The Killers bring Hungary's Sziget to the glittery climax it deserved

It's been quite a 20 years for Sziget. From its humble beginnings as a small student island festival, it enters its third decade as one of the reigning European festivals of the year. Quite a journey? Well, quite a festival.

Situated on the picturesque Obudai Island (located in the River Danube), a collective 400,000 people pack in to experience the joy of Sziget Festival. And what a bunch of people they are. Dutch, French, and Italians account for the majority of the foreign visitors, but a growing British contingent and the linguistic talent of many of the staff and festival-goers alike means that the whole experience is never lost in the translation. There’s a real sense of community spirit at Sziget, with none of the rough edges that blight most (particularly English) festivals. Other plus points? The weather’s consistently boiling( not literally), the venue’s a 10-minute walk from a massive supermarket, and consumables are reasonably priced. Oh, and there’s some rather brilliant music as well. With over 50 stages, Sziget truly has something for absolutely everyone. Blues, Drum and Bass, World Music, Street Theatre, Dance… you name it, you can probably find it.

Having skipped the day zero metal extravaganza, I arrived on the first day of the festival proper to find Scottish Rockers Glasvegas bringing their dour brand of indie to the Pop-Rock Main Stage. Despite a decent opening ('Flowers and Football Tops') and a great finale (an emotive 'Daddy's Gone'), it was all rather depressing. But, then, they are from Glasgow. My anti-climactic tinge continued for the next set of the day, from Anna Calvi. She's clearly talented but comparing her to Patti Smith (as the guy who introduced her did) is like comparing One Direction to…erm… anyone good. Next up were an (as always), immaculately-attired Hurts, who turned in a brilliantly atmospheric set. 'Silver Lining' and 'Wonderful Life' got it all off to a cracking start, and by the time they finished off with a rousing 'Stay', the crowd seemed very impressed. And so was I. The opening night headliners were Placebo, a band who I didn't really know much about and didn't convince me to find out more. Their cover of Kate Bush's 'Running Up That Hill' was the highlight, and it was all performed with enthusiasm, but this just isn't my thing really.

I awoke in the morning nursing an inevitable hangover (let's say the Sziget bar staff are rather generous with their measures) and my pounding headache wasn't exactly helped by the ear-splitting volume of Anti-Flag's set on the main stage. The standard circle pit was energetic, and a surprisingly entertaining cover of the Clash classic 'Should I Stay or Should I Go?' was a great moment. Not bad all round. Didn't exactly sort out my head out though. Luckily, Dutch Jazz singer Caro Emerald soothed my ringing ears with a smooth performance. Vocally she's every bit as good as on record, and interacted well with the audience. I really enjoyed it.

Geordie band Maximo Park then took to the main stage and justified their status as a festival favourite by putting on a decent show, with their breakthrough single 'Apply Some Pressure' proving an exceptional finale. They were somewhat overshadowed, however, by a terrific performance from Friendly Fires in the A38 Tent. The English outfit's funky brand of electro proved a huge hit with the sizeable crowd. 'Hawaiian Air' brought a great set to a close. Could it get better still? No. No, it couldn't. Nothing against Korn but they just didn't really make any impression on me whatsoever. Mind you, a couple of unexpected covers (Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick in the Wall', Metallica's classic 'One') did add a bit of interest. Only a bit though. My immense fatigue meant I only saw a little bit of High Contrast's show later that night, but they seemed alright from what I could see.

I strolled down to the arena at 4.30pm on Friday afternoon to check out The Vaccines' set, and after their disappointing performance at Rock Werchter in June I wasn't really expecting much. To be fair to them, they were much better this time round. It was a fast-paced, rowdy performance but it still didn’t really thrill me.

Still, fairly okay-ish. After a completely unremarkable set from German band Sportfreunde Stiller, it was time for the world's most boring live band, The xx, to take to the stage. Despite the fact I'm indifferent towards their music, their chronic lack of stage presence and general lack of enthusiasm makes it impossible to enjoy their performance. After about ten minutes I got chatting to a couple of lovely Canadian girls and completely forgot they were playing. That says everything you need to know about both the girls and the band. I'll be definitive - don't waste your time seeing The xx live. Please. After resisting the rather strong temptation to top myself, I breathed a sigh of relief and excitedly sprinted down to the front of the main stage for the highly-anticipated gig from everyone's favourite Mancunians, The Stone Roses. When they announced their reformation earlier this year I felt like a child at Christmas, and the Roses' presence (ho-ho-ho) at Sziget was the main factor in my decision to attend. Ian Brown and the boys kicked off with 'I Wanna be Adored' and thus began one of the most memorable gigs of my entire life. The Stone Roses worked the crowd up to such a fever pitch that several attractive girls (and unfortunately, one not-so-attractive one) decided it would be a good idea to take their tops off. And I completely agreed. It was a great idea. The music was excellent as well, with 'Fool's Gold' and the epic finale 'I am the Resurrection' drawing the most passionate reception from the massive crowd. Expectations can be a horrible thing, but The Stone Roses really, ah, rose to the occasion. Besides, any band who can persuade beautiful women to take their clothes off are fine by me. Next up, in the A38 tent, London-based hip-hoppers Rizzle Kicks. They engaged the crowd superbly, throwing in several pop-culture covers (Harry Potter, James Bond, 'Seven Nation Army'…) before closing with a typically swingy 'Mama do the Hump' to send the audience back to their tents smiling.

The sweltering temperatures eased off a tad on Saturday afternoon, which seemed appropriate given the simple cool of a suited- and- booted Noah and the Whale's set on the main stage. The criminally-underrated North Londoners swept through all their best-loved tunes, finishing up with the life-affirming 'Life Goes On'. Frontman Charlie Fink introduced the whole band individually, which was a nice touch, and they performed with real gusto throughout. A great performance from a great band. I wasn't really familiar with the day's next band, The Horrors, but their songs were catchy enough to persuade me to give them a listen when I get round to it. Irish band-of-the-moment Two Door Cinema Club came next, and while I wasn't amazingly turned on by it all, the crowd seemed to love the whole thing. Songs from the band's upcoming record went down smoothly but predictably it was the singles from their triumphant debut 'Tourist History' that drew the most vigorous reception. It did start to sound a little bit samey by the end, but overall it was fairly enjoyable.

Next to treat the Sziget crowd were Canadian post-punk pioneers Sum 41. I arrived late and unfortunately missed 'In Too Deep', but I enjoyed what I saw. Their set raced by, with Deryck Whibley really getting the crowd going, and by the time 'Fat Lip' screamed over the Budapest sky they crowd seemed enthralled. Very good stuff. For the first time in my not-insubstantial festival career, I passed up the opportunity to seeing a main stage headliner. Sorry Snoop Dogg, as much as I do love droppin' it like it's hot, I was required elsewhere. After an arduous search of the Island which lasted 40 minutes (signposting is clearly something the Sziget organisers struggle with), I finally found the World Music Party Stage where legendary Celtic Rockers The Pogues were just beginning. A clearly-sozzled Shane MacGowan can still growl out his trademark gravelly tones (though quite what he’s saying no-one, including him, really seems to know) and his drunken antics add real incident to proceedings. Musically, The Pogues are still genuinely incredible and have an ability to wow a crowd that very few bands, from any era, possess. The fact that the audience called them back for not one, but two, encores just emphasises how fantastically well-received this was. I spent the entire 90 minutes smiling to myself contentedly.

The last day of Sziget started off with a bang as cult indie rockers The Subways burst on stage and powered out 'Oh Yeah', before smashing through an incredibly exciting set. Lead singer Billy Lunn endeared himself by speaking Hungarian to the crowd (even singing an entire verse of 'Rock and Roll Queen' in it), and the set was so energetic that the hour completely raced by. I was pleasantly surprised. Paolo Nutini was up next, and the best moment of the set by a mile was a fantastic cover of MGMT's 'Time to Pretend'. The rest of it was, well, a little disappointing. There were a couple of inexplicable omissions from his set list (no 'Last Request' or 'Rewind'- seriously?!), and I was completely underwhelmed throughout. The penultimate concert of the festival came from Californian Party Rockers LMFAO. And I'm embarrassed to say that…deep breath… I really enjoyed it. Yes- it's incredibly, INCREDIBLY camp. Yes- it's shamelessly commercial. But I defy anyone to resist shufflin' to 'Party Rock Anthem' or wiggling to 'I'm Sexy and I Know It'. Even I, I of two left feet and chronic self-consciousness, found myself hesitantly bopping my feet on the floor. Two costume changes in an hour may be slightly excessive, and this won't be for everyone, but ultimately the world would be a less amusing place without LMFAO. Besides, who can fail to love a band whose frontman strips to his underwear, and skips around the stage singing about how sexy he is, and how much he knows it?

The task of closing this year's 20th edition of Sziget fell to The Killers. They didn't disappoint. Kicking off with new single 'Runaways', the Utah four-piece raced through all their most loved songs from their near-decade at the top of the game. Brandon Flowers' vocals are spine-tinglingly perfect, and the instrumental delivery from the band was impeccable throughout. Their singalong classic 'All These Things That I've Done' closes their set brilliantly, before an encore of 'Jenny Was a Friend of Mine' and 'When You Were Young' brought the performance, and indeed the festival, the glittery climax it deserved. A rapturous reaction from the crowd welcomed the return of one of the most talented bands to emerge this millennium. To conclude, then: great music + great people + great setting = great festival. Treat yourself. Roll on Sziget 2013.

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