Friday 13/06/08 Nassfest @ Bath and West Showground, Shepton Mallett

It's the 10th anniversary of Nassfest and thousands of skaters and bikers have flooded into the west country to help them party. A celebration of skate and bmx culture, the Bath and West showground has been turned into a skaters wet dream - infact when the last 270-in/270-out trick has been pulled off and the Van-branded clogs have been well and truly popped, they'll probably find Heaven looks a lot like Nassfest.

With no one to tell them off or move them on for once, everyone is taking full advantage of the freedom. Kids on bikes ride through the market selling bmx and skate merchandise. Kids on bikes watch other kids on bikes pull ridiculous tricks in the skate arena. Skate kids stand on their boards cheering on motocross riders as they pull handstands mid-jump and 40ft in the air.

With so much going on it's not surprising to find Devil's Gun playing to only a few dozen people in front of the main sage. Like a harder, heavier Faithless or Groove Armada, Devil Gun's fired-up hybrid of electro, synths and messy breaks deserves a few thousand people lapping up their relentless energy. The atmosphere is far too village fete-like though. One kid even lies flat on his back, chilling while resting his head against the seat of his bike.

London's Ghost Frequency don't fare much better. The questionable decision to open the campsite on the first day of the music inevitably means most people walk right past the main stage and head to set-up camp, while on their return there's far too many skate-related attractions to distract them. The absorbing clash of Test Icicles and the Rapture goes largely unnoticed.

Amazingly, there's even less people for Metronomy's ****ed-up electronica, not that it seems to bother them. Raucous, gothic dance with hints of Kraftwork, Devo and 1930s B-movie horror soundtracks, Metronomy give a rapturous performance drooling with sarcasm and wry banter. "This is Gabriel," singer Joseph says at one point, pointing to his bassist. "He's an inline skater."

It takes Does It Offend You, Yeah? to liven things up.  Suddenly there's hundreds of kids pushed against the barrier, forming a giant moshpit as DIOYY? rip through half hour of sub-Klaxons nu-rave. Messy, bland and with little ideas, they at least make up for the lack of creativity with a chaotic show.  Like some B-movie monster, the mosh sucks up more and more convulsing bodies until a naked guy jumps in during 'We Are Rockstars' and hundreds of sweaty kids scatter in every direction.

Over in the FMX arena motocross riders are jumping off giant ramps and twisting their bikes in inconceivable directions. Watched by a crowd of a 1,000, it's 950 people more than Late of the Pier find themselves playing to, while the few that have stayed after DIOYY? Seem completely confused by the impressive twisted art-rock cacophony coming from the speakers. It's refreshing to be at a festival where the bands are a sideshow, but Late of the Pier can't be happy that most people are at the other end of the site watching riders pulling mean Kickstart tricks. Playing on a stage that rises up out of the ground like the mouth of a basking shark, they probably wish it would swallow them hole.

Great ideas will always be copied by imitators clueless of the original concept. The Prodigy's seminal clash of rock and dance has created countless clones, but surely none have been as shockingly awful and hateful as Pendulum? Mixing the worse aspects of nu-metal with uninspired drum and bass loops , every Pendulum song sounds like it was dreamt up by marketing execs for a washing-up advert. The Fairy Liquid Prodigy.

When they cover 'Voodoo People' it pumps up the crowd but just sounds like a jaded 'Britain's Got Talent' audition. When it finishes you half expect Ant and Dec to come onstage and go "Didn't they do well?" The ITV Saturday night light entertainment Prodigy. While even more dreadful is the awful gym-instructor-like mc-ing. "People get angry!…We ain't slowing down!…Go Go Go Go!…1,2,3,4,5,6,7! …Ready for It?!…Fire it up!" The Mr Motivator Prodigy. Thousands of skate and biker kids are going mental though and Pendulum's set is so packed with energy and power it's ideal to get wasted to after a hard day's skating.