Twenty pounds Sterling doesn't get you much these days, so eleven stages, fifteen hours of fun and a fantastic band roster, all for one little note, would undoubtedly seem an appealing offer. And yes, Nottingham's third and biggest Dot to Dot festival was worth the cost. Having grown from a modest event in 2005 to include more venues in Nottingham and a sister festival in Brighton, this year's offering also shows a breakaway from its previous Indie roots in the form of an expanded music policy; 2007's headliners were Kano, The Cribs and Erol Alkan. Punters at this particular venue hopping event were thankfully not deterred by lashings of rain, and took over the centre of Nottingham to hear the good, the not so good and the just plain weird.

"This is quite a massive deal for us," admits Foals lead singer, Yannis, to a crowd easily a thousand men strong. The main room of Nottingham's Rock City, fresh from pelting previous act Pull Tiger Tail with glowsticks, hang onto his every word as his band, Transgressive's latest five man trophy, gear up for their set. Chaos ensues both on-stage and off – opening with the distinctive opening notes of Balloons and progressing through the squeals of recent single Hummer to the heavy synth and feverish finale of Mathletics, their electro filled funk-punk is bristling with energy and adrenaline. It's a wonder such danceable, multi-faceted noise can emerge so seamlessly from the figures jerking their way around the stage; Yannis takes a sidelong stance and yells in a manner reminiscent of Luke Jenner. He later explains: "It's our last gig for a while as we're off to do our album with [TV on the Radio's] David Sitek in New York for a month, and some other bits of recording with Fourtet," ever-modest, he adds: "Nirvana played at Rock City. I don't think any of us ever thought we'd play to so many people."

Deeper into the belly of Rock City, the four faced, eight legged seraph of a band that is Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man, having risen from the ashes of the doomed Les Incompetents, play a strikingly doom-laden set to a similarly full, albeit much smaller room. Lead singer Fred McPherson delivers a dark and theatrical performance from beneath his bowl cut fringe; in particular, I Am The Future hints that great things are to come from material promised in late summer. "We've slightly delayed our first release because we have a strong idea that we want our music to be released in context rather than releasing a single and then hoping to get signed off the back of that. By the time that our first single comes out we want to know what we will be releasing for our second and third singles and already have most of the ideas down for our first album," and adding, of possible label signings: "we're already in talks with some people who we have the utmost respect for. We just want to make sure we’re collaborating with people who would sooner take a bullet for us than drop us if our album doesn't sell a million copies. We don't want to be the next Razorlight – if people just expect the unexpected I'm sure we won't let anybody down."

"Do you think I'm scary?" asks New Young Pony Club's Tahita Bulmer of a crowd as large as Foals's. Exuding confidence, she has all the raw attitude of Uffie and Gwen Stefani and the moves of an early Madonna to boot. "Bristol were wild," she shouts, "what's Nottingham going to give me?" Any fears about audience participation are soon allayed; they are eating out of the palm of her hand with a mexican wave and sing-backs to the lyrics of hit song Ice Cream. New song, the afrobeat F.A.M, goes down a treat as does final track The Get Go, proving that New Young Pony Club's performance is much suited to a large audience.

Not to be outdone by the boys, Dot to Dot's female contingent are generally out in full force. Whether it's Kate Nash beating off the indie boys outside of Stealth between gigs or flame haired Caroline Martial of French duo Kap Bambino invoking a riot during thirty minutes of mayhem; their bouncy, sonic happy hardcore influenced set thunders on at the speed of light in a relentlessly energetic set reminiscent of a European Crystal Castles and The Presets on form.

Although it became hard to believe that anything could top such a performance, The Social's Grimewatch transformation courtesy of Tomb Crew proves that quality Grime and Dubstep does exist outside of London. After an incredibly long delay, Jammer, Frisco and Skepta take to the stage as one, followed by a mass appearance from the Boy Better Know crew and DJ Maximum, delivering a high octane straight set voted for by crowd consensus. What better way to spend a bank holiday Sunday?