AS THE sun rose high in the clear blue sky on the second day of the festival, it was the fringe that kept the flag flying until Reconsider took the Mechanics main stage at 5pm.

What better way to start than with the wonderful, wacky Winchesters playing the Talbot.

Hugely entertaining, massively talented and fun, fun, fun all the way, they even managed to throw in some new material.

Over in the Mechanics' Oliver's Bar, excellent Edinburgh outfit The Dana Dixon Band blew up an afternoon storm with some searing blues and rhythm and blues. Outside in the street, the splendid Noel Ward, aka Hill Street Blues, gave us some of the best music heard so far. He surely must play inside the venue next year.

Main stage time and the superlative young band from Portsmouth, Reconsider - led by the Downs Brothers and featuring Fliss Doweling on lead vocals - were in dazzling form. This was the blues equivalent of Beaujolais Nouveau, young, precocious and absolutely intoxicating.

Flowers and Better Get Stepping were typical of their urban dominance.

Previous Burnley headliner Johnny Marrs came on as dusk fell and was absolutely spectacular, but his intriguing band gave the set a truly ethnic injection. African talking drums, gongs, bells in the blues? It worked spectacularly. This man has the voice of a blue angel and his harp playing is equally impressive - unmissable and a packed house agreed.

The Comfort Friendly Hotel had a real coup by having a three-set special by none other than The Hamsters and the fans went crazy as Slim, Zaza and Otis went through their paces with originals and contemporary boogies like Georgia Slop right into Hendrix territory, Hey Joe et al, all with their usual dynamic flair. In the Cotton Bar, Twisted Wheel and Machine Men were equally exciting.

After a searing, though perhaps too long, set by British axe boy Aynsley Lister, the main stage gave it up for Bernard Allison and his band.

Son of the late and great Luther, Bernie sure new the licks and, with his sharp suit and leather stetson, he was every inch the showman.

Allison Junior still has a little to learn in terms of inventiveness but that's being churlish. He won the audience over and it's reassuring to see that the Allison reputation is in such capable hands.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.