Battle of the Bands 2023

After the success of last year, Battle of the Bands was back again with an absolute bang and bigger than last year, with 16 bands from Year 7 right up to Year 13 battling it out for the top prize.

The Great Hall was once again transformed into a real-life gig venue and the event was completely sold out with many of the waiting list, desperate to bag a seat to this rocking event. Sixteen bands comprising year groups from across the school, dazzled the audience and the two prestigious judges, Jason Thompson and Sharlene-Monique, with a variety of songs of differing genres. But not everyone could win, and the sense of anticipation when Jason and Sharlene announced the winners was immense. You could smell the competition in the air right from the get-go.

It was fantastic to see that everyone’s hard work had paid off. All the hours spent in the Music Department at lunchtimes and after school perfecting those guitar licks and polishing vocal riffs made all the difference. Many different songs and sounds were wafting out of the practice rooms, from Shawn Mendes, Harry Styles and Six The Musical to the more mature artists like Jamiroquai and Van Morrison. Profits of Insanity, a band comprising of Year 10 and 11 students, even composed their own song (self-titled), which was met with a deafening applause from the audience who completely fell apart with amazement at their performance.

Some bands were back for another year but with a reinvention of themselves, such as Heatstroke (Lower School winners ’22) who moulded into Anaphylactix and The Dodgy Jammers (third place ’22) who added a keyboard player this year to spice things up. Band N returned to the stage (they still haven’t found a better name..) and enthralled the audience with a beautiful rendition of Harry Styles Watermelon Sugar. Very appropriate considering Mr Style turned 29 just the day before. A happy coincidence, maybe? An electric shock wave was sent through the audience in Double Blind Trial’s version of Virtual Insanity and the interpretation of Six from Six the Musical by Wrong Direction was complete with dazzling costumes, make up and a sprinkle of West End magic.

Rolling in the Deep, performed by Too Late Now, opened the show with stellar vocals from Jahnel, and this was followed by a laid-back version of Wonderwall, performed by Year 7 band, Desert. Year 7 and 8 bands were in abundance as we also had The Rise of The Sea Angels, Reverie, and Distortion, who tore the stage up with Battle of the Bands classic Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana. David Bowie also made an appearance in the form of Another Life, and they performed his truly unforgettable number Life on Mars with much emotion. Of course, no Battle of the Bands Competition is complete without an ABBA number, and we were treated to a lovely version of SOS by Year 8 band Euphoria.

A wave of tranquillity came over the Great Hall when numbers such as The Queen and The Solider and Because I Love You were performed with spirit and soul by Year 11 band folk band Atonement and Spoonerisms, a Year 9 band. We were also taken back to Miss Wynter’s era (the late 90s) with Versace Boots’ performance of a pop mash-up where hits like Baby One More Time! And Dua Lipa rung out in the hall.

Jason Thompson was back again to judge and this time was joined by Sharlene-Monique, a highly qualified performer and very successful recording artist, whose credits include singing at the royal wedding of Harry and Megan in the Kingdom Choir. They both had the exceptionally difficult decision to choose two winning bands; a Lower School and Senior School winner. In the end, the judges went with Year 8 band Anaphylactix, who won the Lower School prize with their version of Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison.

The judges said:

“There was so much confidence in this performance and the ensemble really gelled as a group”.

Runners-up in the Lower School category were The Dodgy Jammers, performing Summer of 69. As for the Upper School winners, this went to Double Blind Trial, who performed Virtual Insanity with “…unbelievable vocals and fantastic solos from the piano and bass guitarist”.

Atonement were the runners-up for the Upper School prize so very well done to them too.

Congratulations to the winners and to all performers involved. We’ll be back next year!

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