When Dizzie Rascal's time on stage finished, and the crowds thinned out and moved towards the adjacent Orange stage for Lily Allen's bit, Rose and the Doctor moved slowly forward, getting very close, but not close enough to the stage. Rose was eager to get to the very front, even when the Doctor pointed out that there was still Lily Allen to finish, and the Mars Volta and Powderfinger to play before Muse came on, and that all acts go for about an hour each.
"Don't care. Still wanna get to the front!"
"Alright, but it won't be possible just yet, because of the Mars Volta fans, and believe me, there aren't just a few of them!"
"Yeah, but after the Mars Volta, people will go, or move over to see Powderfinger play, so we can move in then."
After a few moments, the Doctor agreed to Rose's plan, and they set about waiting for Lily's hour to end; the whole time the Doctor complained about Lily's bad singing/songs/etc, much to the agreement of many people around them. They all had a bit of a laugh when, at one stage, Lily's microphone stopped working, and someone from the Blue stage's crowd yelled out "Bout time someone shut that cow up!" The Doctor verbally, and Rose silently, could not agree more.
After some time, Lily Allen's set finished, and the crowd around the Blue stage crushed together to get closer to the next act – the Mars Volta. As the boys of the band walked on stage, women screamed, men roared, and the mass of people contracted, as though the people around the edge were seeing how many people they could fit into the small space.
Soon, the Mars Volta had begun their set... which ended up feeling like a 50 minute song, just one that continued for their whole set. Really it was more than that, but the boys skilfully merged each song until it was a continuous flow of sound.
Hypnotic, Rose thought, watching the crowd around her move in unison. The music lulled her into a stupor. Wonder what effect this has on the Doctor? Rose turned, only to find the Doctor's eyes half closed, body swaying gently in time with the music. Huh, never seen that before. Doubt I will again... She smiled at the thought, then turned back to watch the rest of the Volta set.
Nearly an hour later, Rose and the Doctor found themselves even closer to the front of the Blue Stage mosh pit. The Mars Volta had finished, their fans clearing away, and Powderfinger was playing on the adjacent Orange Stage, with 10 minutes to go before their set finished. During this time, Rose and the Doctor, mainly the Doctor, had been chatting about anything and everything, despite the even tighter crush. Rose was hardly standing at all, the push of the crowd keeping her upright.
While he was babbling, the Doctor was marvelling at Rose's glow, her happiness radiating in an almost infectious manner, the people around her joining in, and very soon the whole pit was aglow in anticipation as the time counted down to nothing. The atmosphere was so charged that the hair on the back of the Doctor's hand was on end, due to both the literal and metaphorical energy in the air; he couldn't hear anything but the constant white noise that everyone was making, not even what Rose was saying – even with his Time Lord 'powers' that he kept going on about to her!
Then, suddenly, it all went black....
...and silent. Again, the Doctor couldn't hear anything, however, this time it worried him, too used to associating silence with death.
What's happening? He thought....
Nearly as suddenly as the silence began, screams erupted.