“We were worried no one would turn up,” says the ever-charming Alex Kapranos, explaining to the huge crowd why he’d been handing out flyers for Franz Ferdinand's not-so-secret appearance. “One girl didn’t believe I was in Franz Ferdinand; she asked which part of Sheffield I’m from!”

From spring-loaded curtain raiser Matinee to party-starting perennial Take Me Out, via a majestically windswept Walk Away, the art-pop champs’ nine-song set trumps the meat-and-potatoes indie on the main stages tonight. The four new numbers they play already sound familiar; expect the rollicking, guitar-drilled Girls, You’ll Never Know and synth-gilded instant anthem Turn It On to dominate tomorrow’s charts. Even in dressed-down mode, Kapranos radiates a formidable charisma – he can scissor-kick while wearing wellies! – and the closing This Fire is dispatched with such authority that a 2009 headline slot seems a very good bet. Manish Agarwal, Park Stage


With powerfully emotive vocals and a guitarist who plays like he’s de-activating a bomb, Montreal’s moody Patrick Watson was an early highlight of a strong John Peel stage line-up. (Its namesake would surely mumble in quiet approval).

In the afternoon, Young Knives worked their country gent look with matching red braces and wellies, delivering the snotty Weekends and Bleak Days (Hot Summer) during one of the day’s worst downpours.

Next came two headline-grabbing, male-female duos. The Ting Tings turned in a hyperactive set, man-Ting Jules De Martino impressing the huge crowd with his party trick – drumming, playing guitar and singing at the same time. Following that, The Kills’ usually smouldering chemistry seemed a bit damp.

Reverend And The Makers upped the standard – and the BPM – amply. Sporting a mean Mohawk, singer John McClure’s aggressive pronouncements of the joys of Glastonbury were like being told to have fun by an extra from Mad Max.

It takes a big band to top that, and headiners The Cribs are as big as their indie-sensibilities will allow, playing to a small but devoted crowd. Men's Needs is the highlight of a typically shambolic show. Dan Stubbs, John Peel Stage


It’s lunchtime and the Queen’s Head faithful lap up Preston’s Team Waterpolo – no weather reference intended - and their enervating sampler-delic pop.

Babel pack the tent with muddy funsters, hoeing down vigorously to fine blues’n’ country stomping from the nattily-kempt West Country septet before the The Holloways and Joe Lean And the Jing Jang Jong bro-down in a battle of the indie scruffs. Gears are switched briefly for the soulful pop tones of The Script preceding an impressive turn by Young Knives, unleashing their inner rock gods – albeit in slacks and sensible shirts - with new material as well as telegrammatic standards such as She’s Attracted To, and showing that these geeks really will inherit the earth. Tonight’s jewel in the QH crown is Miss Kate Nash, beaming widely and resplendent in lashes and lamé, wowing the heaving throng with a rainbow of pop flavours and some very cheeky banter. Progressive patriot and people’s champion Billy Bragg appears for a emotional and uplifting duet on A New England and plays back-up strumming on closer Foundations, leaving a sea of shining faces whooping for more. Jo Kendall