IT was the sight many York residents feared they might never witness again – a packed auditorium, buzzing bars and a band back on the stage.

York Barbican finally sprang back to life last night as a top class entertainment venue, more than six years after the then sports and leisure centre was closed down.

Local party band Huge performed a pre-opening charity concert to a sell-out audience of 1,500, raising thousands of pounds for York Against Cancer and the Lord Mayor’s charities in the process.

Lead singer Ian Donaghy, known as Big Ian, told the audience: “It’s nice to have the Barbican back. We’ve got the Barbican back.”

Huge was the first band ever to play at the Barbican in 1991 and last night’s concert was organised to give local people an opportunity to look round the centre following a £2 million refurbishment by its new operators, SMG.

The event also served as a test run for the Barbican’s ticketing, bars, lighting, sound and other technical arrangements prior to the first official event on Saturday, a concert by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

York Against Cancer officials and the Lord Mayor of York, Coun Sue Galloway, whose two chosen charities are the British Heart Foundation and Our Celebration, have spoken of their delight at being chosen to benefit from last night’s concert. The event raised £6,000, which will be split between the two charities.

SMG, one of the world’s leading entertainment venue operators, will stage everything from rock concerts to classical music performances and theatre events at the Barbican, with the UK Snooker Tournament returning in December.

The venue will also host conferences.