Arctic Monkeys @ Bellahouston Park, Glasgow, 25 Jun

It's touch and go as the afternoon showers pelt down, but the rain starts to fade away as the doors open and the crowd is sufficiently massive by the time The Mysterines kick things off. There may be tens of thousands here, but it's really just a hardcore minority paying attention.

The same can't be said for The Hives, as the well-dressed Swedes whip the masses into a frenzy. Frontman Howlin' Pelle Almqvist is particularly frenetic; dipping in and out of the crowd, climbing speaker stacks and delivering high kicks, all while still sounding great. Hate To Say I Told You So is the night's first big shout-a-long, but Tick Tick Boom also shows the band's serious chops. Strong stuff from the self-confessed best band in the world.

Arctic Monkeys saunter out with the confidence earned by being one of most beloved and acclaimed British bands of the last 20 years. The cult-like crowd response is immediately rewarded as the band launch into Brianstorm – one of the wildest songs of the whole set despite its short duration (mercifully for drummer Matt Helders' arms). They forego any material from their (occasionally maligned) past two albums for the first half of the set, instead opting for bonafide crowd-pleasers like Crying Lightning and From the Ritz to the Rubble.

Cornerstone, the song that hinted at their current sound back in 2009, gets a surprisingly tepid response and is followed by a loose piano jam. Again, a hint of the vaguely funky and impressionistic style that will pop up later on. Newer songs pepper the set's back half, which does occasionally zap the energy and has led to complaints of an “uneven” feel to the show. However, these songs (e.g. Four Out of Five or There'd Better be a Mirrorball) sound brilliant, and provide necessary breathing space, demonstrating growth and keeping the sound from getting stale. Even a wonky new arrangement of 505 can't derail the enthusiasm, though the noodly extended outro to Body Paint might be pushing it.

The encore starts in contrast to the main set with the languorous Sculptures of Anything Goes. However, this just tees us up beautifully for I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, the undoubted high point of the performance (for the crowd at least, closely followed by Mardy Bum). R U Mine? keeps the party going complete with giant mirrorball, as Alex Turner shimmies and grooves about the stage much as he has all night, looking every bit the rock god he's become, with the sound and moves to match. Any lingering doubts about their pedigree from an ambivalent Glasto crowd can be put to bed: Arctic Monkeys are up there with the very best.