It is proving to be a great festival season for Oxford bands. First Radiohead and Ride smashed their respective sets at Glastonbury, and now Foals have raised the bar with a phenomenal headline set at Citadel.

The festival, a one-day event run by the good folk behind our very own Wilderness festival, and held in London’s Victoria Park, has established itself as an essential date in the capital’s calendar. And the presence of Yannis Philippakis and the boys in top-billing attracted a large contingent of Oxford fans to the East End on Sunday.

We were treated to the best festival act of the summer so far, with a set studded with bangers. Launching with Mountain at My Gates, the first of a clutch of gems from What Went Down, they wheeled out belters My Number, from Holy Fire, and classics Olympic Airways and Red Socks Pugie from Antidotes, which sent the crowd into paroxysms of joy.

“It’s really good to play near where we live, round the corner from where we get our milk,” Yannis told the crowd, reminding us that most of the band now live in London, before diving into the rarely-performed Black Gold.

The big hitters kept coming. The quiet gathering storm of Spanish Sahara was another arms in the air moment; that slow-build setting the hairs tingling on the backs of thousands of necks. But the best was to come, in the shape of massive closer Inhaler, and an encore of What Went Down and a momentous Two Steps, Twice – their trademark chiming guitars and intricate time signatures electrifying the crowd –and ending with explosions of ticker tape.

The show topped a superlative day, with some seriously impressive names. Warming up for Foals was Bonobo – electronic producer Simon Green, who we get to see at Wilderness next month – his blend of expansive down-tempo and chunkier dance beats given a warm touch by being performed with a live band. Also packing in the crowd were Wild Beasts, the dreamy A Blaze of Feather and Michael Kiwanuka – his warm vocals perfect for this humid evening.

Citadel may be a newcomer but it has earned its spurs as the best new festival on the block. And you get to sleep in your own bed after. Nice. 5/5

Tim Hughes