Name: Manic Street Preachers

Where and when: NME/Radio 1 stage, Saturday, 10.30pm, Reading

Dress code: As always, it's Nicky who makes up for the complete absence of glam from the other two, sporting glittery face paint, lots of eyeliner, a tight-fitting school blazer and a feather boa wrapped around his mic stand.

Who's watching: By the looks of it, a lot of guys who aren't committed to their girlfriends enough to stand with them and endure the Killers' decibel-phobic set.

In a nutshell: While the Killers struggle to overcome the ridiculously puny volume on the main stage, the Manics play with a passion that could make the speakers on a back-of-the-bus mobile sound deafening. After a day spent witnessing a fair few acts struggle with sound and "atmosphere" issues, this is a masterclass in showing the New Generation who the real pros are.

Crucially, the passion is still there – and, if you were in any doubt, all you needed to do was witness Nicky Wire thrusting his feathery mic stand towards the crowd during You Love Us.
"We're a bunch of grumpy bastards a lot of the time, so this is just what we needed," says James, by way of a thank you, before launching into closer A Design for Life. They might be older than the combined age of the Late of the Pier crowd, but the Manics owned the headline slot tonight.

High point: The song introductions. James launches into the Supreme's Baby Love before Motown Junk, whereas Little Baby Nothing is dedicated to all the people who came to the band's first Reading show in 1992 (there's probably a fair few of them here).

Low point: The teenagers who make this festival so great didn't exactly turn up in their droves.

How hard do they rock?: With an intensity to match Gallows in the tent next door.