FATBOY SLIM wrapped up the first day of this year’s Victorious Festival with a shock and awe performance in front of tens of thousands of music fans.

The big beat DJ was right here, right now on Southsea Common with an electrifying set of his own songs, including Praise You and Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat, infused with other dance mix classics.

And it was double joy for fans as the Brighton DJ followed an epic set from joint headliners Snow Patrol, who thrilled with killer hits such as Run, You’re All I Have, Chasing Cars and songs from their next album The Forest is the Path.

The Northern Irish band, who are celebrating 30 years since first forming and were the last live act on Top of the Pops before it ended in 2006, often saw its lead singer Gary Lightbody appear to be stunned by the reaction of fans to their first performance here.

But the save of the day came in the mid-afternoon where South Yorkshire indie-rock outfit The Sherlocks appeared with only a few hours notice, replacing West Lothian four-piece The Snuts who were unable to play.

Frontman Kiaran Crook, his brother and drummer Brandon, lead guitarist Alex Procter and bassist Trent Jackson, came to the rescue with a blistering set of their hits including Sirens, Falling, Nobody Knows, and Chasing Shadows, from their three top ten albums.

Songwriter Kiaran told the Daily Echo that the band had no clue of the festival’s SOS call until about 8pm on Thursday when, by a stroke of luck, they were together in Sheffield, although “6 pints deep” on a pub crawl around the city centre.

“We were in a place called Perch Brewhouse when the news came through that someone else had pulled out and we may have the chance to play, and by the next pub it was confirmed, so we all scarpered to get ready,” explained Kiaran.

“We had to sort our crew, a set list and get down the M1, but it was worth it. The crowd and atmosphere was unbelievable, it was much bigger than I expected,” he added.

Earlier, special guests Razorlight drew a huge late lunchtime crowd to hear hits such as In The Morning, Golden Touch, Somewhere Else, and the song which frontman Johnny Borrell called their “attempt at something political”, America.

Along with Snow Patrol today and The Kooks, who play here on Sunday, this was another performance that showed what a rich seam of music came through in and around 2004, and how much heavy lifting the bands of that time, also including The Libertines, are still doing on the festival circuit.

Former One Direction and now solo star Louis Tomlinson was watched by both devoted fans and those new to his music. While he has performed many times at big festivals overseas, this late afternoon appearance was surprisingly his first one in the UK and, judging from crowd response, a big success.

Other big names and rising stars playing on Friday included crowd surfing The Hives and always entertaining The Lottery Winners, plus Murder Capital, Maximo Park, Pacific Avenue, Peace, The Royston Club, Brave Liaison and The Covasettes, who headline their own show at The Joiners, Southampton on Friday 11 October.

TODAY: Victorious Festival continues with Saturday headliner Jamie T, Courteeners, Pixies, Sugababes, The Amazons, Tom Walker, The Lightning Seeds, Groove Armada, The Lathums, Holly Humberstone, Frankie Boyle, Echobelly and Black Grape Plus, South Coast rising stars Crystal Tides make their main stage debut on the Common Stage and Busted are tipped to make a surprise guest on the Castle Stage.

Tickets at victoriousfestival.co.uk