Pit provides festival fix

BEATS: WHO needs Glastonbury, Leeds Fest and T in the Park when you can get your festival fix right here in Oldham?

Pitfest 2010 at Jackson’s Pit this Friday, Saturday and Sunday includes a full line-up of bands, singers and DJs.

And with an entry fee of only £5 a night, or £13.50 for a weekend ticket, why go anywhere else?

The Whip bring their electro-infused DJ set to the Pit for a full-on party after the bands have done their thing on Friday. The lads are currently signed to Fatboy Slim’s label Southern Fried Records.

Spokes, who released their first album last year, will delight fans of Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene, while Manchester’s finest With That Knife will bring a heady mix of hardcore, electronics and post-punk rhythms.

Horse and Condor are London’s latest must-see act and sound like a sleepy Mark E Smith waking up with Big Audio Dynamite in an Italian disco in 1986.

On Saturday The Gilded Palace Of Sin, who have received praise from Mojo, NME, Uncut, and the BBC among many others, sing about death, violence, faith and despair over a bluesy twang while Oldhamers Butcher and Bolt claim to be the trashiest and most revolting band you’ll ever have the misfortune of meeting.

Stray Dog Cafe will bring their incessant bass lines coupled with scathing, scratchy guitar riffs and complex jazz-rhythmic drumming which have earned them a reputation as one of the best live bands in Manchester’s underground scene.

On Sunday, folk-hop legend Gideon Conn has just been signed to Elbow frontman Guy Garvey’s Skinny Dog Records while Manchester collective Pressure Drop have spent the past five years busking their way on to the festival scene. Cheshire guitar lovers Jaguar Jones will start proceedings on the last day.

Add all the regular Constant Friction DJs into the mix and you’ve got yourself a pretty good bank holiday weekend to look forward to.

Visit www.myspace.com/constantfriction  or www.pitfest.com to find out more.