Round 1 - Tuesday 11th March

Blackjack and the Hookers, Electric Nightmares and The Banter kicked off the competition in round 1. After an evening of quality performances all around the winners were announced as The Banter.

Round 2 - Tuesday 18th March

Serverath, One Night Stands and Silent Club battled it out in Round two, again maintaining the high standards set the previous week. Again after much deliberation the winner was announced as Silent Club.

Round 3 - Tuesday 25th March

This week due to two of the three bands not turning up for the contest, Dark Messiah treated the audience to a much longer set than they would have normally got chance to play. Dark Messiah are certainly a young band to keep an eye on, they put on a polished entertaining act and even had they had other contestants there they would have been hard to beat on the night. As they were the only ones there that evening they automatically go through to the next round.

Dark Messiah formed in 2006 and consists of Zoe as Lead Vocalist and Rhythm Guitar, Matty on Lead Guitar, Paul on Bass Guitar and Backing Vocals and Sophie on the Drums. The remarkable thing about Dark Messiah is the average age of the band members is 13 years old. Last year they made it to the finals of the Corus Steel Gala Battle of the Bands. and are currently in the semi finals of this years Most Promising Band 2008 competition. They rocked the Yorkshire Lass and have come a long way since we last saw them in the Summer last year, with a well rounded more polished performance.

Their performance consisted of many classic rock covers and some rather startlingly good original songs. Zoe kept the crowd entertained with some witty banter and had the whole pub clapping along to some of the tracks they played. We are looking forward to seeing them in the next stages and watching how this talented band develops over the next couple of years. Visit their Myspace to find out more about Dark Messiah

Round 4 - Tuesday 1st April

Heroes Fall First and Substitute were the two bands who battled it out in week four. We were one band short due to the drummer of the third band being involved in an accident. Even though only two bands played in this round again, the judges had a hard choice to make.
Heroes fall First were the first band up. They wowed us all with their highly energetic performance and the dynamics of the band made them truly outstanding. They describe themselves as an Alternative Rock Band and they certainly rocked the Yorkshire Lass! Again we were pleasantly suprised by the original material the guys played, the standard of the songs was fantastic especially when we learned they had only been together for a couple of months. The band consists of Joe ’Diaz’ - Vocals, Trav ’Skeletor’ - Vocals + Guitar, Alex ’Baby Lamb’ - Bass + Vocals, Chad ’Mullet’ - Guitar + Vocals, Josh ’Tripper’ - Keys + Vocals and Karl ’Big Boy’ - Drums. You can visit them on their Myspace page and download some of their own music.


Next up came Substitute who gave another outstanding performance. Substitute are a trio consisting of Liam Annis on Lead Guitar and Vocals, Robert Annis on the Bass and Keys and Mark Robinson on the drums. The three lads gave us a great set including original material and covers from the likes of Muse. What stood out to us about Substitute was the sheer quality of musicianship of these three young men. The Bassist in particular wowed us all when he swung his bass around his back and proceeded to play a solo on the keyboard. Now thats something you don't see very often! Substitute have been together since the Summer of 2006 and can also be found on Myspace.

After a lot of conferring the judges decided that the winner on the night was Heroes Fall First but again two more incredible acts that we will be watching out for in the future. This was another round of Rock the Lass Battle of the Bands which has proved to be at the same quality we have enjoyed throughout this competition.

Round 5 - Tuesday 8th April

Reverb and Such Great Heights were the next two bands to go head to head in the competition. Up first were Reverb. This band consists of two boys and two girls and this was their first ever gig! After the initial nerves the band got stuck in and gave us a cracking performance covering a lot of modern music as well as some classics. The band members are Sam on Guitar, Ben on Bass, Jenny on Drums and Beth as lead singer, with the eldest being Beth at 15 and the rest of the group at 14 the band showed remarkable confidence and a lot of promise of good things to come. They have a Myspace website that you can check out for more information.

Next up we had Such Great Heights who are a five piece band and have been together for a couple of years. The band consists of Vocals - Evelyn, Guitar/Vocals - David, Guitar/Vocals - Huddy, Bass/Vocals - Callum and Drums - Al. Lead singer Evelyn, with the husky voice put on a suberb performance as did the whole band. Their set was made up of all their own material with the exception of one cover. They had a great interaction with the audience and judging from what we have seen so far they have a great future ahead of them.

Such Great Heights have a Myspace website which lists all their up and coming gigs.

The winner of this weeks Battle of the Bands were Such Great Heights who will appear in the next round of the competition.

Round 6 - Tuesday 15th April

This week we had a really special round to start the final stages of the Yorkshire Lass Battle of the Bands 2008. The three bands this evening were the best runners up throughout the competition.
We had One Night Stands who played in round 2, Reverb who played in round 5 and Electric Nightmares who played in the first round. Any one of these three bands could have easily won a place in the semi finals but were pipped to the post in their respective heats. Tonight they had a second chance and went head to head to win their place.

From the outset we knew we were in for a great evening of entertainment. The Yorkshire Lass was standing room only as each band brought along their supporters. To start us off we had One Night Stands. This group of 18 year olds state their influences lie with the likes of Pink Floyd, The Kings of Leon and The Smiths to name but a few but we felt they have a unique sound that is definately all of their own. A nice touch to the overall performance was the amount of original material they played. This was a very dynamic opening act, the keys were outstanding, the drummer gave it all he had and the material chosen for their slot was inspired. One Night Stands set the standard for what was possibly going to be the most difficult decision our judges have had so far in this competition.

Up next in this round we had Reverb who came a close runner up in the previous heat.
This week they gave us another stunning performance which showed a lot of promise for the future. We were pleasantly suprised last week when we found out that their first appearance at the Yorkshire Lass was their first gig. This week we saw no signs of nerves as the band got up there and treated us to a great set of cover songs which both entertained the audience and got everybody singing along. Beth was absolutely radient and clearly showed that she loves to perform and perform she did! All in all Reverb put on a great show and proved the judges decision to give them another chance in the Wildcard round was the right one to make.

They positively rocked The Yorkshire Lass covering a wide range of material from Greenday, All American Rejects to the Beatles! About halfway through the set Beth informmed us that the next song was one they had only learned that day and then the band proceeded to play a very passable Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Greenday.
This was another stunning performance from our wildcard selection, Reverb played to the standard set by One Night Stands and we only had one more band to play to complete the nights show.

Electric Nightmares were our final act of the evening and once more we were not disappointed with what we saw! Electric Nightmares consisted of the youngest line-up of the evening with two of the members being only 13 years old. This was by no means an impediment to their performance, they put on an act that would have rivalled many a seasoned performer. Their stage presence was fantastic and the band gave us everything they had with a well rounded set made up of both original material and well known covers. This was possibly their best performance to date in the competition, Jamie was an entertaining front man, Ben gave us all he had on the guitar, Rob on drums was fantastic and the gorgeous Jess smiled throughout and gave us a great performance too. With covers such as Teenage Kicks which they opened with and Billy Idols white wedding this was overall an enjoyable, entertaining set.

After a lot of discussion and deliberation the judges finally decided that the winner on the evening was One Night Stands who now go through to the semi finals. All of the acts this evening were winners though and certainly all three are ones to look out for in the future.

The standard of acts we have had the pleasure to watch so far in this contest promises us two fantastic semi finals and ultimate final to see who will be appearing at this years festival.

Videos of the Wildcard round and the Semi's will be up on here soon!

Semi Final - April 29th.

The first of our two Semi - Finals saw the return of The Banter - winners from Round 1, Silent Club - winners from Round 2 and Such Great Heights - winners from Round 5. All three bands taking part tonight were more than capable of winning the overall competition so we knew it was going to be a tough call for our judges!

Silent Club

To kick things off Silent Club performed a set of quality original tunes and also one cover which they had just learned for this evening. Their set got everybody in the mood for an evening of top quality music. These four lads from Teesside describe themselves as being a unique sounding band and you could see they enjoyed their music and put everything they had into their performance. Unique is definately the way to describe this act. If I was asked to liken them to somebody I don't think I could.

Silent Club formed from three previous bands and now have a demo track online and are hoping to move onto recording seriously within the next year. Check them out on Myspace.

Such Great Heights

Next up came Such Great Heights. In their round Such Great Heights truly put on an outstanding performance and tonight was no exception. This 5 piece from Middlesbrough put on a superb, entertaining performance and left everybody in The Yorkshire Lass rocking. Their combination of original material and lighthearted banter with their audience was both appealing and enjoyable. Not so sure about the title of their first song although they assured us it was a great title!

Having recently won another Battle of the Bands, Such Great Heights are using the prize money to professionally record some of their songs. You can find out more by visiting their Myspace.

The Banter

Last up tonight were The Banter. These four guys from Whitby entertained us brilliantly in Round 1 and we were looking forward to hearing them play again tonight.

Once again we were not dissappointed by the performance they put on. They quite literally threw themselves into their show and entertained us all with a very energetic, entertaining set. Their original material struck me as being a cross between Oasis and The Clash - the lyrics complimenting the sound and leaving me wanting to hear more from these guys.

Overall The Banter put on a very powerful performance which rounded off the evening perfectly. To find out more about The Banter please visit their Myspace.





The three semi finalists had now done their stuff and it was down to the judges to decide who would be going through to the final on the 20th May. Its times like this I am glad I am not judging as tonights three acts were all definately winners. Finally the judges decided that on the night Such Great Heights were the ones who put on the best performance and so won the place in the final. It was a close run contest and each band who played should feel proud for the show they put on. All three of tonights bands are active locally and are certainly ones to watch out for in the future.

Semi Final - May 6th.

The last round of our Battle of the Bands before the final saw the return of One Night Stands - winners from the Wildcard Round, Dark Messiah - winners from Round 3 and Heroes Fall First - winners from Round 4. After the performances last week from the first of the semi finals we were looking forward to a great evening of entertainment.

One Night Stands

One Night Stands started the show off and as soon as they took to the stage we were reminded of why these guys won the Wildcard round. Their range of songs was varied and the haunting keyboard sounds added an extra dimension to their act.

Lead singer, Jonny Parkin, put on an outstanding performance backed up by the rest of the band. Not only was their set made up of original material, it was also varied and inspiring.

Dark Messiah

Up next we saw the return of Dark Messiah. In their first round we called upon them to play us a full set as the other two bands had had to pull out at the last minute. Tonight we saw them on good form once again as they took to the stage and gave us a fantastic performance made up of well known covers and a couple of originals. Dark Messiah have grown over the last year and you can see the sheer dedication and commitment these guys feel for what they are doing in how they come across on the stage. Zoe has a great talent of drawing the audience in to the show and they have a wonderful stage presence which never fails to appeal to their audience.

Heroes Fall First

The final act of the evening were Heroes Fall first. The last time they played we were wowed with their performance. This round we saw another side to them, they performed with as much energy and enthusiasm as the last time, however, their overall performance this time was tighter and a lot more structured than the first time we saw them and they positively brought the house down - the last song seeing most of the front of the house up on stage singing along with them!
Heroes Fall First are so much fun and so entertaining, and we are thinking of hiring Josh to sell our raffle tickets for us at future events!



Another hard decision lay before our judges tonight. Although again, we must stress that tonights three bands have battled hard through the rounds to get into the Semi-Final against a very high standard of acts. In our book they are all winners, there does have to be one act that is chosen as the overall winner and tonight the judges decided that One Night Stands had just given that bit extra that put them first in tonights contest.

One Night Stands will now go through to the Final and go head to head against Such Great Heights on the 20th May. The outcome of the final battle will tell us who will be appearing at The Rock The Lass Festival on 2nd August.

Click here for The Final