British Sea Power

Credit British Sea Power for novel thinking. I doubt that anyone else has ever shamelessly used the Reading Festival to make a pitch for the Mercury Prize. Because that is exactly what BSP do here, playing a set that is almost exclusively drawn from their Mercury-nominated album 'Do You Like Rock Music?'. In fact, only 'Carrion' is brought out to represent their two earlier releases.

Performing to a crowd bedecked with tree branches - an echo of the band's early stage sets - BSP kick off with 'All In It' before hammering into 'Atom' and 'Lights Out'. 'No Lucifer' and 'Waving Flags' produce mass singalongs and the whole set ends with the extended jam of 'Spirit of St Louis' - and with Yann and Hamilton doing handstands on stage.

Ultimately, it is all a little disappointing. It would have been interesting to see how a large festival crowd greeted songs like 'Remember Me', 'Fear of Drowning' or 'It Ended On an Oily Stage'.

Cheese says: I liked them and had fun shaking my rattle along to 'No Lucifer'