The festival kicked off yesterday (June 27) with performances from Arcade Fire, Skrillex, and Lily Allen. The music continues today with headline performances from Metallica and Jake Bugg - and we'll bring you the action from across the stages right here.
Fat White Family were clearly feeling the heat of their well-attended 3pm at the John Peel stage – three out of the six members, including frontman Lias Saoudi, were stripped down to just their shorts or trousers from the off. The sun was shining outside the tent, but the tone was dark inside as they played sleazy fan favourites 'Is It Raining In Your Mouth' and 'Touch The Leather' in quick succession. Saoudi has recently suffered from ill health (bandmate and brother Nathan recently told NME Lias had "pneumonia - he's not got HIV") but even if he looked like a man who's not slept for days, there was no lack of energy as he barked lyrics and stalked around the stage with an air of menace. "It's been nice to play here," said the singer, hopping on the monitor to dance to the intro of final track 'Bomb Disneyland', which climaxed with Lias hopping from the stage amid a frantic cacophony.
"This song is about the practical side of a break up", she said later in the set before another new album track 'Rumble'. "Do you guys mind having your picture taken with me?" she asked later, kneeling down on stage to take a selfie. "We look really cute". She then launched into a jazzed up version of her electro-pop hit 'Acapella' before another blast of 'Felling Good'.
'Milkshake' and 'Trick Me' and - all from her 2003 album 'Tasty' were all set highlights along with 1999's 'Good Stuff' from her debut LP 'Kaleidoscope'.
Just after 14.10, Cate Le Bon appeared on the Park Stage wearing a long silver dress, backed by her black-clad band: Shape Records artist H.Hawkline on guitars/organs, fellow Welshman Sweet Baboo on bass and New Zealand drummer Daniel Ward. Watched by Toy frontman Tom Dougall, she opened with 'No God' from her 2013 album, 'Mug Museum', followed by 'Are You With Me Now' from the same record.
After 'I Can't Help You', she greeted the crowd warmly, but tempted fate: "Hello! How is everybody feeling? I'm very happy that the rain has stopped for you and for us." That very second, it started to speckle lightly. Le Bon and her band then dipped into 2012's 'CYRK' for 'The Man I Wanted', a droning organ piece, during which she shook two sticks of sleigh bells, before 'Wild', for which she donned a black guitar before languid closer 'Cuckoo Through The Walls'.
There was a queue five rows deep to get into the tent for Royal Blood's performance on the John Peel Stage at 2pm. Clearly overwhelmed by the huge crowd they had pulled, frontman Mike Kerr said it was "blowing [his] fucking mind". Kerr also made the now obligatory joke about the duo, saying "Let me introduce you to the rest of my bandmates" and turning to the other half of the duo, drummer Ben Thatcher.
The band's big riffs brought a huge sense of energy to the stage as the pair performed 'Come On Over' and 'Figure It Out.' During the latter, Thatcher gave Kerr a nod to look at the circle pit and crowd surfers in the audience. The warmly received set ended with an elongated rendition of with the band pausing temporarily to receive a rapturous round of applause.
"If you know anything about me you'll know how much I believe in following your dreams, no matter how bizarre they are... this next song is for all the dreamers," she said before 'A Tribe Called Red', which saw her again jump over the barriers and lean into the crowd. A dance-oriented new track, 'Let's Own It', came later on in the set, with a chorus that ran, "I own it, I fucking control it".
"I'm in love with someone, but I really fucked up. I'd fly them from the US to be here just to hear me sing this song," said Haze before singing a tender, acoustic version of John Newman's 'I Need To Know Now'. 'Battle Cry', her track with Sia, saw her jump over the barriers into the audience once again. She stayed in the crowd right to the end of set-closer, her breakout hit 'New York'.
Charli XCX played an energetic early afternoon set on the Sonic Stage, bringing out her crowd-pleasing co-writes and playing a track live on Radio One. Dressed in gold with a leather jacket, the singer was backed by an all-female band and told the crowd that this was her first time at the festival. "I'm a virgin today - it feels good," she joked. Following a host of her own tracks, Charli then broke into 'I Don't Care (I Love It)' and 'Fancy' - written for and alongside Icona Pop and Iggy Azalea respectively - before DJ Huw Stephens came on stage to introduce new single 'Boom Clap' live on Radio One as the final track of the set.
Former Portico Quartet man Nick Mulvey opened The Pyramid Stage with a performance drawing heavily on songs from this year's debut album, 'First Mind'. Mulvey's arrival on the main stage was temporarily delayed by a heavy rain shower, and he eventually began performing ten minutes after his scheduled 11am start. 'Venus' marked an early highlight while the singles 'Nitrous' and 'Cucurucu' also featured. Mulvey told his audience that they "look beautiful" and said "at least it's stopped raining" – despite the fact is was still raining quite heavily at the time.
Acts due to perform today include Robert Plant, Jack White, Metallica and Jake Bugg – and NME will be reporting on all the action as it happens.
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