IN SCORCHING temperatures and on a day that a nation proclaimed that “it’s coming home” Basingstoke’s annual two-day music extravaganza got underway.

The revamped B Love festival once again welcomed people for a day of music, entertainment and family activities.

As previously reported in the Gazette, there had been a concern on whether the introduction of an entrance fee could impact on numbers. And certainly in the early part of the day this may have been the case – or just people wish to watch the football.

Proceedings were kicked off by possibly the youngest act of the weekend, Forth Sentry.

Made up of Matt, aged 14, Adam, 12, Harry, aged 14 and Piper, 13. The youngster belted out their spin on classics by the likes of Bruno Mars and Fall Out Boy.

After their set Matt said: “We were a little nervous before hand it but it was a great experience.”

Piper added: “We’ve never done anything this big before.”

In the Magic Forest families were treated to a tale told through the medium of dance of the fox, the thief and the phoenix.

Just before things seemed to stop for the football a red Ford Escort was the stage for the dance show Ride, where the three performers used the movement of the car to tell a spectacular story.

For the audience everything seemed to stop between 3pm and 5pm as Harry Maguire and Dele Alli fired England into the 2018 World Cup semi-finals.

After a chorus of The Lightening Seeds “Three Lions on a Shirt”, crowds filed to the main stage to see Basingstoke’s own Flashfires rocking out with their blend of indie rock tunes.

Everyone was in the party spirit as after the football the Love Bass stage became the place to be to have a dance. From 4pm it was rammed with people and you couldn’t spend longer than five minutes in there without working up a sweat.

Back on the main stage Basingstoke rapper Signal stepped out singing “It’s coming home”, before getting the energy levels up with this Afro-swing tunes, even giving a shout out to the “01256”.

Over on the Amped stage Wales’ Dream State proved why they are one of the most talked-about bands in the alternative music world right now, with a raw and passionate performance, with pocket rocket vocalist CJ Gilpin commanding her audience.

The day was rounded off with a DJ set from Wilkinson, who brought a bit of the Ibiza club scene to Basingstoke. From the moment he stepped on stage the crowd was bouncing and when it got to his hit single “Afterglow” the B Love crowd was putty in his hands.