THE lead singer of one of the best known bands playing at this year's Bingley Music Live has told the T&A that such festivals are some of the most enjoyable to play at.

John Power will be performing with his band Cast on the main stage of the festival, held in Myrtle Park this September.

The Merseyside songwriter, who was also a member of The Las, says that medium sized festivals such BML are becoming increasingly popular with artists as well as gig goers, and they are one of the best places to go to find established acts sharing a stage with the next generation's chart toppers.

In the 1990s Cast scored numerous top 10 hits with tracks like Flying, Sandstorm and Free Me before splitting in 2001 and re-uniting in 2010.

They will play the three day festival along with other indie giants of the time like Embrace, James and former Glastonbury headliners Ash.

Mr Power, who is in the process of recording a new album with the band, said: "It looks like it will be a good festival with some great acts.

"We look forward to any excuse to play together, especially with how we're feeling at the moment."

When asked what it was like playing festivals like Bingley, which has a capacity of about 15,000, he said: "You'd be surprised, but sometimes the massive festivals can be a right nightmare. At the medium sized ones like Bingley we have a lot of fun.

"With festivals like this you have a good, eclectic mix, so you will get people checking out a lot of bands they wouldn't normally be going to see, and that includes the acts too.

"At a festival like this bands are a bit more loose, they're not as nervous as at a festival that's a bit more fancy."

In previous years massive, million selling acts like Pet Shop Boys and Chic have shared the bill with then little known artists like Jake Bugg and Jess Glynne, who have both since gone on to score number one singles or albums.

Mr Power said that while his band may be playing some new tracks, such as Baby Blue Eyes, which is available online, they realise that festivals are ideally placed to play the hits.

He added: "A festival set always tends to lean towards the hits. You have an eclectic range of people in the audience who may only know the singles, so you have to fire off the big guns. We have some classic songs that we have to play."

This year's festival will be held on September 4-6 and is headlined by Super Furry Animals, Labrinth, Idlewild and James. Tickets cost £49 and are available by visiting bingleymusiclive.com