More on: The Last Shadow Puppets

The Whip open the last day of Reading 2008 for Clickmusic (yes, we're up late). We can't face inside the rammed Dance Arena (packed as it's the refuge on the traditional metal day), so we observe from the outskirts. The Manchester electro band have really found their mark, as the last time we saw them live it was sleep-inducing. Not today. There's a vibrancy here that is missing on their recorded material - an unexpectedly triumphant set.

Over at the Festival Republic Stage, Black Tide play against a reshuffled Main Stage, which has lost both Slipknot and Avenged Sevenfold to injury. The feeling of being underwhelmed continues for the massively hyped Johnny Foreigner.

Tenacious D gather both the fans and the curious - who could resist Jack Black's routine before your very eyes? Black kicks off in a wizard's robe... with Kyle Gass's head peeking out of a bright green lizard costume. Cue inevitable misheard jokes. No-one's here for the music, and although it's all very amusing, it tires after an hour. But the huge crowd laps it up, and Black unleashes his inner fanboy with a cover of The Who's 'Pinball Wizard', which nestles alongside 'Tribute'.

Manage to catch the last part of The Last Shadow Puppets' set all the way over at the NME Stage. It looks swish - Alex Turner and Miles Kane are the most dapper chaps to appear all weekend, and they're backed with a full orchestra. It sounds grand - Turner and Kane's vocals complement each other with perfect chemistry over the strings. But it feels deathly dull. A sweaty tent full of people dead on their feet after three days in a field is hardly the time or place for The Last Shadow Puppets and their Scott Walker-esque sweeping tunes. An unwanted impatience sets in, as the 'Puppets retain the detatchment seen in Arctic Monkeys, and aren't able to captivate in any shape or form. It's a spectacle, to be sure, but the band must be seen in its natural environment.

If anyone belongs in front of the beer-soaked festival goer, it's the NME Stage headliners The Cribs. The brothers Jarman and their now-confirmed full time guitarist Johnny Marr open with 'Our Bovine Public'. Marr is now settled in as a Crib, and there's a comfortable ease between him and Ryan Jarman. It's a wonderful sight, witnessing one of this country's greatest guitarists playing 'Another Number', with the laidback attitude of his new bandmates. Ryan introduces new number 'Victims Of Mass Production' as a song they wrote with Marr, the melodic Cribs way over intricate guitar work. The presence of Marr keeps the once unruly and chaotic Jarman boys in check musically - although 'Moving Pictures' gets butchered by tuning issues. It can barely be heard over the crowd though. One of many loveable things about The Cribs is how they play with the same attitude, whether it be in a tiny pub or at a huge festival - no gushing about being an amazing crowd. This doesn't make for a particularly memorable set though, with Gary Jarman visibly annoyed at technical problems. The rebellious youthful [b]Cribs[b] days are gone, but it needs to be replaced with another way of connecting with the crowd, as it is lacking tonight.

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The Last Shadow Puppets Official Site