Blue Bridge Battle of the Bands
The Final
Tonight we saw the final round of our Battle of the Bands. Shoebox and Lithium Speed Dementia went head to head to see who would prevail and win that slot at The Pigpen Music Festival!
Before we remark on tonights final round we want to take the opportunity to thank all of the bands who have taken part in this contest. Each round has shown us just how much talent there is out there in the area and we have seen some remarkable acts take to the stage at Doc Browns over the last nine weeks. As in all contests though there always comes down to that final battle and we were very much looking forward to tonights performances as both of the finalists are fantastic bands.
After drawing lots to see which order our two finalists would appear in Lithium Speed Dementia took to the stage first.
Lithium Speed Dementia
If anyone were to ask me a few weeks ago who LSD were I would have had to confess I had not previously heard of them. Indeed when I began looking for bands for this competition I came across LSD on MySpace and was extremely impressed with what I heard. I have to say they have not disappointed us during the course of the contest.
LSD are a first class band producing outstanding music. They told us before the start of the contest that they wanted to take part so they could appear in Middlesbrough. This added weight to the fact that we had not previously heard of them. Since then they have become much more well known over this side of the region and have appeared in many venues on Teesside. Tonights performance proved to everyone in Doctor Browns that LSD are a band to be reckoned with. They played with spirit and confidence that is refreshing in a young band and the quality of their act tonight was second to none. Its not suprising that this band are now becoming noticed both in and out of the area. They have secured a couple of gigs in London and we have no doubt that we will be seeing a lot of great things from them in the very near future.
Daniel Drinkwater - Lead guitarist, vocals and keyboards - put on an outstanding show alternating between guitar and keys seamlessly. Dan is a perfect frontman - he clearly loves what he is doing and has a fantastic stage presence. His vocals are spot on and well suited to the material they perform and all told he is a very polished performer. He comes across as being very relaxed - almost casual in his approach to his performance, however once he takes to the stage this description could not be further from the truth. Dan is an outstanding musician and a gifted songwriter and its a pleasure to watch him perform.
Louise Bourne - Bass and vocals - can only be described as incredible. She has this amazing, powerful voice and brings harmonies to the set which both enhance and add in a dynamic element to the overall performance. Sexist though it may sound, we don't see many female bass players out there and it has to be said that Louise is not only a great vocalist she is also a great Bassist. Add all this to her wonderful, bubbly personality which shines through in her performance and you have an exceptionally talented young lady with an integral role in the band.
Steven Armstrong - drums - is the strong silent one at the back. Although in saying that you can hardly describe Steve as silent once he picks up his sticks! Often an unsung hero in any band the drummer can go unnoticed during the course of a set with many people focussing on the front players. This drummer however is hardly unnoticeable. Steve plays without missing a beat and he too puts on a show that can't fail but to draw your attention to him. He has a strength in his playing that puts him in the driving seat during the set and his faultless performance tonight clearly marked him as one of the finest drummers we have seen in this competition.
After a fantastic set LSD handed out demo cd's to the audience in Doc Browns and settled back to watch the rest of the show. I sometimes think it is better to take the first slot in a contest such as this!
Shoebox
Shoebox were our final band performing in the whole contest and what a way to end it all! During the preceeding rounds we have been extremely impressed with this group of four young men from Middlesbrough.
Again they perform all their own material, the quality of which is outstanding. It is a delight to watch these guys play as they have a dynamic going on between them all that sets them apart from many other bands of the same genre. Shoebox have been together since the back end of last year and they have proved to us that a band does not have to be together long to become a top quality band. Young though they may be, Shoebox have all the right ingredients to become serious contenders in the music business.
Both Ash and Sam take up the mantle as lead singers of Shoebox. They share equally in the performance and it has to be said that they not only have a defined role singularly within the band they also work as a team producing extremely powerful harmonies. In addition to lead vocals Ash and Sam also play guitar with Ash taking the role of lead. Musically they are both excellent in their technique and delivery and as frontmen of Shoebox they can only be described as superb.
Jonno is the bassman of Shoebox and also what I would describe as their secret weapon. He not only plays bass to an outstanding degree he also bridges between each song in the set with some witty banter - he can engage an audience and make it seem effortless! He is an out and out performer and compliments Ash and Sam perfectly in this act. Clever basslines coupled with an enormous personality (and amazing hair!) puts Jonno up there with the best.
Mark on drums completes the Shoebox line up and what a drummer he is. There are drummers and then there are outstanding drummers and tonight we were treated to not one but two of the latter. Mark takes to his drums with gusto and performs with energy and purpose. He clearly puts his heart and soul into his performance and brings in that final element that marks this band as definately ones to watch.
Shoebox brought the house down and were worthy opponants for LSD. Again they had demo CD's available to hand out to the audience and again I think all of them went very quickly! Both of tonights contenders brought along a lot of supporters and this added to the fantastic atmosphere in Doc Browns. Altogether tonights performances from both bands were worthy of winning the whole competition. There does have to be a winner though and now it was over to the judges to make their final - and possibly their hardest decision to date.
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Finally the results were in and it fell upon myself to go up and announce the result. This was possibly one of the hardest announcements I have ever had to make! All of the judges struggled tonight to make that ultimate decision as both bands had put on an exceptional performance. However there has to be one that stands out overall and takes that prize.
The winner was confirmed as Lithium Speed Dementia and we were delighted to announce that they will be playing in The Pigpen Music Festival on 6th September! A huge well done and congratulations to LSD, during this contest they have come up against some very stiff competition and in winning have proved their position as one of the best bands this area has seen in a long time!
