Stage: Leeds, NME/Radio 1 stage

Time: Saturday, 6.25pm

Dress code: A definite paucity of sportswear and baseball caps amongst the crowd. But Shikari singer/screamer Roughton "Rou" Reynolds rocks a proper "post-hardcore" uniform of basketball vest and long shorts.

In summary: Shikari are the band who take a distinctly American brand of rock - hardcore - and splice it with a distinctly British form of dance music - rave - and see what happens. Sometimes it's awful; it's almost always messy; but when it works, it's as new and different as anything you're likely to hear at this festival.

Highlight: Sometimes the raving - all 140bpm drum and bass and spacey synths - can seem like it's got no relation to the rest of the music. But on songs like Sorry You're Not a Winner it provides the motif and allows for epic breakdowns in which both audience and band get to wig out.

Better than: People give them credit for. They're obviously a genre band - they thanked their fans for helping them to their recent Kerrang! Live Award - but if you like to pump your fist quickly in the air, then this band has something for you.

Worse than: A railway tannoy when it comes to making announcements to the crowd. Singer Rou's various encouragements to the crowd included instructions to: put hands in the air, clear space on the floor, make a human pyramid to the ceiling and break the world record for stage diving.

Talking point: Rou, again, who has two different voices: the first, his speaking voice which is nice home counties (is Hertfordshire home counties?) and calls men "guys" and women "ladies"; the second, his singing voice, which screeches like Zach de La Rocha and will "fucking bite your fingers off if you do that again". Which is the real Rou?

Where they'll be next year: Out of fashion with the indie crowd, but going down a storm at Download.

Mark out of 10: 8