By Rosie Thomsen
Battle of the Bands drew a bigger than expected crowd to the Shark Club, with the event, now in its second year, quickly gaining popularity, say organisers.
Eleven bands took to the stage with only 20 minutes each to impress the judges and audience, with Weathertop named overall winners, followed by Butterface.
“The Meaning was really good, they got the People’s Choice award and they definitely deserved that, they got the dance floor pretty packed,” says organiser Rueben Dudley.
The Meaning band members say it was a great opportunity to get themselves known. “We were all quite nervous before and in the build-up, but once we started playing and the crowd was getting amongst it, we really didn’t want to stop,” says bass guitarist Ben Bradley. He says they’ve been asked to return to play at Shark Club, and other places have approached them to play gigs. “People know who we are now,” says Ben.
The event is a great way for local bands starting out to make a name for themselves. “We’ve already offered a couple of bands that played regular nights at the club, so it definitely boosted them,” says Rueben. He says the majority of the bands have showed interest in returning to battle again.
