Pictures: Battle of the Bands returns to Kilkenny after more than 15 years

Last Sunday saw the return of Battle Of The Bands contest after more than 15 years since it last took place in the old Zoo Club on Parliament Street.

The new venue is upstairs at Hacketts Bar, Irishtown, where youngsters filled the room to hear four local bands in the first heat of the competition. Each band played a half hour set to impress judges Mickey 'Boo' Keogh, Ben Keating and Andrew McGuinness. Next week will see another set of bands trash it out for a slot in the finals that will take place on October 20.

The bands that competed last Sunday were The Donnys, Don Monte, Infrared and Adam Nolan. According to organiser Andrew McGuinness, all bands were fantastic and showed great versatility.

"There was a great mix of music and all of the bands really had great stage presence. It was surreal to be back in the driving seat of this contest after so long but great to see that there is still an appetite for this tye of music scene for our young people," said Andrew McGuinness.

Following the Zoo Reunion held just before last Christmas, where Andrew put out a call to local venues to open up their doors and ‘give young musicians a chance’, Tommy Hackett volunteered his venue for the cause. The upstairs room will be a non alcoholic venue for the events which will include two heats and a final, kicking off on Sunday with the first four bands.

“It will be hard to reproduce what we had all those years ago in the Zoo Club but I will certainly do my best to make it happen. It was a period in Kilkenny that we all look back on fondly, I have fantastic memories of it and to this day I still get stopped by people who want to share a memory of that time. The important thing here is to provide young musicians with that stage so they can get up there in front of a crowd and show us all what they have been doing in their sheds, garages or bedrooms,” said Andrew.
Pictures: A.obrienphotography

The bands taking part in Heat 2 this comining Sunday are The Harveys, Oracle Villa and Seafall. Four bands will get through to the finals. Points will be awarded for ‘musical ability’, ‘stage presence’, ‘crowd reaction’, ‘originality’, and ‘overall performance’.

Local sponsors include Crossroads Recording Studios, Broderick’s Music Warehouse and Essaness Music.

Doors will open on Sunday at 2pm. Entry is limited as this is likely to be a sellout, so it will be based on first come first served. Entry is €10 and cash only will be accepted on the door for now - but plans are in place to introduce a ticketed system in the future.