Heat 6

Convention was kicked off the dancefloor before anyone had time to order a drink at the sixth heat of the LEP supported Battle of the Bands in Preston.

With much controversy, not least through their choice of name, duo 2Girls1Cup jokingly declared their set would prove critics right that they were not a “real band”. Such considerations didn’t really matter in the end, their one-track mini-club night was a revelation, a pounding mix of dub and grime, powered by nu-rave beats and hip-hop grooves. With humour and neon-lights to the fore, the reactions to 2Girls1Cup said it all.

Startling as the dance duo had been, Capeman did not feel the need to tone down their own brand of genre defying stunts. Deconstructing the simple rock formula into a jagged collection of de-tuned chords and scattered drums, their confrontational style was a refreshing take on the rock standard.

Metal to the very maximum in content and style roared onto the stage in the shape of You Will Fail, whose set began with a vocally strong melodic number undercut by sinister, growling guitars. Their onslaught continued with an atagonistic balance of thrash riffs and viscious hooks.

They may have been too much for the young indie band Chasing Bob, whose nervous vocals took a lot away from the otherwise charmingly twee set. A very busy stage seemed to confuse their own concentration, letting the noticeable strength of the first song to unravel with unfortunate rapidity.

Indie band Innocents Abroad brought a good confidence to the stage, with the opening songs of foot-tapping quality. The closing half lacked the crunch needed to keep the attention but in a heat with so many extremes, their slice of normality helped.