Features

They might have played every festival this summer, but surely that means they've had loads of practise...? Arcade Fire tonight showed they had more to give than the average group, putting many of the other acts to shame.

Bloc Party have been hanging around all day here, flitting in and out of the press tent, big smiles on their faces. Back in the halcyon/wilderness (delete as appropriate) years of the late 90s, Kele Okereke and Russell Lissack first met at Reading Festival and decided to form a band - tonight, then, is a sort of homecoming.

"Hello, Phoenix, Arizona!" says singer James Mercer. It truly is boiling here in Reading. There's no shade anywhere and people are flat out (as our previous blog shows) soaking up the sun. A perfect time for the summery pop of The Shins?

Reading. Sunny? All threats of having to traverse the site via some form of boating service have thankfully gone unfounded. The sun is gracing us with some intense heat. Maybe it's some idea of a joke from the Higher Powers, who're having a laugh at seeing rockers donned head to toe in black get blistering sunburn.. who knows! Anyway, this afternoon's pic blog involves those all rocked out and catching an afternoon snooze...

Jesse 'The Devil' Hughes raises his hand to the sky. "This is the biggest and coolest rock and roll show we've ever played in our motherfucking lives!"

While Razorlight headline the main stage, we caught up with some of the brighest talents this festival has to offer - Patrick Wolf and Albert Hammond, Jr.

Having seen Kings Of Leon at T In The Park last month we knew what to expect. There's no pyrotechnics, no acrobatics - just some great songs, brilliantly performed.

My girlfriend is Interpol's biggest fan. In the morning, I get 'Antics'. In the afternoon, 'Our Love To Admire'. In the evening 'No I In Threesome'. It's a good day which doesn't involve the 'Heinliech Manouevre'.

Finally making it onto the Carling Weekend: Reading Festival site, we ran and caught two new(ish) groups, The Horrors and The Enemy. Despite both being bigged up by the NME, the groups share little in common and have slagged each other off in the press. A fan standoff awaits?

Christ almighty, is this really Reading? On the way here my only thoughts were whether I was ready for the first underwater festival. That, and the odd hungover thought about how many records the Horrors must sell in Japan.