Gig played on 24/25/26 June 2005

The car crash that is Babyshambles becomes a talking point for all the wrong reasons as the festival kick-off in a mud hell-hole. Finally deigning to appear twenty minutes late, Pete Doherty stumbles around the Other Stage with all the bug-eyed dignity of a festival-goer who's peaked too early in the afternoon and will spend the rest of the day face down in a puddle of their own making. As the band struggle to grapple with the concept of a tune, the set degenerates into an experience akin to voyeurism. Pathetic.

Secret Machines' bravura set, meanwhile, is simply magnificent as just three people onstage manage to fill the John Peel Tent with punters and wide, expansive vistas that are a trip in their own right. Driven by Josh Garza's powerhouse beats and fleshed out by the Curtis brothers' guitars, bass and keyboards, a powerful "The Road Leads Where It's Lead" and relentless "First Wave Intact" become the first festival talking points.

Despite the folly of "Get Behind Me Satan", The White Stripes' headline set is breathtaking. Swathed in a diabolical red, the Pyramid Stage becomes an infernal epicentre as the Devil's music brings the first day's proceedings to a stunning close. Though "The Nurse" and "Passive Manipulation" fail to ignite, the likes of "Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground", an electrifying "Death Letter" and rabid "Seven Nation Army" holds a crowd of 60,000 rapt as Jack White proves why he's the finest guitarist of his generation.

The legendary Saturday afternoon slot on the Pyramid Stage is famous for its ability to make or break bands. Seized last year by Scissor Sisters who claimed the festival as their own, 2005 sees Kaiser Chiefs step up to the plate. Looking somewhat weary from their backstage shenanigans, the Kaisers nonetheless kick into gear to banish the mud into a distant memory as "I Predict A Riot" becomes one and "Oh My God" achieves Glasto Moment TM status as it becomes a monumental, communal singalong.

Scallies? Here? With the new ticketing system in place? The Coral and Glastonbury are simply made for each other. "Dreaming Of You" and "In The Morning" are the perfect antidote to the grim conditions underfoot while the eddying "Arabian Sands" cues the lighting of a thousand jazz fags (what can he possibly mean? Christian Reviews Ed).

With Barney Sumner panting like an asthmatic pensioner by the end of "Love Vigilantes" early in the set, it becomes apparent that we won't be witnessing a vintage New Order performance. Despite boasting a set list that includes "True Faith", "Temptation" and "Transmission", New Order remain resolutely average and even the appearance of Scissor Sisters' Ana Matronic for a pedestrian "Jetstream" can't help to lift an insipid mess that sees a great band turn in an indecently casual performance. And, my God, did they murder "World In Motion".


Onto Sunday, and relentless touring with the likes of Dogs Die In Hot Cars and labelmates Franz Ferdinand has turned Glaswegian quartet Sons & Daughters into a marvellously fearsome live prospect. Their unique brand of country punk - recalling forebears Violent Femmes - is more than enough to get an audience on its last legs at the John Peel tent to kick-up a storm as "Medicine" and a particularly frantic "Taste The Last Girl" prove. A higher billing in 2007 is surely in the offing.

Could there be a more perfect artist for a Sunday afternoon at the Pyramid Stage than Brian Wilson? With the sun blazing overhead, this field in Somerset transforms itself into an unabashed Californian beach party as close to 70,000 people twist and turn to infectious readings of "California Girls", "I Get Around" and "Help Me Rhonda". Wilson's state of mind remains more than a tad confused - as evidenced by the inclusion a Christmas song halfway through - but the backing from The Wondermints is bang on as they breath life into the touching beauty of "Sail On Sailor" and "God Only Knows" while a magnificent "Good Vibrations" ensures just that.

by James Marshall