Chester Rocks 2011 review Saturday

The first Chester Rocks is finally here. Held at Chester's racecourse, this two day event has catered for a lot of musical tastes, and hasn't just gone with mainstream pop acts, but also some big named rock and dance acts. Also thanks to Dawson's, some of the best unsigned acts out there, many of which hail form Liverpool.

Saturday heralded the bubble gum pop day at the main stage for all those chart loving tweenagers, teenagers and mum's who all seem to have a rather large obsession with the latest boyband "phenomenon" The Wanted, which saw the afore mentioned reduced to squealing messes at the very mention of their name, who knows what will happen when they actually get on stage!!

With the sun shining down upon us for the entire day, Chester Rocks was kicked off by Stephen Langstaff, a singer/songwriter from Liverpool who produced a neat little performance with laid back tunes and a great voice. Next up was, 80's band The Christians, who performed firm favourites, "Ideal World", "Hooverville" and "Forgotten Town".

They were followed by Eliza Doolittle, who performed a fantastic bounce along set in her eclectic style we have become to recognise her for. The crowd loved it and each song was received with huge applause. She was followed by leather clad, The Sugababes, who after a slightly shaky vocal start to, "Freak Like Me" pulled it back and produced a very slick set with Heidi's vocals powering across the arena.

After all this pop it was time to head to the Dawson stage. (which should be signposted or not hidden away, people need to be able to find it to discover the talents hidden inside by the way). We found The Kevin Critchley Outfit on stage who comprised of 6 members, 3 violins, one guitar, keyboard and cello. I have to admit they were not what I expected. With a slight element of folk and lashings of heavy Spanish guitar this band are one to check out if you're looking for something a little bit different.

And back to "pop heaven" for The Saturdays, who gave their usual performance, which mainly includes thrusting your butt backwards and forwards, then gyrate your hips a bit and add a few lyrics for good measure. With mediocre vocals, I'm just thankful they didn't pull out that damn acoustic guitar again.

Finally, the moment every young girl in the crowd had been waiting for, with flags flying, banners billowing all declaring their undying love for various members of the group, The Wanted took to the stage to a mass eruption of screams, squeals and probably a fair few hysterical tears as well from this young crowd, especially from the five girls chosen to join their heroes on stage, then with a quick dash were back to Dawsons stage to see Elsie, who even the BBC have promoted for this event. Think Gwen Stefani looks with Blondie style music and you've got it in one. With catchy lyrics that hold no bars, she could very well be one of those next big things.

Next up were my new favourite unsigned band, Strawhouses, who just to clarify, are NOT a folk band. They gave yet another flawless set and hopefully sold even more of their £1 albums, I advise you invest in one guys.

Finale of the night, Taio Cruz, delivered a sleek set with his mellow voice and R&B style music floating across the racecourse as the sun finally set. With a fabulous stage presence and performing his many hits, he definitely offers a lot more than his contemporaries and was an excellent choice to end the day one of Chester Rocks.

Review by Alison Goggin

more  photos of Saturdays event can be found here