Our Saturday Music Centre Rock Bands rock the stage at Trinity Laban’s Battle of the Bands!
Trinity Laban’s inaugural Battle of the Bands for young musicians took place on 9 July with a huge diversity of talent on show, spanning genres from R&B to metal. Each band presented one cover song and one original composition on the main stage at Blackheath Halls, compered expertly by recent BA Music Performance and Industry graduate, Leon Tilbrook, who also performed.
First on, and highly commended by the panel, were Lewisham Music’s very own, and aptly named Rock Band One. They opened the night with a confident performance of ‘The Ballad of Mona Lisa’ by Panic! At The Disco and impressed the judges with tight vocal harmonies and onstage rapport. The first half continued with a beautifully sung R&B duet from Platanos College, fantastic stage presence and songwriting from Leigh Academy Blackheath, and well-arranged call and response vocals from Deptford Green School.
The second half was kicked off in epic style by bands from Sedgehill Academy: rock trio Spitflame in Year 10, and the appropriately named Mellow in Year 9. The cover version choices were particular crowd favourites here, with a surprise choice of ‘Careless Whisper’ followed by TLC’s ‘No Scrubs’. Lewisham Music band Red Box followed up with a sensational classic indie guitar set.
“It was such a cool experience, all the performances were wicked!”
After seven fantastic performances, the panel – chaired by Joe Townsend, Head of BA Music Performance & Industry, along with legendary bassist Yolanda Charles and Rudimental member Mark Crown – selected Spitflame as the winner. The band will visit Trinity Laban in the Autumn for a day of expert coaching and studio recording.
Big shout out
Big shout out to our Rock Bands – you’re the gnarliest! Thanks to Trinity Laban for having us.
Check out some shots of our bands in action
Image credit: John Williams
Come and join our Saturday Music Centre
The centre runs during school term time and offers instrumentalists and singers at all levels (beginner to advanced) a wide range of bands, choirs, groups and ensembles covering a variety of genres, as well as music theory classes and individual instrumental tuition. Click the link below and get signed up!
