McLean's (The Pentre Club), Chemistry Lane, Pentre, Queensferry, CH5 2DA

Thursday 18th March 2010

Pictures by Shan Woodward, Holly Griffiths, Zoe Cropper & Dave Mounter

Review from Richard Hibbert of Academy Images - additional photographs on: http://www.academyimages.co.uk/Blog/Blog.html

Battle of the Bands 2010 - Heat 4

A very interesting line-up this evening, which no doubt would be difficult for the judges to separate on the night.  Four bands, with totally different styles, rather like trying to compare Piaf to Pavarotti - totally different, and therefore totally incomparable.   That of course is the wonderful thing about music, it is so subjective. 

In playing order

Calling Shotgun - Heat Winner

On to the competition itself; opening act were local favourites - Deeside based -  Calling Shotgun (http://www.myspace.com/callingshotgunband), who delivered four tracks, Undead Lives, Rattlesnake, their new track Time, before concluding with their anthem - Calling Shotgun. What became obvious as the evening progressed, was that 'shotgun's tracks were considerably longer than the other competitors, as numerically, they had the shortest set of the evening.  However, what they lacked in quantity, they certainly compensated for in the quality department.  I saw them, the last time they played Pentre, just a few weeks ago, and commented then that they had made great strides forward.  This performance cemented that opinion, as they continued to demonstrate considerable instrumental skills, complemented by powerful, distinctive vocals, and for the first time, tonight, they seemed completely relaxed on stage, Jack Hadley even smiled on stage!!  This totally justified confidence was further evidenced in both Rich's and Chris's guitar work - in the past there have only been teasing suggestions of the wailing riffs we heard this evening - Jack's dominant performances of late, were again surpassed by a peerless, relaxed delivery, whilst Kieran's 'animal' (*) style on drums capped off an excellent opening set.

(*) - This refers to my favourite Muppet Show character.

Burn the Skyline

Up next were Burn The Skyline - http://www.myspace.com/burntheskylineukfrom North Wales, these six young men - Mikey - vocals, Ash - Guitar, Adam - Drums, Danny - Bass, Tom - Keys and Bam - Guitar ally themselves (according to their website) to the Trance-Infused Metal genre.  As they started into their first track The Rising, I was immediately taken by the 'authority' of Mikey's vocals, not screamo as I had first feared, more power rock with a screamo accent, if that makes sense?  As the set progressed, I was increasingly impressed with both the quality and power of this vocalist.  Another unusual feature of such a 'heavy' band was the way in which they introduced synthesiser into the mix.  This was inspired - nice one.  As they progressed through their routine, with I'm a Poet (and I didn't know it), Strawberries and Scream, Adam's H.O.G. on speed percussion style was well demonstrated.  Excellent pedal work, nicely synched with Danny's bass.  They did move into a screamo track - Dogs Can Grow Beards All Over, as bassist and lead vocalist swapped roles.  They then reverted to normal to conclude their set with Blue and This Tastes like Trauma.  An interesting sound, with the highlight for me, the outstanding power and tonal range of Mikey's vocals.

This Day Forward

Third band up were This day Forward - http://www.myspace.com/thisdayforwarduk, featuring, Danny - Rhythm & Lead vox, Jamie - vox & Lead Guitar, Ashley - Drums and 'god' - still on bass.  Theirs was a six track set - Intro, Wakeup, Save it for the bedroom and Crystal Clear were delivered with the passion and energy that one has grown accustomed to with regard to this band, very, very good instrumentally, with lead and rhythm guitarists demonstrating considerable skills, with the drummer excelling on Crystal Clear. 'God' once again the epitome of poise and purpose on bass.  Their next track - a new one - Gossip - did not seem to be as popular as the remainder of their set, but they reinstated themselves somewhat with their final offering Make It Girl Avalanche. A very good performance, full of drive and energy, there is no doubting the fact that these lads have a real passion for what they do and as Bryan Ferry once proclaimed - ".... no dilettante" - that's for sure! 

One Last Chance

Final act for the evening were the popular trio from Wrexham - One Last Chance - http://www.myspace.com/olctheband- being no strangers to Pentre, one would have expected that they would have drawn a much larger 'fan base' than they managed on the night.  Perhaps it was the fact they were on last, but for Stephen, Marc and Peter, their audience must have disappointed and I feel probably affected their performance here this evening.  They have made a reputation of being not only excellent musicians with a real flare for live performance, but also they normally have an excellent rapport with their public, of whom they feed as the witty banter punctuates each track during their set.  Tonight, the music was there, with, amongst other familiar favourites - The Fight, Never When I Want It & Too Much To Like You, but tonight something was missing. 

Last Year's winners - Slightly Generic, swept all before them with their brand of 'pop punk', and as One Last Chance are of a similar bent, one would have expected them to be still competing in the latter stages of the competition. This is not to be - Calling Shotgun are quite rightly progressing to the semi's from this heat, after their excellent performance, and on tonight's showing, they must now be amongst the favourites to make it to the final in June. An interesting evening when the best band on the night made it through. Another good evening from Panic Promotions - the next heat is on April Fool's day - should be a classic.

Audience