Friday at In The City 2010

For this year's In The City, five Manchester music writers come together to give an overview of the event. This was their Friday:

Chris Long Producer, BBC Introducing in Manchester

Glasser at The Ruby Lounge

The general consensus has been that quality has been high on this year's In The City showcases, so the pressure was on for the final night to deliver.

Some bands seemed acutely aware of that fact. Catfish & The Bottlemen , sporting the worst name on the bill, buckled under it with some obvious indie, while Dutch Uncles , The Kill Van Kulls and Driver Drive Faster rose manfully to the challenge.

Others sidestepped it, like the terrifyingly loud Flats , wistful one man wall of sound Porcelain Raft , bedroom-to-dancefloor laptop twiddler Ital Tek or the stripped down This Morning Call .

It was Glasser that truly shone through my final night's fascinating fugue though, redefining beauty through vocal lusciousness and considered beats.

Good or bad though, the three nights and 28 acts I saw (not to mention the panels) added up to one thing: the best In The City in quite a while.

Tip of the day: Glasser

Molly Jones Writer, The Fly / Manchester blogger, The Unsigned Guide

Eagulls at Soup Kitchen

Powering through to day three, I watch music scene impresario Mike Pickering discuss the history of Factory and the future of the industry as a whole with Paul Morley at the last of In The City 2010's keynote talks.

The tiny stage on Soup Kitchen can hardly contain the bile and fury of Eagulls ; just round the corner, local lads Driver Drive Faster are a worthy last minute addition to the line up.

Japayork shows us a glimpse of what Mika could be if he weren't so intensely annoying, and The Bewitched Hands give Arcade Fire a run for their money.

The Kill Van Kulls dish out a set packed with hit potential, Glasser is delightfully, yellingly odd and Yuck 's sonic boom impresses.

And I liked Kisses so much yesterday, I go back for more tonight.

Thanks ITC - it's been a first-rate three days.

Tip of the day: Yuck

Joe Sparrow Editor, A New Band A Day

Youthless at Umbro Design Studio

An underwhelming, unnamed and unholy triumvirate of bands was not a promising start.

After two days of blistering quality, In The City looked to be buckling under its own expectation, but after Working For A Nuclear Free City 's sharp, fragmented clutter-rock sated the Castle's sardine-packed crowd, the night soared again.

Youthless ' swashbuckling enthusiasm was so infectious that the band's urging of the audience to clamber onto the ceiling of Umbro Design Studio was tentatively explored as a genuine possibility.

Proving there are a thousand new bass guitar noises to be made, Youthless were a lo-fi, hi-impact smash.

Fellow Iberians Mujeres were in it for the funny too, and, after failing to help Youthless find a lost bag, I arrived just in time to miss Dutch Uncles , witness half a dozen flustered girls crowd around Huw Stephens, and exhaust my final spurt of energy to Kisses in a heaving Ruby Lounge.

Tip of the day: Youthless

Miz DeShannon Reviewer, Skiddle / Blogger

Dutch Uncles at The Ruby Lounge

Day three had some serious R 'n' B and dancehall presence, with the MOBO's at Moho and Murkage at Night & Day.

I managed to hunt out some nicer rock n roll discoveries, starting off the night with a Battles-like brand of instrumental rock with PLANK! .

Catfish & The Bottlemen always excel at their heavy indie, so proficient and so young!

Both European acts at Umbro Design Studios had their own takes on the genre; Youthless with sharp but hooky songs somewhere between Kyuss and MGMT, and Mujeres with spatterings of 50s rockabilly.

Porcelain Raft had beautiful loops and layers of guitar, vocals and piano, while Orphan Boy did a crowd-pleasing set of their frank indie classics.

Yuck and Kisses didn't live up to expectations, but Mancunian favourites Dutch Uncles did, The Ruby Lounge packed with more than their usual crowd.

Tip of the day: Youthless and Mujeres

Danni Skerritt Editor, Quenched Unsigned

Andreya Triana at Matt and Phred's

The last day was all about the music - nothing else would do, so we started at Trof in Northern Quarter to see Brown Brogues .

They are probably the only musicians who I take great joy from when I hear their bitter and twisted lyrics.

Then to Moho Live to check out what the MOBO stage had to offer - after seeing MZ Bratt own it , it was on to the dulcet tones of Donae'o , which captivated the audience.

Finally the man I had been waiting for; Skepta . From his beginnings at Roll Deep, he has flourished as a solo artist.

The crowd went wild with every track, I was soaked in people grinding and dancing in this grime-filled atmosphere.

It was a great end to my festival and enough to make me wonder what next time will hold.

Tip of the day: MZ Bratt