And the Battle begins…

The Hype Entertainment Battle of the Bands 2008 has finally begun, with the first heat kicking off on Sunday in the Zoo Club.

KilkennyMusic.com is officially sponsoring the competition again this year, with full on-line coverage, Daw behind the desk and myself and Ken behind the judging table with organiser Andrew McGuinness.

Like last year, Oss237.com is sponsoring a photography package to the winning band and I’ll be snapping all the bands throughout the competition. I’ve just uploaded shots from the first heat featuring Jaded Aces, Modern Rik and Desecrate. Well done to all the bands, it’s not easy being in the first heat but good performances all around. As usual, all of the bands can feel free to use the shots on their myspace or bebo (click either link to add me).

Also like last year, I’ll avoid going into details about the band’s performances here on the blog, it avoids bitching, moaning, sore-losers and possibly hurt feelings. Just a reminder that the judges will be marking the bands on five categories; Musical Ability, Stage Presence, Originality, Crowd Reaction and Overall Performance.

If the bands have any questions then you can ask it on the forums, or come up and talk to us in the Zoo Club, we won’t bite, we’ve been warned not to after last year. There’s plenty more bands to come, a showcase gig from last year’s winners Atrax Mantis, and a performance by MikeGotSpiked at the final, things are only beginning to heat up, the battle has begun…