The Isle of Wight Festival, Reading, Leeds, The Cambridge Rock Festival…add one more name to the festival event line up that deserves to be spoken in the loudest and most reverential tones, that of Chester Rocks.

The North West may not have the abundance of festivals in comparison with other areas but when it puts one on, it does it with grace, a whole lot of style and bucket full of musical talent that has something for everyone. Spread over the two hottest days of the year, Chester Rocks was a mix of the pop and the younger set and the rock and those that had spent their youth either being a mod or listening to the likes of Pink Floyd.

The Saturday, according to some well placed and reputable sources had been a success, the only question would the Sunday live up to the expectation that bands like Feeder and Amsterdam generate. The gates would open, people would filter through and the crowd would expect nothing more than a grand day out and accompanied by some of the best local North West music and international headliners.

For a first Chester Rocks, the organisers pulled out the stops and did exactly that, as the crowd wandered through the gates to the area where the main stage was housed the sounds of the first couple of bands were to be heard. They don’t really get much better than Tommy Scott and his band The Red Scare and the indomitable Ian Brodie and The Lightning Seeds, both bands kicking off the main stage in style and in glorious sunshine and in good spirits which was soon matched by the crowd as they danced along with both bands to some no nonsense music. The lightning Seeds gave the audience a blast of memories with songs such as Life of Riley and Change in the half hour set.

The Dawson’s stage was the setting for all the local new groups, with The Falls, The Suzukis and The Kush all getting good responses from the crowd that ventured over to the other side of the Racecourse.

The only trouble with any festival is knowing what to see, you make the conscious effort to mark out the best bands on the list and then you find yourself listening to a group that turns your ear and gives you a new perspective and outlook. If that’s the only problem then it must be a damn good festival.

The main stage by now was rocking out with Feeder who provided some great entertainment in a 40 minute set that in all honesty should have been around the hour mark. Grant Nicholas and Taka Hirose giving the large crowd what they wanted in the form of the songs Just the Way I’m Feeling from 2002’s Comfort in Sound, Buck Rogers from Echo Park and the incredible Just a Day.

One of the surprises of the weekend may just turn out to be The Loud. The band had recently run the gauntlet of being the support act for Les McKeown’s Bay City Rollers at the Academy and if a band can survive the attentions of some of that bands fans then to play at a festival with the prospect of thousands of people checking you out should be a breeze. The Loud played a set that contained tracks such as Mother warned me about girls like you, Amy’s Gonna Get You, the sublime For My Record Machine and an absolutely stirring cover of David Bowie’s classic song Five Years.

The Loud were a perfect opener for the upcoming Amsterdam show. It has to be said that for a first festival at the rather grand but delightful Chester Racecourse, the organisers could not have had a better or more loved band than Amsterdam headline the Dawson’s Stage. If Iggy Pop and the Stooges and The Australian Pink Floyd were to be the top draw on the main stage then Ian Prowse, Johnny Barlow, Anna Jenkins and the members that make up this iconic band were nothing short of excellent. Some in the crowd may have been torn between stages, perhaps catching 15 minutes of the Aussie Floyd and then timing their walk back through the crowds to catch the start of Amsterdam’s set.

Ian Prowse came on stage like a man on a mission to grab the momentum and by then end of the set all those that crammed into the Dawson’s tent were sent reeling from a blistering and top notch performance. Amongst the songs performed were the amazing Fireworks, Arm in Arm and the iconic Clash cover that Amsterdam does so well, the thumping London Calling.

The day was wearing on, Iggy Pop was doing what he does best on stage and the local acts that followed Amsterdam did well to match the intensity that had generated during the afternoon and evening sessions.

The organisers of Chester Rocks really should be congratulated for putting on a show that was safe, enjoyable and did what it said on the tin, it really did rock.

Roll on next year because this year was just superb.