Who: Boy George

Where and when: Wow tent, Dance Village, Thursday 10pm (by the time he came on)

Dress code: He's wearing a black suit and a bright yellow hat, with glitery green eye-shadow and tattoos that make his neck look like it's been scribbled on.

What happened: Few people play on Thursday, so those that take the plunge are guaranteed a big audience. None the less, it's suprising just how many people are here to watch the former Culture Club superstar – he could have filled the tent three times over. Due to overcrowding issues, the Boy comes on almost an hour late, and the scrumpy-fuelled crowd are getting restless. "One benefit of not having a career is that you don't know what the fuck I'm gonna do now," he announces with disarming honesty, then embarks on a version of the spiritual Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen, which is clearly heartfelt – after all, it's not much more than a year since he was released from prison. After that, though, it's singalongs all the way. Boy George has an old trouper's ability to put on a show, and while his voice is weathered, it's still a thing of beauty.

Who's watching: A huge crowd who probably weren't born when George was ruling the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, but they roar along to his greatest hits.

High point: Karma Chameleon brings the house down, George changing the lyrics to "I'm a man with three convinctions". He also turns out an earth-shaking version of Bob Dylan's Knocking On Heaven's Door.

Low point: A cover of T-Rex's Get It On, the pub-rock arrangement of which had all the erotic menace of a night out with Westlife.

In a tweet: With this and his appearance on the Mark Ronson album, perhaps (yet) another Boy George comeback starts here.