Good Books open the day with their upbeat indie rock antics, bashing out spirited guitar pop to a small but appreciative audience. Wave Machines follow, taking to the stage donning weird masks and delivering melodically infused marriages of Supertramp and the Beta Band. One of those unexpected festival highlights, this is a band able to veer between upbeat pop and truly epic moments, a band definitely well worth checking out if you get the chance.

Art Brut bang out their none-more-indie ramshackle pop over at the Other Stage, raging against bands like the Killers and Kings Of Leon for having nothing to say and stumbling through songs about lo-fi bands and drunken text messaging, front man Eddie Argos and co give a shambolic but fun set here, in a scruffy indie rock kind of way. US emo merchants Brand New are next up and go about business as usual, yearning guitars and plaintive vocals rub up against more rocking, harder edged material; the tender acoustic closer providing one of those spine tingling moments that resounds the loudest.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs run through the hits, Karen O and band as entertainingly impressive as ever, strange costume choices and guitar smashing abuse all present and correct. Winning takes on Maps, Zero and Date With The Night close their set, Yeah Yeah Yeahs on fine form, but criminally far down the bill here. Bats For Lashes are mesmerizing next, their atmospheric pop bringing some much needed calm and melancholy to sunday afternoon, closing with a glorious take on Daniel that induces mass shivers and tingling spines for miles to see.

Bon Iver proves a surprisingly stadium rocking experience on the Other Stage, his more introspective recorded work transplanting to the live arena in much more anthemic, rousing form. The likes of Skinny Love, Flume and Blood Bank induce mass audience sing alongs and handclaps, whilst extended guitar jams and walls of feedback see Bon Iver bolstering their sound to noisier, rockier sonic territory.

Glastonbury 2009 provided all the thrills and spills, mud, mayhem and hijinks you'd expect. With weather ranging from torrential downpours to blazing sunshine and a line up never anything less than interesting. When the only complaint you can come away with is the usual overpriced bar prices and food stalls, the typical mud baths and the fact that there are way, way too many bands to see than is physically possible, compounded by some truly evil and heartbreaking stage clashing decisions that leave you cursing the whole 24 hours in a day thing then you know that this year has been something truly special. Roll on 2010.