Guns N' Roses make all the headlines on Reading's opening day

It's not dry under foot, or should that be welly, on the opening day of Reading. The festival arena is still half empty at 11.30am, quite a contrast to the packed campsite which has people putting tents up in any available space. Today is the day for hearing new talent, and of course a few legends.

The Festival Republic is running half an hour late all day today, and is about half full when I arrive to the spectacle that is Gaggle, the 15 piece all girl choir is backed by a drummer and are robed in colourful cloaks with ribbons and headpieces. They have flags and pennants, and sing of the dangers of boyfriends and are a rather different offering to the norm, and they can sing, and harmonise. Let's hope the rest of the weekend's acts can do the same.

Five piece band The Cheek (formerly known as Cheeky Cheeky and the Nosebleeds) have bundles of energy and lead singer Rory Cottam is a natural showman, he even changes jacket before crowd surfing. He shares mic duties with guitarist Charlie Dobney and the band all work together well to create an infectious sound. They race through tracks from the forthcoming debut album and even through in La Roux's 'In For The Kill'. Judging by the songs they air this morning the album will bring them the exposure they need to move to a bigger stage, and fill it with fans in the future.

Reading local act Amys Ghost appears to have taken to the BBC Introducing stage wearing her wedding dress (with modifications) along with an intricate tattoo motif painted across her face. It was a motif that all the band and some of their entourage wore. The dress and face paint were suited to their theatrical tracks.

Over at the Lock Up there's an excellent sounding band playing called The Skints. They're serving up the kind of music that goes down well at any festival. They're a fantastic dub reggae act that would really suit playing a support slot to someone like Dreadzone.

There's a decent crowd gathered for LA based Funeral Party who introduce themselves as The Black Eyed Peas, they might be who are the other ones who aren't Will.i.am or Fergie that no one knows the name of. The five piece, who are billed as a trio, showcase tracks from their forthcoming album debut 'The Golden Age Of Nowhere' including 'Carwars', 'Finale', and 'New York City Moves To The Sound Of LA' and they're all received favourably. I rather like the marching drum beats with big hook dance bleeps, it's a distinct sound, like a raving marching band with guitars. Expect this lot of early 90s power-garage pop throwbacks to be back with an army of fans in a couple of years.

The G.a.n.g (Growth and not Glory) are the highlight of the weekend on the BBC Introducing, watch these guys take off and be huuuuge in the next 12 months. The trio of Chima 'Kizzle' Etekochay, Anthony 'Nero' Iluobe and Trea 'Heatrock' Barber are genuinely loving performing on stage and draw quite a crowd who are charmed to join in waving their arms in the air to their five song set the includes 'Shadow of the Night', 'Love To Hate', and 'Just Wanna Know'. Think Notorious B.I.G. meets Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air with a reggae backing band.

Girls are flowered up and draw a decent sized crowd in the NME/Radio One Tent and have fans singing along with 'Laura', 'Morning Light', and 'Ghost Mouth' from last year's 'Album'. They also throw in more mellow new tunes with 'Heartbreaker', and 'Substance' and it's all harmonious laid back and chilled. The new songs sound a little like Vampire Weekend without the Afrobeat. The US band are here for the first time, and pleased to be appearing at the "reading festival" (as in books) adding if "There's one thing that's important it's reading." They don't say much else, they let the music do the talking.

Gypsy punks Girls, Gogol Bordello are finally getting the recognition they deserve with some well placed festival slots this year. However it seems to me that Eugene Hutz and Co. have become a well oiled festival machine now and there's none of the randon chaos of their earlier shows. There's little unrehearsed madness in today's performance. It feels as though they are delivering a polished set that they've duplicated over stages in Europe and will repeat this weekend at Leeds. They really fill out their Balkan sound by adding more vocalists, with everyone singing now, and it's frenetic with the percussionist also taking main vocal duties, it adds something to the show. They lead the crowd in a jig through 'Tribal Connection', 'Not A Crime', 'Wonderlust', new song 'My Companjera', 'The Sun Is On My Side', 'We Comin' Rougher (Immigraniada)', 'Break the Spell', and singalong anthem 'Start Wearing Purple'. It's a great performance and the crowd lap it up.

The NME/Radio One Stage is absolutely packed for Two Door Cinema Club, and it's full of people familiar with the album 'Tourist History'. From the first bars of 'Cigarettes In The Theatre' you can tell the old songs are going to be well received. What's a surprise though is that new song 'You're Not Stubborn' thrown in amongst the ten album tracks gets such a huge response. The Northern Irish boys are clearly moved with frontman Alex Trimble to say, "I'd just like to thank all of you for giving us the best experience of our lives." From the front to the back of the tent arms are aloft after that for the final track.

I have to see Pulled Apart By Horses again after their fantastic performance last year. Although there's no puking this time, they leave that for Foals to execute this year. Instead the Leeds four piece throw themselves around the stage whilst racing through tracks from their self titled debut album. The crowd go mad, the band clamber over them and the stage and the speakers and thrash around and it's a glorious escape to leap about and mosh to. It's good to see both the audience and the band lovin' it.

After that Brooklyn's Yeasayer take a while to adjust to and the crowd's not as big as I was expecting. Everytime I see them I'm sure they're sounding more and more like they're influenced by Bowie. They play 'Tightrope', 'Rome', 'Madder Red', 'ONE', 'Mondegreen', and 'Ambling Alp' from the new album as well as tracks off 'All Hour Cymbals' including the brilliant '2080' and leave saying they'll be back in a couple of years.

There's a three way clash for me now Beardyman, Avi Buffalo, or Biffy Clyro. The Alternative Tent is going off to Beardyman as he drops New Order's 'Blue Monday' and then it's just get on down and sing to the hits, we might even have devolved to just chanting, "Beardyman, Beardyman, Beardyman!" Arms aloft!

By the time I decide to watch the peroxide blond beard and hair and cerise jeans shock of Biffy Clyro lead singer Simon Neil who is making his eighth appearance at the festival they've warmed the crowd up who are singing their hearts out to 'God & Satan', 'Who's Got A Match?', 'There's No Such Thing As A Jaggy Snake', and 'Mountains' as the sun begins to set. It's a frenzied finale with 'Born On A Horse', 'Shock Shock', 'Many Of Horror', and 'The Captain'. The crowd chant "Mon the Biffy!" long after they've left the stage.

How the hell have Mumford & Sons got so many fans? Across generations and musical styles they stride like a folk colossus. Even though the tent has been moved to ease congestion issues it's a tight squeeze just to get under canvas. Right from the off with 'Sigh No More', it's one big singalong. 'Roll Away Your Stone', 'Little Lion Man', and 'The Cave' are the loudest anthems. Those at the back of QOTSA could hear the choruses (they told me). A year ago Marcus Mumford and band sounded more like the informal pub session that birthed them, and now they're the largest draw at a rock festival weekend - mightily impressive. It's hard to gauge their musial credentials over the din. The new songs 'Nothing Is Written', and 'Lover of the Light' are both well received, some fans even know every word of these too. So nu-folk is the biggest thing at Reading Festival this year, that's something I would never have predicted.

I'm not convinced that Axl will show so I head off to watch LCD Soundsystem, who have a huge glitterball being fitted in front of the stage. The soundman is having a laugh, there are lighters in the air, as 10cc's 'I'm Not In Love' hits the refrain "Ooh, you'll wait a long time for me. Ooh, you'll wait a long time." James Murphy just manages to deliver 'Us V Them' and 'Young Girls' before it's clear the main stage is sparking into life and it's time to return to the main stage.

So it's left for us to wait an hour for Guns N' Roses, and this combined with the opener 'Chinese Democracy' leave a bitter taste in the mouth. Axl undergoes constant costume changes and the set is littered with silence and space between tracks. Axl's voice can just about hold up for the classic tracks like 'Welcome To The Jungle', 'It's So Easy', 'Mr. Brownstone, 'You Could Be Mine, 'Rocket Queen', and 'Sweet Child O' Mine' who Axl dedicates to the Chilean miners. We even get 'November Rain' fitting as the rain comes down and 'Nightrain' With Axl on a megaphone, before set closer 'Paradise City'. That's enough classic tracks for the fans and that's without the extra, instrumental jams, keyboard solos, a little of Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick in The Wall' some of the side hip shuffle dancin' Axl used to do, when those two big bangs signal the end of the set, we even get a rant about the curfew and being cut off early.

This combined with the boos at the beginning make the 21 track set list seem irrelevant. And that's a shame - Axl might have Dizzy Reed on piano, and a brace of Slash alikes in Richard Fortus, and DJ Ashba, he might even do a spot on version of his own cover of 'Live And Let Die' but it's all for nothing as the whole gig revolves around Axl's rant at the end where he complains about both the promoter and his forthcoming gig at Leeds. It's doesn't really matter we got them playing up to midnight that's a full hour and the various incarnations of Axl from jeans, shirt and bandana, through Pimp suit to check shirt, jeans and cowboy hat.

It should have been legendary and perhaps under the controversy it was, we got most of 'Appetite For Destruction' and that's really all we wanted. Their frontman's getting on a bit now (he's nearly fifty), and done an ocean of booze and drugs over the years, rather portly and yet still (eventually) taking to the stage despite not needing the money. At least his voice held up quite well tonight, and the band he has assembled are all good musicians. The visuals weren't bad either, but it still lacked something, perhaps the energy of youth, something that despite all his money Axl can never recapture.

As for the rant and the rumours they wouldn't play, it just adds to the mythos. The added controversy just put the festival and the band in the headlines, if I didn't know better I'd say it was deliberate - Axl's been doing the roll on stage late at every gig for years what made us think this show would be any different? We did well considering most of the gigs Axl plays these days don't go on as long as an hour. Was it really likely that the band had more songs they were intending to play?

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