THE best unsigned bands, as chosen by Radio Manchester DJs Michelle Hussey and Natalie-Eve Williams, took the stage at Twist on Saturday night to kick the party season into action.

Opening the show were the dark and intriguing sounds of Shadow Riots led by the intense vocals of Kirsty Stones. Demanding attention, the band pulled in the crowd and set the standard for the rest of the show, proving that a female singer can front a band as well as any of the guys.

They handed over the stage to King Pest who were aiming to fulfil their brief of bringing the fun factor, while staying true to Manchester’s traditional heritage.

And stamping their presence on the stage No Tokyo continued the trend, swaggering in front of a group of dedicated fans frontman Darren Whittaker seemed to take influences from Ian Brown as he led the crowd back to the early Manchester music scene.

Returning to the stage at Twist to represent Rochdale music for a second time were The Brightsparks, with a writing style and quirky indie sound that is continually developing. The band hadn’t lost any of the original sparkle since the first New Roch Revolution Live and are only set to get better.

And headlining the show were everyone's favourite Dale fans The Shameless. Although barely out of secondary school, the band have a talent far beyond their years. Entertaining fans with thrashing drums, gritty guitar riffs, low slung basslines and impressive rock vocals, The Shameless tore up the stage.

They caused fans to storm the stage when they played their Dale anthem ‘Time to Believe’; before finishing to whoops, whistles and cheers with their title track ‘Shameless’.

New Roch Revolution Live and Xmas Unsigned have now raised a combined total of almost £1,200 for the Observer’s charity of the year Springhill Hospice.

Click on the video links to see a performance from each band