Leeds festival

 

Since 1988, when its sister festival at Reading saw Meat Loaf and Bonnie Tyler bottled off, Leeds has adopted a broader, more forward-looking musical policy, and has now become a contest between titans of rock and indie. Friday headliners Metallica land the first blow with a consummate display of twiddly-twiddly metal, although bystanders may be wondering whether balding, manic drummer Lars Ulrich has been replaced by Jack Nicholson in The Shining.

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The rain sends people squeezing into the tent to see Glasvegas. The Glaswegians sound like the Jesus and Mary Chain produced by Phil Spector, and when they finally play Daddy's Gone, there isn't a voice that's not belting out the chorus - even after the triumphant band have left the stage.

Veteran rap-rockers Rage Against the Machine were fourth on the bill in 2000, but now find themselves headlining, for no apparent reason. Perhaps modern inventions such as iPods and BlackBerrys mean they have a lot more machines to rage against - but as ever, the audience only really go mad for their 15-year-old single, Killing in the Name.

It is left to the Manic Street Preachers and Las Vegas's Killers to provide the unifying experiences the festival is crying out for. In the NME tent, the Manics sound fiery and emotional. But most people opt for the main stage, where the Killers' anthems get the whole field singing.

In a year short on surprises, the weekend's most unlikely triumph belongs to a Geordie on the unsigned stage calling himself Razmataz Lorry Excitement. His bonkers dance beats and Prince falsetto pull a large crowd in a contest otherwise carried by Las Vegas and Glasvegas.

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