The concept of a strictly under-18s festival may seem a slightly patronising one, but with great performances from notable acts Dizzee Rascal, Gallows and the Maccabees, all pre-conceptions were blown away.

Despite fears that Victoria Park would be overrun with Fanta-fuelled 10-year-olds, the mood was mellow. Come the performance the atmosphere changed; everyone knew what was going down and we went wild. That enthusiasm, entirely unrestrained, made the festival. I've been to dozens of gigs in my 14 years and too many have been spent trying to keep with an uptight crowd all bound by a merciless tapping of the foot. Underage was miles from that - to keep with the crowd was to lose your head.

To have Gallows, a hardcore punk/metal band, headlining an indie-riddled festival was surprising, but more surprising was that people stuck around to see them. Not only that, but the place was torn apart. With their own brand of fastpaced, brash punk, fronted by the manic screams of the charismatic yet disturbing Frank Carter, pictured, they set the place alight. He dropped into the crowd, mic in hand, rasping: “Don't f***ing come near me, I'm no f***ing celebrity.” He asked for a giant circle pit (run in a circle, push the person in front, don't fall down). However dangerous, we obliged. To see metalcore beginners indulging in a 2,000-strong circle pit around the sound-control box in the middle of the field was quite beautiful.

With low-tech beats, fast-flowing lyrics and dirty bass lines - all of which are exclusivities of the UK Grime scene - Dizzee Rascal was, for most people, the highlight. A predominantly white crowd going nuts to music that was predominantly black was yet another showcase of the younger generation's ability to look past all prejudice. Was there, as with Jay-Z at Glastonbury, uproar when a rap artist was announced for Underage?

No. Many Glastonbury-goers are old fools, and it makes all the difference. As Stuart Gili-Ross, the Gallows bassist, said: “It's great to see people who aren't jaded by what's cool and what's not - you young 'uns, you listen to the music and not the genre.”

This is exactly the kind of mentality Underage has. It came from my generation. Let's hope that we can hold on to it.

For video interviews from the Underage Festival, go to timesonline.co.uk/festivals

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