When the Leeds festival sold out in record time this year, its promoters, Mean Fiddler, suggested the growing apathy towards superstar DJ-led dance festivals lay at the heart of the resurgence in ticket sales. Its older sister festival in Reading rose to prominence as an exclusively rock festival in the 1970s, but this year, a more eclectic booking policy across the two events has no doubt helped to widen their appeal.

DJ-led dance music might be in decline, but the influence of the late-80s Madchester dance scene is noticeable in the music of newcomers such as Kasabian and !!! (pronounced chk-chk-chk, apparently), who drew large crowds.

The Streets languished in an early afternoon slot that had been confirmed before their recent number 1, Dry Your Eyes, a song that proved Mike Skinner had the emotional depth to match the overcast skies. Skinner only had time for a 30-minute set after being stuck in traffic - with the ferris wheel slowly revolving in the distance and the ice cream vans doing healthy business, it all made for a quintessentially English bank holiday experience.

Brooklyn rapper 50 Cent was blighted by the competition, having neither the vocal dynamics of Jurassic 5 nor DJ Format's turntable skills - both of which received rapturous responses elsewhere. His incessant demands to "raise your hands" became wearisome when he managed little to justify such a display of affection, and he was brought down to size during In da Club by a sign in the crowd that read "Hey Fifty, it's spelled In THE Club". Lynne Truss would be proud.

The Darkness's delusions of grandeur have snow-balled them through the past year from toilet circuit regulars to main stage headliners. Saturday's set culminated in a choreographed fireworks display worthy of the greatest excesses of their heroes, Queen. A paucity of quality material left them stretched to fill a 90-minute set but for sheer audacity, the four men from Lowestoft showed there is still room for 1970s-styled monsters of rock on the Leeds and Reading roster.