Review by Clive Lawence

ACCRINGTON'S Sound 2000 festival will go down as one of the most memorable, even though rain caused havoc mid afternoon.

It was a case of the show must go on from the moment Burnley band, Concise, turned up with singer Jonny Buck unable to complete his vocal duties. Undeterred, the group's guitarist Jack Hutchinson took on the extra role and delivered an excellent rendition of their rock-influenced set.

In Douglas Livesey, Dustfly have a frontman whose voice sounds more like a 50-year-old blues singer than from a local indie outfit. His charismatic stage presence was one of the afternoon's highlights. Padiham's favourite teen sensations Bliss blasted onto the stage in their now customary style. Ripping through their energetic routines Marie Atkinson and co delivered a tidy cover of the Undertones classic Teenage Kicks, alongside a selection of original material. Exiting the stage after just 15 minutes was perhaps a little early, with the massive crowd onside an encore would have gone down well.

At that point the rain arrived and within minutes the sound system was out of action. To their credit the organisers pulled together and got the show back on. Outstanding performance of the day belonged to Accrington lads Banacek. The five piece were first to take on the new stage and anything could have happened. But with a positive attitude their upbeat Jazz influenced tunes brightened up the wet afternoon.

Main band Angelica on the other hand couldn't adapt to the conditions. Failing to get over the quality and strength of their catchy punk anthems the girls simply laughed off a hat-full of errors.

Darwen's Gone Begging and the exceptional Maupa brought the eventful afternoon to a fitting close.

Clive Lawrence