Sunday 20/07/08 The Flaming Lips, Goldfrapp @ Lovebox, Victoria Park, London

The oddity that is many punters wearing stick-on moustaches in various positions of decay can only mean one thing – Horse Meat Disco is here, and with a companion that spent most of the ‘eighties in New York, being gay, it seems a perfect time to go.

Let me explain – last year, Horse Meat Disco (traditionally found in Vauxhall of a Sunday night), was home to their delicious brand of New York ‘eighties gay club, complete with delectable transvestites done up like Grace Jones, Prince and other ‘eighties icons. It was so popular, despite an entry fee, that the queue backed up across the main stage arena, and the toilet queue (which gradually became a confusing area of one of the same, thus completing the authenticity of ‘eighties gay New York). Lovebox has learnt however, and this year has relegated the set to the back of the park. Yet still, the New York tenement that contains the party looms over the park, only slightly dwarfed by the nearby skateboard ramp. My companion is delighted – as the compere escorts his fellow transvestites down the catwalk announcing “walk like the police are chasing you”, he squeals delightedly “they did that! I was there!”. Every track is perfect, every costume spot on. I start to wonder if the idea for the club was thought off by someone very like my companion.

Howling Bells may create indie rock, but they are not the usual disappointingly generic posse with guitars. Corset-tight and sexy as hell, the Ozzies do a fine job at reminding the audience why they made such a splash with their debut album. While ‘Low Happening’ is an obvious highlight, a smattering of new songs mean that you know the second album holds a great deal of promise.

Meanwhile, the main stage has taken it up a notch with a particularly strong roster. Jack Penate strums with with a desperate and slightly worrying guitar whack, meaning that Goldfrapp is quite a relief from his worrying stage dashes. Yet Goldfrapp’s set is incredibly odd. The first half of the set consists of slow, largely new songs, using and embellishing on their current image of folkish, harvest festival, naivety. Opening with ‘Utopia’, they play around six or seven 'Seventh Tree' tracks including the beguiling 'Clowns'-  nice enough music, but in quick succession they quickly send the audience to sleep. Around half are from the new album, but slow stalwarts like ‘Black Cherry’ are forgotten. By the time Alison whispers the sparkier ‘Number One’ into the mic, the audience are vastly relived. “Ah, you’ve woken up now, “she asserts.

Suddenly, Alison looks like she’s enjoying herself a bit more. The dancers emerge, and the wattle and daub backdrop becomes literally just a backdrop to some more familiar tracks. ‘Happiness’ is accompanied by dancers garbed in pastel bright strips of fabric to look like cartoon weebles. ‘Oooh La La’, ‘Train’ and ‘Strict Machine’ revitalize what was a dormant set into something more suitable for the occasion. I don't question their newer or slow-paced material, but rather questions what you want from your main support at a festival. The Polyphonic Spree territory Goldfrapp seems to have entered is not necessarily their natural one, daubed with Worzel Gummage décor, with every electro track sounding like ‘Spirit in the Sky’ – mixing things up might have livened up the audience somewhat.

The Flaming Lips are a dazzling highlight of the festival season. With tracks that straddle everyone with a discernible music taste, they have a universal appeal and some great stage tricks. The famous bubble makes its appearance today with Wayne walking inside a giant inflatable across the heads of the crowd in a variation on zorbing. ‘Free Radicals’ and ‘Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Part 1' (a more ridiculous song title you could not hope for), were obvious crowd-pleasers, but their album tracks and passionate presentation brought a new level to the band not witnessed by non-fans before. Many a dusty album will be changing hands this week.

Day Two in pictures: