Running slightly late because of a long running lunch hosted by an overly hospitable grandmother (it was delicious in case she reads this…), we arrived at the Festival site and made a beeline for a mojito to quell our summer thirst. “Haha weather gods”, we cried, “for whilst your representatives on earth (in the form of the Met Office) predict rain, we see only sun!”

Photo: Rachel Wright

A curiously flat Clean Bandit opened our musical day. Their violin and cello infused electro house has taken the UK by storm this year and we had high hopes for a repeat of the knock out performance we’d seen a few months ago at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Opening with A&E, it became immediately apparent that the swollen crowds in the Pepsi Max Tent were not to be treated to the highest quality sound on this occasion; the synth glockenspiels and the timbre of the violin barely distinguishable from each other. With the audience energy levels flatlining, Come Over injected a much needed reggae influenced dose of “sun sun sun sun-shine” and a turbo-boost was provided by their smash hit single Rather Be. But too little too late from what felt like a somewhat perfunctory set from the Cambridge four-piece and their two front-women for hire.

Photo: Jenna Foxton

Disillusioned by the tent’s vibe, we resisted the temptation of staying for Sean “Sean-a” Paul and headed over to catch Ellie Goulding’s main stage performance. Bejewelled on her forehead, Ellie brought a much needed breath of fun to the proceedings and her tight backing band and razor sharp vocals whisked us across a genre busting set, from the Calvin Harris produced Need Your Love and the anthematic Burn to an Avril-Lavigne-alike Stay Awake. As Ellie herself sings, you feel that Anything Could Happen to her international profile with her vocals, stage presence, and girl next door appeal.

Photo: Andrew Whitton

Outkast exploded onto the stage with Bombs Over Baghdad – a black jumpsuit clad Andre 3000 complete with a white mullet wig hinting at the push-up filled surrealist set that was to follow. Their sound was as distinctive as ever and hits like Hey Ya! (complete with 30 or so ladies to shake it like a polaroid picture on the stage – which I’m sure included the entirety of Little Mix), Roses and Miss Jackson had all the wit and energy as a decade ago. Despite 10 years of separation, Outkast proved that they are as much of force to be reckoned with as ever.

Photo: Danny North

Part cruise ship singer, part cheeky younger brother, and part reggae skanker, Bruno Mars opened with a high energy ska version of the Lazy Song, showcasing a stellar horn line up. The saccharine levels got dangerously high in numbers like Just The Way You Are (and my suspicions are that the majority of females in the crowd would be more likely to tussle his hair than snog his face off), but the sheer levels of musical ability, eclecticism, and a healthy dose of good old feel-good ska-reggae-pop-rock won over the increasingly drenched audience.

Review: Tom Philpott