A dizzying amount of tip-top acts are gearing up to play Marrapalooza 2, which is running over two days in Ouseburn this May.

Gruff Rhys (pictured) is already having quite a year. The Super Furry Animals frontman has a brilliant solo back-catalogue and his latest album ‘Sadness Sets Me Free’ (released in January) is right up there with his melodic best. He’s the biggest name playing Marrapaolooza 2, but the rest of the line-up is toting wonders wherever you look. I’m talking Benefits (those uncompromising Teesside rabble rousers who are electric live), Onsind (Pity Me punks who know their way around a fiery riff) and The Lake Poets (one of Sunderland’s finest with those heart-stopping vocals). Elsewhere on the bill you’ll also find the likes of Ex Void, Me Lost Me, Dilettante, Redhills Youth Brass Band, Teenage Sequence, and plenty more besides. Venues? Cop for The Cluny, The Cumberland Arms, The Grove, Little Buildings, Cobalt Studios and The Tyne Bar. Gonna be good.

GM Marrapalooza 2, Friday 17 & Saturday 18 May, Ouseburn, Newcastle, from £22, marrapalooza.co.uk