Scouting For Girls prove to be inspired headline choices despite relentless rain

So on with the music! Cornbury's a festival for those with guitar-based musical tastes. This year it has music spanning the 60s through to current chart poppers with number-one singles and albums under their belts. It has forgotten favourites of the 80s and 90s, some soon-to-be stars, plenty of local talent, and a specialist stage that is one day bluesy and the next folky.

We start our perusal with Relay. They look barely out of school, play lite-rock like current McFly, and smile like they’re having a right old time. Apparently they’re a local act who won a Battle of the Bands competition to open the main stage. Whilst they have their own songs like 'Umba' and their own adoring fans who create a strong stage-front atmosphere, it's the covers that interest us most. They tell us one's from an 'Ice Age' soundtrack, and behold the youngster with me livens up considerably when he recognises the tune. They then enthusiastically give 'Sex on Fire' a good working over. Finally, introducing a 13 year-old for additional keyboard support, they finish with 'All These Things I've Done' and it's a fine start to the day.

Next onto our main stage radar come 90s indie-melodians Dodgy looking older and less hairy but not having lost any attitude or energy. The swear box may have been shaken at them a little, but musically it's a fine selection of hits, fans' favourites, and a smattering of new tunes. 'In a Room', 'So Let Me Go Far' and 'UKRIP' are thrown into the mix early on, and there's a strong crowd down the front mouthing along to the choruses where they can. 'If You're Thinking Of Me' gets bonus synthesizer that allows the song to become rather too indulgent. 'New Deal' is proclaimed as a new one for the unemployed, and sounds stylistically like they’ve never been away with its guitar hook and abundant drums. The two biggest hits, 'Good Enough' and 'Staying Out For The Summer', are assisted by rousing crowd choirs, with the latter having a 'Good Vibrations' moment as it meanders to its close. Then they leave us with their lesser-known beauty 'Grassman' as a closing anthem. Good to have them back.

Peter Green, as aficionados will know, was a founder member and driving force of Fleetwood Mac during the late 60s before removing himself from the music scene for a large number of years. He was a late addition to the line-up for The Word stage, and possibly suffered the most from timing changes insofar as he started a whole hour before the originally-listed time. He's masterfully supported by some name musicians from Nick Lowe and Bill Wyman's bands who help to produce a greatly bluesy feel to things. One highlight is the double-bass and drums having a musical stand-off. Peter Green himself has a stunning voice and plays guitar effortlessly, almost hardly moving his hands. He is however playing from sheet music, and comes across as lacking responsibility for the music which is of course handled fully by those around him. I don't know the songs, one may have been called 'Don't Let Nobody Drag You Down', but it all works sweetly, and so is a pleasure for anyone to witness this living legend.

Back on the main stage, The Magic Numbers are reminding people of how they burst so spectacularly into the charts in 2005. They suit the late afternoon crowd very well, playing cheerful melodic pop that can be danced or relaxed to. 'Take a Chance' sounds like the guitar-heavy side of Snow Patrol, then with some perfect harmonies it segues into the debut hit 'Forever Lost', resplendent eventually with handclaps and what sounds like a melodica. The band are in no rush to get through the songs, drawing them out beautifully at times, one song ending with little of the Curtis Mayfield standard 'People Get Ready'. They also get the audience to practice the harmonies of a new song before playing it properly, and end with a plethora of invited people on stage happily dancing to a countrified number. They tell us that a new album is imminent, and we wait to see if they will still have a place in the record-buying public's consciousness, but on this performance they're well worth it.

Sharleen Spiteri is heard from our tent as we deal with a suddenly-ill child. She's unfortunate enough to be playing during the arrival of the long-anticipated wet spell of the festival; indeed we're all quite grateful that it held off until early evening and stayed away completely on Sunday. Spiteri's voice comes across very well at a distance, and we recognise hits such as 'Say What You Want', 'Halo' and 'Black Eyed Boy', all sounding exactly as if it was Texas on stage. There's also a cover of 'These Boots Were Made For Walking' which must be the festival theme tune this year as another two acts have a go at it on Sunday. Another act to file under 'never thought I liked them'.

And so onto the Saturday headliners, Scouting for Girls, in the unceasing rain. Actually no-one present seem to care. The group themselves hark on about a particularly wet festival that was their favourite, going on about a Cider Bus amongst other things. They also intersperse their five or so hits off their one album with a selection of covers and a fair few other songs with musical and lyrical hooks. Anything that can be sung along to is offered up to the audience, and frankly those that I saw were lapping it all up. As example, the encore starts with a song that has a simple chorus of "sing along with me Cornbury", middles with a cover of '500 Miles' and ends with one of their main hits 'She’s So Lovely'.

It's not all hook-laden piano-pop though. We are treated to what the band claim to be their first ever song, which shows an initial fondness for grungy rock as well as confidence to expand on what's made them famous. I swear they also dropped a little 'Keep on Rockin' in the Free World' into the ending to help please musos like me. But there are many lighter moments such as songs about former kids' TV presenter Michaela Strachan and cartoon He-Man. They also indulge in song couplets, first their own compositions about James Bond and Elvis respectively, each followed by an appropriate cover ('Live and Let Die' & 'I Can't Help Falling In Love With You'). In consequence, I'm highly impressed with Scouting for Girls' ability to hold and entertain a crowd despite, or perhaps because of, their radio impression of being rather lightweight. That of course reflects very well on Cornbury's wise choice of this young band as headliners. Marvellously feel-good, maybe even more so due to the appalling weather.

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