FOUNDED in 1992 by Yvette Livesey and the late Anthony H Wilson, In The City has become one of the most important dates in the music industry calendar.

By day, Manchester becomes home to the brightest and best in the business, as industry leaders debate the present and plot the future.

And by night Manchester hosts the biggest city-based music festival in Europe, In The City Live, as the bands and fans take to the streets.

Rightly regarded by the global music community as the premier new music event in the world, ITC has helped launch the careers of Oasis, Radiohead, Suede, Elastica, Coldplay, The Darkness, Doves, Foo Fighters, Elbow, the Stereophonics, Muse, Orson and many, many more.

And this year there is plenty of Bolton talent on the stage, hoping that they will catch the eye of the prowling industry talent scouts and start on that ladder to fame.



TO THE BONES

START your weekend out with a bang as To The Bones take their brand of dirty all-out rock and roll to the stage at the Ruby Lounge.

Fuzzy guitars, huuuuge drums, spine-vibrating bass and throat-burning vocals mean that To The Bones can probably lay claim to the title of hardest rocking band in Bolton.

Less a gig, more a full-on assault, To The Bones' live performances have been described as "chaotic and knotted in attitude and nothing that obvious" and "a three guitar wall of fractured noise that comes over like an intense Pixies/Stooges/Fugazi set of dive bombs." Pretty unmissable, then.

They're a rag-tag bunch, all hair and sweat and black clothes, with T-Bone pounding away like Animal in the Muppets and Rhys looking like he'd rather be fighting than singing - think Iggy Pop back in the good old days when rock stars gave no thought to life and limb, tours weren't run by management companies, and "risk assessments" were a challenge, not an obstacle. Filthy, filthy rock and roll - just the way we like it.

Saturday, October 20. Ruby Lounge, 28-34 High Street, Northern Quarter

OUR FOLD

WESTHOUGHTON'S finest play the Dry Bar on Saturday, October 20.

Rip-roaring Britrock of the vintage kind, Our Fold create the sort of pedal to the floor guitar music that so many bands try - and fail - to achieve.

Making their stage debut in July 2005, the four-piece soon gathered a loyal following, and found themselves supporting the likes of The Fratellis, Art Brut, The Noisettes, Boy Kill Boy, The Hooisers, Wheatus The Paddingtons, Foals, Bromheads Jacket and even The Vengaboys.

Earlier this year the band topped the NME.com unsigned chart and have been busy recording tracks in the studio. But neither can really give you a taste of the band so much as seeing them play live to a local audience, gigs which often slide into chaos and have become the stuff of legend.

Saturday, October 20, Dry Bar, 28 Oldham Street

THE JOY VEGAS

THEY might be mates with McFly, but The Joy Vegas are as far from the safe pop-rock of Danny Jones' band as possible. Yes, drummer Alex was a school pal of the McFly singer, but there, it seems, the connection ends.

Rock and roll with a glam edge, The Joy Vegas (who are now based in Liverpool and boast a Norwegian singer) combine influences from Sonic Youth, The Stone Roses, Jane's Addiction and Prince (that would be the glam edge, then) to create ridiculously catchy feel-good songs that are sure to go down a storm in Manchester.

In April 2007, the band headed into Elevator Studios (home to The Zutons, The Subways and The Coral) to lay down their first batch of tracks - Cadillacs and Heart Attacks, Dance Like You and Until The End were born - and hope to announce a single and tour next year.

Sunday, October 21, Dry Bar, 28 Oldham Street (day-time show) and Studio, 23 Peter Street (8pm)

DIRTY CIRCUS

HAILING from Bolton, Wigan and Leigh, Dirty Circus are as much a gang as a band, and play tunes that would leave you thinking that Madchester never died, just got off its face on cider for a while before popping back up, needing a wash, on stage at Squares Around since 2005, the five-piece act like the second coming of Oasis, downing pints, eyeing up the girls and keeping a weather eye on any possible opportunity for a little chav-baiting.

There's no references to Rimbaud here, just simple council estate epithets and a thoroughly undentable confidence, justified by the support of former Hacienda DJ Mike Pickering. Fans of The Twang will be thoroughly satisfied, we suspect.

Sunday October 21, Squares, 11 Peter Street

FALSE IMAGE

THE well-established five-piece post-hardcore band continue their assault on the music world with a date at Retro Bar on October 21. Combining heavy riffs and melodic verses, the band - whose most recent CD This Much, This Early is available in independent record stores - are sure to appeal to emo kids looking for a bunch of local heroes.

The band, who have been together for four years, recently turned down a "rubbish" deal with an Italian label because it would have seen them paying their own flight and recording costs.

But singer Gary Talbot is confident that the band's experience should see them fulfilling their ambitions in the future.

"When we first started our music was all over the place, because we all have different styles," he says. "It was a really undefined sound, but obviously over the years as you record more stuff and play together more you define your own sound more. It just takes time to find your own unique sound."

Sunday, October 21, Retro Bar, 78 Sackville Street

PURLIN

PURLIN'S debut gig was a headline slot at Manchester's Lateroom, followed by a headlining gig at Manchester Academy 3 to a packed audience. Not a bad start for a trio who wield paintbrushes and rollers for much of the day.

Influenced by the Manchester scene of the early 90s, Purlin demand your attention and always receive a positive response from audiences and bands alike.

And there is one song in particular that Bolton-born guitarist Steve believes the audience should listen out for.

"Solitary is like an anthem - when we play that at gigs we play it last and it really grabs you live," he says. "Whether it comes across like that on the CD I'm not 100 per cent sure, but I think we've got something with that song."

Sunday October 21, Revolution, Deansgate Locks