As I've said, the diversity of acts - including plenty of local talent - at Twisterella this year was top class. Unfortunately, that very thing that makes the festival so good also means that you have to make very tough choices at some points. After a lot of soul-searching, I decided that for the last couple of hours of the day I'd base myself at the Student's Union building, and miss Swim School and Lauran Hibberd. That was a painful choice, I can tell you.
The band can be a bit hard to pin down, and that's part of their appeal: there are 80s influences in the warm keyboard underlays, which they team up with atmospheric guitars and a sprinkling of vocoder; their live sound veers between full on raucous rock and revivalist, chilled indie-pop; but it's not incongruous or bitty. MarthaGunn have found their place and seem to really love being there.
And at Twisterella they seemed, in summary, joyful. Lead singer Abi stomped and spun confidently across the stage, the rest of the band backing her with constant grins. With a sprinkling of friendly asides and pared back anecdotes they stormed through their set.
Every song was sung big - despite Abi having tonsilitis (hope you're better now!) - and went down really well with the crowd. One standout for me was Undone - the first track from the band's new album - which sounded rich, warm and passionate.
Another was Lost In The Moment (incidentally the second album track) Here, Abi seemed to have no problem reaching the high notes - her voice sounded effortless. She sung with honesty, putting her true self forward, not trying to hide behind any affectations. Her bandmates gave superb support to the vocals, at times going full on rock, and other times carefully and thoughtfully adding layers of intricate detail - a sample here, a gentle guitar riff there - which created a very full and well-melded sound.
And then, to close out the day, it was finally time for The Howl & The Hum, a band I'd been wanting to see live for a long time - and what a place and time to see them. The Twisterella date marked the start of their UK tour, making those of us in the relatively small room realise, again, how fortunate we were to get this chance.
Everyone was quickly and irretrievably immersed, caught up in the moments as they unfolded. That was my overriding feeling from the set: an unfolding, like pages being turned and chapters told. But it was a dialogue, too: there was no feeling of being sung at, but rather that we were all an important part of the story.
There were plenty of wow moments. I can never forget the massive, uninhibited singalong as the band presented the chorus of 'The Only Boy Racer'. Or the hush that descended as Sam gently began to deliver the words of 'Hostages'. That song is a masterpiece of multiple crescendos, and it worked so well in the live setting.
Most of the time when we discover new bands it's through their recordings - laid down over time, painstakingly crafted and delicately adjusted through the studio process. A great band like TH&TH can also step out onto to a stage, exposing themselves to public glare of expectation, and translate that original audio experience - the sounds people fell in love with - into a full four-dimensional life experience.