First thing on Friday morning, one watched the sublime Bedouin Soundclash on the Dance Stage, who soldiered on through technical difficulties to play a very chilled, laid back set of their unique take on dub reggae. Not exactly a party band, but just the ticket for first thing on Friday morning to ease you into the day.

Over it was to the Radio 1 tent, where I saw Yourcodenameis:milo. They too suffered difficulties early on, and didn't quite play up to the fearsome live reputation they have built up since the release of Ignoto. Recent singles "Rapt Dept" and "17" had a go at redefining 'epic', but their show is really better suited to smaller venues.

Next up are the Blood Brothers, a band who I have been intrigued by for their arty-hardcorey-proggy weirdnessand top tunes in the form of "Ambulance vs Ambulance", for example. Unfortunately, they are bloody awful. The inferior sound quality of the Radio 1 tent doesn't help, but its all noise and bluster, no substance. Also, the set mainly consists of tracks from latest album 'Crimes', a nuisance to fans like me who wanted the old tunes. Not great.

Over on the mainstage, the Dropkick Murphys are fantastic. They're from Boston, MA, but they think they're Irish. Not a problem with me if they're this great. I hadn't heard any tunes previously, but was very very impressed by their bagpipe based antics and very danceable tunes.

Back at the Radio 1 tent, Death From Above 1979 played a mind blowingly heavy set, consisting of singles 'Blood On Our Hands', 'Black History Month' and 'Romantic Rights' amongst others. An awesome live presence despite there only being two of them, DFA79 deserve their placing as NME's latest dahlings with a set that kicks ten types of arse.

Similarly awesome are The Subways (not, unfortunately for me as an employee of said corporation, named after everyone's favourite sandwich shop). Their combination of the raw power of Nirvana, the youthful energy of Ash and the 21st century grunge of bands like The Vines works perfectly, and with a fucking hot bassist in a mini-skirt to boot. Tunes like "Oh Yeah" are sung right back at them by a rapidly growing fanbase, and The Subways will be one of the bands whose recorded output I will be inspecting on the basis of an excellent performance.

Queens Of The Stone-Age play a stormer on the main stage, playing new tunes like 'Burn The Witch' and debutant 'The Fun Machine Took A Shit And Died' alongside classics such as 'Regular John' and 'No-One Knows'. Okay, the live show may not be the shit since the departures of Nick Olivieri and Mark Lanegan, but Josh leads the new recruits into a top drawer set.

I was delighted with the performance of the Killers, purely because they were everything I expected them to be. Soulless, unengaging and a hideously singular show (the spotlight being on one Brandon Flowers, whom I really don't see the attraction to). The singles which've been released and re-released ad nauseam are dug out, and I am fearing deep vein thrombosis will set in my legs from so much non-movement of a dead crowd. Eugh.

The final band of the day, Pixies, are fucking awesome. Even though Frank Black has let himself go just a tad and Kim Deal looks like a grandma, tunes like the mad-as-biscuits 'Crackity Jones' and anthems 'Debaser', 'Monkey Gone To Heaven' and 'Where Is My Mind?' do not fail to impress, and personal favourites 'Gouge Away' and 'Hey' make an appearance, rendering me a very happy laddie. They may look like tired old goons, but they certainly don't sound it. Brilliant.

SATURDAY

My day starts off with Editors, whom I saw in the early stages of their meteoric rise to fame supporting Oceansize at the London Garage (along with the excellent People In Planes). Their live show was impressive then, and even more so now, backed with the chart success of singles like "Blood". Still doesn't make them any less of a horrifyingly obvious amalgamation of Joy Division and Interpol.

Purely for the purpose of getting a decent place for Biffy Clyro, I see the All American Rejects, who are offensively bad. Seriously, bands with this poor a live show should be locked in a tiny room with a Green Day DVD on repeat, and only then will they be reaching average. There is a singalong sesh to one-hit wonder 'Swing, Swing', but unnecessary OTT usage of the 'f' word just leads me to give them their new name: All American Retards [Clap... Clap... - Ed].

MON THE BIFFEH! About the most cult band on the bill other than Dinosaur Jr, Biffy Clyro play a blinding (literally, singer Simon Neil is dressed all in white) set to their devoted fanbase, me being one of those there peoples [Oh God! You're not one of those are you?! - Ed] Opening as always with 'Glitter And Trauma', Biffy rip through songs off Infinity Land for the most part (this being the last date of their mammoth tour for that album), but dig out the more obscure fan favourites such as 'All The Way Down' and air some new material for their fourth studio album (one song tentatively named 'Asexual Wheat Pigeon', set to be unleashed at some point next year.

On the Radio 1 stage, Nine Black Alps are another young British talent your writer has been intrigued by for a while, their grungey offerings leaning more towards Soundgarden than Nirvana, with a bit of punk thrown in for good measure. Songs like 'Shot Down' translate very well to the live setting, and their album is one I shalll be putting under the microscope in the non-too-distant future.

The Concrete Jungle, renamed this year as the Lock Up stage thanks to Radio 1 endorsement, is slightly more "punk" after the rage of the punks last year at a more "emo" leaning (Alexisonfire, Coheed And Cambria, The Starting Line and Avenged Sevenfold featured, make up your own minds) features bands such as Million Dead, who despite breaking through with excellent debut 'A Song To Ruin' didn't feature last year due to the booker's dislike of their cover of The Smiths' 'Girlfriend In A Coma'. Fortunately, after some maturity has set in, MD bring their Refused-lite tunes to the table, impressing with tunes off the new record 'Harmony No Harmony' such as 'Holloway Prison Blues' and finishing with personal favourite 'Breaking The Back'.

Next up on the same stage are ska heroes Capdown. Hailing from The Shittiest Town In The UK(tm), Milton Keynes, Capdown (apparently short for Capitalist Downfall) play highly politicised ska punk, with some excellent saxophoning. New album tunes are aired, and a highly violent pit impresses my mates who'd never heard of the band before. Oh, and skanking? THE funnest thing to do. Ever.

Hot Hot Heat give an alright performance over on the Radio 1 stage, but there is a little missing from it to give it that extra edge, a 'je ne sais quoi', if you will. Its a good performance, don't get me wrong, and the dance pits that break out are amusing to watch, but its a little underwhelming at the end of it all.

The Arcade Fire have been attracting the critics for a while now, their Radiohead-meets-Talking Heads-meets-Belle and Sebastian-recorded output impressing and their seductive live shows forcing you to fall in love with them. They give another world class performance tonight, suiting their elevated position as third headliners with a set packed with highlights from sublime album 'Funeral', definitely a band that will be a fixture for a long time to come.

Back on the Concrete Jungle, Bad Religion fail to completely impress. Punk legends in their own right, they look like dads rocking out, and sound a bit tired. Bassist Brett will have a special place in my heart for owning Epitaph, home to Converge (I knew I'd get them in my Reading review somewhere) among others. They're alright, but get a bit dull after a while, and I have to wander off. A very "meh" band".

And then we come down to tonight's headliners, the Foo Fighters. They are wonderful. On top form, every song sounding cracking live. It's not true what they say about Dave Grohl's voice live, he sounds bloody great. Alright, he does do generous bit of arselicking to the crowd, but Dave's solo "Everlong" is one of my moments of the festival, even though he fucks up. Very happy they played a greatest hits style set, instead of crap from the new album.

SUNDAY

First up on Sunday are Welsh metallers Bullet For My Valentine. Natural successors to the throne of Lostprophets and Funeral For A Friend as forerunners of British metal, they give an ace set with highlights from their forthcoming album included. Oh, and the 20m wide circle pit created is pretty fucking impressive aswell.

Turbonegro are an excellent party band, maybe not quite suitable for 12:30 in the afternoon, but one can imagine a banging New Year's Do being set to this music. Props like fake dollar bills and balloons are very nice aswell. Another one whose discs I shall be checking out with interest.

Gratitude are led by who many consider the father of modern emo, Jonah Matranga. In Far he paved the way for many of the sceneXcore bands around today, and even in later projects like onelinedrawing he's continued in a rich vein of work. However, he sorely disappoints here. Gratitude sound like a heavier Jimmy Eat World, with the shit bits of U2 inserted. Not good. Its nice to see another rock legend in the flesh, sure, but not in this crap.

Buck 65 entertains in the Dance stage for the while I see him, his lo-fi rap getting a good reception to an evidently more eclectic crowd. HAL are also loveliness personified, just the ticket for a good chill in a hectic weekend without sleep thus far. Their Beach Boys meets Teenage Fanclub summery melodies drift by you lazily without a care in the world, very nice.

Incubus are a huge disappointment. Rather than a rampage through the greatest hits from all the albums, they rely on lacklustre new album material, and bore an expectant crowd. "Wish You Were Here" is played, sure, but what about "Drive"? Not good at all, my biggest disappointment of the weekend.

'Big scary goth' Marilyn Manson, on the other hand, is a huge surprise. His live show is very elaborate, and even though his songs are pretty awful (Be obscene? No thanks), his performance is engaging to the end and I find myself jumping and joining in. In what could be his last performance ever, Manson gives me a pleasant shock by actually being ruddy bloody good.

But now it was time for me to don my scarf and pick up my Converses and coke as I shunned Iron Maiden to see The Futureheads and Bloc Party. Both are excellent, The Futureheads filled with a hefty dose of energy, its like being knocked back with a sucker punch before being floored by Bloc Party's uppercut of a great stage presence, obviously built up over the last year as I saw them at last year's Reading, and well, they were a bit shit to be honest. Both give great performances, the Futureheads possibly coming out better of the two, and a riveting end to a cracking weekend.

All I can say at the end of it all is BRING ON 2006!