Battle of the Bands 2022: The great come back

The last time Battle of the Bands rocked the Alleyn’s stage was in 2008 and before that in 2005, where Pixie Geldof was in the winning band. I received this information in an email at the start of term from Roper’s Housemaster Mr Paul Cochrane, who said, ‘In the 2008 Battle of the Bands, the audience rushed to the stage at the end, and we had everyone dancing with the band’. This year, after a 14-year hiatus, Alleyn’s Battle of the Bands came back with a bang.

Covid-19 rules prevented any rush to the stage, but the Great Hall, which was transformed into a real-life gig venue by our wonderful Events team, was completely sold out and 11 bands comprising year groups from across the school, enthralled the audience and two prestigious judges. By the end of the night, two winning bands, BOTB trophies lifted up in the air and the deafening applause of the audience signalled a new era for Alleyn’s Battle of the Band and another string to the bow of the incredible Music department.

Perhaps the most wonderful thing about this event was that we had students coming out of the woodwork that perhaps would not have been involved in some of our more formal concerts. Equally, however, there were pupils that participated whose passion for music encompasses all genres. It really was an event for anyone with a thirst for performing. The sounds coming out of the practice rooms at lunchtime were a blend of Eric Clapton, Stevie Nicks and The Arctic Monkeys. Pupils were polishing their electric guitar solo, perfecting their vocal riffs and exploring ways to make the songs their own. A fantastic example of this was the brilliant Band N (I think they can work on the name!), who did their own spin on Kings of Leon’s "Use Somebody". We even had an upside-down and backwards guitar solo played by Will (Year 12), which sent a (metaphorical) electric shock wave through the audience.

Other highlights included our very own Escala tribute band, Triumfeminate (Britain’s Got Talent 2008, anyone?!) and two original compositions: "Lovely Day" by Johnny (Year 7) and "November" by Orla (Year 11). Surely the next Ed Sheeran and Adele to watch out for!

It was rather touching that Jason Thompson, formerly a music teacher here, came back to judge the event. Jason, alongside the esteemed Sam White, had the exceptionally difficult decision to choose two winning bands; a Lower School and a Senior School winner. In the end, the judges decided on Heatstroke (Year 7) as their LS winner and God-Like-Geniuses (Year 13) as the Senior winner.

I am pleased to say that Battle of the Bands will now be an annual event, as recent times have shown us how vital it is to give students the space to create, collaborate and cheer each other on. I applaud all the performers for showing such independence and dedication to put on such an electrically powered performance for us all. To go back to Paul’s email, I think he really hits the nail on the head: ‘These events tapped into a rich seam of musical talent, and so it is great to see Battle of the Bands back in business.’

By Miss Darcey Wynter, Music teacher and Battle of the Bands lead