The Festivale International Benicassim (or to Spaniards FIB) is in most respects the ideal festival.

I mean that with the greatest respect to the British festivals and all of the European Festivals that appear at this time of year, but Benicassim is special. You can pitch your tent for nine days in an actual working campsite with a 24-hour bar, walk to the beach within 15 minutes and sample the absolute delights of the Valencian coast.

Put simply Benicassim Festival is basically a holiday with the added bonus of having an internationally renowned festival connected to it. This all in all is not too shabby for 120 euros.

The actual festival itself takes a while to get your head around. First off it’s on tarmac with lovely areas of shade and grassy areas. Secondly the set times are rather confusing, with it all kicking off at half 5 in the afternoon with headliners of all 4 stages going on at around half 1 in the morning. This however is not the last act. I found myself at Armand Van Helden’s set at quarter past 4 in the morning with a rather inebriated friend who essentially had no idea where he was.

Thirdly the bands get longer on stage than at other festivals. So instead of sprinting from one tent to the other in a vain attempt to catch the last glimpses of Patrick Wolf, you find yourself having enough time to collect some tokens for beer, queue for several minutes, order food and then have ample time to catch the last chords of Clap your Hands say Yeah. My point being is that Benicassim Festival is like no other festival you’ll ever witness.

So what of the acts?

Iggy and the Stooges
How this man is still alive I have yet to fathom, however the regular of the summer festival roster Iggy Pop is essentially the embodiment of punk.

His show is constantly entertaining; kicking off with various Funhouse hits I Feel Alright and Down on the Street. His performances rarely alter. I Wanna Be Your Dog with a massive sing-along and the fans crowding the stage gives the gig a massive boost of enthusiasm.

However Iggy’s decision not to play crowd pleasers Run and Lust for Life sees much of the crowd bewildered at various songs. He offers us punk on a plate but sometimes Iggy misses the main course.
7/10

Bright Eyes
The enigmatic Conor Oberst has waited patiently for this moment. Arriving with his band dressed all in Zen-like white he bursts straight into song. Not talking once to the crowd for five songs, Conor and his band rolled out (amongst others) Hot Knives, Middlemen and set opener Kill Or Be Killed.

Clearly excited to be on stage and enjoying every moment Oberst shows us why many believe him to be the saviour of folk music. However tonight Oberst shows us he has more strings to his bow, donning an electric guitar and giving us an example of his versatile voice during cult hit False Advertising.

He talks very little to the crowd, hoping that many of them know the songs and know him well enough to see that he isn’t much of a talker. After going through the hits in lightning speed he finishes with No One Would Riot For Less and a mesmerising I Believe In Symmetry. Bright Eyes shows tonight why many believe in him, why many people believe in his talent and why many see him as a main event in waiting.
8/10

The Rapture
They’re quite simply the best ever warm up act to the late arrivals Klaxons. Largely playing songs from the new album Pieces of the People We Love, The Rapture armed themselves with a massive keyboard section and split vocals. Not giving into pressure and playing some of their larger hits too early, they subsequently had the crowd in raptures (pun most definitely intended.)

After playing I Need Your Love and the colossal House of Jealous Lovers, The Rapture seemed invincible. The party continued right until the end with Whoo, Alright, Yah Uh Huh and the rather infectious Get Myself Into It capping off a rather fantastic set.
9/10

Klaxons
So while a majority of Britain was in deluge, we were having the party of our lives in the Benicassim dance tent. Having being held back for three hours due to the shoddy weather conditions in Britain, Klaxons had caused a miniature riot in the Dance Tent.

Bulging from side to side the expectations were at an all-time high. Crashing the stage with a rather excitable The Bouncer and carrying on with 2007’s champion hit Atlantis to Interzone the band had already won over the crowd. With a flurry of fluoro all over the place and the crowd having the finest indie rave of their short lifetimes it seemed that Klaxons could have turned coal to gold.

With sweat pouring from every orifice Jamie Reynolds thanked the crowd for their patience and seemed in awe at the crowds devotion to singing every word. After a brief mid-set lull, the dancing continued with Magick and the summer hit Not Over Yet. Everything about the Klaxons was right tonight.

The sound resonated all over the place, the tent itself was packed and creating an atmosphere that was unparalleled all weekend. At the end of a massively triumphant success Jamie proclaimed the crowd to be the best since Glastonbury. Cheers of “Ole, ole, ole, ole!” saw the band off with pretty much the whole crowd walking out of the tent just witnessing a band who at this very moment in time cannot put a foot wrong.
9/10

Cansei De Ser Sexy
One of Saturday’s biggest draws came in the shape of C.S.S. The Brazilian band however failed rather spectacularly to live up to the mounting expectation. Dressed in a pretty glamorous cat suit, LoveFoxx announced that she was ready to party.

Kicking off with Meeting Paris Hilton, it was obvious almost immediately that the band were suffering sound problems, with half of the crowd confused as to whether or not LoveFoxx was actually singing at all. After a decent rendition of Alala the band were forced off stage.

Arriving 15 minutes later after the sound, electrics and lighting were all switched off; C.S.S launched into Music Is My Hot Hot Sex. However the damage had already been done. The party theme had been killed off and LoveFoxx had lost the verve and energy, which tends to encapsulate a C.S.S show. By the time Lets Make Love and Listen to Death From Above and the balloons were being popped, it was obvious that C.S.S had missed a massive opportunity.
5/10

Arctic Monkeys
The main event was here. For a large majority of the Benicassim crowd, this was the only band that mattered at all this weekend. They have risen to stratospheric heights over the last three years and now reside in the highest echelons of the rock community.

However, questions are so often asked of the Sheffield boys. Can they rise to the occasion? Have they enough in the repertoire? Are they a one trick pony? By the time the first chord was struck on this warm evening, the answers were already being formulated. Kicking off with A View From The Afternoon and Brianstorm, the band had moved ever closer to answering them.

It seemed that Alex was on a mission. Frantically thrashing at his guitar, delivering every note with precision, not seemingly stopping to even blink or acknowledge the crowd. The set list clearly adhered to the fair-weather fans with the notable exclusion of Mardy Bum and Only One Who Knows. In fact the set list was dotted with all the hits you would expect from an Arctic Monkeys gig.

By the middle of it Turner had thanked the crowd and asked if everybody was “awight.” A very incredible dark When The Sun Goes Down had a very impressive sing-along, which proves that the Arctic Monkeys are constant crowd pleasers. Technically the band was good. Inch perfect precision with every song, it did become frustrating that there were no frills, no extra long guitar solos and with intermittent brief 30 seconds of darkness only enhanced the frustration.

Tonight though the band showed why people buy the albums, and why millions adore the lovable tykes from Sheffield. Even the most Anti Arctic Monkeys critic would be hard pushed to find major faults with their live performances. I know I certainly couldn’t.
8/10

Amy Winehouse
After several weeks of not cancelling shows, having Amy Winehouse appear at Benicassim was a victory in itself. Her actual performance was very professional. Having her backing singers and band do all the leg work, Winehouse sat back and belted out her tunes to perfection. It was good to see Winehouse cause stirs for her talents and not for the column inches she so emphatically garners.
7/10

Kings of Leon
It baffles the mind how Kings of Leon were not above Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, who coincidentally played a set worthy of your local Working Men’s club. However this didn’t seem to affect the band as they terrorised the main stage with their brand of Americanised rock and roll.

Molly’s Chambers and The Bucket were rattled off at great speed. KOL kept the crowd on their toes with a very anthemic setlist. Looking trim in a waistcoat and new haircut, Caleb Followill looked at complete ease. My Party, On Call and Fans gave the Because Of The Times decent exposure, and as the sun was setting a smiling Caleb thanked the crowd.

KOL then closed with McFearless, proving that they really are headliners in waiting.
8/10

Muse
There isn’t really anything you can fault with Muse. Unless of course you really hate their music, the live show is something that is nigh on perfection.

Scaling down their gargantuan set and trimming the excesses that Wembley gave them, Muse tonight pretty much play every song which got them to that point in the first place. It is still amazing to see Muse live. They have exuberance and musicianship in abundance and it really is fantastic to see each member grow as showmen.

Bellamy dressed down from his Gandalf-like white suit and teased the crowd with extended guitar solos and moments of musical mayhem. Dotting the set with jams of no real importance, it has become clear that Muse have got to the point where they can do whatever the hell they like (This even includes Chris’s fantastic handlebar moustache, Matt’s very expensive piano stand and Dom’s extremely daring Green skinny jeans).

The response from the crowd throughout the night proved that Muse are the biggest thing on Mainland Europe, with the crowd going back as far as the eye could see and with every chorus sang back at the band twice as loud. They can’t put a foot wrong, they are not equalled in the live circuit. Muse are quite simply the most electrifying band currently playing live today. And if there is a better band playing live, I would absolutely love to see them.
9/10