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After the exciting Saturday lineup, fans trickled in, a little sore and sorry, for the second day of festivities, and all of the bands did their best to keep things up and pumping.

Over at the Supertop, a surprisingly massive and enthusiastic crowd, given the early time-slot, dance and jump their way through Yves Klein Blue’s slamming show, adorned wrists and sunnie’d eyes flashing all over the joint. Singer Michael Tomlinson is in fine form, with his full speed performance falling somewhere between Elvis Costello and Julian Casablancas and the crowd constantly calling for more. These boys seem to be getting better and better; their rocking, poignant musings don’t let up and neither does their balls out approach. Constantly leading punters by example, they grind and bump across the stage until the death, which comes far too soon, at which point Tomlinson collapses to the ground and the crowd goes wild.

Little Red are getting into the spirit of things, all decked out in business pants and collared shirts. Their indie-rock-via-60’s-dancehall swing numbers are the perfect opening for a relaxing Sunday festival. Little Jackie Cooper has been getting airplay, and goes down a treat. The smooth soulful numbers are delivered by the alternating frontmen, and during a piano break, the drummer stands on his stool and dances, inciting the crowd. There’s also a healthy dose of funk thrown in for good measure, and although the set drags a little in the middle, they pick it back up again with ease, going out with party numbers Little Annie and It’s On Fire. The crowd are now sufficiently woken up.

British India pick up the Aus-rock baton and run with it on the Supertop stage. The intense four piece brush through numbers from their new album Thieves, including God Is Dead, Meet The Kids, and hit single Said I’m Sorry. Even the slower numbers have a barrelling momentum that has the crowd jumping, and the verses of You Will Die & I Will Take Over feature an extremely funky bass line.

Run The Red Light and Tie Up My Hands have the crowd singing along, but overall, British India just aren’t hitting the heights that they’re capable of. Guitarist Nic Wilson is looking the AC/DC part in a suit jacket, and gets a few chances to shred, but even Black And White Radio, which closes the set, is a little underwhelming. It’s still a good show, but British India are capable of much more.

Even have never attracted a mass following, and that’s reflected in the paltry crowd gathered at the GW McLennan stage. But the boys take it in stride, and dedicate their set to Tas from the Meanies, who passed away last week. They run through their classics including Black Umbrella and Life Gets In The Way. They also strut some of their new songs, including Sister Rock and I Walk On. Ash Naylor even shows off his criminally underappreciated guitar skills, ripping out the Star Wars theme tune to audience acclaim. They dedicate their last song to Tas, and finish large with I Am The Light. It’s an emotional set, and it’s a pity a few more people weren’t around to witness it.

The Supertop might be known for big rock shows, but Vampire Weekend are about to change all that. Their African-inspired pared back rock songs are driven mostly by the drums and organ, with small bursts of guitar noise. They open with Mansford Roof and Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, and clean cut frontman Ezra Koenig has a great voice, layered over the top of the low energy, high quality rock. He asks everyone to dance for A-Punk but he could have saved his breath – the whole crowd gyrates and sings along joyously. Blake’s Got A New Face is terrific call-and-response, and Oxford Comma ebbs and flows beautifully. They close with the bouncey piano of Walcott, and the roar of thanks which follows the band’s exit shows once and for all that this Splendour crowd doesn’t need power chords to be satisfied – we just love good music.

Strangely, Laura Marling is not 90 years old. She’s a sweet, nonchalant teenager who just happens to possess the insight and ability of a woman who has dedicated her life to heartbreak, and for her all too short set she stands centre stage and delivers her pop hymns. With songs that seem to do Joni Mitchell better justice than the chanteuse herself can dispense these days, Marling is direct and sincere, delicate and honest, all the while strumming the audience into an airy dance euphoria. As an example, set closer Alas I Cannot Swim pays due dilligence to such a mission statement: it’s vulnerably emotional and undeniably enjoyable, concomittantly encouraging joy and misery. Two thirds of the crowd are in love.

The crowd is packed in so tight to the Supertop that its hard to breathe. There’s no doubt that The Wombats are fan favourites, and opening number Kill The Director instantly wins over any fence-sitters. This tight English three piece make more noise than some five-pieces, and Moving To New York is a perfect example of their ability to cover complex themes in 3 minute rawk gems. Gawky frontman Murph tells the crowd that they’re boss, which is apparently a compliment, and proceeds to sweat out his body weight through the course of the set.

There’s wave after wave of heat coming off the audience as they thrash about to every single song, but none more so than hit single Lets Dance To Joy Division, which has even revellers outside the Supertop, all the way back to the merch tent, moshing in time. It’s an incredible moment of synergy, a common expression of joy at something as simple as a guitar chord. Closer Backfire At The Disco feels like a comedown by comparison, but with The Grates coming up, there’ll be plenty more chances to dance.

Paul Dempsey has trouble drawing people away from the Wombats, and begins in front of a small crowd. His set consists of solo versions of Something For Kate songs, as well as some new songs from his upcoming solo album. Impossible, from Desert Lights, is an early highlight, with Dempsey leaning away from the mic and belting out the coda. The crowd, which is beginning to grow steadily, gets to sing along to Deja Vu, and the vitriolic Say Something is just as potent without his band behind him.

Of the new songs, The Fastest Of Friends and Theme From A Nice Guy are excellent, and bode well for the new album. Dempsey banters easily with the crowd, humbly thanking them for their appreciation, and he makes a point of stating how proud he is to play on a stage named after McLennan. He finishes with a cover of the Boss’s Born To Run, with an intensity that the crowd responds to, and then Pinstripe, which rounds out a fantastic set of solo acoustic numbers.

It just wouldn’t be a Splendour In The Grass without an appearance from The Grates, and it just wouldn’t be a Grates show without something kooky happening. Tonight’s kookiness is superhero-themed, with Patience running out in a Batgirl costume, to the tune of the old Batman TV show. From there, it’s business as usual – Science Is Golden and Lies from their debut are greeted with roars of approval, but it’s the new songs which really shine. It’s quite probable the crowd has never heard Aww Yeah and Earthquakes before, but that doesn’t stop them dancing their hearts out – it would take some kind of stone to not dance to the Grates. New single Burning Bridges is played at breakneck speed, and the crowd joins in enthusiastically for the handclapping bridge.

Patience brings out her ribbon for twirling to Rock Boys, and a canon sprays confetti over the whole crowd during 19-20-20. They close with Little People and favourite Inside Outside, with the whole crowd singing along with abandon. The Grates live show is as good as ever, and fans have found some new favourite songs tonight.

Drama and turbulence has followed The Vines their entire career, courtesy of the unpredictable personality of frontman/lynchpin Craig Nicholls. But you wouldn’t know it from tonight’s performance – they look like any other successful, exciting rock four-piece, and Nicholls is a terrific frontman. It’s not nearly as packed as it was for the Grates and the Wombats, and, curiously, the crowd cheers new single He’s A Rocker just as much as breakthrough track Highly Evolved. Don’t Listen To The Radio is an almost poppy singalong number, and Nicholls embodies the grunge/garage ethos, as well as its sound.

It’s great to see him perform without constantly having a dazed look in his eyes, and although his unpredictability was part of the appeal, it’s reassuring to know the band will finish a set with the lineup in the same state it began. Winning Days is a softer moment, until Nicholls rips into a distorted riff in the bridge. Outathaway and Amnesia are good, but the Vines have saved the best for last, sending the crowd into a seething, teeming frenzy with Get Free. They then close with the 1-2 punch of Ride and F.T.W. , which sees Nicholls destroy the drum kit and his guitar at it’s conclusion. The Vines are definitely back, and if they continue to put on solid rock shows like tonight, they should see their reputation resurrected in no time.

The Panics have been gaining some real momentum since releasing their latest album Cruel Guards (their first for new label Dew Process), and tonight’s show reaps the benefits, with thousands packing out the McLennan stage. The boys return in kind, ripping out fantastic versions of Creak and Ruins, and there’s no room for any more punters to squeeze in at all. Twin Sisters is terrific, and Lawrence Greenwood aka Whitley plays harmonica on the mesmerising Cruel Guards. The Panics are adjusting to their new found fame with typical humble modesty. Jay Laffer’s vocals are above reproach, and Drew Wootton’s guitar work is stellar as always, although its a little high in the mix (but then if you don’t lean heavily on guitars at a rock festival, when will you?).

The crowd is screaming for their favourite song, but the boys make them wait a little longer, playing alt-country/power-pop numbers My Best Mistake and The Feeling Is Gone. They finally play Don’t Fight It, and its a tribute to the strength of Australian music that there are more people singing along here tonight than there were last night for the Polyphonic Spree. Unfortunately, it’s also a tribute to the shallow nature of the average Australian festival goer, as droves of people leave right after it. The joke’s on them however, as Don’t Fight It is good, but it’s blown out of the water by a fantastic rendition of Get Us Home, and set closer and album finisher Sundowner. The Panics are going from strength to strength, and tonight is no exception.

Anticipation is high for Icelandic post-rockers Sigur Ros, propelled in part by the atmospheric tones droning sonorously through the Supertop – Coldplay has been banished. The quartet are touring a new album but seem a touch shy about letting us hear it at first – instead opening with Takk’s Glosoli and Hoppipolla. Atmosperic blends with rock, the structures always shifting around Jonsi’s incredibly pure voice – and the beauty is exquisite. As the band finally shifts into the new album, the sound changes. A small trumpet section joins the band, and Vid Spilum Endalaust emerges brighter and bolder than almost anything the band has done before. Luni Mer Syugar Vitleysingur ups the ante even further before they finally unleash the single Gobbledigook. Jonsi asks the crowd to sing, and everyone complies, delivering la la las with gusto as the band showers us all with tickertape.

It’s a small crowd which has gathered to hear Ben Lee lose his Splendour cherry, and he does so with glee. There’s no sign of angsty, mopey Lee – tonight he is all showman, playing to the crowd, and opening with a call-and-response number. Lee is an industry veteran, and he’s certainly enjoying himself tonight, with piano pop number Let The Music Stop, although he has to stop mid-song to fix up his pedals. Love Me Like The World Is Ending is fantastic, but Gamble Everything For Love, which uses a drum machine from the keyboards for the beat, gets a little nasal.

He has more stage presence in one song than some bands have in their entire set, pausing mid-song to perform a “meaningless instrumental rock jam”. It’s this kind of self-aware self-indulgence which threatens to overtake the Lee set, but he’s also enough of a pro to know when to just shut up and sing. He brings out Jessica Chatnick for some tracks from his soundtrack to the new Australian film The Square. He then plays American Television, and a cover of fellow-Splendourite The Grates’ Rock Boys (some of us were hoping to see Patience emerge from sidestage, ribbon a-twirling, but our prayers went unanswered).

A solo piano version of classic track Cigarettes Will Kill You causes a breakout of interpretive dance in the crowd, but the song still sounds adolescent, even after all these years. New track What’s So Bad About Feeling Good is a dancier number, with a synthy drum beat, and after a short break (during which Lee and his piano player simply turn their backs on the crowd), they get everyone moving with a pared back version of Catch My Disease. Lee is then left alone on stage to carve out We’re All In This Together, which is as much of a mission statement for the Splendour festival as it needs, and a great way to end the day.

A fellow wearing an Indian headdress – and his grandiose introduction – prefaces the appearance of headliners Wolfmother. The band imediately launches into Dimension, and the crowd effectively ends up stealing the chorus from Andrew Stockdale. He doesn’t mind though, because he can simply rip into a killer solo while bassist Chris leaps onto the drum riser for a bit of a jam. As the set progresses though, the solos become much longer, and far less cohesive, reducing the tautness of the set. A dedicated knot remains unwaveringly inspired, but for the rest, attention wanders when the riffs of Unicorn stray into long minutes of turgid pseudo-prog nonsense.

Woman suffers a similar fate, its tight glam rock beauty bloated by pointless showponying. More, it leaves the crowd with no cues whatsoever for the big moments, and on several occasions Stockdale is forced to give the crowd a “come on” gesture as a signal. Thankfully, as the set winds to its conclusion, the boys return to what they do best: cranking out some of the biggest riffs this side of Zepellin around Stockdale’s searing vocals. The tempo of Mind’s Eye still feels slower, but here it functions as an intensifier rather than a mood killer.

Colossal immediately follows, before Stockdale takes to the top of the speaker stack to crank out Joker And The Thief. The crowd goes into meltdown then bays for more, but Wolfmother seem to have at least learned that you always ought to leave them wanting more. No encore tonight.

And so Splendour 2008 winds down for the night. There’s still beats from the various dance areas which will echo on into the night, but for most, this signals the end of a very long weekend, filled with sun, songs and sublime performances. There was something for everyone, and we can only hope next year’s Splendour continues in the fine footsteps of Splendours passed.

By Liam McGinniss, Stephen Goodwin, Tom Slater and Shan Welham.