Friday 22nd August

14.25, Radio 1 Stage

The festival is barely two hours old, and already I’m experiencing my first epiphany. Sometimes I feel capable of coping with mind-bogglingly complex song structures, at which point I’ll pull out Hail To The Thief or The Mars Volta’s debut album (more, much more on them later…). And at other times simplicity is sheer bliss. This is one of those times. A thousand thankyous to Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo for THE RAVEONETTES’ irresistible marriage of The Jesus & Mary Chain and 60s girl groups like The Ronettes and The Shangri-Las. Former singles ‘Attack Of The Ghost Riders’ and the squalling set-closer ‘Beat City’ make an appearance, but the majority of the set is made up of material from new LP Chain Gang Of Love – which, on this evidence, sounds like the determined pursuit of the perfect pop song. Perfect harmonies are garnished with lashings of beautiful noise, perhaps to best effect on the quite brilliant lead single ‘That Great Love Sound’. Glorying in the noble art of feedback, and unrestrainedly celebrating the power of the pure pop song, the whole set is a love letter to music itself. And, what’s more, for those 35 minutes my crippling hangover is completely forgotten.