Battle of the Bands Final!!

Sunday 20th March, saw the final of the Battle of the Bands contest at the Duke pub on Queen’s Road. MyMarlow was there to enjoy the event, and take a load of photos – see our gallery at the end of this article.

Four local bands had made it through to the final, and the running order was:

Diverted Traffic – Borlase
Fundamentals – Borlase
Baby Teeth – Henley College
Blankfield -Borlase

Judges in the heats had included Duke landlord Steve, plus Paul Merchant (MyMarlow) and Laura Tilbury (Marlow FM), but for the final brand new judges were invited, coming to the competition fresh with no prior knowledge of the bands involved. These were Martin James (Music critic, author and Professor of Creative and Cultural Industries at Solent University) and Ian Springell (aka local DJ Izzy). An audience vote was also taken into account in the final scoring roundup.

The judges said they were highly impressed by every one of the bands, but there could only be one winner, and the winner was….. BABY TEETH. The band have been together about 6 months, but this competition was their first time performing together live on stage! Locket Purser(16) is on lead vocals/bass, Dan Roberts (18) lead guitar, and Ethan Dowley (17) on drums. As winners they get to play at Pub in the Park, Marlow- and have a studio recording session.

MyMarlow attended every heat, and throughout we have been impressed with not only the talent and musicianship, but also the confidence, and sheer desire to win – plus it was clear all the bands loved having the opportunity to perform. There was impressive camaraderie shown too – sharing kit, supporting the performances, and in one of the heats a member of Fundamentals even did the sound mixing for Diverted Traffic!

As was noted by every band, thanks should go to landlord Steve Blake for coming up with the idea to support and encourage local young talent, giving them a platform to perform. Steve has also been raising awareness and indeed funds for the charity “Music Support”, which supports those in the music business suffering from mental health issues.

We can’t wait to see how all the bands involved continue to progress, and encourage you to check them out if you get the chance! We have a feeling they will be performing at more local events in due course 🙂

Roll on BOTB 2023!