At last here were bands who lived up to their reputations with shows that captivated large crowds in the main field and there was no drifting off to watch what was going on at other stages while this pair were on.

Both showed the Arctic Monkeys and Radiohead how to play to a big field and give the fans exactly what they want - all the big songs, interaction with the crowd and a real enjoyment.

Of course, local heroes the Kaiser Chiefs are past masters at entertaining. The bigger the crowd, the better they are and they did a brilliant job of showing why they could quite easily headline the Leeds Festival.

Their crowd-pleasing set saw them deliver all their hits - Never Miss A Beat, Everything Is Average Nowadays, Everyday I Love You Less and Ruby were just for starters as their first four numbers then they launched into winning numbers all the way with I Predict A Riot, Modern Way and The Angry Mob obvious highlights until the traditional closer, Oh My God.

With crowd involvement all the way from chanting the band's name when prompted to waving arms in the air and singing along raucously, this was as near perfect an open field experience as you can have at this event. And all done while the rain was pouring down.

If this was an exercise in reminding everyone just how good the Kaisers can be then it was an unqualified success and if they were trying just a little bit to upstage the headliners they just about succeeded on that front too.

Not that the Kings Of Leon were less than excellent either. Their act is clearly more restrained than the Leeds band's, but they delivered a polished set of guitar rock that also gave the crowd exactly what they wanted from this group.

With Sex On Fire they had their own sing-a-long to rival the Kaisers and the likes of Molly's Chambers, Four Kicks, Revelry and Use Somebody were also enthusiastically received by the biggest crowd of the three days in the main field.

Placebo also pulled a big crowd earlier in the day without ever really involving them and Fall Out Boy had their usual appeal among the young lads, with older music fans able to do their usual tut-tutting about this band who have become festival regulars in recent years without ever getting any higher in the running order.

Funeral For A Friend and Deftones were the token heavy acts for the day and there was a lively early set by New Found Glory, whose move to the main stage after previous appearances lower down the pecking order at previous festivals worked well.

Alexisonfire had a busy day after an early afternoon slot on the main stage when they also played an evening performance on the Lock-up Stage.

The Lock-up was pretty full all day and saw a headline performance from emerging band Billy Talent as well as lively sets from the likes of Bouncing Souls, The Aggrolites and Anti Flag.

Elsewhere on day three the biggest crowd was to be found mid-afternoon at the NME/Radio 1 Stage where Little Boots were doing their dance-pop thing.

Not to everyone's taste, maybe, but there was a definite charm about the performance of Victoria Hesketh, who spoke on stage about living in Leeds as she had one when younger. Her songs Remedy and New In Town brought mass sing-a-longs and if Fall Out Boy were for the lads then this show was definitely for the many young girls at the event.

Room inside the tent was also at a premium when Florence And The Machine played their set later in the day, while Friendly Fires and Jack Penate also pulled big crowds, the latter enthusiastically jumping into the crowd at one stage as he moved his performance level up a notch or two.

The NME/ Radio 1 Stage highlight of the day, though, was undoubtedly a show from the re-formed Faith No More, who were at their most fiery even if their set did include a little whistle-along to the Eastenders theme and an invited audience sing-a-long to Easy, the cover version with which they actually had their biggest hit when originally together.

Over at the Festival Republic Stage Black Lips incited a mini riot when inviting fans to join them on stage. Headliners Marmaduke Duke pulled a healthy crowd considering the competition and there were well received sets from The Temper Trap and Fight Like Apes.

The Alternative Stage offered varied fare from the always brilliant Steve Gribbin and impressive MC Matt Read to the controversial stand-up of American Doug Stanhope, who had to battle against an audience not always appreciating his no holds barred approach to comedy.

Rain that swept in late afternoon to turn most of the site into mud again did put a little dampener on proceedings, but overall there was more than enough entertainment on show to make it worthwhile getting a little wet.

The 2009 Leeds Festival is over for another year and it's already onto planning for next year's renewal.