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King Eskimo began Saturday’s action with their pub-rock offerings. No nonsense is this four piece’s middle name with straight-up melodic rock’n’roll being their tipple.

Ìý‘Trying To Get Back To You’ has Kinks melodies flowing right the way through it, while ‘Northern Lights’ echoes a good airing as Stockton begins to sizzle in the heat…

More guitar frolics followed, with Princes of Monte Carlo treating the crowd to some of their blistering Americana rock.

They powered their way through ‘Woman of Mass Distraction’, sounding like a frantic Black Crowes, and while they don’t particularly have much stage presence (apart from lead guitarist Jay who’s an absolute demon), they nevertheless managed to captivate the largest afternoon audience of the festival so far…

Northern Heights’ tunes are as sharp as lead singer Andy’s tailored blazer. With a sound sitting somewhere between The Libertines and Supergrass, a perfect place to occupy really, ‘Away Lass’ sounds like the aforementioned Albion heroes, only Pete Doherty has been replaced on vocals with Paul Heaton from the Beautiful South, which doesn’t sound the disaster it should be.

‘Queen of Hearts’ and ‘Alive’ set the standard, and one tune sounds suspiciously like Arctic Monkeys’ ‘A Certain Romance’ but with a slightly different arrangement, but all is forgiven when they produce an ace double-necked guitar – can you ask for anymore than that?...

A brief restbite and then The Cutters show us all why they have established themselves as heroes of Teesside’s vibrant music scene.

The NME-tipped rockers blast through golden oldie ‘One Look Back’ and ‘My World Turns All Around Her’ plus an obligatory new one, but it’s their tearing version of ‘Jesus’ that still remains their best tune, a foot-stomping, almost apocalyptic rock anthem than doesn’t relent and shakes the Riverside to its very foundations…

But wait! Things get better with Hartlepool’s The Mislead Heroes and their sublime ska-punk. It may sound like a ridiculous concept but if The Paddingtons mated with Reel Big Fish whilst listening to Iggy Pop’s ‘The Passenger’ then the end result would be The Mislead Heroes.

The fizzy Libs-esque ‘Downtown’ stood out, as did their Ash meets The Undertones anthem ‘Looking Out For Number 1’…

Trashed speakers, dismantled guitars and battered bass’ – it can only be The Oxfam Glamour Models.

Definitely not available for weddings, birthday’s or bar mitzvah’s, The OGM’s left the Fringe stage looking like a scene from , and were both amazing and hilarious.

Opening with single ‘Kick out the Grams’, a vitriolic attack on Britain’s drug problem set to a hurricane of careering guitars, the scuzzy Boro five piece wasted no time in their assault on the Fringe stage. After bassist Kalum transformed his instrument into a WMD, guitarists Peachy and Paul went one better by repeatedly trying to dig a hole in the stage with theirs.

This year’s festival also had an exclusive when new song ‘Loves Young Scum’, a deviant punk number condemning the state of British culture and brimming with venom and vigour.