CONQUER Rio shared a stage with Scouting For Girls when they last performed at Warrington Music Festival.

Now the rock five-piece will be headlining the Saturday of the two-day celebration on May 28 ahead of Reverend and the Makers and the Lightning Seeds on May 29.

Bassist Lewis Melia, a former Woolston Primary School pupil, said: "We’re feeling really good about it. We’re looking forward to it.

"We’re all Warrington lads, born and bred, so it’s nice to be at the top of the bill at our hometown festival and sharing the stage with a few of our friends."

The band also have a massive warm up to get them in the mood on May 21 and 22 when they play at the Super League Magic Weekend at Newcastle's St James' Park less than a week before the festival.

Lewis added: "It’s funny because we didn’t have anything booked for this time of the year and then these two have come up just a week apart. It will be a nice busy week for us."

Conquer Rio formed when schoolmates Lewis, Tom Jordan, Jake Bate and Dan Cobley began to talk about their shared love of the same rock bands at GCSE music class.

Drummer Ben Roberts was in the school year below and joined the band in 2013.

Their first gig ended up being at a presentation evening at Birchwood High where they played Muse’s Starlight and Franz Ferdinand’s Take Me Out.

Conquer Rio released their debut EP in October and were recently featured on Kerrang Radio and they will be recording new songs at Magic Garden Studios Wolverhampton later this year.

So, after five years, could the band be about to make their breakthrough?

"We just get on with it," said Lewis.

"We’re waiting and always hoping that someone important sat behind a record label desk or a management desk will turn around and say: ‘Right lads, come on’.

"But we’re just going to stick to what we’re doing, keep writing a load of stuff and we’re going to be recording a bit more towards the end of the year."

So far one of the band's highlights have included performing at the Grand Final at Old Trafford half an hour before kick off when Warrington played Wigan.

But their best memory was playing for around 3,000 people in Warrington when they supported Scouting For Girls in 2014.

Lewis, from Woolston, added: "Doing our own material in front of that sort of crowd was pretty special.

"We were under no illusion that the majority of the crowd were there to see Scouting For Girls but we had friends who came out just to see us.

"We had about 200 people there for us which was pretty cool. You don’t have that sort of crowd in your hometown usually."

Lewis also feels that opportunities for bands and artists in Warrington are shrinking – and that is why the festival is so important.

Apart from its year off in 2015 it has been a mainstay in the town since it was launched by organiser Steve Oates in 2007.

The 21-year-old said: "It is difficult because we are in between arguably the biggest music cities in the world – Manchester and Liverpool.

"You’re competing against that which is never going to be easy and then you’ve got your closures of venues here.

"The music festival has stuck around and that’s why it is so important.

"Steve is doing a great job with who he is pulling in like Reverend and the Makers and Scouting for Girls a couple of years ago. We can keep building on that."

- Conquer Rio headline Warrington Music Festival on May 28. They will be on the Golden Square stage at 10.40pm