Sunday 04/07/10 Wireless Festival 2010 @ Hyde Park, London

Missy Elliot is late, very late. She was due on stage to make a rare live appearance and rumours for her late arrival range from the sublime (she's waiting for a box to be delivered from France) to the ridiculous (She won't go on stage until she has eaten a specially cooked meal). In the end it would probably have been wise for her to take a bit more time and just not bothered at all. No Missy set can be poor, not with songs as good as 'Get ur Freak On' and 'One Minute Man', but the rushed nature of the show, over use of a backing track and a pointless introduction to her latest protoge Sharaya renders this as close to a disaster as Missy Elliot will ever come.

Running far smoother is Snoop Dogg, a man who has taken the festival circuit and made it his own. With a fifteen year career to look back on Snoop is able to delve deep into the hits and bring out tracks like 'Gin and Juice' as well as more modern moments such as 'Drop It Like It's Hot' to get the crowd bouncing. To the majority gathered here today this is the headline slot, even if it does arrive in the middle of the afternoon and Snoop duly provides a performance worthy of the top billing. Perhaps he plays it safe and the use of House Of Pain's 'Jump Around' is nothing short of cheesy but it's hard to argue with anyone blasting out 'What's My Name' to tens of thousands of happy fans in the blazing sun.

Less succesful but unjustly so is LCD Soundsystem. Fears that the New York punk-funk collective were oddly placed on this bill come to fruition early on with a disinterested crowd audibly talking over the band. James Murphy struggles to get into the performance initially and his train of thought is derailed completely by a missile landing on the stage. “Come up here and do that to my face and I'll pay your medical bill” rages Murphy at the “anonymous coward” and from there on LCD Soundystem seem to hit their stride. Seemingly spurred on by their detractors there is an anger running through their electronic neurosis. What follows is far from vinatage LCD Soundsystem but still manages to entrance and transport and as 'All My Friends' rings out you can't help but pray that this isn't the bands final performance in the capital city.

Friendly Fires wouldn't exist were it not for James Murphy et al yet they take the LCD blueprint and make a samba inspired success of their early evening set on the Sunday. Ed McFarlane shakes his money maker like nobody has ever told him he is a white man from St Albans whilst his band hit their percussive instruments like their lives depend on it. The carnival atmosphere explodes from every angle and as 'In The Hospital' jerks its way into 'Skeleton Boy' Friendly Fires win over the crowd one shimmy at a time. The band end their set with an extended version of 'Jump In The Pool' which sees them joined on stage by scantily clad Brazilian dancers and the spirit of tropical hedonism. Friendly Fires defy expectations and relish in pushing boundaries but more importantly they do it whilst being a massive slice of fun.

Boring is not a word you would often use to describe Lily Allen but it's certainly how she starts off her Sunday night performance, a show she describes as being “My last in London for quite some time.” Sometimes you forget that between boyfriends, bitching and tabloid ubiquity Lily Allen is a singer and as the staid rhythms of 'LDN' and 'Smile' splutter out it seems clear why her music is often the most forgettable thing about her. The second half of her set is much more interesting however as Allen explodes into modernity and her backing band infuse every song with breaks and dubstep influences. Professor Green makes a guest appearance to perform 'Just Be Good To Green' and a deep and trippy rendition of 'The Fear' see Allen leave triumphant. It would be a shame if she never makes another album again because if this performance is a reflection of her musical mind right now then it could be brilliant.

Jay-Z has the audacity and ability to begin his weekend closing set with a ten minute countdown and as the clock strikes nul he emerges to establish his mission statement with an explosive 'Run This Town'. For the next hour and a half Jay and the crowd pledge allegiance to one another with a block rocking set of stone cold classics making every single person bounce. 'Dirt Off Your Shoulder' grinds into 'Show Me What You Got' which becomes 'Onto The Next One' in a set crammed solid with highlights, all killer no filler. Jay-Z is one of the shrewdest men in music and his live show resembles a well run company, there is no fat on the bones, no over spend and every moment is accounted for and executed with deadly accuracy. '99 Problems' is positively a weapon of mass destruction to this tightly packed crowd and 'Empire State Of Mind' is the cinematic classic it's surely set to be forever more. Tonight, like this whole festival, belongs to Jay Z and there isn't a single person in attendance who could disagree.