Nevertheless, Operator Please's robust art-rock pulls the kids away from watching acrobatic wakeboarders, as do Calvin Harris's cunning, carnal house anthems. However, Saturday night headliner Mark Ronson is a major disappointment. With Lily, Amy et al down at Glastonbury, his anonymous guest vocalists are decidedly B-list, and his slick stage patter and banal Stax revue-style band fail to convince. Their low point comes when they reduce Radiohead's delicate Just to a horrible, Blues Brothers-like brassy blare.
Sunday finds Estelle playing a spirited, hit-and-miss set. She is best when her strident rap bluster gives way to honeyed soul, and she allows melody into the mix on No 1 single American Boy.
Local boys Supergrass close the night while, on the other stage, Mike Skinner proves the Streets' geezer credentials by not starting his set until the Euro 2008 final has ended on the big screen. Skinner is curiously twitchy ("Look, it's been a long weekend"), but a febrile cover of the Prodigy's Out of Space hits the spot with a hard-partying crowd. His edgy urgency is a fitting coda to an uneven but promising debut event.
· The Wakestock festival is at Abersoch, Wales, Friday to Sunday. Box office: 01758 710 000.
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