THE venue is Simmons Park this Saturday, as aspiring young bands compete to be the third winners of the annual Okehampton Battle of the Bands contest. Last Thursday (August 3) The Nine and Output won the last places at the final by putting on a winning display at the third and final heat being held in the Charter Hall. They will now play at the grand open air final in Simmons Park in front of hundreds of music fans. The night is sure to be memorable for the competing bands as they will be setting the scene for a headline performance by 60s pop legends The Animals. The Animals are remembered for a number of classic songs such as The House of the Rising Sun. Battle organiser Richard Appleby said he was delighted to have secured the service of such well-known headliners. ?I am thrilled The Animals are coming. They are one of those bands which have never lost that feeling of cool,? he said. The final heat again highlighted the range of excellent music being made by local performers, with two worthy winners emerging. The Nine are an Exeter-based group, an accomplished four piece band, who made interesting use of an upright bass. Output were a young band from Yelverton, a traditional four-piece group, but with a very contemporary rock sound. Although only the second band on, Richard said they soon got the crowd jumping, responding to the energy of the band. Other hopefuls during the night included local rockers Suicide Tuesday, formerly known as Etched in Stone and The Evident, a confident young three-piece from the North Devon area who worked the crowd well. Richard also mentioned The Lost Boys, a band featuring a female singer and a female keyboard player. He said: ?They were very poppy. I think because they were on a bill with a lot of rock bands, they tried to rock out a bit, but maybe they should have played more to their strengths. They were light and frothy and they could be going in the directions of groups like Blondie or The Donnas.? Richard said following an appeal in last week?s Times, he was delighted to be able to say that donations, which help to stage the free entry heats, had doubled on the night. Richard said the final got underway at 6pm and he urged people to come along early and secure a good spot. ?The heats have gone by so quickly and the excitement has been building over the last three weeks,? he said. There will be a hog roast, food van and hot drinks available at the event, though there will be no alcohol for sale in the park. The full line-up for this Saturday?s open air final is: Bionic Compromise, Freedom Falls, Tommy G and the Banditz, Evolution, Felix, Ammafist, The Nine and Output.
