BEST OF THE BANDS 2007
Best of the Bands – York Opera House – 4th May 2007
The time has come for another round of the nail-bitingly, gritty Best of the Bands. Having covered last year’s event I know what to expect: Best of the bands aims to encourage local school bands by giving them the chance to showcase their work. Various shops and organisations within York such as Nestle, Cube Media, Pig Hut Studios, Fibbers, Mor Music, Shepherds Building Group and Bandstrand sponsor the event. All have donated prizes for the various awards to further encourage strong performances from all the bands.
But how are the awards decided I hear you ask? Well only the juiciest, ripest bunch of judges will do for our bands. This year those select people are;
And what a task they have! Fourteen talented School Bands from across York will take to the stage tonight to battle it out. With just eight minutes of performance time to impress the judges just who will have what it takes to stand out from the crowd and steal the award of BEST LIVE BAND?
Comfortably tucked away in the stalls away from the increasing audience, I can understand what an exhilarating experience this must be for the bands as they stare out over a sea of supporters, cheering them on and providing encouragement.
Alan Raw of the BBC’s Raw Talent Radio Show takes to the stage as compere and after a brief overview of the evening, he passes the mic back to the real stars of the night. Let battle commence!
Each band is asked to perform two tracks, an original piece and a cover of their choice. Tonight sees an incredible selection of cover tracks ranging from Metal Rock legends Metallica “Through the Never” performed by Exile (Sam Graves, Robert Piercy, Jake Holmes and Tom Adam) through to “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves, performed by Can’t Complain (Katy Hobbs, Jake Lewis, Tom Flack, Jake Scarr, Daniel Fearnley, Lauren Dowling, Sarah Stead, Simon Tomlinson, Sarah Ramage and Helen Hirst). The brass section creates the perfect party atmosphere with the crowds dancing in the aisle and the energy of their performance is quite outstanding.
My personal favourite cover is performed by The Valves (Laurence Longworth, James Orr, Luke Sculthorpe and Oliver Webb), which surprisingly is the Girls Aloud track “Love Machine”. An entertaining performance from an all male band who know exactly how to work the stage and please the crowd.
The most memorable act for me has to be The Silhouette Zoo (Nathaniel Priestly, Sam Lunn, Owain Well and Zac Priestly) who’s use of an accordion during their performance adds a unique folk sound which make them stand out from the other acts. Nathaniel’s effortless husky vocals also add a mature sound whilst looking like a young Art Garfunkel. Their cover track is “House of the Rising Sun” which allows them to show their skilled music ability. Dressed in matching Black and Red outfits they own the stage. This band deserves to do well this evening.
The Nicoles (Ben Leftwich, Sam Coe, Tom Tunstall and James Shepherd) are a band who have already started to get recognition and are frequently playing venues in the area. Tonight their performance oozes confidence and professionalism as they play two of their own tracks “Ambulance” and “Plans”. A competent performance setting the standard for other aspiring bands.
Olivia Hanson of Kafka (Alex Watterson, Tom Cartwright, Sophie Benson & Dan Ashurst) reminds me of a young Gwen Stefani as she bounces around the stage with sultry attitude and her voice so powerful, you wonder where she hides it beneath her petite frame. Their version of “Date with the Night” by the Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’s and their own track “Fall” shows the bands remarkable potential. This is another band promising band for tonight’s awards.
The Haze (Lee Parry, Oliver Telfor, Craig Melody and Michael Ventress) are next to follow and with heavy guitars and attitude. Vocalist Lee sings with a powerful voice that appears effortless. Their cover of Eddie Cochrans “Summertime Blues” is made their own and their piece unique and professional.
The final band of the evening is The Frizz (Aran Macrae, Taylor Cole, Mark Murphy, Gav Minton and Ed Caffrey) have a huge crowd of supporters who leave their seats to get as close to the front of the stage as possible. They give an energy-fuelled performance with an outstanding guitar solo creating the perfect climax to the show.
As the judges go off to begin the difficult job of point scoring to fairly decide upon the winners, guest band and winners of BOTB 2006 - Breakout Project take to the stage to settle the anxious crowd.
It is clear that the band have continued to work hard on their act since last year. Their performance is natural and they fill the stage with raw attitude that can only come with experience of performing to crowds. They play an energetic set to keep the audience on a high for the moment everyone has been waiting for.
The judges return to the stage and tense atmosphere in the auditorium thickens. The bands wait behind the stage with eagerness to hear their names called out. There are eight awards in all:
The Bandstrand prize for the Best Presentation is £30 worth of MOR Vouchers and is awarded to – Silhouette Zoo
The MOR prize for the Best Team Effort is band gear and is awarded to – The Valves
The Bandstrand prize for the Best Individual Performer is £30 worth of Borders Vouchers and is awarded to – Aran Macrae, The Frizz
The Cube Media prize for the Best Studio Recording is a day of recording at Cube Media and is awarded to – Kafka for their track “The Fall”.
The Fibbers prize for the Top Three Bands is a headline gig at Fibbers and is awarded to;
No3 - Kafkfa,
No2 - The Haze,
No1 - Silhouette Zoo
The Pig Hut prize for Best Cover Song is a day of recording at Pig Hut Studios and is awarded to – The Haze for their cover of Summertime Blues
The Shepherd Group prize for Best Original Song is a day recording at Cube + 10 CD’s and is awarded to – Bye Bye Lena for their track You’re Not Good Enough For Me
And the biggest award of the night, the Nestle-Hangmans Joke prize for Best/Most Promising Live Band is 4 days recording at Pig Hut Studios + 100 CD’s including digital distribution through iTunes and this went to – Silhouette Zoo.
By now the atmosphere is incredible, it’s been a great success and I am overwhelmed with the great potential in all the performances. It is difficult to believe that these bands are just at the start of their musical careers as many of them are so talented and show maturity beyond their years.
The City of York Council’s Arts and Culture team is constantly working hard and looking at new ways to provide young musicians with facilities to showcase their talents. The music scene is growing everyday and it is exciting to know that York certainly holds some potential stars.