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ZAUBEREI ALL THE WAY ~ 13th October 2006 It was standing room only at The Holbrook Club last Sunday when the Battle of the Bands Acoustic Heat rolled into town. Twelve local acts took part with Zauberei coming up trumps and snaffling the first prize. The night was kicked off by The Mighty Quinn which saw Antoine plucking a big old acoustic bass and Sam on guitar sporting a rather fine Deerstalker. I liked ‘Martyr' which included some good vocals and a nice punchy chorus. Ant flipped to the Mandolin half way through the set which not only kept everyone's interest but brought in a folk element to ‘I Blame Your Sister', nice harmonies too. Kev and the Wotevz then offered something different with both Sian and Jay competing for vocal dominance with each other; for the record Sian had the sweeter lyrical voice and Jay the punchier guitar. Their set had more than a touch of Billy Bragg about it and I think they could afford to take a leaf out of his songbook and add a few politics; Acoustic doesn't have to be sweetness and light, bung a few rants in there. The only keyboard of the night then arrived with Dave P tickling the ivories with verve and panache. ‘Starlight' seemed to have it all in one tightly packed melodramatic tune and received a generous round of applause. David has a natural waiver in his voice which was accentuated here and there, perhaps through nerves, but overall a good solid performance. If he gets a chance he should go to a ThreeWheeler gig to see how Stephen Anthony does it, I think he would enjoy it. Another first for BotB as the Medieval Desperados brought Beat Box to the Acoustic Heat, who'd have thought it! Beat Box and acoustic guitars certainly make an interesting combination, the urban flavour being more successful in some places than others, but on the whole it working surprisingly well. ‘The Other One' had some nice flashes of guitar from Daz and Mate and it was certainly an experience that people talked about. Stephanie MacGregor almost missed out on the heat due to a mix up on the application form, I'm glad she didn't. ‘Vampire' pushed for best song on the night and she has the same inflections as Dolores O'Riodan, think The Cranberries, but with a lighter touch. She also managed a nice clean guitar sound and injected the right amount of humour into her last song, nice boots too. Things then got garish with the Strum Lovin' Criminals trying to outdo Nick Paxton with their shirts looking like Jackson Pollack had thrown up, sheesh there should be a law! They produced a mixed set of blues and up tempo folk, and at one point dallied with George Formby, which tapped a few feet and brought a few smiles. ‘Cynical' got the best out of Mike's voice and surprisingly saw the only appearance of a harmonica all night. Mark Newnham then unpacked a few numbers that don't fit with a Zevicon set and explored a vocal range where most singers fear to tread without missing a note; ‘Think Jesus' also suggested to me that he may have trod the boards at some point. Confused me slightly with his guitar sound but realised he was looping through his effects pedal which fattened his sound nicely either adding sparkle or atmosphere, clever. A strong voice and competent performance which even included a partial audience sing-a-long, no mean feat considering the social decibel had gone up several notches during the evening. I had him down as the winner in my notepad at the end of the night. It was then time for some self labelled acoustic indie pop from Jacob who has kept the same laid back style and approach as last year although his voice maybe a touch huskier. I liked his choice of key and open string chord to suit his vocal range which gave the impression that he was singing in harmony with himself at times. Some interesting phrasing during ‘She's so Right' which went down well with his friends at the front. Leah had a busy Sunday last week as she was fronting Dogs in Space in Heat 4. This Sunday offered her the chance to sit back and chill for awhile in a more sedate fashion. Sensitive and heartfelt her ballads sometimes struggled to rise above the ‘enthusiastic' audience but there was enough of a clean edge to cut through when it mattered. ‘Beautifully Broken' had hymn like qualities and when she cut loose you caught glimpses and flashes of the jewel like potential her voice has, best female vocalist on the night. Another selection of hats then took to the stage with three piece Stick in a Pot ; I think Piers' was the nattiest. Best described as modern urban folk, think Jethro Tull crossbred with Nirvana and it gets somewhere close. This type of laid back music is in demand at the moment and ‘Early Morning' washed around the club with languid fluidity and was performed superbly. You guys should check out James Yorkston, I think you may like him. Although Dani Peters was by far the least experienced musician on the night (she told us excitedly she had been playing guitar for almost 2 terms) she bounded on stage like a Springer Spaniel with a bit of gaffer tape stuck to its tail. Enthusiastic and brimming over with personality she grinned her way through 4 fine songs, the best being ‘Sunlight in the Snow'. Attitude, confidence and a growing ability – Dani I think you'll make it. The winning performance ended the night with Zauberei concocting a set of acoustic modern jazz. ‘Dim those Lights' gave Erin a chance to try out her modern diva vocals which she seemed to enjoy. A trio with ability and maturity beyond their years they wooed their massed support with some fine walking bass by Stefan and Django Reinhardtesque soloing by Henry, nice. They scampered off into the night with a cheque for £150 from the HDLMA and a support slot with Acoustic Sussex. Heat 5 is on Sunday 15 th October at the Drill Hall , Denne Road , Horsham, when Aphia, The Band of Garrys, Eighthnerve, Last Letter Read, MASH and They Drop Fire will be facing off for the final. Doors 6:30 first band 7:00. Entry £5 (£4 members). BotB is organised by HDLMA and HDC. For more information call Nick 01403 215216 or e-mail nick.jenkins@horsham.gov.uk or visit www.hdlma.co.uk Nick Jenkins & Mark Daly ENDS
GRADE A ZEVICON TOP THE CLASS ~ 6th October 2006 The eagerly awaited Heat 4 of the Horsham District Battle of the Bands turned into a right old fashioned shindig with eventual winners Zevicon getting on their Rock ‘n' Roll pogo stick and bouncing way above everybody else to reach the final on Saturday 28 th October. Dogs in Space have made a bit of an impact on the local music scene lately, and seem to be top flavour in many circles, and the air was thick with anticipation when they took to the stage. Their first number ‘Under the Sky' was lighter than I was expecting but heavy enough to hint of early Black Sabbath; the sort of music you put on in the early hours, slightly worse for wear and think about the world and his wife. ‘Bong' was grungier and a bit progressive, I liked the samples and caught fragments of Quatermass in there I think; it also allowed Lee on lead to express himself for a few minutes. The band looks right, although a little glum, with Andy possessing a certain ‘Northern charm' (things tick in that brain I don't want to think about) and Leah undoubtedly having the talent and striking looks to front the band. However disinterested cool will only get you so far, they need a bit of collective attitude and strut, make the front row frightened and want some more. In short - a dirty wall of noise with a pretty girl clinging to the top who may just need to take the plunge and let go; you never know you may enjoy the ride. Time for a bit of skanking, or as someone pointed out to me pseudo moshing, as Death by Ska added to the Horsham metal showr oom with a few bits of brass. Tom on vocals and trumpet was all spring and raised arms during ‘Health Ska' which even managed to incite a display of rarely seen slow-mo skanking, tick that off in your Ska I-spy book. The band had a mixed sound during their set with patches of clarity mixed with extreme guitar fuzziness which dampened a few of the songs. ‘Clockwork' brought a wholesale barrage of Oi! Oi! Oi's! and a nice bit of Jiving by saxophonist Joe who carried off a passable impression of Travis Bickle. Tom proved himself a fine front man and pulled the band through a few sticky moments when they all looked around like startled Meercats to see what happened; he even found time to plug their Myspace site and given a added layer of dirt and a baggy knitted jumper he could have slotted nicely into the Levellers - glimpses of potential during a tricky second gig. Warning to Candidates play an amalgam of self labelled Post-hardcore/alternative, and from their first song ‘Inanimate World' I guess this lies somewhere between metal and grunge. One thing is for certain, Andy has a very distinctive, individual and mature voice and in places his phrasing reminded me of Eddie Vedder, not a claim to make lightly. For a three piece the band fill the stage with energy and verve and at points seem close to scything down various bits of equipment, maybe lose the shouty backing vocals, but ultimately no nerves here. The opening to ‘Camera Tricks' sounded like somebody had given Doug an AK47 to play with and he coupled well with Joe on bass, although the bass amp never recovered from the trauma and had to be changed mid set. I seem to remember saying something similar last year but I'm not sure this band know exactly what they want to do yet, the components are there and technically they are more than competent, they just need to find a consistent sound and more importantly a style that suits them. It's not often that during BotB a band will be placed first by every single judge, Jalopy managed it last year, and on Sunday the phenomenon was repeated when Zevicon swept the board and gained a collective 16 thumbs up from the panel. From the outset they looked the part and ‘Blind leading the Blind' produced a wonderfully fat noise which filled the hall; just goes to show that understanding your equipment and the sound it makes shouldn't be underestimated. Mark vied for best vocalist on the night and their harmonies and trademark hooks were great. Their new batch of tunes are well constructed and consist of just the right element of contrast together with some catchy choruses, none more so than ‘Let it Go' which you can still hum a few days later, something of a rarity. An almost faultless performance by a band that is confident and interesting, and most importantly more than happy in their own skin. I think Stolen Monkey may have broken some Rock law which states ‘when more than 3 keyboards are placed on stage together the user must wear a large starry cape and pointy hat in honour of Rick Wakeman', I counted three keyboards but no starry cape – gutted. That said it was nice to see something different and in places entertaining, although the performance trod dangerously close to the novelty path on occasion. Got to give it to them though they had some energy and bottle to do the set they did with full on electro beats overlaid with samples, drums and guitar. Toby looked like he struggled in parts to manage vocals and keys as you tended to get burst of one or the other, and I would like to see what they could do with a dedicated singer. When he shifted to the keyboard guitar the overall sound was better and they sounded a little like Busted; not sure if they will be happy at this or not. The Acoustic Heat is on Sunday 8 th October at the Holbrook Club, North Heath Lane, Horsham, when The Mighty Quinn, Kev and The Wotevz, Dave P, Medieval Desperados, Stephanie MacGregor, Strum Lovin' Criminals, Nick Jenkins ENDS
HAPPY EVERAFTA ~ 29th September 2006 Heat 3 of the Horsham District Battle of the Bands turned into a right old music melee on Sunday with Everafta eventually seeing off some spirited competition and getting the golden bus ticket to the final on the 28 th October. Self labelled indie rockers Offshore started the night, after a brief pause because Nick Paxton's shirt set off the sound limiter, for what turned out to be their first ever gig, not a bad first notch for your guitar. Their opening number ‘Gravy' had more than a nod to Oasis with Joe elongating his vowels Gallagher style over a chunky guitar riff. ‘Heard that She Cried' was a brave attempt to bring a slower song into the competition and had some nice drumming accents coupled with some good bass work by Adam. They had some interesting ideas scattered about in their set and it was refreshing to hear something of a lighter note in what seems to be an ever increasing swamp of molten metal. One of this year's ‘big boys' then stepped up to give it their best shot and, having never seen Everafta , I was interested to see if their reputation lived up to the hype. They opened with ‘Zero' which was competent enough and showed their indie/garage edge with perfectly executed riffs and stops and generously open sound; Phil on bass even managed to do some sort of Angus Young type shuffle across the stage and Andy's snare sound almost cut a visible path through the hall. ‘Natural Born Killers' was the standout track with some good audience interaction at the beginning and the song suited Matt's distinctive voice to the full, strangely reminded me of Blackfoot in places. Kris is a revelation on stage and seems to morph Hong Kong Phoeey style from mild mannered man to rock monster; I'd love it if he turns out to be a janitor. Passionate, professional, accomplished, entertaining and tighter than a frightened blowfish they managed to tick all the right boxes to bag first place. My Waiting Gold were another one of those bands that tipped up from nowhere, impressed a few people with their set and had a blast. Simon proved an accomplished drummer, not surprising given that he's been banging the skins since the early nineties, and made some of the complicated bits look effortless. The underlying feel was American punk wannabees without the attitude and at points had a touch of the Ramones about them. Had a bit of a hiccup during their second number but definitely got better as the set progressed and all members of the band upped their game; may collectively have to work on some quality hooks to keep the interest. I had been tipped off that Eviscerate could be the proverbial dark horses of the competition and that if they got it right they would be hard to beat, and boy did they nearly do it. Brutish, fast and dangerous this band looks and sounds the business. With a terrifyingly muscular tattooed front man who knows how to work a crowd and pull all the right stances, a couple of guitarists who work in tandem (Mehdi especially impressed with a couple of fantastic lead breaks) a bass player who can't help himself but head bang and a drummer intent on getting a new kit for Christmas, these guys given a break may make it so see them before they try and charge you £45. ‘Retribution' was as black as night and performed with enough feeling to make you believe they meant every word. I honestly thought they may have done enough to get first place but hey I think they just enjoyed the kick and were magnanimous in defeat, fair play to you guys. It was always going to be a tough call following the barrage from Eviscerate but it didn't seem to bother Redefine who launched into ‘Hatred Within' without a hint of nerves. Sean the front man coupled some well phrased vocals with a smattering of death grunts and in places managed to engage the crowd. They could perhaps do with some sharper, snappier and more defined tunes as their set seemed to blur together. That said there was some good guitar work underneath the fuzz and they would definitely benefit from getting a cleaner more open sound; perhaps they should have a chat with the Everafta boys? Showed enough to suggest there's more to come. The Black Arrows went down a storm last year coming second in their heat only to Eighthnerve, no shame there. This year they again pulled the favoured last slot of the night and from the outset made good use of it with their straight down the line approach to classic rock. Their first number ‘I'm Broke' indicated that they had become slightly heavier than last year and crucially a lot tighter as a unit and, although there were a couple of awkward tempo changes, this was more to do with song structure. I liked the noise made from the twin Les Paul s, blimey twin Les Paul s, and the fact that they all seem to like being on stage, no shrinking violets here. Liam could do with looking directly at the crowd rather than to the side of the stage but as a band they were fabulous; special mention to David on lead who again left a few mouths agape with his technique. Deserved their top three placing just unfortunate to come up against some really polished bands, nature of the beast I guess. Heat 4 is on Sunday 1 st October at the Drill Hall , Denne Road , Horsham, when Dogs in Space, Death by Ska, Warning to Candidates, Zevicon and Stolen Monkey will be facing off for the final. Doors 6:30 first band 7:00. Entry £5 (£4 members). BotB is organised by HDLMA and HDC. For more information call Nick 01403 215216 or e-mail nick.jenkins@horsham.gov.uk or visit www.hdlma.co.uk Nick Jenkins ENDS LAID TO WASTE BY A WHISKER ~ 22nd September 2006 Heat 2 of the Horsham District Battle of the Bands turned into the tightest result in recent history with eventual winners Laid to Waste securing the top spot only on second place count back. Due to an unfortunately injury to the Anas drummer during the week, meaning that he couldn't tie his shoe laces let alone give a drum kit a good seeing to for 20 minutes, local Death Metal band Dyscarnate stepped in at the last minute to provide a warm up act. As ever they did exactly what it said on the tin and blasted the audience with a fine mixture of destruction including death grunts, hyper fast guitar, and blast beat drumming; thanks guys. Next up on the recently sound blasted stage were Vannroad , a funky four piece pop/rock group who looked the part - all tousled hair and squeaky clean. They opened with ‘24' which had some nice harmonies floating around and coupled nicely with Dom's intricate piano keys. I liked ‘Drifting' which had shades of the Counting Crows and Elvis Costello stitched through it and is the sort of thing you could imagine being on the play list of an American teenage series like the OC. Competent, relaxed, good looking and able, with lots of middle road mass appeal Vannroad are the sort of band that somebody may scoop up and give a shot at the big time. Probably say this a lot as we go through the heats as all the bands seem to have raised their game but Vannroad could have warranted a place in the top 3. Although Riotlife had billed themselves as alternative heavy rock their appearance belied their all-action energetic approach and they were much thrashier than I expected. Their first number ‘Waste' picked the pace up with some nice drumming from Josh which enlivened the crowd and set their stall out for the night. ‘Luck' was a sparky fizzy affair which showed off Greg's slightly monotone voice but excellent phrasing to the full; probably needs to pace himself for a longer set as he wobbled slightly at the end. Their last number ‘Something's Missing' was probably their best and in a bizarre statistic produced the most lost shoes out of the mosh pit I can remember. Riotlife came joint first and were really unlucky to miss out on a place in the final after count back, would have been good to have you guys in the Carfax on the 28 th October but some days even lucky rocket ship underpants aren't enough! I normally shy away from using ‘tight' in a review but Laid to Waste were tight. They looked the complete metal band on Sunday and produced good performances in every department. David on lead guitar must be pushing for best technical metal guitarist in the area with his own brand of pseudo classical metal. ‘Creeping and Crawling' had it all in one calorie laden metal sandwich with Chris and Kyle providing the two heavy wholemeal slices of rhythm, Nick the menacing vocal meaty filling and David topping it all off with the interesting exotic piquant relish, the crowd loved it and had a feeding frenzy. May have slotted one too many numbers into their set but we'll let them off with that this time. Left the crowd wanting more which is always a good sign. For all their good work they scraped past Riotlife and bagged first spot which just goes to prove how good the bands in this year's competition are. It's not often I'm left speechless by bands, and I like to think that I've seen a wide variety of acts over the years, but Los Mendozas really pushed the boundaries. Clad only in spandex shorts - a different kind of tight than Laid to Waste - and wrestling masks this self styled band announced themselves to the Horsham masses in what only can be described as a punked up, thrash, Mexican wrestling extravaganza. They crashed through 7 songs at lighting pace including ‘Get in the Ring', ‘Choke Hold', ‘Run the Other Way' and ‘Over the Ropes' and still had time to have a fair bit of banter with the crowd. A mystery drummer had to stand in at the last minute as apparently their usual drummer, Sergio, had to pull out after a nasty ‘frogsplash' incident, so the rhythm was a little loose here and there but this didn't detract from the fun. Fantastic, intense and slightly insane…Get in the Ring. The smart money was being put on Acta Non Verba to bag top spot and if they hadn't suffered from a few technical problems they showed enough to suggest that they may have fulfilled the predictions. Whatever the outcome I liked this band, they employed some interesting shifting time signatures and fills which really added to the overall feel of their music. Their last number (I lost track of what this was called) was a master class in neo-progressive rock and included some really superb keys and rhythm which resulted in some great layering. Unfortunately this song also encountered some technical problems and had to be cut a bit short. I think the guys became a tad nervous and wary of their gear which ultimately impeded their performance, shame. If you get a chance go and see these guys, I'm sure they won't disappoint. Heat 3 is on Sunday 24 th September at the Drill Hall , Denne Road , Horsham, when Offshore, Everafta, My Waiting Gold, Eviscerate, Redefine and Black Arrows will be facing off for the final. Doors 6:30 first band 7:00. Entry £5 (£4 members). BotB is organised by HDLMA and HDC. For more information call Nick 01403 215216 or e-mail nick.jenkins@horsham.gov.uk or visit www.hdlma.co.uk Nick Jenkins ENDS IMOLA JUST DO ENOUGH ~ 15th September 2006 Heat 1 of the Horsham District Battle of the Bands 06 got off to a flyer on Sunday with the Imola gang pulling off a smash and grab raid and making off with the swag during a tightly fought contest in front of a packed house. The honour of kicking off this year's whole competition fell to Imola , it also meant that they pulled the dreaded graveyard slot, and when they struck the first chords of This Sticky Black there were still people queuing to come in. As ever they were neat and tidy and produced some huge riffs and some beautiful guitar harmonies. I enjoyed She's So Low, which was preceded by some impromptu ‘panto' rock, and finally began to wake the crowd up. Even though vocalist Nick had apparently drunk half the Wey Canal last week he was still a class act and was surrounded by top-drawer musicians. Was this Imola's finest performance? Probably not. Did they deserve to win? Probably, but they cut it fine and were pushed all the way by some good performances by other bands; need to pull their socks up for the final. Handshakesatsunrise were introduced as high energy punk metal and true to their word plunged into their set from the start with some screamo vocals and slashy guitar. Their front man Luke was full of vigour and worked the stage and crowd well which sometimes left the rest of the band struggling to keep pace. I liked the last song which had a nice hook running through it and indicated the sort of thing they are capable of doing, not bad for their second gig. With Emo being the flavour of the month I thought Far From Escape might be another bland ‘vanilla' group however they proved they had something different to offer the menu and went down a storm. Vocalist Sean put in a charismatic display and he worked their large support for all he was worth which probably saw him take the plaudits and medal for best front man of the night. Gunshots and Question Marks had a nice driving melody with the entire band weighing in with some good backing vocals. They brought loads of fans with them and left with loads more, a refreshing change in a genre that's swamped by cookie cutter bands; messy in places but could have nicked 1 st place. Imagine playing your first gig in front of 500 people! Imagine doing it with your lead guitarist wearing a kilt. Now imagine a hyperactive bumble bee of a front man given a cowbell to play with and you get something close to The Cuchillos . For all their nerves these young dudes took to the stage like pros and put everything into their performance, they even had the whole hall clapping along to their third number This Silence. It's pretty hard to put your finger on exactly how to categorise this band, sort of indie-funk-punk which had shades of Hard-fi, which made it interesting and bodes well for the future. A few fat fingers and pauses here and there but credit where it's due, bags of potential. What would BotB be without at least a couple of Ska bands? To keep the cosmic equilibrium Used Inc squeezed onto the stage for their annual Ska fest jamboree and skanked the whole place up with their two-tone poppy Ska. With Tom on sax doing a fine impersonation of the lion from the Wizard of Oz and Jon on vocals pretending to be a stand up comedian between songs their whole set had a party feel, none more so than when the ploughed through Skank Like You Love Me. They wobbled a bit here and there technically but who cares they were lots of fun and had a blast, the Drill Hall floor hasn't had bounce like that on it since someone's strap broke during Wednesday night ballroom dancing. One of the great things about BotB is that every year a few bands come out of nowhere, well Slinfold in this case, and appear almost fully formed without even having made the slightest blip on the local music scene radar before. Unauthorised Personnel proved just such a band with their well crafted songs and pseudo cockney approach to alternative rock. Will proved a charismatic front man in his own idiosyncratic way and seemed to really enjoy singing, none more so than during Vampires which had a Steppenwolf/Sabbath sort of feel with a touch of Tenacious D thrown in for good measure. I liked the construction of their songs which proved you can have shades of dark and light and still appeal to a wide audience. Heat 2 is on Sunday 17 th September at the Drill Hall, Denne Road , Horsham, when Vannroad, Riotlife, Laid to Waste, Los Mendozas, Anas and Acta Non Verba will be facing off for the final. Doors 6:30 first band 7:00; get there early as last week capacity was reached by 8:00 . Entry £5 (£4 members). BotB is organised by the HDLMA and HDC. For more information call Nick 01403 215216 or e-mail nick.jenkins@horsham.gov.uk or visit www.hdlma.co.uk Nick Jenkins ENDS
BATTLE BLAST OFF ~ 8th September 2006 The eagerly awaited annual music slug fest that is the Horsham District Battle of the Bands gets under way this Sunday when 6 local bands will grease themselves up with special spangly rock lubricant and slither onto the Drill Hall stage for Heat 1 of the competition. This week. the bands mostly playing during Heat 1 are Imola - laziest band in Horsham made up of discarded members of Nematosys, Everafta and Enemies of Reality, experts in biscuit selection; Handshakesatsunrise - so hardcore they can apparently do away with punctuation and grammar altogether; Far From Escape - screamo post-hardcore outfit not capable of jumping a barbed wire fence on a motorbike; The Cuchillos - conceived in Belgium and might be named after a South American rodent; Used Inc - 6 happy ska people who enjoyed last years competition so much they have come back to do it all again; Unauthorised Personnel - 3 blokes, Andy, Jack and Will, I might let them in I might not. Not only do the bands get to play in front of a baying audience of 500 the heat winners will also make it through to the final on Saturday 28 th October where they will lock horns with the other 5 finalists. Here the newly elected behemoths of the local music scene will once again lay themselves bare to the scrutiny of the carefully selected judging panel and fight it out for the chance of winning £600, a day in 811 Sound Studios, 2 free rehearsals, 1 free hire of the HDLMA PA, a headline slot at a future Alliance gig and getting their demo onto the play list of Juice Fm. There is also rumour of a shiny new trophy being minted which will be presented to the winners meaning they can jig around with it happily, pose for some cheesy photos and show it to all their friends, and then hand it back. Original heat dates are all on Sundays and will be held at the Drill Hall on September 10 th , 17 th , 24 th , October 1 st , 15 th and 22 nd with the final being held in the Carfax on Saturday 28 th October. The Acoustic heat this year is being held at the Holbrook Social Club on Sunday 8 th October with the winners receiving £150 and a support slot at a future Acoustic Sussex gig. The Covers heat is at the Drill Hall on Sunday 12 th November with the winners receiving £150 and use of the HDLMA PA for 2 gigs. Horsham District Battle of the Bands is organised by Horsham District Council and the Horsham District Live Music Alliance and supported by 811 Sound Studios, Acoustic Sussex, Juice 107.2, SylverBars Limited and Welton Brewery. Doors 6:30 first band 7:00 , entry £5 (£4 members). For more information contact Nick Jenkins 01403 215216 nick.jenkins@horsham.gov.uk or visit www.hdlma.co.uk Nick Jenkins ENDS
BATTLE PLANS ~ 4th August 2006 It's that time of year again when the good the bad and the wannabes of Horsham District are seen scrabbling for their guitars, gaffer tape, and in some cases leather cat suits, so they can be first in line for signing up their band for the music event of the year - the Horsham District Battle of the Bands. Application forms have now been released and seeing that this year maybe the biggest yet its worth getting your sticky mitts on one sharpish. Last year proved to be one of the best events ever with the six heat winners putting on a mighty show for the massive crowd during the final. The Carfax has seen nothing like it before and the honour of being crowned Horsham District BOTB Winners 05, not to mention the £500 cheque and a day in 811 Recording Studios, eventually being grabbed out of the musical melee by the Jalopy crew. The Covers and Acoustic heats weren't bad either with The Speedboatz making off with the covers title and a cheque for £100 and Telemachus plucking his way to victory in the Acoustic heat and a cheque for £100. This year the stakes are higher with the prize money being increased to £600 for the eventual original winners, £150 for covers winner and £150 for the acoustic winner. Original heats will be held at the Drill Hall on Sept' 10 th , 17 th , 24 th , Oct' 1 st , 15 th , 22 nd with the Final being held on Saturday 28 th . The Acoustic heat will be held on Sunday 8 th Oct at the Holbrook Social Club and rounding everything off the Covers heat on Sunday 12 th Nov' at the Drill Hall . A discretionary £50 Spirit of the Competition award will be presented by the HDLMA committee to the most individual artist or musician who most impresses with their ability, talent, attitude, performance or just damn fine facial hair. Application forms, rules and full prize listings are available to download from www.hdlma.co.uk or visiting QM Studios, Denne Road , Horsham or e-mailing nick.jenkins@horsham.gov.uk . Horsham Battle of the Bands is organised by the Horsham District Live Music Alliance and Horsham District Council. For more information call Nick on 01403 215216. Nick Jenkins ENDS
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