THE sun shone, the stage was set and we even had a bit of glamour to kick off Blackburn's new free festival.

The glamour came courtesy of those lovely Bliss girls, full of the energy and enthusiasm of their just-left-school youth.

Unfortunately, energy and enthusiasm are no good if the tape you're singing along to decides to give up the ghost.

That was the point where a bit more experience would have come in handy.

The main stage really was full of gremlins.

Pendle band Tidy suffered similar problems when guitarist Biff blew up his borrowed amp.

However the band's experience carried them through and keyboard player Barney Williams set off on one of his jazzy jams while the problems were sorted.

Over on the Pulse marquee stage, the emphasis was on new bands. Blackburn's Beef impressed with their straight rock style, complemented by some very tidy lead guitar work from Rikki Mehta, who had the rock guitarist part right down to the facial expressions. Imajica, five young lads from Darwen, showed that their future on the local scene may well be bright.

The songs in their set still need a lot of work, as does their choice of covers.

Robbie Williams and Guns and Roses together are not likely to win them many fans.

But time is definitely on their side. One of the bands who stole the show on the day was Dustfly, with a fantastic groove-laden set. This is a band who already earning themselves an excellent reputation and will surely carry on building a strong fan base on this sort of showing.

The Burn also showed why their excellent laid-back rhythms are winning them friends in high places.

MARK ASQUITH