BBC Radio 2 in the park: Action kicks off at Preston venue

Sting, Manic Street Preachers, The Pet Shop Boys, Craig David, and so many more music giants will descend on Lancashire on Saturday and Sunday (September 7 and 8).

But to kick things off, Jo Whiley’s evening show was broadcast live on Thursday night from the Ferret in Preston – a venue about two minutes away from where I spent three years as a university student.

Over the past few years, like many similar venues across the country, it’s struggled with financial difficulty and the looming threat of being turned into residential flats.

But skip to 2024, and with thanks to the Music Venues Trust and a fundraiser, the small stage on Fylde Road played host to one of the country’s most famous DJs.

The show ran from 7pm to 9pm, with a small group of around 30 guests, selected from a ballot, plus us press lot.

Three Lancashire acts were slated to perform, Blackpool indie group, VALA, Lancaster electronic-pop trio, LOWES, and singer-songwriter Bryony Jarman-Pinto – who was joined by her mother on flute.

The premise was that each would perform one song of their own, and then a cover from the discography of an act performing in Preston this weekend.

After Jo got the show rolling with the Pet Shop Boys, VALA, named so from a line in a William Wordsworth poem, as reported by the band - were sound-checking and gearing up to perform live to the nation.

Change Your Mind (I Just Wanna) the track they’d chosen was called.

VALA performing Change Your Mind (I Just Wanna) (Image: Harry Hodgson)

Joe Knowles – on lead vocals – added a soft touch to the song with his voice, it was refreshing to see a smaller-scale indie band that wasn’t just a copy and paste, poor man’s Arctic Monkeys, but instead had their own distinct style, I’d encourage any fans of the more Blossoms-style side of the genre to give them a listen.

For their cover, the boys chose About You Now by the Sugababes, with themselves likening the drums on the pop classic to be akin to a Strokes beat. They did a very solid job, foot taps and head nods were visible all round.

Search @valamanchester on Instagram to see more from the band, who begin touring next week.

After a quick chat with Jo, VALA were off to make way for Bryony Jarman-Pinto, a jazz/folk artist based in Lancaster.

She was by far the stand-out act in my view, I immediately drew comparisons to Amy Winehouse in her voice and mannerisms on stage, her song, 'Searching', left me wanting to hear more of her brilliant blend of mysterious lyrics and soulful vibe.

Jo and all of the acts, including Bryony and her mum (front right) LOWES (back and front right) and VALA (left) plus Ferret manager Matt Fawbert (Image: BBC)

Her cover of Sunshine by Gabrielle was great as well, I can confidently say I’d pay to see her perform again - and you can keep up to date with what she's up to by following her Instagram, @bryonyjarmanpinto.

As Bryony left the stage, the show’s tunes kept coming, with interludes from BBC Lancashire’s William Wolstenholme promoting more Lancastrian artists.

Last up on stage were LOWES. William, who’s had a keen eye on them for some time apparently, described them as “bombastic” prior to their performance, leaving everyone with bated breath as to what was coming from the fairly innocuous-looking band on stage, comprising three members, with two additional ones bolstering their sound.

Their song ‘Contagious’ reminded me of sitting in a Vue cinema, they were “bombastic” indeed, I felt like I was about to be asked to ‘turn my phone off and enjoy the film’, a sharp twist from Bryony’s journey-taking melodies, but not by no means an unpleasant twist.

The stage was vacant while Jo played a host of tunes expected to be heard this weekend (Image: Harry Hodgson)

LOWES - @wearelowes on Instagram - then covered The Police’s ‘Message in a Bottle’, a favourite of mine. I still can’t decide whether I liked it in all honesty, not because it was performed poorly, or lacked rehearsal, quite the opposite they were superb, but it was drastically different and a bit of a shock to my Police-purist system.

The clock struck nine and the show was over, but what a brilliant evening it was.

It really makes you realise how good some of our county’s artists really are, and how vital venues like the Ferret are in promoting them.

I'll be heading to Moor Park this weekend to see the likes of Sting and the Pet Shop Boys entertain music lovers from across the county - and if the Ferret night was anything to go by, I won't be forgetting it in a hurry.