Reading Diary 3: Daphne and Celeste's battle

Stereophonics' Kelly Jones invited namesake Tom along

By BBC Monitoring's Martin Vennard

Forget Rage Against The Machine, Slipknot and Oasis, when it comes to working the Reading Festival crowd up into a frenzy Daphne and Celeste take the biscuit... and the rotten tomatoes, eggs, bottles of water and worse.

Even Tom Jones' surprise guest appearance with Stereophonics for Sunday night's climax couldn't match them for audience reaction.

The American teenage duo's appearance on stage was greeted with a hail of missiles and abuse from the crowd, the likes of which has probably not been seen at Reading since Meatloaf was bottled off in 1988.

Daphne and Celeste come under fire

The girls stayed well to the back of the stage, but soldiered on with their syrupy pop and even dared to appear for a brief press photocall afterwards.

They were only scheduled to sing to their backing tape for 15 minutes but their performance will be infamous for years to come.

Messrs Jones

Headliners Stereophonics, however, had the crowd on their side from the start with their brand of "made in Wales" rock.

Their show was crowned when namesake Tom joined singer Kelly Jones for Mama Told Me Not to Come.

Rage Against The Machine announced their intentions before even appearing on stage. The backdrop was daubed with the words The Battle of Reading, a reference to their latest album, The Battle of Los Angeles.

Rage Against The Machine's Zach de la Rocha

With songs like Bullet in the Head, you know exactly where these revolutionary raptavists are coming from.

As frontman Zach de la Rocha shook his dreadlocks about the stage, the crowd went wild. But it still had nothing on the battle of Daphne and Celeste.

Over on the Radio 1 stage, Les Rhythmes Digitales were transfixing the audience with their infectious techno-dance music. Dressed in fluorescent spacesuits, Jacques Lu Cont and his female partner accompanied the music with robot-like movements.

Les Rhythmes Digitales get moving

Ibiza on Thames

It may have been a typical British bank holiday but throughout the weekend the Bacardi tent was like Ibiza on Thames, steaming with its non-stop music and dancing.

By early evening the sporadic rain had given way to sunshine once again and it greeted the members of Slipknot, dressed in their ghoulish masks for their violent heavy rock that made Rage Against The Machine look calm. But the band from Des Moines certainly have crowd appeal.

With his pale, thin features and black spiky hair Placebo lead singer Brian Molko looked a bit like Victoria Beckham. But his performance and appearance were in the best tradition of androgynous singers.

Howeward bound from Reading Festival

A decade ago The Stone Roses were headlining the main stage at festivals like Reading. Their lead singer Ian Brown was back with his band on a side stage for his hypnotic chanting which had drawn thousands away from Stereophonics.

During Reading's three-days the crowds had seen virtually everything from rap to rock to rain, but they are unlikely to see anything like Daphne and Celeste again.