The forecast was for a cool April day: grey skies, showers and the mercury dropping below 20 degrees. So I had braced myself for a wet and rather messy V Festival. And judging from the number of gumboots spotted at the Showgrounds, so did many other punters. Luckily though, the skies stayed blue and the sun shone for one of the last festivals of the summer.

Last year’s V Festival’s line-up – with Air, Smashing Pumpkins, Modest Mouse and Duran Duran – was a hard act to follow (pun intended), and at first glance the 2009 line-up looked like it may struggle to live up to the challenge. But as the day grew on and headlining act The Killers finally took to the stage, it was evident that the 2009 V Festival was actually pretty damn fantastic. Great organisation, clearly labeled stages – aptly titled ‘This Stage’, ‘That Stage’ and ‘Other Stage’ – were close together, with noise bleed kept to a minimum, unlike other day festivals (you know who you are). Bar queues were kept to a reasonable length, and even the usual insane bottleneck that occurs when the final set has been finished was surprisingly quick and pain-free.

Now, the music. First musical offering of the day – Duffy. The Welsh-born sweetheart’s popularity has been quite extraordinary, with over 26 millions hits of her track Mercy on YouTube to date, but could she live up to this success during a live set? The answer: not really. She seemed to be going through the motions, mumbling her way through half the set and making no real acknowledgement of the audience. I make it through the set and pray the rest of the acts have a bit more lust for life.

Elbow’s early time slot, like Duffy’s, was another surprise to me. To me, Elbow are not a ‘middle of the afternoon’ act: they’re a dusk timeslot, where the afternoon’s beverages are starting to kick in and you’re relaxing with some hot chips eaten out of those old-school buckets. Regardless of the hour, Guy Garvey and his gang (joined on stage by a couple of violinists) performed a beautifully melodic set full of the anthems they’re famous for, including the ever-glorious On A Day Like This. I think Elbow would have been better at a later time slot, but hey, they were still rad.

Elbow’s gig comes to a glorious end and I hear, in the distance, an unmistakable bass hook, and before I know it am running with the masses to the origin of that tune. The artist: Vanilla Ice. The song: Ice Ice Baby. The shed is rammed, but from the entrance I can hear Rob Van Winkle (yes, that’s his real name. Total downer, I know) perform the unofficial anthem of my youth which is a little bit of a thrill. I listen to a couple more tracks until most of the crowd realise Ice Ice Baby is the only Vanilla Ice tune they know, and bust a move out of there.

I haven’t seen M83 live since Anthony Gonzalez’ split with bandmate Nicholas Fromageau, with Gonzales now touring with a range of musicians to support him on stage. Obviously this has change the dynamic considerably, for the better or worse? Well, neither really, with their synth-heavy ‘shoegazing’ music still a little….ho hum. I stay for a while and then decide watching Razorlight is much more appealing. The last time I saw Razorlight perform was on a pub rooftop in London last summer (of which members of The Killers were in the audience), with lead singer Johnny Borrell hanging of a balcony to hundreds of nervous fans below. So I was keen to see them out of their natural habitat (England, not rooftops. I hope). And they did not disappoint, with an energetic set proving why they’re one of the hottest new bands to come out of the UK.

I’ve never been quite sure of what to think about Snow Patrol: are they a bonafide rock band, or did they sell out when their power-pop ballad Chasing Cars became the theme song of Grey’s Anatomy? Nevertheless I made a point of watching the Glasgow-based band to try to work this out. Sure, they were polished and sure, the lead singer was cute, but with lyrics like “Your hills and valleys are mapped by my intrepid fingers,” I can’t quite take them seriously. They’re a little too John ‘Mix 101.1’ Mayer for my liking. So I trudge off to find something a bit more stimulating.

I sneak a few songs in with The Kills, before a make a dash for the Kaiser Chiefs. The English-born boys showing off the range of infectious tunes, including Everyday I Love You Less and Less, cult fave Ruby and one of their more recent offerings Never Miss a Beat. With an on-stage persona that’s as quirky as their film clips, Ricky Wilson attempting to cause some havoc during I Predict a Riot. How apt.

While waiting for The Killers, I venture forth to check out English synth-pop heroes Human League. Referred to by many as the forefathers of the electronic genre, they played to a surprisingly small crowd, but one who appreciated a walk through the decades: particularly naff album classic Dare!.

Due to a last-minute schedule reshuffle, The Killers were to have no competition in their headlining position. But it was pretty clear that most of the hoards stuck around to hear the Las Vegas natives. And disappoint they did not, playing for a solid hour and a half (what headlining bands do that anymore?) to a well behaved and ecstatic crowd. Despite their extraordinary success, The Killers are the band most hipsters love to hate. But after their performance on Saturday, I’m sure the views of many of the doubters in the audience were changed.

Dressed in his trademark feathered jacket, Brandon Flowers led the foursome through what was an absolutely stellar set, on a stage complete with palm trees, huge bedazzled ‘K’ and knock-out lighting. It’s hard to believe just how many hits The Killers have had until you hear them live – banging them out relentlessly with smatterings of tracks from their new album Day and Age. Despite mixed reviews by critics of their new album, the tracks were well received by the throngs of fans. The crowd didn’t seem to draw breath, singing along to chorus after chorus, drowning out Flowers himself on Human and Somebody Told Me, before calming down a tad for a stripped-back, piano rendition of Sam’s Town.

Finishing with the knockout encore trio of All These Things I’ve Done, Jenny Was A Friend of Mine and When You Were Young – complete with Las Vegas trimmings of fireworks, flames and insane lighting – the Killers closed a set which was, may I say, absolutely killer.