hotpress.com has learnt that there's "a strong likelihood" that Ash will headline the second day of the Vital '03 festival in Belfast's Botanic Gardens on Sunday September 7.

While nothing has been signed, a well-placed source reveals that the band are keen to play a local headliner before the end of the summer.

Also mooted for the show are The Thrills, Teenage Fanclub and Snow Patrol whose splendid new album, Final Straw, is reviewed in our next issue out on August 31.