WE were pleased to be invited to the Glassbox Theatre on Thursday afternoon, to film all the groups taking part in the Mark Hall Academy Battle of the Bands.

This is a great opportunity for young musicians to experience being on stage and the all the demands and pressures as well as opportunities.

We were impressed with the variety of numbers performed. From Come Together by The Beatles through to Gino by Dexys Midnight Runners.

The level of musicianship was outstanding.

The actual finals were held later that evening.

Result

1. Hexed
2. Elixir
3. The Afterlife

We featured Hexed yesterday, so here are the other bands.

We thought Elixir were very brave and imaginative with numbers such as Live and Let Die. They absolutely nailed the opening parts of that song. Oh and they have some drummer!

Shadow Riot: We just don’t think there would be bands this young attempting Gino. It is not easy to do. But we have seen the charismatic young front man before and we are sure he will really bloom as a singer and performer.

We just have the one number from Monochrome but they produced a really good version of Come Together by The Beatles. This is not an easy number to do. Again, they are much younger and less experienced than a group like Hexed and so that has to be taken into consideration.

The Afterlife may be one of the bands to look out for. The great thing about Battle of the Bands is you can see oceans of potential. The Afterlife looked like a band and were a tight unit. Plus: Great tambourine work for Walk Like an Egyptian.

And finally, Censored. who performed a very credible version of Begging. We look forward to seeing the over the next few years.

Well done to Ms Mulholland her team for bring the music to the stage and encouraging these young people.