In terms of music, if you ask me, Saturday was my favourite of the three days, although it was a pretty close call. However, I really think that Saturday just spawned the some of the top performances of the weekend. To find out what I thought of the Friday click here. Now here's why Saturday was so good...
MARMOZETS
I did actually want to try and catch DZ Deathrays and Pulled Apart By Horses before heading over to Marmozets but unfortunately had to miss them. Marmozets definitely made up for this though. I started the day thinking that I would try and save some energy for the night but this set was fast paced and captivating from the get-go. Before I knew it, I was being thrown around in pits and screaming the (few) lyrics of theirs that I knew. This was how to make an entrance. After just this 30 minute set I already know that I'll be first in line to buy their debut. AWESOME band.
ROYAL BLOOD
And now for one of the best performances of the entire weekend - Royal Blood - new guys in town. I'd already seen them here at the NME Awards Tour but I was not prepared for the carnage to come. Their crowd response was MAD. As well as their crowd being fantastic the band responded with equal energy and I'm sure that at some point in the hustle and bustle I saw Benji get up from his kit and crowdsurf. They were brilliant, the new album is a masterpiece and these boys are going to go far.
LOWER THAN ATLANTIS
The amazing sets didn't stop there. Lower Than Atlantis' set was just as high powered and intense, even though most of the crowd were shattered after Royal Blood's set. LTA were much better than when I saw them play Reading 2012. Hearing the crowd sing the whole of "Another Sad Song" back to them was beautiful and of course, "Here We Go" packed a huge punch for the finale.
HOZIER
Although I listen to Hozier, I wasn't intending to go to his set, I actually thought that Wolf Alice would be playing, but it turned out to be him. I only stayed for a couple of songs and they sounded fine, the crowd, although quite small, were loving it.
CAGE THE ELEPHANT
After checking out Hozier, I headed back to the NME Stage to catch Cage The Elephant. they definitely played a crowd pleasing setlist - old and new favourites. Matt was energetic as ever and the band as a whole were super tight. However, I think I enjoyed their supporting set at Foals here a little bit more.
DON BROCO
I was surprised and I wasn't surprised at how big their crowd was. As big a following as they have right now, some part of me always thinks of them as a kind of undercover band. Nonetheless, they played a really strong set. I loved how they opened up with an acoustic version of "Yeah Man" and then went in with their heaviest juggernaut "Thug Workout". They just keep growing, and I'm excited to see what their sophomore record sounds like.
WHILE SHE SLEEPS
I was really buzzing to see this band live. Especially after missing their set at Reading last year (which I heard was "epic"). This set was non-stop! The crowd were pumped but I think the band were even more pumped! Everything was just super fast paced, it was over before I could take a breath - partly due to the fact that they were shut off because the crowd/crowd-surfers were getting to rowdy. However, I loved every minute of it. Major highlights - "Our Courage, Our Cancer" and "This Is The Six".
ISSUES
I'd only heard a couple of their songs before seeing them here and I wasn't too fussed about them at first if I'm honest. Even after seeing them, I don't think that I'm going to make a huge effort to check them out more but they played a really strong set and the crowd was loving it. It seemed like they had a very big following because most of the people in the crowd knew the words to their songs.
ARCHITECTS
Another set I was buzzing for - even though I've seen them, I think that it's because I've seen them that I was so excited to see them again. And after their latest album Lost Forever//Lost Together how could I not be? They played almost every song that I wanted them to and I could feel that it meant a lot to Sam and the band which made the performance just that right level of intense.
ARCTIC MONKEYS
Originally I was going to describe this as the perfect headline set, but then I saw Blink 182. So in terms of headliners this weekend, Arctic Monkeys were almost perfect. They played one of the best setlists of the entire weekend. Although it ended up being an emotional farewell in some ways, there was no better way for them to say goodbye. Every song sparked a huge reaction from the crowd and in my opinion I think that they were actually better than they were when I saw them headline Glastonbury last year here (but the crowd wasn't as good). lovely end to an amazing day of music.
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