THOSE one million-selling pop punksters Wheatus play York on Saturday (5th) in Fibbers' gig of the weekend and indeed the year so far.

Not surprisingly the excitable American men who brought you Teenage Dirtbag and a respectable cover of Erasure's A Little Respect will play to a sell-out scrum.

So, should you be missing out, take a punt on Monday on a band tipped for Wheatus-sized success: Hope Of the States, a Chichester five-piece named after a US psychiatric reform report. NME is calling them "potentially the most challenging British guitar band since Radiohead", which may or may not be a recommendation these days.

Amy Wadge, a singer-songwriter from Cardiff via Bristol, makes her York debut on Sunday, trailing comparisons with Joni Mitchell and Natalie Merchant. Support act will be another member of the singer-songwriting sisterhood, Gina Dootson.

On Wednesday, in Round One, Heat Nine of the Fibbers/Evening Press Battle of the Bands 2003, Red:Shift compete against Artizan, The Xenith Sound and Lowrider from 8pm. Admission is £3.

Updated: 10:23 Friday, April 04, 2003