Jo-ann Hodgson reports back from this year's freshers' bash.

KICKING off the new student year in style, the annual freshers' bash was held at Ikon & Diva last week and was an undisputed success for everyone involved.

Under the careful organisation of new ents officers Colin Hindson and Jane Blackman, the event, which boasted chart-toppers Javine, Shapeshifters and the Cooper Temple Clause as its headliners, made notably more profit than the previous couple of years and passed without incident.

The event, which sold out, was enjoyed by 2,000 York students who were entertained by live acts and DJs such as Radio1's Edith Bowman, Bonobo and Damien Lazarus until 2am.

Ents officers last year only managed to secure gimmick acts such as Eurovision failures Gemini and children's TV presenter Pat Sharp for the main freshers' event. But the enthusiasm and determination Colin and Jane have brought to their new jobs brings hope to students at York University, who tired of having to travel to Leeds and Manchester to see live acts due to the campus's lack of a central venue.

Saturday's campus-based Access All Areas also saw up and coming indie band 13 Senses perform among the array of themed music events which took place in each college. Both nights were overseen by vigilant security teams but students were too busy having a good time to cause any trouble.

The ents team is now busy organising future student events, which will include a battle of the bands competition, summer's open air Woodstock festival and this year's graduation ball.

One of its main focuses is booking live acts to appear on campus and it has made a promising start by securing indie sensation Hope Of The States to appear in November. The Open, who are gradually receiving nationwide recognition as one of Britain's best new bands, will support them.

It looks like the drought of live music at York University may finally be over.

Updated: 10:01 Friday, October 22, 2004