The biggest figures in rock music have never minced their words – the respect and admiration they gain from audiences are due in part, if not largely, to their unapologetic approach to their craft and to their everyday lives.

Of nobody is this more true than Frank Carter, who dominated the Main Stage backed by his ever-faithful, ever-loved Rattlesnakes. Every note carried a palpable energy as the band blasted through a jam-packed setlist of songs at positively breakneck speed (epitomised by the bone-crushing ‘Crowbar’!)!

Frank Carter’s driving message has always been that of inclusion. His song ‘Wild Flowers’ gave the women in the audience their moment to seize in brilliant style. All-female mosh pits erupted on both sides of the stage, as waves upon waves of women from all walks of life cascaded over the barriers. It would have been rather like a trellis of those self-same wild flowers, if not for the fact that every single one was screaming the lyrics at the top of her lungs! Shrinking violets we are certainly not.

That sense of defiance was also directed at other targets besides misogyny – most powerfully, towards the current state of the government. Backed by statistics that really speak for themselves, the band pummelled through the emphatic ‘I Hate You’, with chants of ‘F*** Boris!’ echoing long into the encroaching darkness.

Powerful, political, and very, very sweaty – exactly as any good Frank Carter set should be!

He made the crowd wait, but it was worth it. Gunna’s Radio 1 Stage performance was delayed slightly, but he more than made up for it with a pulsating hip hop set that had the entire tent bouncing.

The 26-year-old showed that he knows how to work a crowd and the relentless energy that he brought spurred everyone on throughout the 30-minute gig. Not content with just the front jumping for the entire set, Gunna made sure that every person present – all the way to the back – felt involved as he sped through some classic songs.

‘Speed it Up’ and ‘Close Friends’ drew the biggest cheers of the evening, but in truth, it didn’t matter what tunes Gunna selected to perform. His enthusiasm and rapport with the Radio 1 Stage crowd were secure from the get-go. It was only strengthened further as, before making his way off stage, Gunna thanked the entire front row with high-fives as proof of his appreciation.

The Radio 1 Stage has seen some impressive acts so far at Leeds Festival, and Gunna is certainly one of those. If he had the time, it’s inevitable that he’d still be throwing shapes with everyone right now.

nothing,nowhere. brought his typically cool vibes to The Pit at Leeds Festival on a Friday afternoon where some chill was much needed.

A packed tent required some cooling down, and the American emo-rapper ensured that the temperature was lowered – even if the volume wasn’t. The pace wasn’t as frantic as other acts, but the crowd responded just as energetically as nothing,nowhere. broke out some of his biggest hits.

‘Clarity in Kerosene’ went down a treat, as expected, while other tunes such as ‘Dread’ were as warmly received as any other Nothing, Nowhere number. The biggest cheer of the afternoon, though, was reserved for crowd favourites ‘Hopes Up’ and ‘Hammer’. Every person in The Pit sang and rapped along to every word and gave Nothing, Nowhere just as much energy back as he belted out from the stage.

Draped in a fanmade Union Jack flag, complete with his logo and name, nothing,nowhere. showed his appreciation for those working alongside, too. The singer-songwriter drew wild reactions from the crowd with his praise for his backing band and sound engineer – a truly heartwarming moment on an afternoon where his signature blend of melodic rap and indie rock was in abundance.

Rap and rock have historically been ideal bedfellows – the scything, cut-throat nature of rap blends perfectly with rock’s piercing sense of melody. And there are few who do it better than Machine Gun Kelly.

After being inducted by an eerie opening voiceover into ‘Hotel Diablo’, the stage exploded in a riot of blinding colour, whipping up a veritable frenzy whose ferocity never wavered, despite the highly appropriate yet suffocating heat.

Eminem’s noteworthy adversary, the light and shade throughout the set was perhaps most surprising, and most striking, above all else. Electrifying raps bristled past your ears at the speed of light (including the now-infamous diss track that took aim at the aforementioned Slim Shady and is ambitiously titled ‘Killshot’). Thundering rock tunes seemed to swell outwards from the stage, the fearsome ‘Diablo’ exposed a small chink in his armour, and it worked entirely in his favour.

Not that he wasn’t an entrancing presence – from the snake that twined its way around the microphone stand, to the penetrating stares he bestowed upon the audience when making his way down to join them, the commanding aura emanating from the frontman could be felt throughout the tent. Machine Gun Kelly certainly branded his mark on many a heart through their explosive set. Welcome to the club.

Pop-punk has exploded as a subculture in recent years, however, in the public eye it still remains something of an unexplored avenue. The Story So Far put paid to that invisible divide, with their stonker of a set that encouraged avid fans and newcomers alike to get a piece of the action!

Mixing chuggy guitars and scything basslines with uplifting gang vocals that spoke to the downtrodden teenager inside all of us, the band rioted through a set that felt all too short and was over far too soon. With an airiness that complimented the blistering summer heat, married with an earthy, guttural undertone borne from frustration, anger, and pain, it was a match made in heaven.

A sea of pumping fists and pounding blood accompanied ‘Quicksand‘, while rippling waves of crowd surfers launched themselves over the barrier, all decorum long forgotten. That may have been The Story So Far, but it is undeniably a story that is far from over!

Choosing to wear boiler suits on one of the hottest days of the summer so far is a questionable move at best, but one that captures the DIY ethos of Manchester’s Hot Milk perfectly. The quartet preached a powerful message of self-empowerment and raising a middle finger to the nay-sayers, all wrapped up in satiable gritty pop melodies.

The true high points of the set came in the form of the rousing anthem ‘Alive’, with its fist-pumping ode to those universal moments of vitality and unabashed joy, and the crowning glory closer ‘Awful Ever After’, with its sing-along chorus that had the whole tent bouncing their fists in unison!

Rises to prominence don’t get much more meteoric than that of Hot Milk – and, if the glimpse of new tracks that we were privileged to witness are anything to go by, there’s no stopping them. Power, pop, and punk all blended into one delectable milkshake of a set. From one Mancunian to another, that was bloody ace!

Yungblud certainly knows how to party. The genre-bending artist brought the house down with a homecoming set that was full of the surprises and raw emotion that have become his signature sound.

Fusing hip hop, alternative rock, and pop-punk in equal measure, Yungblud gave the crowd what they wanted with a 30-minute set complete with relentless energy and genuine affection for his audience.

Banging tunes like ‘I Love You, Will You Marry Me’, ‘Loner’, and ‘21st Century Liability’ whipped the crowd into a frenzy that stayed throughout the performance. The biggest surprise of his set, however, came when he invited Machine Gun Kelly onto the stage to the delight of everyone watching! The duo rocked the Main Stage with Kelly’s ‘I Think I’m Okay’, and it’ll be hard to forget just how amazing the pair’s on-stage chemistry was.

Speaking of chemistry, Yungblud’s relationship with his die-hard fans was hard to ignore, too. At one point, with the crowd belting his song back at him, Yungblud was so touched that he couldn’t help but stand still and soak in the moment. It was a memory that captured the mood on a hot, sunny Friday, and everyone in attendance – Yungblud included – won’t forget this gig in a hurry.