Blue Bridge Battle of the Bands
Semi Final #2
This Wednesday marked our second semi-final and would determine who will be joining Shoebox next week in the Final. Tonight saw the return of Red Maser - Wildcard winners, Such Great Heights - Round 1 winners and Lithium Speed Dementia - Round 5 winners to Doc Browns. Another three fantastic bands and three who all deserve their place in the semi final stages.
Red Maser
Red Maser kicked off tonights competition and put on a totally remarkable performance. Slightly diminished as their drummer has unfortunately moved on, The two remaining band members - Rob and Andrew did not let this stop them from continuing in the contest, and with only two days to completely re-arrange their set gave us a semi acoustic performance including the use of a keyboard.
Tonight proved to everyone in Doctor Browns how skilled these two lads are. They played with the same energy and enthusiasm as they have done throughout the competition and showed us a different dimention to Red Maser. Rob is clearly an accomplished musician and the use of the keyboard added a depth to the act we had not previously seen.
Many other bands would have undoubtedly cancelled their appearance given the short notice of the demise of their previous drummer, however they came through
and they played a complete set adapting admirably to the situation they found themselves in. Hats off to these two lads, now known as the percussionless wonders! Their humour was by no means lessened despite being a man down, and if this contest was being judged on entertainment value and sheer determination these two would have been clear winners. An impressive start to the contest and proof that we have a lot of talent out there in the Teesside area.
Such Great Heights
Up next we had Such Great Heights who had proved to be a band to be reckoned with in Round One of the contest. They took to the stage with their usual enthusiasm and put on a performance which was both powerful and energetic. 
It must be stated that the performance vocally of Evelyn - lead singer - was outstanding tonight she absolutely brought the house down.
Such Great Heights are by far one of the most entertaining, original bands in the area at present. Their original material is fantastic, decidedly different and 
encompasses a whole range of different styles of music. Having recently recorded their first demo, Such Great Heights are proving themselves to be serious contenders in the local circuit and a band we feel we will be hearing a lot more from in the future. They ended their set to a massive applause from Doctor Browns and shouts for more. We knew tonights contest was going to show us some fantastic performances and Such Great Heights did not fail to live up to expectations.
Lithium Speed Dementia
Finally tonight we had Lithium Speed Dementia, a three piece band from Hartlepool
who stormed through to the semi finals by winning Round Five of the competition. We had been very impressed by LSD in the qualifying round and were looking forward to hearing them play once more. They suprised us all tonight by the inclusion of keyboards in the performance. Dan alternated from lead guitar to keyboard with flair and skill and together this band are outstanding.Clearly a popular local band,
the front of house was packed with supporters for LSD and they put on an fantastic performance to an appreciative Doctor Browns. Again we were treated to a set made up completely of original material. LSD have recently cut their 2nd demo which they are giving out at venues as and when they appear.
LSD ended their performance and our 2nd semi final to a rousing and well deserved applause.
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It must be said that when you get to this stage of a contest such as this there is a lot more pressure on everybody involved.
Our judges have done a sterling job throughout the contest but tonight was possibly the hardest decision they had to make to date. Eventually the results came in and it was confirmed that Lithium Speed Dementia had made it through to the final. It must be said that the results were extremely close and all three bands playing tonight were more than worthy of that spot in the final.
