After telling the Black Deer audience they were older than she expected – twice – and a mid-set ramble about the lack of women in 'top 100 guitarists' lists, some might have been tempted to ask: "is Chrissie Hynde ok?"

The answer is yes, she's more than ok, she's phenomenal.

The annals of rock criticism are packed with reviews of ageing rockers defying their years to give rejuvenated performances, whisking their fans back to another age... but half of them are lies.

Not only is Chrissie Hynde genuinely still great, but there's a feeling she and her fellow Pretenders might be pushing to get better - and they manage to do just that throughout the course of Saturday's headline slot gig, firing out hit after hit after slightly-less-well-known-new-song with ever increasing levels of energy.

The sound is powerful, the songs are artful, and the band play with bucket loads of skill and intensity - which shouldn't be a surprise considering the Pretender's career and standing.

But it didn't feel just like an expertly performed set from a classic band.

For a start, Chrissie's band is not formed of the original Pretenders, and the younger band members clearly revel in giving the old songs new fire - as does does Chrissie herself.

By the time they reach Back on the Chain Gang, the band are pushing up into new gears, and there's no let-up - making it hard to find a highlight - except to say I'll Stand By You was simply immense.

And while part-time fans might dismiss the less recognisable new songs, they're cranked out with the same fire, and they probably hold the key to the Pretender''s success - because at the heart of it Chrissie Hynde is a genuine artist, who finds inspiration in creativity and moving forward.

It's reflected in her stage manner too - laid back and cool, but not affected or rehearsed - while a couple of awkward moments of audience interaction show the 71-year-old is still a genuine punk at heart, rather than a too-comfortable-in-their-cowboy-boots classic rock act.

"To live forever, that's the plan, The longest-living mortal man," she sings on new tune Let the Sun Come In, adding: "we don't have to get old, we don't have information that we have to withhold.”

What with the audience banter, and these lyrics, it almost sounds like Chrissie might have a slight obsession with ageing, but then don't we all?

Certainly by the end of two days at Black Deer most people had aged a bit, and yet felt strangely rejuvenated at the same time, having escaped every day life for a couple of days, with the assistance of dozens of acts performing on six stages around Eridge Park.

Earlier on down in Haley's Bar, Motel Sundown had provided the perfect way to start day two, with melodic tunes that could find a place on a Neil Young album, perfect harmonies and a strong rhythm section that soon pulled people in to fill up the tent.

Over in the Ridge Tent, Simeon Hammond Dallas, was critiquing cliched bar blues rock with an expertly penned original blues number and it’s cutting chorus “you ain’t got the blues you’re just a sad sad man”, which might have left a few members of the decidedly middle class audience glancing awkwardly at their feet, but left most smiling.

By mid afternoon Cardinal Black were combining virtuoso blues guitar with soulful vocals on the main stage while in the Ridge Tent, Olympia were serving up a rawer set of heartfelt emotional intensity.

Of course it wasn’t just about music and if you wanted a break from the stages there was plenty of entertainment to find, from fairground rides to motorbike displays, axe throwing, and tree climbing - or if you were one particular kid you could ignore all that and just scrape up a handful of rocks and dust from a path, and throw it in the air as people traipsed past.

But after an afternoon of axe and gravel throwing, it was time to return to the main stage and the build up to the evening, with Calexico dishing up a uniquely flavoured Tex-Mex indie rock, before Aussie blues rockers The Teskey Brothers brought their own meaty brand of soulful blues to the party.

They left the crowd performing their own encore of Hold Me for about three minutes after they'd left the stage, and for most artists that would have been a tough act to follow. But then most artists aren't Bonnie Raitt, another septuagenarian who swaggered on to the stage with all the confidence you'd expect from someone who's been slaying audiences with her slide guitar and majestic voice for more than 50 years.

She had no trouble in backing it up either, and set about slaying for the best part of the next hour, with a powerful voice that can lift and break hearts in equal measure, and lent incredible power to John Prine's 'Angel from Montgomery' and Bob Dylan's 'Million Miles'.

It was almost as if she was clearing the way and setting the stage for her younger sister Chrissie, who duly followed in her footsteps to centre stage with the same swagger, before delivering a set with similar levels of skill and passion.

Pretenders they might be, but they certainly weren't faking it.