2010 has been a great year for live music, Hammerfest and Download have been, and High Voltage, Sonisphere, Ozzfest, Damnation and Hard rock hell are still to come. But as well as all these huge events there are a humber of brilliant smaller festivals which mean that no matter where you live in the country there is a chance to go out and see some great local acts playing alongside bigger names.

One such event is the SOS festival, which is organised by the good people at Rocksector Records. This event is held in the unlikely setting of Radcliffe Civic Hall north of Manchester. This is a really cool little venue, probably more suited to community events and country and western but it also lends itself extremely well to hosting proper music.

Venues like this are always a pleasant place to watch bands. They don't crank up the food and drink prices to stupid levels unlike certain other festivals I could mention and the organisation and security are usually first rate.

Another big advantage of these festivals is that unlike the big summer ones, that can kick a £300 hole in anyone's finances, is the fact that for only £15 for the weekend you get 20, yes TWENTY bands. Even the 'That's not Metal' idiots and the genre fascists MUST like at least some of the amazing variety of bands on the bill.

For me the lineup was almost perfectly balanced. Nominally Friday was classic rock day and Saturday was for the Metal heads. As with any of these events it wasn't possible to catch every band here and I missed a couple of bands I was looking forward to because of interviews but hopefully here is a flavour of the SOS festival 2010.

The festival was opened by locally based 'classic rockers' Hell To Pay. They played to an almost empty hall which was a shame, but they gave it their all nevertheless.

Next up were Exit State who ramped up the energy levels with their distinctive mix of classic rock, metal and some radio friendly beats. This is a band that you could easily see going on to be huge. Their album 'Death of a Rockstar' is out now and it is a very promising debut.

Exit State clearly love doing what they do and have an impressive stage presence and excellent rapport with the audience. They also benefit from having an engaging frontman in the shape of Roy Bright. He covers every inch of the stage and clearly loves being up there.

Of the bands lower down the bill these guys seem to be the ones most likely to make it through to the next level. We wish them well.

Next up were the band that were my highlight of the first day, the VERY impressive 4Bitten. This Greek outfit is an excellent live experience with the amazing Fofi Roussos on lead vocals and George M. on lead guitar competing for the spectator's attention, more than ably backed up by drummer Angelo G. and Akis "Rooster" on bass.

They play upbeat, and dare I say it uplifting, rock music. Their songs are well written and catchy and Fofi gives an awesome vocal performance. Fofi has one of the best female 'rock' voices I have ever heard, and from the opener 'Jaded' through an incredible rendition of 'Tomorrow Never Comes' to the awesome finale of 'Lightnin Crashing' she blasts out the band's optimistic messages with a power and passion.

But as I mentioned this is not a band with a single focal point. As well as Fofi out front the band also gave us the first really stand out guitarist we have seen this festival, in the form of George M.

George scores instant cool points for playing the ultimate hard rock guitar, the Gibson Flying-V. This was the weapon of choice of Randy Rhoads and is probably most associated with M.S.G., and it is not out of place in this guy's hands. He knows how to work the distinctive shape of the guitar, wrapping himself round it and looking every inch the rock god as he tirelessly riffed and soloed to entertain the small but appreciative crowd.

As they worked their way through their excellent set the band look for all the world like they belong in much bigger venues. With standout live tracks like 'Follow' it's certainly a destiny they should have no difficulty fulfilling.

'Falling Red' are another band who are building a reputation on the sound basis of hard work, good tunes and almost incessant gigging and they take to the stage in a cloud of hairspray and snarling attitude. Anyone wondering what the club scene in the 80s was like when bands like Tigertailz were at their peak should really check FR out. In fact, if you want an infectiously fun live experience you must go and see them. I mean if you don't get hooked in by 'Out of Control' live then you're probably lacking a pulse. Hell, they even threw in a Skid Row cover, Get the Fuck Out... what else ?

The last band of the day were the always impressive Black Spiders. They are one of the biggest names presently on the 'underground' UK scene and have played to huge crowds at festivals, and most recently supporting Ozzy Osbourne. Unfortunately not many of the good people of Manchester took the opportunity to see the band's amazing live performance. In spite of this by the time they hit their stride with their second song, Stay Down, the crowd had really warmed to their heavy Rock'n'Roll. Having seen the Spiders a few times as a support act it was really good to finally see them playing a headline set. It may well be the last chance we get to see them in a small venue with a small crowd.

Like all of the bands who performed here today, the Spiders didn't take their foot off the gas in light of the fairly meagre audience, but as they ripped into the awesome 'Kiss tried to kill me' I did wonder what was up with British music fans, I mean where the hell was everyone ?