And we are off. This year T4 On The Beach is bigger and better with two stages - one of which we can call our own. As well as Sarpong's circus on the main stage, this year the 4music stage is vying for attention in the middle of the fair and far away from the sandy swamp the teenage population of Weston Super-Mare are sinking slowly into.

And it's on the 4music stage we catch the first band of the day, 4unsigned's The Headliners, picked by 4music viewers to open the show.

We're sure there is a comment we could make about The Headliners opening the day on the second stage, but we'll leave the joke slot blank for now. With McFly due on the main stage at the same time, The Headliners persaude a respectable crowd to forgo the hyperactive guitar pop for some solid, summery indie - it's like being at a real festival, but on a main road and very close to a Spar shop.

Given the current obsession with 'new music', we fully expect to see The Headliners in the Top Ten before the end of the year and we reckon 'Bottle After Bottle' could be the one to do it for them - a deceptively upbeat number about the dangers of alcohol.

But while The Headliners are new to the line-up this year, no summer pop event is complete without McFly, who we spot diving from their car and straight onto the stage. They must have soundchecked on the motorway. That McFly are back year after year is thanks to the band never trying to be anything more, anything cooler than 'McFly'. Their performance, as a mainstage opener, signals an early peak for tens of thousands of teenage girls across the sand. And despite getting hit on the head by a frisbee, it's a peak for us too.

Mutya makes the brave decision to skip the boring old tradition of playing all the hits, opting to follow 'Real Girl' with an album track instead of the current single, 'Song 4 Mutya'. Perhaps Groove Armada are a pair of old meanies who won't let her jazz/funk band mess around with their way of doing things or perhaps they are just a pair of old meanies. Still, she looks lovely and points at us when she sings the word 'baby' in the chorus of 'Just A Little Bit'. She could be singing 'The Wheels On The Bus' and we'd still love her.

So Funeral For A Friend then. We don't know how happy American FFAF fans are with this arrangement, but they've been heaved out here midway through their tour to play at Weston. Not many unhappy faces here. Though we can't tell if that's a good or bad thing, you never know with these emo types. Anyway, first off they sing 'Walk Away'. No one really obeys matey up front and continue to stand there lobbing balls at each other and looking pleased. Rock and really roll. 'Streetcar' is next which is slightly faster emo and gets the crowd swaying in an awkward fashion. Yippee. Thanks for interrupting your tour, FFAF!

If FFAF are here to up the emo quota, then Maroon 5 are here to break some hearts. We can hear them cracking all around us. Mind you, we think this is a good thing as they receive one of the best receptions since Glynn BB7's untimely entry in the 'VIP' area. 'This Love' and 'Makes Me Wonder' are lapped up by the welly-clad crowd until they and the bassist spy someone off the TV in the golden circle. Nevertheless, once the pictures are taken and autographs scrawled, all eyes are back on Maroon 5 for their finishing notes. Hooray for that!

Wow - we thnk a human rainbow has strutted on stage. Either that or it's Calvin Harris and his colourfully-clothed clan. Oh yes, it is Calvin. We are pleased. Especially as he does 'Acceptable In The 80s', which is almost certainly acceptable here. Calvin injects a certain in yer face charm into proceedings by lolloping along the stage pointing at people and asking them how they are, before throwing caution into the Weston wind and jumping down to sing with them. What a charmer! 'The Girls' is updated for the T4 audience to include the line 'I like them T4 girls'; a good thing really as there are a lot of them here.

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