Simply watching Albert Hammond Jr. pull what seemed like a mile of microphone wire around the White Stage Friday afternoon proved thrilling. The singer/songwriter (and, just to get it out of the way, member of The Strokes) darted around for nearly the entirety of his set, jumping onto platforms and leaning into the crowd to distribute high fives. And the whole time, he tugged wires behind him, looking like a virtuoso in not getting tied up. Well, almost…at one point the black cable became stuck in some lights that one of the night’s other acts had left out front, forcing two crew members to run out, rip plastic off the devices and move them away.

“I’m going to get in trouble with whoever put this out,” Hammond said. “Who puts out shit this early?”

Save for that one tie-up, Hammond’s set was a constant burst of energy. Some performers know how to put on a good show, and others are pros at it. Given his long musical history, Hammond falls into the latter category. He matched the frantic pace of numbers like “Rude Customer” and “Far Away Truths” by bolting about the stage, swinging his mic around and making all the necessary hand gestures to sell the songs.

Hammond, backed by a crackerjack band, delivered these songs with aplomb. It made for Friday afternoon’s most fun performance, a dash of old-school rock charisma for all the curmudgeons wondering “where the rock is” at this year’s fest. Making it even better — the moments he put the mic in the stand, stopped worrying about wires and picked up his guitar to lay down a solo on numbers such as “Set To Attack.” Nothing could get in the way of that.