WHEN William Frederick Durst was taking the world by storm with Limp Bizkit in 1999 it must have been hard to think of a time when it was all going to end.

There amongst the controversies, hits, flings with a pre-meltdown Britney Spears and an historic appearance at the Woodstock ’99 festival was a band capable of selling 50 million records worldwide.

A feud with Eminem followed and writing credits on the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack gave Durst one of his most memorable songs in Take a Look Around.

Like most bands from the era, however, their music seemed to suddenly fall on deaf ears. It stopped being heard on this side of the Atlantic, and the band’s entertaining behaviour stopped making MTV news updates.

In Fred Durst’s case, he spent time away from the industry directing and producing his own films.

But on Saturday, at 9pm on the NME stage at Leeds Festival, there he was, looking like a grown up man-teenager in a grey hoodie and sweatpants, with his distinctive snapback perched on his head, stealing the show from mainstage headliners Mumford and Sons and their newly acquired electric guitars.

Limp Bizkit’s relentless performance to a packed, sweaty tent was the highlight of the day and gave the crowd what they wanted from the start with the immense Rollin’.

Anyone walking past the tent on their way to other acts were immediately drawn into Durst’s orb of entertainment and couldn’t help but watch the master at work.

If festival acts like the 45-year-old Durst give you the chance to re-live the early noughties, other unknown musicians can become your new favourite band.

This came in the shape of The Districts, the first band I came across after arriving at Bramham Park. Their impressive and refreshing sound, along with the frontman’s tendency to throw himself around the stage in enthusiastic and eyebrow-raising fashion caught my eye.

Ditto Echosmith and Don Broco who both offered something different from today’s tiring and computerised dance “music” obsession.

Bastille’s pop hits were great fun on the main stage and University of Leeds alumni Alt-J made their homecoming shortly afterwards, but for all their musical style and verve, they struggled to hold the crowd’s attention.

The end of their set left people in two minds about who to see bring the curtain down on the second day of Leeds Festival; Durst or Mumford?

Those who skipped the first hour of Marcus Mumford and his merry band for the Fred Durst Show did not regret it.