The Great Escape top-up headline shows at the Dome act almost like a carrot for the acts playing on the smaller stages across the city – ‘Do well and you could get to be here’ they say.

This was certainly the case with Wild Beasts, who recall their previous gig at the festival as a humbling experience, supporting Bon Iver and No Age but returned this year as the event’s big fish.

For all of their wonderful qualities as musicians, especially the lovely contrast on the vocal interplay between Hayden Thorpe and Tom Fleming, their set drifted too easily at times. They failed to cut through and the demand attention of a difficult and chatty crowd. It maybe a slightly unfair to criticise a band for leading the horse to the water but they did fail to make the Dome drink.

The Kendal band’s sound does have more weight to it in comparison to their previous work and they actual technical qualities of the sound they produce, synth laden layers of dreamy pop, is staggeringly beautiful at times.

They did also engage with the crowd, explaining their set list in charming detail, which encompassed more than recent top ten album Present Tense. It was by no means a lightweight show, it just lacked a knockout punch.

This was a bold contrast to the performance of Ratking at the Haunt earlier in the day. The New York trio’s punk approach to hip-hop had the effect where those in the mosh pit were stopping for periods to appreciate what was being played to them.

The onstage interplay between MCs Wiki and Hak is reminiscent of the Beastie Boys but informed by the lives of young men who have grown up in the projects of Brooklyn. Their delivery is flawless and rhythmic as opposed to the shoutyness that afflicts some rappers performing live.

Producer Sporting Life’s soundtrack is not merely a second string to the two guys at the front of the stage and demands attention. Influenced by more than hip-hop’s own staples Ratking’s sound combines elements of Detroit techno, punk and stoner rock. These genres are not just randomly selected for buzz-word influence bingo, they are woven into the group’s sound in a similar way to sometime collaborator King Krule so successfully managed as he clambered to the top of the British music top table.

Ratking are a phenomenal live experience who make good on their promise of a different kind of hip-hop.