Gig review: In: Demand Live

Although this annual all-day pop festival deserved credit for the amount of marquee names it crammed into four hours, there was one stand-out exclusive for cultured pop fans of any age on the bill. Not only is Nicola Roberts a member of monumental crossover success Girls Aloud, but her new single Beat of My Drum has surprised many for its adult and well-worked interpretation of electronic pop music. Could this debut Scottish appearance complete the first stage of her reinvention?

In front of an all-female backing band, the statuesque Roberts did only two songs: Beat of My Drum and Lucky Day, which saw Roberts holler "what do you say/are you gonna take this golden opportunity?" in a voice that suggested Cyndi Lauper covering Goldfrapp. It was a brief but convincing outing, even as she gets used to standing before ten thousand screaming teenagers on her own.

Hers was a constructed otherworldliness which none of the other textbook teen-pop acts on the bill could match, although rappers Example and Tinchy Stryder are consistent crowd-pleasers. Despite receiving by far the day's biggest screams, pastel and PVC-clad girl group the Saturdays and cheesily dashing boy band the Wanted were strictly by-the-numbers.