HEADLINERS The Streets and Manic Street Preachers brought shock and awe to Saturday night at Victorious Festival.

Mike Skinner’s English-rap outfit electrified the main stage audience with hits like Never Went to Church and Fit But You Know It, while the band from Blackwood in Wales played hit after hit from an unmatchable 30 year career.

Manics’ anthems like A Design for Life, Motor Cycle Emptiness, If You Tolerate This, Your Children Will Be Next, thrilled the large Castle Stage crowd. Earlier, Rag ‘n’ Bone Man debuted new single Alone and played hits Human and All You Ever Wanted. He followed Stockport’s Blossoms, who put in a full shift at Victorious as well as playing Reading & Leeds festivals this weekend too.

Blossoms, the kings of indie pop-synth music, played a 45-minute set of hits from all three of their top 5 albums. Songs like Charlemagne, There’s a Reason Why (I Never Return Your Calls), and I Can’t Stand It, had a packed Southsea Common bouncing. Tom, Joe, Josh, Charlie and Myles return to the South next year to support The Killers at St Mary’s Stadium.

Southampton’s Craig David and his TS5 set was the star of Saturday early afternoon. For more than 45 minutes the singer entertained tens of thousands of fans alone from behind and in front of his DJ decks.

The Victorious main stage is a long way from his days MC’ing at the Rhino Club in Bedford Place in the late Nineties, but the R&B star took his audience back to the halcyon days of garage and soul, including his own hits Fill Me In, Re-Rewind, I’m Walking Away and Seven Days. A well-known Saints fan, he also wore a red and white jacket in the heart of their rival’s city on a Saturday afternoon. He may be famous all over the world, but Craig David is still one of our own. Earlier, indie-folk duo and local Southsea residents Me and The Moon opened the main stage and Southampton’s Wild Front played on the second Castle stage. Wild Front lead singer Jack Williams, lead guitarist Joe Connell, bassist Mike Williams and drummer Joel Betteridge gave fans some clues of what to expect from their new album, which is expected to be released soon.

On the Beats and Swing stage, Portsmouth’s Crystal Tides, who sold out The Joiners in Southampton last month, drew hundreds of fans to hear their infectious indie-pop tunes, including songs Head Case, Backbiting and new single I Don’t Want to Wait.

Frontman Billy Gregory, lead guitarist Harry Knowles, bassist George Reagan and drummer Joe Knight showed why they are one of the most exciting acts in the south. They return to Southsea to co-headline Golden Touch Festival at The Wedgewood Rooms next Saturday, which also features Southampton bands Pioneers and Sins.

While Hampshire’s Frank Turner sang about his hometown, Winchester, in his song Wessex Boy on the main stage, new kids on the block The Lathums sang about their place of birth, Wigan, on the Castle stage. The young band have a rare gift for nostalgia and appear to be some of life’s optimists in neatly crafted songs like The Great Escape and How Beautiful Life Can Be. They have also worked with hitmaker producer and lead singer of The Coral James Skelly and Chris Taylor on their debut album, which is out next month. They play The 1865 in Southampton in October.

All the acts have said how good it is to be back performing to mass gatherings, but perhaps The Fratellis frontman Jon summed things up best. In a rare quiet moment in-between bangers like Chelsea Dagger and their recent Scottish Euro 2020 anthem cover, Yes Sir, I Can Boogie, he told the audience: “You’ll have heard the same from everyone else, but it means so much to us to be back on stage because this is what we do and it doesn’t work without you.”

SUNDAY: Victorious Festival continues with headliners Royal Blood and Nile Rogers and Chic, plus Supergrass, Fontaines D.C., Miles Kane, Annie Mac, Ella Eyre, Mel C, Liverpool legends Cast and Scottish rising stars The Snuts.