THE rain and mud at Leeds Festival was inescapable, but music fans easily overcame it to enjoy varied highlights across the site.

The 75,000-strong crowd wore an array of different wellies to trudge through the mud which, although organisers had laid down straw, had been churned into a porridge-like bog. Nothing evaded it – by Saturday night fedoras, faces, shorts, fancy dress costumes and animal hats had all been smeared with dirt.

But it was easy to forget the mess as, protected by the striped big top of the Radio 1/NME stage, a succession of bands reminded people of what the festival was all about.

Metronomy’s effortlessly cool song-writing combined synths and driving basslines to lift the atmosphere and hundreds more people poured in to see The Vaccines’ strong live performance. Their anthemnic singalong set was greeted with a sea of hands in the air.

By the time Noah And The Whale took to the stage the crowd had outgrown the tent and many chose to watch the performance on big screens outside.

The Festival Republic tent had an altogether more intimate air and fans could get closer to the stage to see creative acts including the impassioned Tom Vek and the electronics of Digitalism.

Nightfall really brought the festival to life – lights from the fairground and the stages illuminated the sky and hid the boggy ground underfoot.

Over at the Radio 1/NME stage, a wave of anticipation greeted Beady Eye’s Liam Gallagher who still had the air of an indie legend despite apparently borrowing Deirdre Barlow’s haircut and sporting a camouflage housecoat.

There was no mistaking My Chemical Romance though. They united many thousands of fans at the main stage with their hit anthem Teenagers – an appropriately rocking end to the second night at Leeds Festival.