TWO more bands booked their place in next week?s final of Okehampton?s inaugural Battle of the Bands at the second of three heats, held last Thursday.

Richard Appleby, owner of Millennium Music in the Arcade in Okehampton, who dreamt up the idea of the contest, had been delighted with the success of the first heat the week before and the Charter Hall was the scene of another triumphant night of music.

The competition is being supported by music website http://www.rockbeast.com">www.rockbeast.com whose team were taking photographs, capturing each of the groups in action and conducting interviews with musicians.

Kicking off the second heat in energetic style were And Others, an Emo-style five-piece band from Plymouth with a Lostprophets influence. The band mix heavy guitar melodies with a softer style of vocals and their lively performance warmed up the crowd for the rest of the night.

?Rock Lobster? sang the B-52s, but Rock Salmon were a different kettle of fish altogether. Blasting off their set with a cover of Black Sabbath?s classic Paranoid they got the crowd singing along. The green wig wearing singer Nigel proceeded to lead the band through more rock classics, such as AC/DC?s Highway to Hell, before finishing with a roar of approval from the crowd with Metalica?s Enter Sandman.

Okehampton band Speed started their set with 7 Nation Army by the White Stripes and played instrumental covers of songs such as Voodoo Child and I Believe In A Thing Called Love.

The young band has only been together as a four-piece for two days and is still on the lookout for a vocalist. The group were playing their first ever gig and put a lot of effort into their performance.

The next band to step up to the mic were North Devon-based rock trio Freak By Wire. The band has a style taking in different musical categories but are influenced by bands such as Nirvana, P J Harvey and Placebo. The band bring these influences from different musical genres into their own well shaped sound which they describe as ?noisy but with a tune you can hum to?.

Not a Pixies tribute band, the Zen Pixies instead recall the prog rock era and went down well with the older generation.

The three-piece group from Okehampton have no live drums but rely on a machine and bongos, creating a retro dance feel to their sound. The group played versions of Pink Floyd?s Time and Comfortably Numb.

Before Fosta had even played a note the crowd were calling for the band, who have become a big hit on the local scene.

The Okehampton group are veterans of Battle of the Bands contests, having won a competition in Exeter last year.

They display an obvious Muse influence but with new member James on guitar, Fosta?s sound is now much fuller. The whole hall was clapping along to the band as they showcased tracks from their new CD.

The next band to grace the stage was Black Tulip, who were making their debut live performance. They showed no signs of nerves as they began their set by playing the Kings of Leon?s Molly?s Chambers. They also pulled a fine version of Nirvana?s Come As You Are out of the bag.

Then came the Nell Hubbard Band who straddled genres from pop rock to funk/jazz-influenced songs. Nell has an exceptional voice backed by a tight and excellent sounding six-piece band.

The band has obvious influences from the great soul artists such as Dusty Springfield and James Brown and the crowd enjoyed every song from this quality act, a perfect end to another night of phenomenal live music in Okehampton.

The judges huddled together to deliberate the merits of the various acts ? Nell Hubbard Band and Fosta made the final with Rock Salmon taking the runner-up spot.

The final batch of bands take part in the third heat tonight (Thursday), so head along to the Charter Hall for 6.30pm and prepare to be rocked.