During their short, but eventful, existence Cast have pretty much seen and done it all. They’ve gone from nothing to being certified pop sensations almost overnight. They’ve played some truly wonderful gigs in some of the country’s greatest concert halls. They’ve wowed fans the world over and, to top it all, even won critical acclaim. 

And now, as they prepare to tour the globe and bask in the light of their well deserved success, they reach yet another pinnacle in their illustrious career by playing an exclusive, top-secret, sold-out show to the lucky few who’ve managed to cram into, er, Preston SU Venue Hall. 

Okay, so it’s hardly a palace of glittering delights, but the beer’s cheap and compared to the caverns that they’re usually spotted in, it’s like having the band around to yours for a cuppa and a chat. Except in this case you’d probably be using your mum’s best china and you might have even dusted around before they came. Not that they’d be too bothered. They seem so damn laid back. 

They saunter onto the stage with the minimum amount of fuss, naturally to rapturous applause, and with a hushed "ello" they stroll into ‘Mirror Me’. Not being the most inspired of set openers, things plod along until ‘Sandstorm’ really kicks things off. 

If you wanted a greatest hits set you certainly didn’t leave disappointed. All the singles from the first album fly by way too quickly. We get the best bits from the second album and even a peek into the future. ‘Finetime’, ‘Walk Away’, ‘Free Me’ and ‘Guiding Star’ (John Power’s finest moment since ‘There She Goes’) are all sugar-drenched sing-along gig highlights.  

Being a man of few words on stage, excluding the odd inaudible Liverpudlian garbling, John Power lets the music do the talking, and it works. They may have an overwhelming Beatles influence, even more so than a certain one of their Manchester contemporaries, but they don’t let this overtake the need for pure, good old fashioned song-writing. Tunes by the truckload and more hooks than you’d find at a fishing convention. Whereas Oasis are simply influenced by the Beatles, Cast take inspiration from them too, and come off better for it. 

Can they keep this up though? Will they still be setting the charts alight in years to come and into the next century? Well, by the standard of the re-working of ‘History’ which closed the main set tonight, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of these Scouse chancers. An avalanche of spiraling electronica which takes a leaf from U2’s bible of pop and throws it into the melting pot with screeching guitars, John Power’s trademark crystal clear vocals, and some of the biggest grooves this side of the 60s, looks sure to make the future sufficiently Cast shaped. 

A treat by anybody’s standards. Cast were more than just ‘Alright’.