THEY may go down as the countries finest middle-of-the-road band but The Beautiful South continually prove they are in the fast lane when it comes to performing live.

Headlining the North meets South all-dayer at Huddersfield's space-age McAlpine Stadium, Paul Heaton and Co crooned the night away with hit after hit to mesmerize the 30,000 crowd.

Their 90 minute slot - including the best of their singalong singles from You Keep It All In to latest release Liar's Bar - is by far the best entertainment any Huddersfield Town fan could hope to see in the coming season.

While South could be regarded as veterans, new boys on the block Cast failed to live up to their billing as the next big thing as their obvious talent for knocking out hit singles could not be transformed to the big stage.

But the Lightning Seeds turned out another faultless performance culminating in their football anthem Three Lions - which the crowd were baying for the moment they walked on.

The day kicked off with a short set from girl band Angelica followed by Scotland's Teenage Fan Club who have re-emerged from the wilderness with a Top 20 hit.ST

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