EIGHT years ago Leeds Festival was a very different picture - EMO lovers and tattooed freaks dominated the crowds.

This year, the audience painted a different picture. Ray Ban sunglasses, wedged-heeled wellies and vintage clothes have come to replace dyed black hair and leather bracelets, reflecting a broader, middle-ground festival.

But while Leeds might be stuck between a rock and a hard place, it does pump new blood into the event - some of which is from Sheffield.

FRIDAY

IT'S muddy, jam-packed with bodies and music is emanating from all directions - including the God awful music pumping out the umpteen fairground rides. The requisites of the music festival are in place. Thousands of bodies flock to the NME / Radio stage. Last Shadow Puppets are due on in twenty minutes and already people are squashed against one another. There is - literally - no space. Elbows are in ears, strangers' sweaty arms rub against each another and legs are entwined yet while all this sounds revolting, there is a unifying atmosphere. Strangers chat to each other as they eagerly await the arrival of one of Britain's most hyped up indie acts. It's not surprising then, that when The Last Shadow Puppets grace the stage there's a gigantic cheer.

Clad in a dark polo-neck (Miles Kane of the Rascals) and a dark jacket (Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys), The Last Shadow Puppets launched straight into their hits, with Standing Next to Me and the Age of the Understatement. Frantic orchestration builds up with racing drums, complemented by Turner's and Kane's crisp, hard vowels. It's a pacey, exciting number whose slick delivery is juxtaposed with the raucous, sweat-covered crowd.

Between songs the crowd shout 'YORKSHIRE' but there's no response from Turner. This isn't a gig for hecklers, for, it seems, today Turner's back is turned on the gritty aesthetic of the Arctics. The result is that Turner and Kane play with greater conviction - re-emerged as Scott Walker-esque singers enveloped in sixties extravagance. Against the orchestra and velvet curtains, Kane and Turner look like Beatles miniature models.

Escaping the crowd isn't easy. But thankfully, as what seems like the entire NME readership linger around their spiritual home (the NME tent), the traffic's clear heading to Metallica, who kick off their set with nothing less than two huge flames piping out of tall steel structures. It's an epic set, packed with classics including No Remorse, So What, the Unforgiven, and Sandman. Guitar solos are long, intricate and at times indulgent - it's later on that the bands kicks off, moving into Sad But True and Sandman.

SATURDAY


IT'S been two days now since people have washed and quite frankly they're beginning to smell a bit ripe. But you can't have a festival without body odour. Today Sheffield's Situationists and Darlings of the Split Screen prepare to play at BBC's Introducing Stage.

At 1.15pm Situationists come on stage to play a set of jangly indie pop with melodic guitar parts and fast drumming. One girl in the crowd dances frantically while banging a drum - clad in nothing more than a bra and jeans.

Darlings of the Split Screen are the next of Sheffield's unsigned acts to play. Their sound - electro-topped funk with edgy vocals and danceable grooves, is not one typically associated with Leeds festival. But nonetheless, it's a lively, dance-worthy set, and one which will no doubt increase the band's following. Tracks such as Money Matters and the sexy Hiroshima are the set's clinchers - igniting excitement amongst onlookers.

But the band everyone is talking about today is Rage Against the Machine - rock's anti establishment rap outfit. Rage dominate Saturday night - the main stage is transformed into a huge magnet, drawing bodies in the masses. Their set covers material from Evil Empire, The Battle of Los Angeles, their debut (Rage Against the Machine) and Renegades. Opening with Bulls on Parade, the audience surge forward. Girls try to leave the crowd for fear of being trampled on . Mosh pit emerge - with bulky lads chucking themselves into one another. At one point security climb up onto stage and ask frontman Zac de la Rocha to intervene 'We can't carry on with the show unless you all step back," the crowed oblige, and within seconds Rage are raging into the set.

SUNDAY

THE looming clouds that marked the previous two days have cleared. The sun is pounding and Twisted Wheel's belting out their You Stole The Sun to a wild crowd. The song's a fusion of punk attitude, rockabilly guitar rhythms and wild bursts of indie rock. The band gives it everything they've got, making for one of today's strongest performances. Shouting, screeching vocals sang in a thick Oldham accent add grit to the already rough song. It's refreshing to see a band break the mould, ditch the drippy indie and thrash it out - genuinely. There are lads clambering over the barrier, one girl crowd surfs over the top of the riotous sea of bodies to the stage, escaping the grips of security and running onto stage screaming 'WWHHOOOOOOH." Amazingly, the band carries on.

At 8.40pm Sheffield's Skeletons prepare to headline the BBC Introducing stage. Their turn out - half curious, half contacts, is impressive. Skeletons blaze through a set including the vocally-ambitious Oh Brother Oh Sister and Badd Captain. Keys, rocky guitar and pounding drums add to the set's energy. Frontman Liam jumps around stage (at one point falling over - much to the band's amusement). Liam's vocals, complemented by swing-like keys, are piercing and forceful, instilling utter attentiveness throughout the audience. Closing to a huge cheer, there's no questioning that the band will have a few MySpace messages to read when they return home.


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