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1. The general buzz...
Belsonic is a little bit special - this we know. The location is sublime - in the centre of a capital city, flanked by a beautiful piece of architecture and just the right size and layout. The security where chilled, helpful and understanding. The burgers were outrageously good and the selection at the bar obviously had been well thought out. Everyone seemed so happy, comfortable and appreciative of a festival willing to go just that littleÌýbit further.

2. Rigsy and Paul's office...
Mala and Bronagh, the charming 'hospitality' girls, decided to be nice to your favourite presenter and producer combo, reserving them a nice blue office backstage. It may only have been a few foot squared, but it did come with a plastic hand basin! It also had a desk, though it was quite a strange design - quite low down and with a weird lid thing that lifted up revealing a kind of watery, bleach-y reservoir. Very post-modern - must have cost a fortune to design. The office had a lock as well, so we had a little privacy to type up any particularly sensitive reviews. You'd even know if we were insideÌý- red meant "hard at work", green meant "come on in say hello". Worked an absolute treat! Until someone wee-d all overÌýour desk :-(

3. No one drinking on Saturday...
What is it with Duke Special fans and booze? The bar seemed empty all day Saturday, while the coffee and burger stall was pretty hectic. We're in no way suggesting everyone needs to get the beers in or advocating binge drinking - but maybe if a few drinks had been downed there would have been a little more movement down the front.

4. Deadmau5 Mau5headz...
A welcomed diversion from a startlingly average performance was the handful of punters with proper, multicoloured Deadmauz heads on in the crowd. Apparently they travel all round the place after him! Impressive costumes and everything, but watching Deadmau5 every night... really?

5. Dizzee the brat backstage...
Word reaches us that Dizzee and his crew enjoyed a raucous food fight and general wreckin' session in and around their digs backstage. As if that wasn't rock n' roll enough, it's worth pointing out said food fight and wrecking session took place sometime before lunch.

6. 2manydjs keep the party going...
As if being responsible for the most fun Belfast has had ever wasn't enough, the Dawaele brothers kept the rave going long enough to throw an awesome aftershow at the Stiff Kitten, dropping everything from Dizzee Rascal to The Stone Roses. Rigsy even got to do the warm up and was so overcome by the experience he was spotted weeping gently, shortly after the changeover.

7. Backstage strops...
Not mentioning any names, but a certain act on the bill, who seem to go out of their way to be awkward, made it difficult/impossible for us to either photograph them or broadcast their set. An act who, in the past, gave us an 'interview' that was so unusable we had to abandon it half way through. I know it's, you know, fun and mad and outrageous and everything to be outrageously rude and unhelpful to people who only want to play your music to other people who may enjoy it, but still, if you really have to be like that, at least write a couple of decent songs first, okay?

8. Paul Noonan the stud...
Hard to dislike Paul Noonan, what with him being an absolute gent, but we are a little jealous of his way with the ladies. We watched with a certain bitterness in our eyes as all the females backstage swooned at his general being. The question though -Ìýis he enough of a studÌýthat a pair of ladiesÌýcanÌýjustify hiding in the adjacent changing room to his, in the dark,Ìýso they canÌýspy on him getting changed? No point in asking the hospitality girls about this as they would have no idea what you'reÌýon about.

9. Magic numbers playing guitar at a house party...
A friend of ATL's arrived home on Saturday night/Sunday morning from a rave taking place elsewhere in town onlyÌýto find the Magic Numbers playing guitar in her living room. We have no idea how or why they had ended up in a house in East Belfast and indeed whether they ever went home.

10. And saving the best until last - Donna's cup cakes...
Sweet holy moly these were good. Donna Legge, former ATL presenter and an all round wonderful human being, had teamed up with her mate Jane for 'Cakebox', a specially designed cupcake wonderland set up for day three.

The apple/cinnamon ones in particularly were obscenely good, but we couldn't bring ourselves to eat the ones designed to look like tiny gramophones.

Donna - you're going to cater all of ATL's weddings. And our funerals. And our lunches, dinners and suppers if we get our way. We salute you.