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Main stage

Folk Daddy

Ross Copperman

I manage to completely fail to notice Ross Copperman whilst necking free drinks and falafels in the VIP area at MIMA. Apparently he sold more virtual copies of his single on iTunes in one week than anyone ever before ever, but quite frankly who cares? Like Maroon 5, its music for people who don't really like music.

Cosmos Recordings Stage

Folk Daddy

The amazing one-man-band swamp-skronk genius that is Mayor McCa was due on, but on discovering he had been replaced at the last minute by a pretty underwhelming acoustic act, it was over to the the Cosmos Recordings stage to catch 15 minutes of highly regional a cappella trad folk from Folk Daddy (a.k.a. F Diddy, a.k.a. Ben from Idiot Savant). It must take some balls to just get up there and sing unaccompanied like that.

Chris Duggan

Arrest him under the regulation singer song writer crimes against knitwear act of 1967 and make him a martyr before some major label nails a wet lettuce to his head and turns him into Jack Penate. Chris Duggan dances like he's dying for a wee and sings about the romantic proposition of a package holiday to Spain with Lunn Polly in the style of silly era Tim Buckley. Jolly Good.

Beth Jeans Houghton

Acoustic artiste Beth has a very nice voice indeed, but the little room is packed out and hotter than the sun, so we skip joyfully back out again - past the people lining the corridor outside. Clearly Beth is a very popular girl!

Magic Arm

A one-man looping machine from Manchester, who plucks, strums, clicks, bleeps, whistles, beatboxes and murmers, conjuring great whirlwinds of folk majesty... God, I sound like such a berk.

Benjamin Wetherill

It has already been well documented just how fantastic Leeds' finest purveyor of woodland folk and electronic sea-fog Benjamin Wetherill is, so I won't bang on about it here... suffice to say that its a mystery as to how he isn't yet a household name - the man is sickeningly talented, and to make matters worse he doesn't even seem to realise.

The Chapman Family

Unkle Bob

Unkle Bob peddled over-earnest David Gray-esque twaddle for Q readers. This is the musical equivalent of your boring uncle who bangs on about proper music with words that actually mean something.

St Vincent

Dallas' St Vincent is like a fresh breath of spring air. Her voice is pure and clear, and she doesn't just play her guitar, she coaxes wildly inventive sounds out of it - wrenching horrible swamp fuzz chords one minute, delicate cascading hammer-ons the next... imagine if Regina Spektor had got into Scout Niblett rather than going all Radio 2 and you're halfway there. Brilliant. Its no surprise to learn of her musical pedigree (she has played for The Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens).

Euros Childs

There ain't no WAY I'm going to see the musical wet fart that are The Twang headline the main stage, so its a straight-up choice between Yourcodenameis:Milo down in the crypt, and ex-Gorky's Zygotic Mynci frontman Euros Childs up in Cosmos. Euros wins, of course, and he and his band are the perfect way to end what has been a very hectic but enjoyable day. He and his band are on excellent form, a great eight-legged Welsh border collie pooing out steaming nuggets of purest POP. We dance and dance and dance, and then stagger home for pizza.

Town Hall Crypt stage

Malpractice

Thanks to the amazing vocals, harmonies and electronica backed up by head-crushing metal riffs, Malpractice were my band of the day. The lead singer's energy and showmanship was also great as, (unlike other crypt bands) not one ounce of arrogance could be detected.

We Start Fires

The Empire Stage

The Chapman Family

Up first were rising stars The Chapman Family - a local band by geography only (that's 'local' with a small 'l'), fresh from a recent gig in a packed Camden art gallery. If you've been around on the scene for a while you know the score - manic pounding drums, guitar tones that cut into your soft brain like cheesewire, brooding vocals, and a kind of suffocating intensity... they really are quite good.

Smallwhitelight

Smallwhitelight are billed in the programme as a cross between Radiohead, The Libertines, and Queens Of The Stone Age. Unsurprisingly they lack the spark or individuality of any of these - perhaps instead the description should have read 'pretty dull and uninspiring, with no distinguishing characteristics other than their desperate need for a Trinny & Susannah style make-over'.

Indigo Moss

The fact that the next band on at The Empire are Guardian favourites fills me with dread, and I imagine horrific scenes of mung-beans and World Music, bleurgh! I'm only half right, as it happens, and it transpires that Indigo Moss are actually kind of okay. Not exactly my cup of tea, admittedly, but the banjo-playing lady sings pleasantly (the man's vocals grate like, uh... a grater), and at least its not just run of the mill indie schmindie. Incidentally, did anyone else notice how overwhelmingly white Music Live was? Damon Albarn would have been furious!

Ten Feet Tall Stage: Town Hall Courtyard

Zapped By A Million Zolts

Technical difficulties dog Zapped’s set as they open the ten feet tall stage in the blistering heat. Still single ‘What's the miles per gallon Alan?‘ is a new wave meets the smell of Reeves and Mortimer pop treat and singer Peter Bond is hand’s down beard of the day winner and its only twelve noon.

One Night Only

Catchy lyrics and upbeat tunes are the ingredients for songs that you will be humming in weeks to come. The band of five certainly made my day, had me and the rest of the audience bopping their heads and tapping their feet. This was the highlight of the whole event for me.

To My Boy

The mildly disappointing To My Boy showed us that they haven't really got any other songs in the same league as their ace new single 'Model', which is a real shame. Playing to a backing track/drum machine and keeping it entertaining is a difficult trick to get right, and they don't quite cut the mustard.

We Start Fires

Three girls, a guy, a guitar, a synthesiser, bass and drums combined to make this unique weird type of funky punk. Despite similarities in their songs they managed to pull off something that isn't seen as often as it should; a female lead vocalist in the alternative music scene.

The Dykeenies

As the cold air hit Middlesbrough and shivers ran down my body, my wish was to be in the front bouncing around to the unusual sound created by the bunch of Glaswegians.Ìý The mish mash of popish, indie, crowd pleasing melodies captivated me and the audience.

Good Shoes

Closing the Ten Feet Tall stage, these London types belted out a number of disjointed guitar sounds readily lapped up by an excited crowd. They're fast, raw and ready to rock, and although by the end of the gig you may have been forgiven for noticing their samey sound, it was energetic and enjoyable.

TMA Stage

Jamie Sample

Next to the bulldozed remains of the Odeon, Sample returns to slay the beast of music live after triumphing in the rain last year, with ‘the lion sleeps tonight’ a song featured in the motion picture masterpiece Ace Ventura 2: When Nature Calls, that most of the audience probably saw in the aforementioned sticky floored cinematic hellhole. He culls factory farm indie kids with aÌýcover of a song, he wants to make you howl, and by popular demand is summoned out for an encore.

The Lurios

An impressive stage invasion summed up the enthusiastic performance that had the audience captivated.Ìý Breezy indie pop boasting bouncy melodies and catchy lyrics fitted perfectly with the days atmosphere. Although sound problems hindered the impact of the first few songs it was a perfect musical introduction to the summer.

Nine Lives For Skydives

DARTZ's Henry Carden described Nine Lives For Skydives as being “something your mum would probably call Heavy Metal" and from the pounding drums to the brutal guitar riffs and the heavy bass lines, it seems he’s spot on.

Bursting into a non-stop onslaught, the band sure seems to please the crowd who, it seems, enjoy every moment of the set. From the opening track, to the vocalist subtly mocking the NME scene at the festival, this band were possibly my favourite on the TMA line-up.

Fairly new to the area these angsty Teesside lads don’t fail to make an impression. Judging by the screaming fans against the fence and the crush to grab a free CD, this is one for Nine Lives’ history books and we hope to see a lot more of them at future festivals.

Dirty Weekend

Hundreds of fans had turned out to catch the eagerly anticipated Dirty Weekend and the band certainly didn't disappoint. Along with The Lurios they attracted the biggest crowds of the day with lead singer Dan Spooner’s voice on top form. Flying through their set of ‘chav rock’ anthems, even a sliced open finger didn’t stop Mike Spooner from putting in a great performance of fan favourite ‘Look At Me’- even if it did get blood all over his white hoody! A great debut to a great festival!